Chapter 11: The Plot Begins: Disguise

He thought it was a wise decision to bring Louis back after listening to Emma, since the two children now seemed to get along so well.

Because he often worked, he sometimes couldn’t care for Emma properly; although the school teachers said Emma had friends, she had never brought any home, which made him wonder if she might not have any close friends at all.

Now, at last, Emma had a companion, which should benefit her growth—but although Louis was mature, he was still a child a year younger than Emma, not a girl, and might not share many common interests with her.

So, should he adopt an older girl to be Emma’s playmate?

At this moment, David, wholly focused on his children, considered the necessity and feasibility of this approach.

Financially, there was no problem; though it would make him more tired, he owned two factories and could still manage.

Hmm, the issue was that he currently had no wife, making adoption more complicated—Angela had kept offering to introduce someone, but there had been no leads, and he doubted he’d find a suitable match anytime soon. (Adoption procedures required a complete family with both husband and wife.)

Still, he remembered there seemed to be an orphanage in the community committee’s records…

…

As everyone knows, cats can swim.

But today, in David Grossman’s backyard pond, an orange cat—unknown in origin—had fallen in and kept flailing, yet remained unable to escape.

On the second floor, by the windowsill, Emma sipped water, staring intently at the scene, as if waiting for something.

Finally, the orange cat seemed exhausted; its flailing slowed, until it was slowly dragged under by the water and fallen leaves, its body fully submerged, motionless.

Seeing this, Emma smiled. She had been waiting for this moment—now she could go eat her snack.

Arriving in the living room, she saw that annoying guy—unfortunately, she still couldn’t do anything about him, so she forced a smile.

“Hi, Louis, good morning.”

“Hmm, good morning, Emma.”

They ate breakfast; Emma occasionally glanced at Louis, but he showed no change in expression, even smirked at her challengingly.

At that moment, David, who had been going out frequently these past few days doing who-knew-what, returned. “Eat first—I just found a cat drowned in the pond. I need to deal with it.”

Saying that, he grabbed a net and walked out.

He came back a while later, putting down the net as he spoke to Emma and Louis: “You won’t believe what I’ve been doing these past few days—wait, you’ll see a surprise in a few days.”

“Oh, did you find a new date?”

Emma said calmly.

“What? Are you concerned about this?” David paused, asking.

“No.”

“Alright, Dad just wants someone compatible and kind to you—but if you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

Louis pondered: being a single father was hard, especially raising a daughter. It was manageable when she was young, but as she grew older, many things became inconvenient. Finding a new wife—aside from personal physical and psychological factors—was likely driven mostly by concern for his daughter.

Emma gave no direct reply, only said:

“Teacher Ellis is giving out a Citizenship Award soon. Winners must embody Saint Alden values: faith, honesty, discipline, and compassion. The prize is a large gold medal—I think that’s great.”

“Oh~ Emma will definitely win that medal—and Louis too. Whoever wins, I’ll be happy,” David smiled, ruffling Emma’s hair.

Emma clenched her left fist slightly, then continued thinking about how to secure the medal.

Louis, quietly eating his snack, understood: the medal incident was finally about to begin.

As expected.

The next day.

During class.

A wasp suddenly appeared from nowhere, panicked and buzzing wildly in the unfamiliar environment, drawing everyone’s attention with its shrill hum.

Immediately, a chorus of screams erupted as the children scattered in all directions.

Teacher Ellis said, “Calm down, children—I assure you, it’s more afraid of you than you are of it.”

At that moment,

Emma stood up calmly, walked over with a glass cup and a sheet of paper, covered the wasp, her expression serious and focused, then walked steadily to the window and released it.

No panic, no violence—only unwavering calm.

To all the children, she looked like a superhero!

To Teacher Ellis, Emma was the perfect embodiment of kindness and courage.

Good child~

She smiled faintly. “Thank you, Emma.”

“You’re welcome, Teacher Ellis.”

Louis, who had sat quietly the whole time, yawned. He knew one downside of scripts: when the drama unfolded, there was never any surprise—boring.

Actually, if you looked closely, there were plenty of holes: where did the glass cup come from? How did the wasp get in…

At that moment, Emma suddenly looked at Louis, her gaze challenging, brimming with triumph.

Louis smiled, saying nothing.

In the following days, Emma’s behavior was flawless.

Helpful, considerate, actively assisting classmates, caring for small animals, helping the groundskeeper maintain the lawn…

Louis did nothing, watching Emma like a ridiculous clown show, often laughing at her.

There was nothing to be done.

Children were still children—even if clever, they had limits. Like now: Emma didn’t realize she was overdoing it.

It wasn’t at all like the behavior of a normal girl.

It seemed fake and contrived.

For adults who regularly interacted with them and had more social experience—familiar with all kinds of deception like elections, speeches, and performances—it was already obvious.

Next, Emma would stumble—and then embark on her irreversible path of killing the innocent. Hmm, it was time for him to act.

Louis stretched, thinking: to protect David while preventing him from losing his daughter, he had to act preemptively and reform her.

To reform an antisocial child, correction and discipline must come before she commits a major crime—otherwise, she’d only grow more extreme and hopeless.

“What a nuisance.”

Louis muttered, returning to his study of folk methods. On his desk sat several small snacks he’d prepared, mixed with special ingredients—like mung bean cakes.

It had been proven: esoteric arts were easy to learn but hard to master—easy to enter, difficult to perfect.

Afternoon.

Because a girl beside her had just received a beautiful, elegant watch, a group of classmates gathered around, admiring and chattering.

“Your watch is so cool.”

“I have one too—it was a birthday gift. I don’t wear it much.”

“…”

Emma sat quietly to the side, staring at her bare wrist.

Soon,

While running and chasing each other on the outdoor lawn, the girl bumped shoulders with Emma, cried out, and fell. Emma immediately helped her up, concerned: “Katie, are you okay? I’m sorry.”

The girl shook her head and ran off with her friends again.

Standing in the center of the lawn, the Black female teacher Ellis frowned at the scene.

(End of Chapter)