King of Hollywood-Chapter 225 - 224 A Conspiracy
Chapter 225: Chapter 224: A Conspiracy?
Chapter 225: Chapter 224: A Conspiracy?
Dong dong dong, the knocking on the door started, followed by mom’s voice, “Nata, it’s time to get up.”
“I’m getting dressed, Mom.” Natalie, who had already adjusted her emotions upon coming out of the washroom, replied through the door.
“Hurry up, darling, and don’t forget what you still have to do today,” her mother immediately added.
As Natalie was putting on her pants, she momentarily froze, nearly losing her balance, but thankfully she steadied herself in time by propping her foot on a stool, “Okay, Mom, give me five more minutes.”
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She took a deep breath and after telling herself “it’s nothing” several times in her head, Natalie finally calmed down again. She spent a few minutes getting dressed and tidied up a bit before heading out the door towards the stairs, only to find her legs going soft as soon as she reached the bottom – almost wanting to turn tail and flee back to her bedroom.
“Hey, Nata.” Adrian greeted her with a warm smile in the living room.
“Uh… hi, Adrian, I mean… Ed, it’s been… a long time.” Natalie’s eyes widened as she stammered her greeting, her body leaning back but with one foot stepping forward, looking very conflicted.
“Yeah, it’s been almost a week since we last met, you look much better,” Adrian’s smile was still kind.
It’s nothing, Nata, it’s nothing, just relax. He’s not going to eat you, right? Natalie reassured herself internally. Besides, what he did that day… it was quite normal, at most… it just shouldn’t have happened there.
Feeling her cheeks warm up, Natalie quickly collected her thoughts, took a step forward intending to say something to cover up, but then her gaze was drawn to something on Adrian’s shoulder. It was a little one, wearing a pink coat, curled up in Adrian’s arms, with her head buried in his shoulder, her golden-brown hair messily strung about, completely motionless.
“This is my friend’s daughter,” Adrian explained when he saw her like that, “I should have left her at the hotel, but the little tyke hasn’t seen me for so long, she follows me everywhere. Even when she’s still groggy from sleep, she prefers clinging to me instead of lying on the hotel bed.”
As he spoke, he showed a disheartened expression, causing Natalie to chuckle unintentionally. The little girl in Adrian’s arms suddenly lifted her head, seemingly awakened by the laugh, with a sleepy and bewildered look, her round, chubby cheeks making her extremely adorable. She looked around, noticing nothing of significance – perhaps she couldn’t really see anything – and then crawled back onto Adrian to continue sleeping, all the while nuzzling her head against his neck and mumbling, leaving Adrian with no choice but to roll his eyes as she wriggled about. Natalie almost laughed out loud again, but managed to cover her mouth in time.
Her mood had improved quite a bit before she realized it.
“I assume you haven’t had breakfast yet, Ed. Why don’t we eat something together?” Shelly came out from the kitchen with a plate, followed by her husband Evan.
“Yes, Ed, breakfast is important. Join us,” Evan invited.
“Thank you, you all are too kind,” Adrian didn’t refuse and sat down at the dining table with the little one in tow.
“Maybe put her on the sofa, so you can eat more comfortably,” Natalie said, pointing to the little girl in Adrian’s arms, utterly oblivious that she was sitting next to him.
“I bet the moment I put her on the sofa, she’ll pop right up and start crying and clinging to me,” Adrian said with a wry smile, shaking his head, “It’s like she has a radar inside her body. As long as I’m in range, she can sense it.”
“Why?” Shelly looked curious, “I mean, why is she so attached to you?”
“Well, that’s a long story…” Adrian sighed, and indulged the half-asleep girl in his arms, who uttered a sound and swatted away his hand unconsciously, shifted a bit, and then fell back asleep.
After chuckling lightly, Adrian looked up to see a family of three watching him curiously. He thought for a few minutes and then began to speak: “Her name is Emma, Emma Watson, she is…”
His story was simple and not overly sentimental, yet it still caused both women to widen their eyes.
“You are a good man, Ed,” Shelly commented with admiration.
Although Natalie said nothing, the way she looked at Adrian had changed a great deal.
“May the Lord have mercy on this child,” Evan also spoke up then, conveying sincerity in his tone. His expression was always calm, but that didn’t mean his emotions were flat.
“Alright, let’s have breakfast. I’ve been rushing over since I got up and am starving,” Adrian said with a cheeky grin, trying to lighten the mood. “As for the little one, just let her be. Once she wakes up, she’ll naturally look for something to eat.”
