Chapter 838: Chapter 244: Family Dinner
“Frankly speaking, I never thought I’d meet your father under such circumstances.” Adrian said somewhat gloomily, looking out the window at the street view.
“Then under what circumstances would you like to meet my dad? When Mary starts school, or graduates from university?” Jessica asked in return, causing Adrian to freeze.
“I knew it, Ed, you never thought about it.” Jessica sighed with a hint of complaint, “If it were possible, you’d definitely hope my dad would never find out… that his daughter has already become a child’s mother.”
“Alright, I admit, I really overlooked this,” Adrian grabbed one of her hands and raised his other hand, “But I absolutely never thought of never telling your father, such a thing can’t be hidden forever, the sooner we tell them, the better chance we have of gaining his understanding. Well, what I mean is, maybe Joshua letting it slip was a good thing for us.”
“Really?” Jessica blinked, “You won’t blame Joshua for this, would you?”
“No, I promise.” Adrian said earnestly, then glanced outside at the street, cleared his throat, and with a nonchalant demeanor asked, “By the way, you said your dad almost went back to his room to get his gun upon finding out you already have a child, is that true?”
Jessica immediately laughed, her eyes curving like crescents, with a hint of smugness, very cute.
“Don’t worry, Ed,” she dragged out her words as if she found his weak spot, “My dad is generally very kind, just quite serious, remember not to shift your gaze when looking him in the eye, otherwise he might think you’re guilty.”
Her mouth opened wide, even showing her white pearly teeth. Under normal circumstances, Adrian couldn’t resist teasing with his mouth, but now he just raised his brows: “Alright.”
Soon, the car arrived at the destination, after giving the driver some instructions and taking out the gift he brought—a pricey bottle of Chateau Vineyard red wine—Adrian then walked with Jessica to the door and rang the bell. Soon, footsteps sounded from the other side of the door, followed by Joshua appearing in front of them, making a very obvious sigh of relief.
“Hi, Ed, welcome to our home.” Joshua greeted warmly, then blinked at them, mouthing “be careful.”
“Hello, Joshua, happy to see you.” Adrian nodded and entered the room with Jessica.
The living room wasn’t big, and at a glance you could see Jessica’s mother Catherine Alba playing with Mary beside the sofa, while sitting on the chair next to them with a smile watching them was Jessica’s father, Mark Alba.
“Daddy.” Mary immediately noticed the presence of her parents and promptly called out crisply, then dropped the toy in her hands, raised her arms and wobbled over.
“Hey, Mary,” Adrian smiled, squatted down and picked her up, then gave her chubby little cheek a playful bite. The little one, over three years old, was at her cutest, “Did you have fun at grandma and grandpa’s?”
“Yes, grandma tells great stories, just as good as dad, but grandpa doesn’t like to smile.” The little one said in her childish voice while looking towards the Alba couple.
Having stood up, Mark had changed from his previous smile to a stern face, looking at Adrian with a very unfriendly gaze, seemingly very disgusted with him, and not hiding it at all. Catherine, on the other hand, maintained a courteous smile, but her eyes were rather complex, exhibiting some worry and helplessness.
Adrian was just about to speak but warily leaned his head back, causing the little one who was trying to sneak some cheeky fun to miss the target.
“Mary, what did I say before? This isn’t a good habit.” Adrian glared at his daughter, who didn’t manage to bite him but wasn’t bothered at all and just giggled continuously.
“Is Dad’s ear really… that tasty?” Adrian asked somewhat annoyed, she liked to nibble on his cheek ever since she was only a few months old, and she still couldn’t break the habit now at over three years old, really exasperating.
“Uh-huh.” Mary immediately nodded vigorously as if wound up, her mischievous and adorable look made everyone around laugh, except Mark Alba. Well, he did manage to pull up a corner of his mouth, but his gaze while looking at Adrian was still very hostile.
“Jessie, are you sure Mary’s hobby isn’t inherited from you?” Adrian turned to Jessica.
“Why not you?” Jessica asked back with a grin, “We don’t have this hobby in our family, but—”
She reached to take her daughter from his arms: “I always thought, it’s Mary’s way to make up for me, she knows mama has been wronged, and she wants to get justice for mama.”
Adrian rolled his eyes, sneaking a glance at the smirking Joshua, then extended his hand to Jessica’s mother: “Hello, Catherine, I’m sorry for not visiting sooner. Please call me Adrian or Ed.”
“Hello, Adrian.” Catherine still maintained her complex yet polite smile as she shook his hand.
“Hello, Mark…” Adrian then turned to Mark, who snorted: “I don’t think our relationship has reached that point.”
