"Watch carefully, three and two." Lily put the cards in her hand on the table, then looked at her father proudly and shook the rest of the cards in her hand. "Call the police, there are only two cards left."
"En … pass." Adriaan frowned and glanced at the cards in his hand, then said in a helpless tone, then looked at Kate sitting across from him.
"Don't." Kate said in a calm tone, there was still no expression on her delicate face, and at the same time, she put the cards in her hand on the coffee table.
“Yes！ One against three! " The little fellow shouted happily, slamming the cards in her hand on the coffee table, then giggled and couldn't wait to pick up the note on the other side. She was about to stick it on her father's face, and even waved her arms, "Hurry up, hurry up, don't be shameless, Dad!"
"Do you like to do this so much, Lily?" Adrian couldn't help but ask. Apart from his eyes, the rest of his face was covered with strips of paper. The strips hung down like a box in a shredder on his head.
"Don't be so long-winded, wait for me to stick it on." The little fellow shouted with dissatisfaction, sticking out her tongue to lick the note back and forth several times. After her saliva soaked one end, she carefully observed her father's face, and after finding the right position, she raised her hand and stuck the note on his right temple.
"Since this is a game invented by Dad, of course, I should try it a few more times." After doing all this and carefully observing, Lily clapped her hands in satisfaction.
Adrian didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he looked at his daughter's smug face. Alright, I shouldn't have taught her how to play Landlord and stick paper slips as punishment. But … He couldn't help but glance at Kate, who also had paper slips on her face, but the number was far less than his. She was still calmly shuffling the cards, but the corner of her mouth was slightly raised.
"Okay, baby, it's time to sleep, it's very late." Adriaan said. The little fellow shrugged and raised her hands to her father.
"How old are you? Do you still need me to carry you to the bedroom?" Even so, he still picked up his daughter, kissed her on the cheek, and walked upstairs.
He came to the little fellow's bedroom, made the bed for her, and supervised her to wash up. He didn't get up and leave until she climbed into bed. "Good night, dear, have a sweet dream."
"Dad." Lily suddenly stopped him, her eyes flickering in the dark room. "Will you stay here tonight?"
"This …" Adriaan scratched his head. "It's up to your mother to decide."
"Alright!" The little fellow sighed. "When will you be able to persuade Mama to go back? Not at all like my father. "
"Oh?" Adriaan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What does Dad usually look like?"
"Well …" Lily was about to say something when she suddenly showed a vigilant look. She looked at her father up and down and suddenly pulled the quilt over her head. "I'm going to sleep."
Blinking his eyes, Adrian chuckled and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Well, even if the little fellow didn't say it, he could guess it. The big bad guy always bullied his mother, always controlled everything, and thought he was omnipotent, balbalbal … These were either from Lily's own conclusions, or from the indoctrination of Kate or Charlize. They were not objective at all, but …
Adriaan suddenly realized that this was a big problem. It was not a big problem now, but when the little fellow reached the rebellious stage, it would be hard to say. From a certain point of view, the growth of a child was a process of killing his parents. From being obedient to his parents, to establishing his own personality and worldview step by step, this process was bound to constantly deny his parents.
Everyone was an independent individual, and no one was born to belong to anyone. Even for children and parents, Adriaan could only tie women to his side by using all kinds of means, coupled with halo after halo and powerful power. Therefore, family education was very important. It was related to whether a child could grow up to be an outstanding person. Parents always wanted their child to grow up in the way they planned for her, because it was good for her, but children preferred to see the world with their own eyes, even if it was wrong, because they were an independent individual. This was all a kind of instinct.
Therefore, if it was not handled well, conflict was inevitable. Adriaan had been very careful to create a dignified, kind, and communicative father image in front of Lily and his daughters. It seemed that the last two points were done well, but the first point … Who asked the children to have so many aunts?
In this kind of situation, Adriaan would not be able to accurately grasp the mental state of his daughters. When the time came, it was hard to say how Lily would change when she entered the rebellious phase. At that time, if the matter between him and little Emma was accidentally revealed …
He, Kate, and little Emma separately agreed not to tell Lily what happened between his father and big sister Emma. No one could predict the little fellow's reaction. Although she was precocious, she was still a little young. Therefore, in order to prevent any unforeseen events, they agreed to keep it a secret for the time being. It would not be too late to talk about it when she was a little older and had a more complete worldview.
"Even so, she's still a ticking time bomb," Adriaan mumbled as he walked downstairs.
"What are you talking about?" Kate, who was still tidying up the living room, raised his head and asked.
"Hmm … Nothing!" Of course, Adriaan would not mention this at this time, "I'm talking about the media. They always like to exaggerate everything, even the most famous newspapers and magazines."
