King of Hollywood-Chapter 416 - 138 Is This Possible?

"I said countless good things about you in front of my mother today..." Returning to the hotel in the evening, Kate spoke while removing her makeup in front of the dressing mirror, her tone bearing a hint of coquettishness and an air of seeking credit amidst her complaints and sighs.

Hidden so deeply, even Kate herself might not have realized it, only someone as attuned to the thoughts of women as Adrian could detect it, which revealed Kate’s conflicting emotions.

"So, how would you like me to thank you?" Adrian walked over, leaned down to her ear with a mischievous smile, and casually slid his hand beneath her silk nightgown.

Although Kate furrowed her brows slightly, she didn’t stop him and instead turned to gaze at him, "I don’t understand, Ed, why am I so tolerant of you?"

Adrian paused his movements, then after a moment, kissed her earlobe, "No, Kate, you’re very clear-minded. You tolerate me because deep down you still care a great deal about me, just as I care about you."

Then, before Kate could speak, he placed his finger on her lips, "I still remember, as if it just happened yesterday, the way you defiantly retorted without any reservation, and that... prank. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it in my lifetime. I once had some regrets because those traits that belong to you are also what attract me. I flattened them out with my own hands, because I wanted to keep you by my side. But now it doesn’t matter anymore, as long as I can keep you, I don’t care what methods I used. I never hide my desire, you are mine, Kate, understand? You are mine!"

As he spoke, he continuously kissed her eyelashes, forehead, nose tip, and lips. Kate closed her eyes as if she was struggling, but her movements appeared so feeble.

"You’re a scoundrel..."

"Yes, I am."

"You’re a rogue..."

"Yes, I am."

"You’re a bastard..."

"Yes, I am."

In this back-and-forth exchange, Kate was carried to the bed, and it wasn’t until Adrian undid her nightgown and flipped her over that she realized what he intended to do.

"No... Ed... you can’t..."

"Be good, we haven’t tried this in a while, today you’re not going to refuse."

"Lily is still here..."

"Lily is with the nanny, don’t worry."

"But... but... ah!"

During the four or five days in London, aside from encouraging his daughter to bond with her grandmother, Adrian also took her to visit many familiar faces, such as Rowling and her daughter, as well as the Knightley family. The little one was popular everywhere they went; Rowling and the Knightley couple all said she was adorable, and even Keira, who was still somewhat awkward, especially enjoyed teasing her.

Of course, a certain girl Adrian always made a point to see in London was not to be missed, and this was her first time meeting with her imagined rival.

"Lily eats in such a funny way," Emma commented, focusing intently on her while Adrian personally fed the little one.

Yes, imagined rival, because ever since Rodlin’s child was born, she inevitably had these worries, although she never mentioned them, Adrian could tell. However, upon actually meeting, Emma harbored no other thoughts; and the usually unfazed Lily, seemed to have some sense about her, not laughing much when played with by Emma, rather staring at her with big curious eyes.

"What’s so strange?" Adrian asked nonchalantly after wiping the dribbled food from his daughter’s mouth, "Didn’t you eat like this when you were her age?"

"Of course not, at least not when I was with you," Emma retorted righteously, "I remember it very clearly!"

"What about even before that?" Adrian laughed, "I don’t believe you can remember back to those times."

"I certainly do, I even..." Emma stopped mid-sentence and her expression suddenly changed for the worse. Realizing what he had done, Adrian immediately put down the bowl and spoon in his hands, pulled the girl into his arms, and gently patted her back: "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that, I’m really very sorry."

After leaning against him for a good while, Emma managed to control her emotions. She still looked somewhat sad, but her smile had returned to her face: "It’s OK, as long as... as long as you’re here."

Sitting next to them, Lily watched her dad and big sister with bright, shining eyes. Although she didn’t understand what had happened, her intuition led her to show her concern, so she began calling out "Emma."

"Wow, she actually called my name!" Emma exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course, I might have had her practice that a bit," Adrian said with slight pride.

"Well then, Lily, I’ve decided I like you," Emma said with her hands on her hips, nodding at the little one, then hugged her and kissed her chubby cheek, only to let out a scream immediately after.

The reason was that Lily, having been kissed, giggled and returned the kiss—she was in the middle of eating after all. No need to elaborate on the messiness of a child eating, so Emma’s cheek ended up smeared with a mix of saliva and food.

"Lily, you naughty girl!" Emma protested, waving her fists at the little one, who simply continued to giggle in response.

After this incident, the two girls got along even better; Emma often flipped through picture books and read stories to Lily, who followed Emma and practiced her baby speech.

"Emma has grown even more mature," said Kate, who had observed all this, privately commenting to Adrian.

"Yeah, some things just can’t be changed," Adrian echoed thoughtfully.