But soon Catherine gently nudged her husband, making Mark reluctantly hold his hand: “Suit yourself.”
“Thank you.” Adrian maintained composure, but only after releasing his hand did he inwardly breathe a sigh, the other had applied quite some force on his hand, not enough to make him yelp, but not pleasant. Mark’s physique, although slightly shorter than his, was quite strong due to his service in the military, plus having relatively dark skin, standing in front of him was rather intimidating, it seemed tonight’s dinner wouldn’t be easy.
Despite the attitude Mark Alba showed that initially froze the atmosphere in the living room, under Catherine Alba’s adjustment, it slowly became lively again, coupled with Mark’s restraint to continue showing his clear distaste towards Adrian without saying anything outright rude, it remained relatively harmonious all the way to dinner.
“Frankly speaking, it’s not easy because everyone knows Film Academy dislikes non-reality works. But it’s not without any chance, Film Academy has been striving for change and trying to appear less rigid these past two years, incorporating young people. So I do have some confidence.” Adrian said while eating the reasonably hearty dinner, taking the opportunity Joshua created to bring up the Oscar topic, explaining his work to Catherine.
Since temporarily communicating with the father is difficult, starting with the mother was better. In fact, he’s been subtly trying to win over Catherine through words the entire evening, which indeed had some effect though it also made Catherine look at him with… the gaze of a mother-in-law.
“Sounds great,” Catherine said with a smile, raising her glass, “maybe we should toast to you, wishing you could set a new record.”
“Thank you.” Adrian also raised his glass, took a sip, and naturally picked up a napkin to wipe Mary’s mouth sitting next to him.
“Watch out for that chin, and why haven’t you eaten any beans?” After wiping her, Adrian gently tapped on her plate.
“I don’t like it.” Mary pouted and shook her head in a playful manner.
“That’s not acceptable, I’ve already given you very little, you can’t just not eat any.” Adrian wagged his finger, looking like a good father.
“But sister said we have to resist the bad daddy.” Mary still pouted, her serious expression making Joshua and the others burst into laughter.
“Alright, Mary, if that’s the case, you have two choices: fail to resist, or fail and pay a price, a big price.” Adrian “threatened,” causing the little one to blink, and after a moment, reluctantly picked up her spoon and scooped some beans from the plate into her mouth.
“That’s a good girl.” Adrian praised her and then shifted his attention back to the table, just catching Catherine’s not-so-happy expression.
This wasn’t surprising, as Mary had already mentioned the sister several times before, and he and Jessica only had one child, so it’s obvious who the sister is. Even if Catherine liked Adrian because he was charming, she probably wouldn’t be too happy in this situation. But it’s okay; winning over Catherine alone wouldn’t solve the problem.
“So, Adrian,” Mark spoke up, his gaze fixed on Adrian, “as Hollywood’s playboy, what do you think?”
“That’s the truth.” Adrian shrugged, not avoiding it at all, “I am indeed a playboy.”
“Still now?” Mark raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Adrian remained nonchalant, even though Jessica glanced at him, “dating different women always sparks many ideas for me, which then become works. For example, ‘Save the Last Dance,’ which initially was just a regular dance story. After I came up with a concept and passed it to other writers, I didn’t think about it anymore, but through continuous contact with Jessie, some of her feelings suddenly reminded me of that concept, and thus, the story everyone saw in the theater came to be. I still really like the dance Jessie did at the end, it was outstanding.”
After he finished speaking, he responded with a smile to Jessica, who slightly her lowered her head, the corner of her mouth curving up, still seemingly fond of those days.
Adrian spoke sincerely, and at least the facts seemed to be indeed such, but as parents, the Alba couple would not accept this view. However, they couldn’t refute it either, because no one fits that description better than he does. Many directors in Hollywood claim that women are their sources of inspiration, people like Roman Polanski, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, have said as much, but compared to Adrian, they were minor in comparison.
Setting aside the inspiration related to Jessica, and not mentioning the women who became famous because of him, or the continuous flow of ideas he provided to the entire group, the fact that he had five Oscar-winning actresses within five years was enough to make many people take note. Even though this and deceiving their daughter are two different matters, facing strong facts make it difficult to speak up at once—are they supposed to make a scene without elegance? Let’s not forget, they “invited” him over.
Thus, Mark calmly asked another question: “You don’t have plans to get married, do you?”
“I used to, but now, it’s impossible.” Adrian was still very sincere.
