The weekend arrived quickly, and it was time for Emma's scheduled therapy appointment with the psychologist that Roy's parents had booked.
Roy woke up very early. Austin was several hours' drive from Waterfall Town, so he needed to leave as soon as possible.
However, Emma wasn't in a good mood at all. She seemed to be resisting the idea of seeing a therapist with her whole being.
First thing in the morning, the little girl's face was particularly gloomy, practically screaming, "I'm not happy."
It was at times like these that Roy could feel that Emma was still just a child, not some little adult.
"Roy, my tummy doesn't feel so good!"
"Perfect, we can have the therapist take a look at your tummy while we're there."
"Roy, I think I forgot to bring something!"
"It's okay, we can buy you something new when we get to Austin."
...
Emma glared at Roy, completely unable to keep up her act anymore.
Roy glanced at Emma's expression in the rearview mirror and shook his head with a smile.
If this little girl could be this normal more often, Roy wouldn't even need to take her to a therapist.
Several hours later, Roy arrived at a clinic in downtown Austin. He checked the time; it was just ten o'clock.
He led Emma, whose expression was normal but whose eyes were full of resistance, into the clinic.
There was a young woman at the front desk. Her eyes lit up immediately when she saw Roy.
"Hi, I have an appointment with Claire Sheffield for ten o'clock. I'm bringing my little sister for a consultation."
However, the receptionist was completely smitten and only focused on Roy's face, not hearing a word he said.
Left with no choice, Roy had to tap on the front desk. Only then did she snap out of it.
"Oh! Are you here for an appointment? Let me check the schedule!"
The young woman quickly grabbed a stack of forms and frantically flipped through them.
"Hmm—ten o'clock this morning, the appointment is under the name Philip Black. Is that you?"
"Philip Black is my father. He couldn't make it today, so he asked me to bring my little sister."
"Then I'll need to contact Mr. Philip Black to confirm. Please wait a moment."
Roy stood at the front desk, waiting with nothing to do. Emma sat on a chair with her head down, probably thinking about how to deal with the therapist later.
But therapists weren't that easy to deal with; it was their job.
Even if Emma's natural intelligence was higher than that of an average child, she couldn't possibly know everything.
"Okay, okay! Sir, I've confirmed it here. Please come with me!"
The young receptionist enthusiastically led Roy and Emma to the door of psychologist Claire Sheffield's office and knocked.
"Dr. Sheffield, your ten o'clock appointment is here."
"Okay, come in!"
The door opened to reveal a spacious office with a sofa and a recliner. It looked like both an office and a therapy room.
A woman was sitting at the desk, looking at a notebook. When she looked up at Roy, they both froze for a moment.
The woman was surprised because she hadn't expected the appointment to be with a young, handsome guy. However, she quickly composed herself and didn't act as starstruck as the receptionist.
As for Roy, he was stunned because the woman was actually Anne Hathaway!
Wow! Had Anne Hathaway ever played a therapist?
Roy couldn't recall it for a moment. It was probably some less famous movie, one that even Anne Hathaway couldn't save at the box office.
"Hello, are you Dr. Claire Sheffield? You're not quite what I pictured."
Roy took the initiative to greet her, his eyes constantly scanning Claire.
Feeling Roy's unusual gaze, Claire assumed he was surprised by her youth.
"Do you think I'm too young? Actually, I have a doctorate in psychology. You can rest assured about my professional qualifications."
Such a young psychology doctorate?
That was indeed impressive!
Roy pulled Emma to sit in the chair in front of the desk.
"My name is Roy Black. I'm here in place of my father, bringing my cousin. You should have some information about her case, right?"
Claire nodded. While talking to Roy, she was also observing Emma.
"Yes, I spoke with Mr. Black on the phone and have a general understanding of little Emma's situation. However, in psychology, we need a close-up evaluation."
"So when do we start?"
"We can start now! Mr. Black, could you please step outside? I'd like to spend some time alone with little Emma."
"No problem."
Roy got up to leave, but Emma grabbed his hand.
Emma looked at Roy with pleading eyes, but Roy just smiled.
"Be a good girl and answer the doctor's questions, it'll be good for you, okay?"
With that, Roy walked out of the office, leaving Claire and Emma alone.
