Chapter 850: Chapter 256: A Difficult Choice
“Why is this year’s list shorter than last year’s?” asked Adrian, flipping through the birthday guest list while the girl sprawled on the bed, drawing and writing.
“Because I have a plan. Too many people would be a problem,” Little Emma giggled without looking up, her legs swinging back and forth, occasionally tapping her little bottom.
“Not even inviting Keira?” Adrian asked deliberately.
“Of course not,” Little Emma finally turned over, lying on her back on the bed, “but Keira said there’s a movie starting to shoot, which was arranged by you, so she can’t come to my birthday party.”
At this, she suddenly sat up, looking at Adrian with a puzzled gaze: “You can’t not know this, Ed, right? She’s still in London. Don’t tell me you didn’t visit her house before coming here.”
“Oh, I did visit, but I didn’t ask if she’d attend your birthday party. I thought this wouldn’t be a problem. But when I checked the list just now and didn’t see her name, that’s why I asked you.” Adrian said with an unchanged expression, then sighed somewhat gloomily in his heart.
He always felt that Little Emma was plotting something. Otherwise, why would she insist on him attending her birthday party? After all, the time he unwillingly missed was years ago, yet she seriously warned him. With Adrian’s understanding of Little Emma, he knew there had to be a “conspiracy.” Unfortunately, even with a rare chance, he couldn’t extract any clue from her.
“By the way, what did you just say? You have a plan?” Seeing Little Emma still wearing a skeptical look, Adrian immediately switched the topic.
Talking about this, she immediately perked up, enthusiastically showing him what she had been sketching before: “I plan to spend this birthday abroad. At first, I considered Iceland, as it’s near the United Kingdom and has beautiful scenery. But it’s still quite cold these days, so I decided against it. Now, I’ve decided to go to Spain, from Malaga to Valencia, taking a tour around the Mediterranean side of Spain. Of course, we’ll definitely go to Barcelona.”
Listening to Little Emma’s lively words and looking at the route she had drawn, Adrian suddenly felt he might be overthinking. Maybe she really just wanted an interesting birthday. So when Little Emma clung to his arm, insisting that they must embark on this trip with enthusiasm, he wholeheartedly promised, “Alright, I guarantee it.”
Then, with a pop, Little Emma planted a firm kiss on his face, to which Adrian could only shrug helplessly.
After a little preparation, when Little Emma’s friends gathered, apart from the ones in the film crew—Eric playing Harry, George playing Ron, and Rachel playing Ginny, etc.—there were also some schoolmates, all quite young. Fortunately, J.K. Rowling’s family was also there, and with several main actors present, the crew was a bit concerned. After a private discussion with Adrian, they slipped in some assistants, plus bodyguards, so it wasn’t just Adrian as the only adult, which would have been troublesome and awkward.
And so the curious travel group set off, spending a day and a half in Malaga before heading to Valencia, where they celebrated Little Emma’s birthday. Adrian specifically booked an entire floor of the hotel for the event. Little Emma was considerate enough not to play any cake pranks like before and earnestly made a wish while blowing out the candles. But when asked about the specific wish, she just giggled and refused to tell, even when Adrian asked, her gaze never left him the whole time.
Well, this was just a small episode—at least to Adrian at the time. Overall, the birthday party was lively. With mostly young people and quite a few kids, the trip was quite fun—if not for what happened shortly afterwards.
“Coming,” after the doorbell rang, Adrian, having just finished a shower, quickly went to the door. After peeking through the peephole, he swiftly opened the door and pulled the small Emma inside, frowning, “What’s going on?”
The little girl in front of him was wearing a bathrobe, with a towel over her hand and holding a bag, seemingly filled with toiletries. Yet the bathroom was not very close, with her neck and upper chest exposed.
“The showerhead in my room has some issues,” Little Emma nonchalantly shrugged, “I called room service, and they said it couldn’t be fixed immediately, so I had to come here to shower.”
Saying this, she tugged at his robe with interest, a glint flashing in her eyes, “You’ve already showered? That’s perfect.”