"Aren't they your dogs?" Kite said sarcastically.
"Not all of them." Adriaan shrugged, "If I knew those guys would write my name on it, I would have listened to them carefully and not just nodded casually."
"You reap what you sow." Kate glanced at her, the sarcasm in his tone getting stronger.
Adriaan could not help but roll his eyes. After so long, she was still so rude. But then again, this was indeed reaping what she sow. The whole thing was actually very simple. Although October was the peak season for TV dramas and the second off-season for movies, there were still many movies that chose to be released at this time, such as a low-budget school comedy with Leighton Meister as the female lead, "Admission Notice".
Of course, because Halloween was at the end of the month, there were also many horror movies, one of which was … Bosworth's new horror movie, "Saw".
As mentioned before, the first few minutes of the movie were relatively mediocre. It wasn't much different from the average horror movie. The only thing that was better was the suspense. But in the last minute, when the old man, who was originally a corpse, got up from the ground and announced that the game was over, it suddenly raised the level of the whole movie.
This shocking feeling of playing everyone, including the audience in front of the screen, could conquer 99% of the people in Zhang Heng's previous life. How could it be an exception now? Therefore, although the movie received mixed reviews after its release, many film critics even ridiculed it as a vulgar story about a pervert who thought he was God and manipulated the life and death of others through cruel games, ordinary people still said that it was the best horror movie of the year.
In addition, Bosworth's new team was operating well day by day. Although "Saw" did not participate in events like the Sundance Film Festival to increase its popularity, under their promotion, it received a box office of 7 million on the first day of release, easily recouping the cost. Naturally, the critics did not take it to heart.
If that was all, it would not be a big deal. There were only a few movies that had both a good reputation and a good box office, and the investment was unusually low. Since it was impossible to have both, of course, they had to take the one with the most profit. But the problem was that when they released the movie, they wrote Adriaan's name in the column of screenwriters. Although he was listed after the other two screenwriters, it was, after all, a public release.
This gave some people a chance to jump out and attack. Well, it was not exactly an attack. Anyway, in their own columns or some other media, they kept claiming that the script of "Saw" was not in line with Adriaan's identity as an ace screenwriter, and that it was a complete mistake.
Then, they further led the readers to think that "the ace screenwriter has begun to show signs of decline" and started a discussion about whether it was appropriate for a well-known figure like Adriaan, a great director, a philanthropist, a patriot, and a media mogul, to write a story that promoted anarchism.
There were as many people who liked it as there were who hated it. Usually, perhaps because of his power or because of his work, these people who did not like him could only restrain themselves no matter how unhappy they were. But once they seized the opportunity, they could not help but jump out to cause trouble.
Of course, this did not have much practical use. At most, it would make people feel disgusted. After all, they were facing a media mogul. Even so, Adriaan still felt, how should he put it, like he was being shot while lying down. When he first discussed the script, he used the brainstorming method. In fact, he used this method to communicate with other screenwriters for many scripts. They would sit together, drink beer, and chat. Then, one by one, they would piece together the story.
When discussing the script of "Saw", Adriaan did not say anything. He just threw out an outline for them to discuss, and from time to time, he would interject to lead the topic in the direction he wanted. In the whole process, he talked the most. At the end, he asked them if the mastermind behind the scenes appeared in a different way. For example, in the beginning, a person was beaten to death in the field, and blood flowed all over the ground. In the end, the mastermind stood up in front of the person left in the room and announced the end of the game. Would that be more shocking?
In short, apart from this, most of the work was done by the screenwriters. It was only when the film was completed and ready to be released in October that Bosworth asked Adriaan if he could use his name during the publicity. Adriaan originally thought they would say that the miracle director was optimistic about the film during the publicity, but he did not expect them to put his name in the column of screenwriters. If he had asked a few more questions at that time, he would definitely not have agreed.
"Well, you reap what you sow." Adriaan shrugged and changed the topic. "Speaking of which, are you going to rest for the next few months?"
"Is there a problem?" Kate picked up the cleaned plates and went into the kitchen. Every time Adriaan came here, she did not leave any servants at home. She had to clean up everything herself.
"Of course not." Adriaan followed him to the kitchen and leaned against the door frame. "I just think there is a script that is very suitable for you, and I hope you can consider it."
"I already have a film contract, Eide," Kate said without looking back.
"So what? Sophie is also directing her first full-length film, but she has agreed to play the female lead of "The Fincher Code," as long as it is delayed a little, "Adriaan said with a shrug.
When it came to high-grossing films, Adriaan had never left it in his hands. So, when Dan Brown's novel had just been released, he had already asked someone to negotiate the rights to adapt it. This year, he had asked Universal to cooperate with DreamWorks Animation. The male lead would naturally be Hanks, and the female lead would naturally be given to the new Best Actress, Sophie.
