James noticed Avril's eyes were red and watery, realizing he'd hit her too hard and caused her pain.
Still, he didn't apologize.
This girl needed to be disciplined, or next time, she might push him too far, and he might not be able to resist.
When she leaned close just now, he could smell her sweet, youthful scent and feel the nervous pounding of her heart.
"Avril, do you even know what you're doing?" James asked as he sat on the couch, trying to calm himself down.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. Don't you men like this kind of thing?" Avril said, rubbing the spot where she'd been hit, her expression full of grievance.
"I'm asking if you like doing this," James said in a calm, measured voice that made her stop and think.
Did she like it? Avril wasn't sure. She just thought this was what she was supposed to do.
"I do like it! Uncle, you're young, rich, and gentle. Who wouldn't like you?" she said casually.
"Are you sure?" James asked, his face unreadable.
"Are you worried your girlfriend will get upset?" Avril said indifferently. "If she comes over, I can just hide."
Her words made James feel a twinge of pity.
What kind of life must she have lived to make a 22-year-old girl so willing to debase herself?
James stood up, reached out, and pinched her cheek, shaking her head gently.
"Are you just ignoring everything I've said to you?"
"Ouch! It hurts! Let go!" Avril cried, grabbing his hand, trying to pry it away.
This jerkâwhat's with the cheek-pulling? Is he hinting at something?
As her thoughts wandered, she misinterpreted his actions again.
But his next words completely caught her off guard.
"I told you, I want you to be happy. You don't need to worry about money, don't need to please anyone, and don't need to think about unpleasant things. With me here, you can live carefree and happy, just like before."
Avril froze for a moment, looking up at James's calm face. His deep, clear eyes were hard to look away from.
She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. After a long moment, she finally snapped out of it and blurted out,
"Uncle, are you seriously planning to treat me like your daughter?"
"If you can go back to how you were before, I'd be happy to treat you like a daughter."
In his eyes, there was gentle compassion, genuine kindness, and a hint of affection.
She had never seen such a pure, clear gaze before.
The rich men in the entertainment industry who had looked at her in the past were either coldly calculating, as if appraising a product, or shamelessly lecherous, as if examining a toy.
But James's eyes carried no greed or lust, just a warmth that was intoxicating.
Avril suddenly wanted to cry but held back.
"Uncle... are you infertile or something? Otherwise, why would you want to adopt me as your daughter?"
The calm, composed expression James had worked so hard to maintain shattered instantly.
Such a beautiful girlâwhy did she have to have such a sharp tongue?
Gritting his teeth, James resisted the urge to hit her again.
Sensing the shift in his mood, Avril quickly backed away, out of his reach.
"Don't hit me! I have something to say!" she exclaimed.
"Speak," James said flatly.
"Uncle, let me make this clearâwhat you saw of me on TV was fake. That was me acting. Don't let my cute appearance fool you. I'm not as sweet as I look," she confessed.
"I don't mind if you're not sweet. Just don't break the law," James replied.
"I'm lazy, stupid, and love slacking off. I'm rude and like to curse at people. The only thing I'm slightly good at is gaming. Other than that, I have no redeeming qualities..."
As she spoke, her face turned red with embarrassment. She snuck a glance at James, who didn't seem to care. Emboldened, she continued softly,
"If I stop acting, and just laze around all day eating your food, watching dramas, and playing games, occasionally trash-talking celebrities online... would you still be willing to support me?"
James looked at her seriously, noticing the hopeful glint in her eyes, as if this was her ultimate dream.
Covering his forehead, James sighed. He was already feeling a headache coming on, and he hadn't even started taking care of her yet.
"Do you think I would?" he asked.
The girl shyly grabbed his hand, acting coquettish.
"You're such a nice man, surely you wouldn't mind me being a couch potato?"
"In your dreams," James said, flinging her hand away.
Dealing with such a cheeky girl made it impossible to maintain his composure. Losing his temper was the only way to feel better.
"But Uncle, didn't you say you wanted me to be happy? I'm happiest when I'm lying down," Avril retorted weakly.
"If you don't act, how will you have anything to criticize other celebrities for? If you turn yourself into a 300-pound couch potato, do you think I wouldn't slap you into the next room?"
"Hmph, all talk. When it comes down to it, you're no better than any other man," Avril said, pouting.
James, annoyed, grabbed her cheeks with both hands and pulled, turning her face bright red.
Avril cried out in pain, begging for mercy.
[System Notification: Avril's favorability +20]
James was stunned. Hitting her actually increased her favorability?
What kind of strange personality did this girl have?
After a bout of playful roughhousing, the two felt closer than before.
Soon, Avril shamelessly started dragging James to play League of Legends with her.
Reluctantly, James joined her for a duo queue. Because he was playing on a small mobile device, his performance dropped slightly. Even so, he still easily beat the diamond-tier players they matched against.
The two spent the whole afternoon laughing and playing games on the couch.
Meanwhile, Theo, still fuming from the argument earlier, stormed into the office of a talent agency called Tianyue Entertainment.
Bursting into the general manager's office, he threw himself into the arms of a chubby woman in her forties and started crying.
"Sister Hua, they bullied me!"
The fat on the woman's face jiggled as she patted his head sympathetically, pulling him into a comforting embrace.
"What happened? Who bullied my little puppy?"
"It's the director from the shoot. He canceled my role just to promote some washed-up has-been," Theo complained tearfully.
"What? Is that director out of his mind? What's going on?"
"Some rich second-generation kid showed up today, said he was throwing three billion at that washed-up flower vase. To suck up to him, the director wants to terminate my contract."
Theo exaggerated the story, painting James as an arrogant, unreasonable tyrant who stole his role to show off to a woman.
The chubby woman, Hua Yanan, began to fume.
"Who does this little punk think he is, messing with me?"
Hua Yanan, known in the entertainment industry as Sister Hua, was a renowned talent agent and producer who had launched several big stars. With her connections and reputation, she wasn't someone to mess with lightly.
"And who's this has-been he's promoting?" she asked.
"It's that Avril girl. You know, the one who insulted you publicly before."
"Oh, that little b*tch. She thinks she can make a comeback just because she found a rich backer?"
Sister Hua's face darkened as she pulled out her phone, dialing a number.
"Hey, I need you to look into a rich kid named James. See if he's connected to the King family."
"And dig up all the dirt on Avril. Didn't her mom cause trouble for her before, asking for money? Look into that."
"Oh, and get some recent photos of her. You've got her address, right? ...Good. Do it."
Watching Sister Hua's fiery determination, Theo smiled smugly, his expression like that of a bright, innocent boy.