Although Adrian found it odd, he didn’t think much about it, nodding and agreeing to take her to the bathroom without confirming with room service, then sat down at the desk to work on his laptop.
“Ed, can you come over and help me?” Emma quickly peeked her head out from the bathroom after not spending much time bathing, calling out.
“What’s up now?” Adrian stood up but instantly appeared alert.
Little Emma seemed not to notice and grabbed her wet hair tips, “I still need to freshen up my face. Can you help me dry my hair?”
“That’s no problem.” Seeing she was properly dressed in her bathrobe, Adrian eased up and went to the bathroom to blow-dry her hair.
“It’s quite nostalgic,” in the steam-filled bathroom, while arranging her items and enjoying Adrian’s service, Little Emma sighed, “When I was little, Ed would often dry my hair after bathing, always gentle and meticulous, which made me feel comfortable.”
“Back then, you were a little munchkin, Emma, I couldn’t possibly let you do it yourself,” Adrian laughed, the buzzing sound surrounding them, his face reflecting a reminiscence, “I wasn’t comfortable letting others do it, so I had to do it myself, spoiling you. Whenever I’m around, many things must be done by me, or you’d get very upset. I remember once, I had to leave right after arriving due to some urgent business, and as a result, you didn’t speak to me for three whole days. It was truly heartbreaking.”
“At that time, I didn’t understand, just worried about losing you.” Little Emma softly defended, her expression shifting on her face: sweet, melancholy, confused…
“All done, pretty good, it seems my skills haven’t declined.” With this statement, the young girl opened her eyes, looking at the mirror at the now-dry little girl’s hair, her expression turned slightly crestfallen, unwilling to end so soon. But she quickly became determined.
“Very good. Will you continue to dry my hair in the future?” Little Emma raised her head, smiling cheekily.
“Always will.” He gently ruffled her hair, Adrian said with a smile, then quickly left the room and returned to his seat to continue working on his laptop.
“Remember to go to bed early when you get back, there are still many places to visit tomorrow.” After Little Emma came out holding her things, he gave this reminder, but unexpectedly it made the young girl a bit upset.
“Do you find me troublesome? Can’t I stay here for a few more minutes?” She asked with her hands on her hips, in a questioning tone, frowning as if she was serious, making Adrian quite puzzled for a moment until he realized, “Of course not, I was just trying to remind you, that’s all…”
“So you’re saying I’m unnecessary?” Little Emma insisted.
“Alright, alright,” Adrian raised his hands with a wry smile, “You can stay, go back to your room whenever you want. Of course, I sincerely recommend you don’t stay too late, it’s not good for your health, and I need to rest too.”
Then, he solemnly warned, “Of course, don’t even think about spending the night here!”
Little Emma snorted disdainfully, then threw down the things in her hand and darted in front of his laptop, “What’s this?”
“Well…” Adrian scratched his head, “This is work, handling some daily affairs that require my personal attention via email. Since I’m on vacation with you, Innie couldn’t come along, so I had to handle them this way. Of course, there’s not much to do, and I only check during breaks, it won’t interrupt our holiday.”
“Tell me about it.” Little Emma seemed very interested, “Although you’ve told me many things about making movies, I’ve never heard you talk about other kinds of work, why don’t you tell me about it, even if I might not understand?”
As she said this, she plopped down on Adrian’s lap, looking up with big, bright eyes full of hope. Although Adrian frowned at her action, after hesitating for a few seconds, he agreed, “Alright, you know, even if most of my time is spent making various films and TV shows, I still have to…”
He began explaining, as the young girl made sounds of acknowledgment, such a close distance, smelling her lovely hair and body fragrance, made him feel a bit delighted. Despite her being so closely nestled against him, Adrian didn’t say much and unconsciously ignored some of her small gestures.
“That’s it, I don’t need to give too detailed of a description. When they deliver the final product, if I’m not satisfied, I’ll have them take it back and redo it. Of course, I’ll tell them what I’m not satisfied with and what my suggestions are.” This explanation brought a temporary end, and only then did Adrian realize something was wrong.