Although Sophie had begun to change her career as a director, it was not bad for her to act in high-quality films from time to time. Because of Adriaan, the rumor that she had suffered from Best Actress Syndrome for three years simply did not exist.
"I will consider it," Kate said in a light tone.
Adriaan could not help but touch his nose. He had to change the topic again. "So, you have to bring Lily to the party in two days, right? You have turned it down twice before, and everyone thinks it is very strange. "
"Didn't you prepare an excuse for me?" Kate finally looked back at him and then quickly looked away.
"Of course, but it's not good to turn it down every time, right?" Adriaan continued to persuade. "It's just a party, it's not a big deal. Besides, you haven't given Megan any suggestions yet."
The party he was talking about was, of course, a party among the children's mothers. They would talk about their children together, and at the same time, they could exchange insights. Even if they could not be as close as a family, at least they would not dislike each other. In Hollywood, or even the entire United States, only Adriaan could do something like this.
This kind of party had always been held regularly, and basically no one was absent until Kate broke the tradition. After she left his mansion because of Emma's matter, she finally calmed down under Emma's goading and Charlize's guidance. She also agreed to let Lily move back, but she still did not meet with Adriaan.
It had been almost three weeks now, and it was almost halfway through October. During this period, she also did not attend the two mothers' parties. Because of this, Adriaan had to think of a way to make up an excuse for her. He kept the whole thing to a small circle and did not say that it was Charlize who specifically suggested it for Kate, and he agreed. However, it was a bit unreasonable not to attend three times in a row. In fact, when Kate did not go for the second time, Gwyneth was pushed by others to beat around the bush.
Just last week, Kate finally relented and allowed Adriaan to visit his daughter, but he was not allowed to stay overnight. Even though he still did not show any intention to come back, it was still a good progress. Adriaan naturally seized the opportunity to move forward, and according to the next plan, he was going to Europe.
"I will think about it," Kate still said the same thing.
"Hey, Kate, you can't just dismiss me like this," Adriaan shouted. "I need a definite answer."
"I said, I will think about it." Kate frowned and turned her head to glare at him. "If I don't think about it, how can I give you a definite answer?"
After saying that, she immediately turned her head back, as if she did not have the desire to look at him again. So, Kate did not know that the corner of Adriaan's mouth was curled up.
Although it was only a short ten seconds, he still clearly saw the hesitation in the corner of her eyes. What did that mean? It meant that she was not being perfunctory when she said she would think about it. She was really hesitant. This was really … great!
"Alright, Kate." Adriaan walked forward and hugged the first woman since his rebirth from the back. She trembled slightly, and then her body tensed up, but she did not push his hand away, nor did she look back.
"I know, there are some things that can't go back, and I will never deny some mistakes, but … I still hope you can go back." Adriaan put his head on her shoulder. "I know this request is rude and shameless, but I still have to say it, because … this is what I really think."
Kate did not speak, but looking at her from the back, she seemed to have closed her eyes, and her chest was heaving up and down, obviously very contradictory.
"Can I stay tonight?" Adriaan immediately asked in her ear.
The woman in his arms trembled, and looking at the back of her neck, he saw that her throat was obviously moving, and her breathing had become slightly heavier.
After a long while, Kate slowly turned around and looked up at Adriaan. "… You should go back."
Saying that, she was about to leave, but she did not push him away.
"Don't do this to me, okay?" Adriaan said softly, holding her hand a little tighter.
"I should be the one saying this to you, Eide!" Kate became a little agitated. "Every time, you always force me to make a choice, always force me to make the choice you want! Get out of my way! I'm warning you, if you block me like this again, I'll call the police and tell them that you tried to rape me! "
As soon as she finished her sentence, she realized that something was wrong. She looked at Adrian again and saw that his eyes had become dangerous. The next second, before Kate could react, he grabbed her and pressed her against the kitchen table. Then, he swept the things off the table, making loud banging noises.
"Stop, Eide!" Kate struggled in a panic. "Let me go!"
"Shh, Kate, keep your voice down." Adriaan had a smirk. "Don't wake Lily up."
As he said that, he leaned over and licked her cheek like many villains did.
"Damn it, you bastard!" Kate was angry and anxious, and her arms and legs swung more fiercely. "I'm warning you, Eide, I've received training when I act in an action scene. Once I kick your vital parts, you're dead."
Even so, Kate, who was pretending to be fierce, did not realize that in her panic, there was … a little expectation.
"It's okay, I won't let you have the chance." Adrian burst into laughter. He grabbed her thin T-shirt and pulled it off with a loud rip.
A short scream rang out.
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