Chapter 1433: Chapter 1405 Why Should I Pay the Debt I Incurred on My Own Accord?

“Cough!” Kiara choked on her milk.

Debt collection without warning, that was too sudden!

“Keeping promises is something even Wendy knows, how much longer do you plan to delay?”

Kiara saw she couldn’t avoid it, put down her milk cup, and before she even spoke, she saw James Norris ‘Norris Flowery Fox’ looking at her with a half-smile.

“What do you plan to use as interest this time?”

Every time he asked Kiara for the debt, she would fob him off with some food. This time, James Norris was just waiting cheerfully for her to continue throwing food at him.

There’s a limit to how many times you can use the same trick. Kiara knew her little game was up, so this time she decided to be straightforward.

“Actually, I don’t owe anything this time. I’m ready to pay it all off in one go.”

“Oh?” Such straightforwardness, James Norris was taken aback.

“What you asked me to do was to find something much more interesting than playing with Matthew Wood ‘Woodhead’ or eating Irresistible Crisp, your two main hobbies, one for play, one for taste.”

“That’s right, so what have you thought of?”

Kiara suddenly became very mysterious, her eyes were particularly cunning, with a bit of a quirky secret. She made a gesture to be quieter as if she was about to reveal some earth-shattering secret.

Kiara was wearing pajamas that Yuzo Joel had prepared for her; although it was her first overnight stay, the home had long been equipped with everything her family of three needed, even Wendy had her own special bath towel and spare diapers.

She had just finished bathing and her hair was still half-dry, looking much younger than when she’s working outside. James Norris couldn’t help but think of her wearing overalls. If it weren’t for her overly strong personality, she’d look like a pure young girl.

The soft light of the dining room shone on her hair, together with her quirky little expression, she looked like a sprite that had landed in the mortal world, every cell bursting with vitality.

Kiara was about to tease him with the important matter at hand, but seeing him stare at her unblinkingly, she glanced down at herself. There was nothing odd about the home clothes Dad had prepared, was there?

“Do you think I look weird in this?” Kiara tugged at her light blue pajamas. These European-style pajamas were not only comfortable but also stylish. Just for that, Kiara found Dad’s taste a hundred times better than Mario Yuno’s straightforward style.

“Not at all, it looks good.”

After he spoke, they both fell into silence. Kiara was a little uncomfortable with his blunt compliment and hurriedly changed the subject.

“Don’t you want to know what I was talking about?”

“Oh, you tell me.” Actually, in that moment, he didn’t really want to hear anything else, just to watch quietly.

“What I thought would really make you happy is–helping you overcome your fear of dogs. How does that sound?!”

“Oh, great–what?!” James Norris’ eyes widened. What did he just hear?!

“I plan to help you overcome your fear of dogs for free. How great is that? Think about it, liking and fear are both natural human instincts. You might like many things, but fear is something that can’t be changed. If I can help you overcome that fear and turn your negative emotion into positive, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“Not really, I’m not afraid of dogs. Not to mention fear.” James Norris put down his cup stiffly, looking at Kiara with a poker face.

“Admitting to having fears isn’t something shameful.”

“I’m not afraid!”

“All right… then let’s imagine, if you overcame your fear of dogs, walking around every day with a cute dog, you holding the leash, and it accompanying you. The two of you strolling together–that scene would really be–”

So annoying!!!

James Norris thought of the scene Kiara had described, and this deep-seated disgust for that kind of creature spread from the bottom of his heart, just like someone with trypophobia confronting countless, uncountable bugs–it made his scalp tingle just thinking about it, absolutely disgusting!

Kiara simply watched him trying his best to control his reaction, but his hand had already unconsciously clenched into a fist. How afraid of dogs was he?

Getting scared like this just from hearing about them?

“Honestly, no joke, have you been bitten by a dog before? It seems like you’ve got a pretty big shadow hanging over you, maybe I can help.”

“I don’t need help, I’m not afraid of dogs,” James stood up, moving stiffly upstairs.

Still stubborn as a dead duck to this point.

“Really not afraid?”

He turned around, nodded solemnly at Kiara.

“Not afraid, I just… don’t like them, that’s all.”

Kiara spread her hands, “Actually, you don’t have to take this so seriously. Let me have a look at it; there’s really nothing to it. Isn’t it pretty normal for us to help each other out in our field? Just like how students studying traditional Chinese medicine always practice acupuncture on each other.”

It’s all about professional needs!

“I’ll say it again, I’m not afraid of dogs, I just really dislike that creature!” James took a few steps away, then turned back to pick up his laptop notebook, reiterating to Kiara once more.

“Oh…”

As he went upstairs, Kiara mischievously added a comment.

“If you’re not scared, why are you breaking out in hives on your wrist? When psychological repulsion turns into a physical reaction, that’s considered a psychosomatic disorder.”

James reflexively reached for his wrist, only then realizing that he had been fooled by Mrs. Kiara…

Then, he quickly went upstairs to the sound of Mrs. Kiara’s playful laughter, forcefully slamming the door.

He opened his computer and pulled up the so-called “Psychological Twins” questionnaire that Kiara had just completed, examining it thoroughly.

She would never know that this questionnaire wasn’t actually about psychological twins at all, but about psychological kinship–essentially an analysis of each member of a person’s family of origin.

Yuzo Joel had completed the same questionnaire years ago.

James compared the two questionnaires that Kiara and Yuzo Joel had filled out, and they showed a very high degree of similarity.

“Still say you’re not father and daughter, no ghost would believe that…”

James memorized the answers from the two questionnaires, then hit the delete key. He filled out a new one with random answers himself and sent it off along with Yuzo Joel’s answers.

You can delete her answers, but not the brilliant smile–James spent the whole night dreaming, filled with the sound of Kiara’s crisp laughter. Every time he turned around, he saw her riding a giant dog chasing after him.

When the things you like are associated with creatures you detest, such a contradictory and complex feeling is probably something only he could understand.

Kiara actually wanted to discuss this fear of dogs thing with the Fox Cat, but the next morning he had bolted early, maybe afraid that Kiara would cling to the topic of the previous night. In any case, for the short term, he really didn’t want to see Kiara again.

It’s not like she’s the one breaking her promise, Kiara thought to herself maliciously. This time she was actively trying to pay off her debt; it was that someone who chose to run off on his own, not her problem at all.