This statement lowered the room’s atmosphere, Catherine remained silent, Jessica fell into some thoughts, and Joshua’s eyes darted around as if wanting to say something, but he ultimately held back. The dinner ended like this, and after tidying the table and lingering in the living room for a few minutes, Adrian then went with Mark to an upstairs room for… a man-to-man conversation.
“I don’t like it, Cowell, not one bit.” As soon as they entered the room, Mark Alba spoke bluntly, even changing the address.
“I can understand, Mark,” Adrian smiled indifferently, “if Mary grew up and got involved with a playboy, even having a child at 18, I’d be furious too, wanting to kill him.”
A simple sentence blocked off all Mark wanted to say; regardless, they did “invite” him over, even if reluctantly. So even if he initially wanted to take a gun and shoot after knowing, he should be calm by now, and Adrian had no need to show weakness to Mark, as he wasn’t Jessica.
“I’ve done some investigation, Cowell, I believe there are many other girls like Jessie who have been deceived by you.” Mark said after staring at him for a while.
“I think you used the wrong word,” Adrian wagged his finger, “I never deceived Jessie; she’s clear about everything concerning me.”
“Jessie is my daughter, I understand her well, she’s not the kind of flippant girl. I have reason to believe you hinted or threatened her, forcing her to be with you,” Mark said sternly.
“Initially there was a little, I never deny that. If Jessie wanted to leave, I wouldn’t stop her, I’d wish her well,” Adrian spread his hands, “Of course, Mary is my child, I won’t hand her over to anyone.”
“Finally admitted?” Mark sneered and pressed on, “I’m not unfamiliar with young rich playboys like you. Once you fancy a girl, you’d pursue relentlessly, but when you’re bored, you’d irresponsibly discard her, so don’t act innocent in front of me, boy!”
Adrian narrowed his eyes, really disliking Mark’s attitude. Who did he think Adrian was, a criminal?
“I believe you know well, Mark, that what I have with Jessie is legal,” he raised an eyebrow and raised a finger before the other could speak, “Do you know, when Jessie came and told me about her unintended pregnancy, there was actually a better solution: find a hospital for an abortion. I believe with my resources, finding a hospital and doctor who’d keep quiet wouldn’t be difficult, and being only three weeks pregnant, it wouldn’t be too troublesome. Then I could pay Jessie some compensation for her welfare and never see each other again, and you might never know what she went through!”
Mark’s face quickly darkened.
“But I never thought of that,” Adrian said quickly, “not even for a second; it has nothing to do with Catholicism or whether an embryo is life. From the start, my decision was based on what to do after the child’s birth, no matter what, what’s inside Jessie was my child. I wouldn’t let my child wander outside. You can accuse me of being a playboy, a bastard, blame me for lack of morals, but you absolutely cannot say I’m irresponsible! Absolutely not!”
His rapid yet strong words left Mark speechless.
“Pardon me, Mark, maybe you’re concerned about Jessie, but from my perspective, you are at most half a qualified father.” Adrian also became increasingly blunt, “Yes, you educated her well. Frankly, Jessie may like to party, but she holds herself to higher standards in Hollywood than most girls, that’s thanks to you and Catherine’s efforts. However, you don’t understand what she truly wants inside.”
“You say I don’t understand what my daughter wants?” Mark frowned but Adrian continued without regard, “I remember when I first met Jessie. She was just standing there, in the studio, in front of the camera, yearning to show her charm, eager to gain recognition. But at the same time, she was very afraid; what if she messed up? What if nobody liked her? She was so eager to perform yet so scared, worried and lacking security. That contradictory feeling immediately attracted me, and that led to ‘Save the Last Dance’.”
He took a breath as he spoke, “Jessie told me stories of her childhood: illness, extended hospital stays, constant relocations, lack of friends, and also, her parents were overly strict. I’m not saying this was wrong, obviously, kids need discipline, but you also can’t make them feel trapped like they’re in a bird cage, looking at the clouds yet afraid to spread their wings to fly. This is a communication issue, Mark, fathers are a child’s role model. They might be rebellious or disobedient as they grow, but the father’s image is an imprint that remains. Hence, whether they’re willing to communicate, if they can pour out their heart, hinges on past communication methods.”
Mark’s expression fluctuated.
“Perhaps you think, my playful interaction with Mary today was to impress you, for a favorable impression,” Adrian continued unabatedly, “but you are wrong, I’ve always communicated with Mary this way. I communicate like this with all children; I consider myself capable of being a good father.”
“You can’t protect Jessie forever, you can’t always constrain her with your rules, Mark, but you can be the umbrella that appears to shield her from storms when needed.” He concluded at last. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)