After Roy left, Emma immediately reverted to her impeccably perfect demeanor, giving off an aura that kept people at arm's length.
As a doctor of psychology, Claire could tell that Emma was very resistant to this psychological assessment, which was not a good sign for the therapist.
However, as an expert in child psychology, Claire had encountered many difficult children and had plenty of experience.
Giving Emma a warm smile, Claire picked up a piece of candy and offered it to her.
"Emma, would you like a piece of candy?"
This trick, which usually worked wonders on other children, hit a wall with Emma.
Emma didn't hesitate and politely declined Claire with a slight smile.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Sheffield, I'm losing my baby teeth right now, so I can't eat candy."
The smile on Claire's face didn't change at all. That gesture was both to ease Emma's resistance and a test.
Through this test, Claire knew that Emma was going to be a tough case and that earning her fee today might not be easy.
"Let's chat somewhere else then! Come on, let's go over to the sofa."
A comfortable environment can help people relax and let down their guard, which is why therapy sessions are often held in settings similar to a home.
But even sitting on the sofa, Emma's body remained tense, which Claire found very strange.
If an adult had this kind of reaction, it would be somewhat understandable, as adults tend to be more guarded. But Emma was clearly only eight years old, yet she was so defensive...
A flicker of thought crossed Claire's eyes.
Roy waited outside the office for an hour. During this time, he had the young woman at the front desk practically swooning.
Roy had no doubt that if he asked this girl to go to the restroom for a quickie, she wouldn't refuse for a second, even if it meant losing her job.
When Claire came out, she saw her employee giggling uncontrollably, which made her impression of Roy less favorable.
"Mr. Black, could we have a word in private? It's about little Emma."
"Of course."
Claire led Roy back to the office, and this time it was Emma's turn to wait outside.
"Mr. Black, little Emma's situation is a bit serious."
Judging from Claire's serious expression, things were indeed serious. The smile on Roy's face also disappeared.
"How serious exactly?"
"After an hour of testing, I've found that little Emma exhibits signs of histrionic personality disorder."
Claire then explained what histrionic personality disorder is.
Histrionic personality disorder refers to a personality characterized by excessively dramatic emotions, theatrical behavior, self-centeredness, and a constant need for attention.
This type of personality is actually not uncommon in modern society, especially on some short video platforms where it's everywhere.
However, Roy didn't feel that Emma had such exaggerated emotional changes.
Roy voiced his doubts, and Claire answered him.
"Exaggerated emotions are just the outward manifestation of histrionic personality. In reality, the core factor of this personality is the extreme desire for external attention. So, acting crazy is histrionic personality, and acting like a good, well-behaved child is also histrionic personality."
So that's how it is!
"So, is there a big problem with this histrionic personality?"
"Histrionic personality itself isn't a huge problem. At most, it will put more psychological pressure on Emma. But I've also found that Emma exhibits signs of antisocial personality disorder."
The prominent feature of people with this personality is a tendency for behavior that deviates from social norms. They show no remorse after harming society and others, cannot learn from setbacks and punishments, and instead, intensify their retaliation against society.
Simply put, it's a lack of empathy. They don't sympathize with others, let alone empathize with them.
This type of personality is quite dangerous. Basically, people with antisocial personality disorder eventually become criminals, and those who have both histrionic and antisocial personality disorder are even more dangerous.
Roy looked at Claire; this assessment was quite serious.
"Dr. Sheffield, are you sure?"
"I also hope my judgment is wrong, or you can find other psychologists to conduct a psychological evaluation of Emma."
Roy scratched his head. He still trusted Claire's judgment.
"Can Emma's personality still be corrected?"
"Mr. Black, you're very lucky that Emma's condition was discovered relatively early. An eight-year-old's worldview is far from being fully formed, so there's a possibility of correction. If she were an adult, it would be much more difficult to change."
"Okay, what's the cost of the therapy sessions?"
Claire took out a piece of paper and started writing.
"Based on my experience, Emma's situation requires at least 12 sessions to have an effect, once a week, which is three months. But three months may not be enough to completely change Emma. Personality correction is a long process, especially since Emma shows great resistance to psychologists. Mr. Black, you need to be mentally prepared."
Roy nodded.