How strange… Adrian smiled wryly, he had never felt so mentally chaotic before, all because of having doted… no, it wasn’t really doting, just pampering her a little, which made it so he could never handle her… maybe it’s another kind of…
Damn it! Now isn’t the time to think about that! He cursed harshly in his heart, picking up the robe from the floor, he draped it over Little Emma, and with as firm a tone as he could manage, said, “No, Emma, I can’t do this, now go back and get a good night’s sleep, forget about this when you wake up in the morning.”
“Why!” Little Emma suddenly screamed, jumping to the side and glaring at him with disbelief, like an enraged kitten.
“Because…” Adrian wanted to say it wasn’t legal, but Little Emma had clearly already thought about this, no wonder she’d suggested a trip to Spain. He hesitated for a few seconds before saying, “This is inappropriate.”
“Listen to me, Emma,” he knelt down and gripped Emma’s shoulders, “You’re being impulsive, do you understand? All these years, I’ve been taking care of you, it’s normal for you to rely on me, but this isn’t all there is to your life. Your life is long; in the future, you’re bound to meet a man who is better for you. He’ll try everything to make you happy, with his whole heart, he’ll base his happiness on your happiness, he will… give you everything he has. You should… date him, not… not me… not someone like me, a playboy.”
Despite Adrian’s efforts to persuade Little Emma, the more he spoke, the more he struggled to continue, the conflicting feelings left him surprisingly at a loss, as if… the originally chaotic emotions were forcibly being separated, forced to choose a side, but neither choice seemed right.
“Yes, I understand, but I think you might be confused…” Adrian wanted to keep trying to persuade.
“Don’t tell me I don’t know love or anything like that, I know what I feel!” She suddenly pushed his hands away, shouting loudly, “Who was it that kept comforting me when I was most helpless? Who patiently fulfilled my unreasonable demands, one after another? Who bathed me, dried my hair, dressed me, told me stories? I remember it all, I have never forgotten. Maybe when I was little, I didn’t think about it, but when I understood what I wanted, I never saw you as an outsider again!”
As she spoke passionately, tears glistened in the girl’s eyes, “Do you remember? When I was four, in the amusement park, what did I say to Kate? I said I wanted to be your woman, so everything has been decided since then, I’ve waited over ten years, and now I’ve finally waited, why do you still refuse me?!”
Adrian’s hand, which he wanted to use to comfort her, fell down powerlessly. He hadn’t expected Little Emma’s feelings would be this intense, and the more intense they were, the less he was able to make a decision.
“You need to understand, Emma, if… if… how would Kate see this? How would Lily see this? Kate watched you grow up, Lily grew up playing with you, they see you as a sister, they…” Adrian struggled to find the right words, scratching his head.
“I don’t care,” the girl resolutely stated, “No matter how others look at me, even if they call me cheap, wanton, shameless, even if the whole world condemns me, I don’t care!”
She widened her eyes, looking at Adrian with a pleading gaze, but he remained silent, the room quieted, and it was only after a long while that Adrian took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and spoke without daring to look at her, “I refuse!”
“Is this your decision?” Little Emma’s face turned somewhat pale, she stared steadfastly at Adrian, but he stood there with his arms crossed, never meeting her gaze.
“I understand,” the girl resignedly started to put on the robe again, and after fastening the belt, she coldly laughed, “It’s alright, if you don’t want me, someone else will. I think Eric or George would gladly have me as a guest, and those assistants wouldn’t refuse me either. Remember what I said? This is Spain; as long as it’s consensual, it’s lawful, and… from now on, whatever I do, don’t you worry about it anymore!”
With that, she straightened her pale face, slowly turning her body, one step, two steps, Little Emma finally reached the door. Just as she grasped the doorknob, an arm reached out from behind, encircling her waist, pulling her up in an instant. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian () to vote, your support is my greatest motivation.)