Emma had started elementary school, not only getting along well with her classmates but also often being praised by her teachers for her intelligence. Yet, her maturity beyond her years never faded, even though she became as lively as her peers. It only disappeared at certain times, like when she complained that Kate couldn’t sleep with her anymore.

"Who I sleep with is my business. I don’t care about anything else. I’m just a child; you handle those other things," she would say with remarkable cheekiness at such times.

Let’s not dwell on that, though. Because his stay in London had been quite pleasant, Adrian decided to extend his vacation by another two or three days before returning. Only to find that as soon as he informed his team in Los Angeles of this decision, Charlize showed up in London the next day.

"These are all documents that must be signed by you to take effect. Do you know how many people are waiting on these?" Charlize, looking somewhat tired from the flight, dumped the files in front of him and asked with a stern face, "Do you realize how much is wasted by pushing back the arrangements you’ve made previously? Even if you’re rich enough not to care about these things, what about the time?"

"Cough cough, alright, Charli, it was only a two-day delay," Adrian coughed dryly.

"Only? Just?" Charlize looked at him scornfully, "What did you once tell me, Ed? Wasting other people’s time is like committing a crime! Do you know how many times you’ve already ’killed’ me?!"

"Calm down, Charli, calm down. Let’s handle the urgent matters first," Adrian quickly raised his hands, then glanced sideways at Kate, who was trying not to laugh.

Although Charlize looked like she had more to say, as his assistant secretary, she also knew the priorities of business and promptly pulled out the most important documents.

"Let me see... personnel adjustments... the merger of Marvel’s departments... haha, looks like Eisner is making big moves again... oh, this does need to be expedited..." As Adrian mumbled to himself, he quickly went through the small stack of documents and signed his name on them. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

"Kate, it looks like I won’t be able to accompany you today," Adrian casually took the next batch of documents Charlize handed him, "Why don’t you take Lily... wait, these don’t need to be finished right now, do they?"

The last sentence was directed at Charlize, and the female secretary immediately took an envelope out of the briefcase and handed it in front of him, "This is a private letter from Claude to you, he said that after you read it, you might not come back to Los Angeles for a while."

"Really?" Adrian raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, took it, and started to read immediately; before he finished, the corner of his mouth started to twist, and his expression turned to one of amusement mixed with disbelief.

"Wait a second," Adrian said to Kate and Charlize and then took out his phone to make a call in the next room.

"Hey, Claude, am I disturbing you? Good, then what the hell does that damned letter say exactly... is clear? What’s so clear about it?! What do you mean I’m most suited for this?! I look like... no, no, no, this isn’t an excuse, you’re just being lazy, I don’t believe... damn it, my movie still has one last bit to... alright, you sure are thorough, Claude, I’ll notate this and we’ll settle up later! That’s it."

With a snap of his phone shutting, Adrian rolled his eyes and paced the room twice before stepping back out. He immediately sensed something off – Charlize was sitting in a chair, resting with closed eyes due to jet lag, while Kate was on the sofa across the room, holding Lily and gazing out the window, lost in thought.

"Did something happen between you two?" Adrian asked, not bothering to sugarcoat it given the special nature of both women.

"Nothing much, Kate just thinks I wasn’t very nice to you before," Charlize said with a half-smile, opening her eyes.

"No, I was just..." Kate turned her head and gestured, "I just think it’s not very good of Charli, it’s fine in front of me, but it might cause gossip if others saw."

"Thank you, I’ve got enough rumors about me as it is, besides, those rumors are based on facts, aren’t they?" Charlize said with interest as she looked at her.

Kate frowned as if she wanted to say more, but Adrian quickly interjected, "Come on, you two, you used to get along well, why are you at odds now?"

"It’s because I don’t want to give you an opportunity," Charlize spoke up before Kate could reply, sounding quite assertive.

"Charli!" Adrian called out, rolling his eyes, while Kate looked indignant, having realized something.

"I think I should also be heading back to Los Angeles," she said, standing up, "Lily has been out for too long, and I need to prepare for the continued shooting of ’A Time to Kill.’"

After speaking, she left the room. Adrian didn’t stop her; he just watched Charlize irritably and then said after a while, "Kate was just concerned about you."

"I know," Charlize shrugged, "I was just stating a fact—of course, if you think..."

"Charli!" Adrian cut her off more forcefully, knowing what she intended to say.

Charlize fell silent and looked at him with her gray-green eyes for a while before standing up and sighing, "Alright, I apologize."

Adrian shrugged, then flashed a mischievous smile, "I don’t want just a verbal apology, so..."

"I need to get over jet lag, please don’t disturb me," Charlize shot him a look, then walked toward the suite’s inner room.