After breakfast, Natalie bid farewell to her parents and went with Adrian to the set. He had come over to her place early in the morning just to pick her up and start filming. According to Adrian, they had already delayed too much and had to work doubly hard to catch up.
But Natalie felt that something was off. Even though Emma’s story had made her let down her guard around Adrian a lot…well, it wasn’t exactly letting down her guard. After that bathroom incident, especially while she was peeping and still…in short, her feelings towards him were complicated: intimate, funny, agreeable, disgusting, tempting, and so on. She couldn’t even make sense of it herself, not to mention those spring dreams that made her even more uncomfortable.
If it wasn’t for him bringing a little girl along this time, along with that whole story, maybe the discomfort that she had managed to suppress after a few days of rest would have resurfaced.
What on earth does Adrian want to do? Even if he needs to hurry up with shooting, does he really need to come to her home specifically? And so early too. Natalie brooded. The mysterious smile on her mother’s face when she left made her feel that something was amiss; they seemed to be hiding something from her.
“Are you mute?” A soft voice suddenly sounded in her ear. She immediately turned her head to look at the big, round eyes that were staring at her unblinkingly. The focus of those eyes was nestled in Adrian’s arms, clutching a box of milk and taking sips with a good amount smeared around her mouth, like a big flower cat.
The little one was obviously Emma, who had been sleeping in Adrian’s arms for a while at Natalie’s house. She had been in a daze the whole time there, as if she could never get enough sleep, until they left in the car and were almost out of Long Island before she finally woke up.
Even so, she still seemed dazed. However, when Adrian carefully wiped her face with a wet tissue, she immediately became alert and began giggling as she tried to grab Adrian’s hand, starting her mischief. Adrian would occasionally put on a fierce look, warning her that he would punish her severely if she didn’t let him wipe her face, but this only made the little rascal more brazen. The sight of a grown man and a little girl, not even three years old, playfully scuffling was unexpectedly warm and charming.
“Ed, looks like she’s still deaf,” the little girl, who had been lip-biting and waiting for a response for a long time, said disappointedly as she looked up at Adrian.
Catching on, Natalie stared at the little girl somewhat amusedly and looked at Adrian, trying hard not to laugh before she said deliberately, “I’m sorry, Emma, but I’m neither mute nor deaf.”
“Then, why didn’t you say anything?” Emma pouted, seeming rather unhappy.
“You didn’t even give me a chance to speak,” Natalie retorted with raised eyebrows and crossed arms before realizing how silly it was of her to argue with a little girl.
Emma couldn’t come up with an answer, she was only a little one, barely three years old, but she fully played her cards, turning her head away, lifting her chin, closing her eyes, and snorting with her nose: “Stinker!”
Natalie blinked in astonishment, a wave of irritation surged through her, but just as she was about to come back with a sharp retort, Adrian suddenly burst into laughter. His laughter was like a bucket of cold water poured over Natalie’s head, quickly sobering her. She gave Adrian and then Emma a weird look before turning her head to gaze out the car window, remaining silent.
What the hell is going on with me? Why do I feel so off balance? All because of…that damn…incident?! Natalie inwardly questioned herself, but these were questions destined to remain unanswered. Glancing back, Adrian seemed to be pondering something, and the little one was holding her cheeks, looking at her with interest, probably scheming something.
Forget it, don’t think too much. Natalie rolled her eyes and looked out the window again. As for any potential “conspiracy,” well, she would deal with it when it came.
Soon they arrived at the set. As soon as they got out of the car, Natalie was startled by the sight of quite a few reporters with cameras surrounding them. As soon as they saw Adrian, they swarmed over.
“Mr. Adrian, are you really dating Julia?”
“What’s your take on Julia’s statement?”
“What do you think of Julia, Mr. Adrian?”
But staff quickly came to separate them. Adrian also hugged Emma, pressing her head into his chest while striding inside and calling out loudly, “Okay, gentlemen, we have a child here, please be mindful!”
Natalie followed hastily, stepping into the apartment used for filming amidst the cacophony of camera clicks.
“What happened?” Natalie asked once they were in the elevator.
“Haven’t you been keeping up with the entertainment news lately?” Adrian seemed a bit surprised.
“I have enough on my plate as it is, no time to look at that stuff,” Natalie shrugged.
“Then that’s great; you don’t need to know,” Adrian laughed heartily, but to Natalie, there was a slightly annoying undertone.
(To be continued. For the continuation of this story, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
