Nelson asked Jennifer seriously, “You shouldn’t speak about her like that. She’s only sixteen. What’s gotten into you? Ever since we returned to my hometown, you’ve become extremely irritable and peculiar.”
Jennifer, displeased with his assessment, shrieked, “I haven’t changed at all, you have! Ever since you found out about her, you’ve been restless, and now you’re determined to bring her back to the Silver Moon Pack, regardless of my feelings!”
They erupted into an intense argument, with Jennifer’s anger particularly high. “I shouldn’t have agreed to you coming here in the first place! You still have feelings for your ex-partner, and I won’t allow you to bring her daughter back to our Silver Moon Pack!”
Nelson was furious. “She’s my daughter! I must take responsibility for her!”
“Why didn’t you think about taking on the responsibilities of a father before?” she sharply and piercingly questioned him.
Nelson was momentarily speechless, realizing that all his justifications would pale in the face of the truth.
“I didn’t know about her before,” he said.
“Then why do you want to bring her back now?” Jennifer protested. “You simply can’t forget about Amy! Either way, I won’t allow her daughter to live with me!”
Nelson felt helpless. He believed he should talk to Patrick, hoping Patrick could convince his mother.
Soon, Nelson found Patrick and explained Jennifer’s deliberate difficulties to him, hoping Patrick could persuade Jennifer to accept Emma’s presence. Patrick agreed, “I’ll talk to her.”
He found his mother, Jennifer, and got straight to the point. “As the former Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, I believe you should show more tolerance towards Emma. Be more gentle, rather than constantly showing hostility towards her.”
Jennifer’s face turned cold. “I hate her. She seems very difficult to approach. I think she’s been influenced by her mother.”
Patrick tried to calmly discuss the matter with her. “I know you hold animosity towards her mother, but she is innocent, Mom. Nelson really wants to acknowledge this daughter; it’s his responsibility, and you can’t evade that. Unless you no longer want him to be your partner.”
Jennifer fell silent.
“I hope you can at least give her a chance.”
Jennifer didn’t want to give her this chance, but Patrick had said so, and she could only agree, “What chance?”
“I will spend a few days with her, and then decide if she is truly suitable to live with us. If my final decision is to bring her back, then, Mom, at that point, you can’t have any more reasons to refuse.”
His tone brooked no argument. Jennifer knew that continuing to resist would not benefit her. Now, no one was on her side, so she could only temporarily compromise. “Fine. You have the final say.”
In the following days, he spent time with Emma, often visiting the place where she worked to observe her everyday life.
Emma didn’t mind his visits; after all, he always made some purchases, which helped the not-so-busy store make some profit.
Florence paid special attention to this handsome young man and asked Emma in a low voice about the relationship between her and this boy who had been coming every day recently.
“I think you and this boy are well-matched. You’re beautiful, and he’s handsome. Don’t you feel anything for each other?” Florence asked.
Emma looked at her disdainfully, “This is the son of my father’s second partner, and we are step-siblings in the legal sense of werewolf law. How can you only think about partners?”
Florence avoided her gaze and scanned the room, “Because partners are important. Think about it, ordinary people, when they reach a certain age, should find partners and then reproduce, raise offspring, and teach them to continue reproducing. This is a racial responsibility that no one can escape. None of us can escape it.”
Emma didn’t buy into her argument, “You, last time you said people should live according to their own desires, not be bound by so-called responsibilities and obligations.”
Florence grew up in a complex family background and had learned to always speak in her own favor, “People should live according to their desires, but they should also bear racial responsibilities and obligations.”
Emma rolled her eyes at her, “How is it going with Jeff from the kitchen?”
The weekend had passed, and she was curious about her friend’s progress in love.
“Not bad,” Emma’s curiosity was piqued, “What do you mean, not bad? Personality, or conversation?”
“He can maintain an erection for a long time.”
“…”
“And he can go deep.”
Emma blushed at her friend’s frankness and whispered, “Enough, Florrie, stop it!”
Florence chuckled, “Actually, he’s great in every aspect, but he’s a bit rigid. But that’s also a kindof charm!”
Emma looked at Florence, whose eyes seemed to be shining, and suddenly felt a bit envious, “Do you really like Jeff? Even though he’s indeed very cute, you’ve only known each other for a month.”
Jeff had only been at this store for a month, and Mrs. Lew trusted him a lot, handing over the entire kitchen to him. Another reason was that the store was usually not very busy. Emma and Florence had been here for three months, spending twenty days each month in the store, bored, swatting flies and driving away bugs.
Florence didn’t care much about the length of time they knew each other. With so many previous boyfriends, some of whom she had established a relationship with after half an hour of acquaintance, starting to watch a movie and then going to bed after a month was considered a relatively slow progress.
“What’s wrong with one month? Some people have known each other since childhood, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better.” She was referring to another childhood friend of hers who had left for elsewhere a couple of years ago. She didn’t know what he was doing, but she recently heard that he didn’t have any means of livelihood in the area, often went to steal from stores, almost got beaten to death, and then turned into a rogue werewolf, running off with a group of rogue werewolves to an unknown place.
Emma also knew she was talking about her childhood friend. But she suddenly thought of her own parents. She heard that they had played together since they were young, and even were destined partners, but their ending was terrible.
“How can one judge if a person is truly suitable for oneself?” she asked, “If the time spent growing up together can’t truly help you understand that person, how can you entrust your heart to someone whose depths you don’t know?”
Florence looked at her earnestly, “Emmie, I know because of Aunt Amy’s situation, you don’t believe that love truly exists, but you need it. You need affection, Emmie, you need to be loved. Not believing in love and not wanting love are two different things. If you want it, be prepared to be hurt.”
“How can one be prepared to be hurt in the face of love?”
“Everything carries risks. There’s the risk of being scalded and burnt in the kitchen, the risk of being hit by a plate while serving in the front hall, the risk of being pricked when picking a rose, and of course, being loved also carries risks. If you want love, you have to be willing to take the risk of being hurt to get what you want.”
“…”
“You’ve never read The Little Prince, have you?”
Emma felt guilty; she had little exposure to such bedtime reading material.
The original line from the book is, ‘To establish ties is to risk tears. To love is to risk not being loved in return. Everything in the world has a price, Emmie. Don’t be afraid of being hurt, accept them, and you will heal faster and not fear being hurt again.”
“Can you believe I have a chance to love and be loved? I have nothing, I’m a pauper, and I’m a coward who’s covered in thorns and afraid of intimate relationships. I don’t believe that anyone in this world would love me. Florrie, I can’t do it.”