"Really... I never really thought about it... but if it could actually..." Having returned to the sofa, Adrian shook his head and continued to go through the documents Charlize brought.

Since Kate had a private plane, she packed her things and left with Lily. She wasn’t really angry; she knew too well what kind of person her man was the one who "possessed" her. Although Adrian sent them off calmly, he was still somewhat displeased inside, so it was inevitable that Charlize would bear the brunt.

"This is... your own doing... Charli!" Adrian pinned Charlize down on the long table in the hotel suite, flipping through the documents on her back as he engaged in his activity.

Charlize couldn’t do anything except daze and moan in sync, but it seemed she was enjoying it; perhaps her earlier behavior was deliberate.

But two days later, she boarded the plane back, as there were matters in Los Angeles that needed her attention, and she had to act as Adrian’s eyes, ears, and representative.

"What am I supposed to do here? It’ll be at least five or six days before I can return, and you are my assistant secretary," Adrian said, unhappy with her decision.

"All the work I needed to handle is almost done; there’s nothing left for me here. If it really can’t be helped, you could go to France or Italy," Charlize replied lightly. She was all too aware of his intentions, "Of course, you could also hope that within this period, the papers needing to be dealt with pile up to the extent that I must come over; however, I will do my utmost to push that timeframe back."

As she spoke that last sentence, her slightly smug expression seemed rather playful. After all, she was still just a young girl not yet 22. If Adrian hadn’t trusted her and given her free rein to handle these matters, she wouldn’t have grown so much at this age.

Adrian, of course, had no choice but to let her leave. The nature of his relationship with Charlize had always been subtle and difficult to define. Although every woman by his side was special, she was indeed different. Adrian sometimes found it incredible himself why he trusted her so much, having entrusted her with most matters and never really holding anything back from her. He had to admit, this mutual understanding, albeit deeply concealed, was indeed fantastic.

Following this, he spent three or four days idle in London—though not entirely without tasks, at least there was Emma, who, learning of Kate’s departure, immediately used various methods to have him stay at Rodlin’s house and then slid into his bed.

"Damn it, what am I supposed to say about you, Emma?" Adrian sighed after the girl had fallen into a deep sleep.

As time moved into mid-January ’97, the opportunity mentioned in Claude’s letter finally arrived.

"Sir, your invitation," said the butler, bowing slightly at the door.

An impeccably dressed Adrian nodded reservedly, taking the invitation out of his coat pocket and handing it to the attendant.

After checking it, the butler respectfully returned it to him, "Enjoy your evening."

Adrian maintained his reserved nod and then entered the hall, only allowing himself a slight sigh of relief once he merged into the crowd, followed by a self-mocking smile within.

He didn’t dislike parties; whether in Los Angeles or New York, he often attended soirees hosted by his uncle and The Godfather. As the new Chairman of AC Media, he frequently interacted with the élite—senators, mayors, district attorneys, Wall Street tycoons—and still chatted amiably with them. He just found that internal... English parties were simply too reserved.

If he went back in time a few decades further, it was likely top hats and tailcoats would be required. While holding a champagne and circulating courteously in the hall, greeting a few strangers appropriately, Adrian muttered to himself in criticism. If he had known it would be like this, he might as well have gone directly to Germany.

Soon, he spotted his target—around 5 feet 9 inches tall, wearing an amethyst-hued short-sleeved evening gown, with soft, golden hair draping down. She was very beautiful and very sexy.

"Quite enchanting, isn’t she?" a voice said nearby, and Adrian nodded subconsciously, replying, "Yes, very enchanting."

But he quickly glanced to the side with an inconspicuous alertness, noting that a man who looked to be between 35 and 45 years of age had appeared beside him, with somewhat plain features, the kind that would go unnoticed in a crowd, wearing an approachable smile that easily earned goodwill.

"May I ask who you are?" Adrian asked tentatively.

"Vincent Price, Jasmine Service Company," the man introduced himself, concurrently presenting his business card.

"Jasmine Service Company? May I know what specifically you do?" Adrian asked with curiosity, flipping over the business card in his hand which was meticulous yet simple, with nothing more than a name, company name, and a contact number.

Price smiled and didn’t answer directly, instead, he pointed at the lady Adrian had been watching earlier and repeated his earlier words, "She’s very enchanting, isn’t she?"

"Yes, very enchanting," Adrian acknowledged with a nod.

"Every man wants her," Price continued with a smile, "they just don’t know how to get her."

"Oh?" Adrian raised an eyebrow. Although his expression didn’t change, he was genuinely surprised inside, thinking to himself if this guy was some kind of pimp.

He looked from Price back to the distant lady, feeling slightly amused and puzzled. Could it be possible? Knowing that was Claudia Schiffer, after all. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com with a recommendation ticket or monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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