"I'll discuss it with my parents. Dr. Sheffield, could I get your contact information? It would be convenient for me to consult you if I have any questions in the future."
"Of course!"
Claire took out a business card from her drawer and handed it to Roy.
"By the way, Mr. Black, why do I feel like you look very familiar? Have we met before?"
Claire winked at Roy.
Roy was certain that he hadn't met Claire before, so there was only one possibility for why she found him familiar.
"Actually, I'm a high school boxer. If you think I look familiar, you probably saw me on TV or in the newspaper."
Claire looked very surprised.
"I remember now! I did see you on a rerun of a boxing match!"
Roy hadn't expected the impact of the Cowboy Cup finals video from three months ago to be so significant.
Or was it that Dr. Claire, this seemingly quiet and refined psychologist, actually liked watching boxing?
"Do you like watching boxing matches?"
Claire was a little embarrassed.
"When I'm under a lot of pressure, I do watch some fighting programs to relax."
Roy looked at Claire, guessing that she probably watched fighting matches not just when she was under a lot of pressure, but that she was likely a fighting fan.
After all, unless someone was a fighting fan, they would rarely watch a high school-level amateur boxing match.
This was quite a contrast!
"Would you like me to sign something for you?"
Claire actually showed a delighted and excited expression, completely lacking the intellectual and mature demeanor she had just displayed, looking more like a starstruck fan.
"Could you?"
"Of course!"
Claire immediately took out a notebook from her drawer and handed it to Roy. Opening it, he could see many signatures inside.
Mike Tyson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Roy Jones Jr.—it was all boxing and WWE wrestlers. She was indeed a fighting fan.
Roy quickly wrote a line.
Presented to Claire Sheffield by Roy Black, future world boxing champion.
Claire happily took back the notebook.
"Mr. Black, I've seen your matches. I'm sure you'll become a world boxing champion!"
"I hope so too."
After the little interlude, Roy said goodbye to Claire and left with Emma.
"Roy, are we going home now?"
"Not really. I have other things to do in Austin today. Let's grab some lunch first, and then we'll take care of business."
Roy found a taco place downtown. Tacos, or Mexican wraps, were different from the pre-made fast-food wraps at places like KFC, which didn't taste very good.
Authentic Mexican tacos were like jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes), where you could add your own fillings according to your preferences, making them very substantial.
And the sauces inside were very unique and tasted quite good. Roy devoured ten tacos by himself, which stunned Emma.
After eating the tacos, Emma's mood finally improved a bit.
Next, Roy drove Emma to the dock area of Austin.
Downtown Austin was bisected by the Colorado River, which provided the city with abundant water resources and facilitated shipping.
Near the Colorado River freight docks, there were many warehouse rental companies. Wade's warehouse gambling operation was located here.
"Boss, you finally made it! Why did you bring this little girl?"
Wade had arrived in the morning and had been waiting for Roy until now.
Roy got out of the car and bumped fists with Wade.
"I brought her to Austin for something. I figured I'd check in on you while I was here. Emma, do you want to come with us? If you don't want to, you can stay in the car and wait for me."
Staying in the car alone would be too boring, so Emma naturally chose to get out of the car with Roy.
"Wade, lead the way."
Claire Sheffield (Anne Hathaway, from the movie Passengers)
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Fairy Tail: My Contract System Starts with Erza
Roger never expected to wake up in the world of Fairy Tail. But with him came a mysterious system—one that lets him forge magical contracts with others and share in their powers.
His first contract is with Erza Scarlet, unlocking both Requip and Enchantment Magic. From there, every battle, every ally, and every contract brings him closer to becoming a legend. Magical tools drop from fallen enemies, ranging from bizarre to game-changing—like a pipe that forces the truth from liars, or a crystal ball that blurts out everyone's secrets.
With each contract, his partners grow stronger—and so does he. Lucy unlocks her Star Dress early, turning into a one-woman army. Mirajane consumes endless demonic power to fight gods themselves. Natsu wields both Dragon Slayer flames and God Slayer magic. And Erza… becomes the true Sword Saint of Fairy Tail.
While the guild sees Roger as a comrade, the Magic Council knows him as something far greater—the rising All-Magic King, the hidden hand guiding Fairy Tail's destiny.
A tale of contracts, bonds, and power begins here—starting with Erza.
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