America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

The sky was still bright when Martin got out of Nicholson's stretch Lincoln from Night Color Club.

The freshly face-washed Trio of Scoundrels were now full of vigor.

Nicholson put on sunglasses and yelled, "Party time! Party time, I can take on ten! No... twenty."

Leonardo glanced at the delusional old scoundrel and said straight out, "I don't want to attend your funeral tomorrow."

Martin slightly lowered the partition and said to the driver, "To my place." He raised the partition again, "I just got some good wine, and tonight is the Golden Globe Awards ceremony; we'll drink and watch the beauties."

Leonardo said, "It's a gathering of demons and monsters, what beauties are you talking about?"

Martin pointed at him, "You always have too much to say. Wait till you're drunk, and I'll call a beauty for you, call Gisele Bundchen."

Leonardo got angry and delivered a triple strike, "You think I'm afraid of those? If you can, bring Gisele Bundchen here!"

"As long as you propose to her on the spot, I'll immediately hire someone to fly Bundchen over," Martin said with a particularly responsible look, "I'll cover all the expenses of your proposal and wedding!"

Leonardo was defeated but refused to admit defeat and said to Nicholson, "See that, Jack? Martin's getting cocky, treating money like it's nothing. Doesn't he sound like a nouveau riche."

Martin leaned back into his seat and boasted arrogantly, "You should let someone who just became a millionaire show off a bit."

In truth, he only had this kind of flamboyant attitude within the Trio of Scoundrels.

The Lincoln soon entered Martin's home.

The three scoundrels entered the living room and found someone else was there.

Lily, wearing a professional apron and holding a carving knife, was sculpting a clay statue almost as tall as a person.

Martin let the two scoundrels enter first and asked, "When did you get here?"

Lily replied, "I came over to clean your house after lunch. It was a mess. Once I finished cleaning and had nothing else to do, I just practiced my sculpting."

She took the initiative to greet Leonardo and Nicholson.

Martin made introductions for both sides.

When Leonardo heard Lily's name, he figured it out immediately, "So you're the original creator of the Joker statue."

"That's me," Lily, who had been freelancing with The Dark Knight Crew for over half a year, was almost numb to encountering so many people holding her Joker sculptures, "Make yourselves at home, don't mind me."

Martin called Leonardo to help him bring wine from the cellar while Nicholson turned on the TV - the Golden Globe Awards red carpet was in its final stages.

Leonardo poured wine into three glasses and asked Lily, "Would you like a drink?"

Lily shook her head, "I'm not of drinking age yet."

Martin came over and patted Leonardo on the shoulder, kindly reminding him, "Don't bother her."

Leonardo, confused, had no choice but to sit on the sofa and drink with Martin and Nicholson.

Lily, who was about Lorraine Nicholson's age, received a toast from Nicholson, "Your sculpting is fantastic, thank you for the statue."

"Don't mention it." Lily picked up a can of Coke next to her and clinked it with Nicholson from a distance.

Just as Leonardo was about to take a sip of his wine, he saw Lily put down her can, pick up the sharp carving knife, and start to dance with it between her elegant fingers like a butterfly.

Then, Leonardo watched as Lily's knife, shimmering with a cold light, thrust into the clay figure with a series of punctures.

By the time she stopped, the sculpture's eyes, throat, chest, and abdomen had been pierced with more than a dozen holes.

If those were thrust into a human body...

Leonardo quickly turned back around, lifted the wine glass, and downed it all in one go to suppress that terrifying feeling.

Martin turned and asked, "What's the matter, Leo?"

Leonardo shook his head quickly, "Nothing, I just felt like drinking."

Martin took the bottle and filled his glass, "Drink as much as you want, you can have any wine from my cellar."

"Of course," thought Leonardo, it seemed like everyone who grew up with Martin was a bit off.

The three of them enjoyed the wine while watching the Golden Globes.

On the other side, Lily, having scared Leonardo, fixed the sculpture again, pushed it into a storage room, cleaned up the scene, and said to Martin, "I'm heading back to school, you should be more careful, don't always leave your house in such a mess."

Martin waved her off, "Go ahead, I'm not going to walk you out."

Once Lily had left, the three men continued to enjoy the hilarity of the Golden Globe Awards, sipping wine after wine and gossiping about the ins and outs of the industry, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

For them, the Golden Globes were indeed a source of amusement.

For instance, Julian Schnabel won Best Director for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," leaving others like the Coen Brothers and Ridley Scott in the dust.

The former's award-contending film of the year was "No Country for Old Men."

When it came to Best Actress, Julie Christie won, and not Kate Winslet, who had been sweeping various Best Actress awards since the start of the awards season.

Of course, Kate wouldn't feel upset because she had already secured the most critical Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.

Martin raised his glass and clinked it against Leonardo's, "I hope Kate wins the Oscar."

Leonardo put away the jokes, "May God bless Kate."

Nicholson directly said, "Kate has won almost all the Best Actress awards that truly matter as indicators; she's definitely going to win."

Martin didn't drink, "Let's not congratulate Kate just yet; popping champagne midway is a big taboo."

Leonardo fully agreed, "Absolutely."

…

Tonight, the Golden Globe Awards drew too much attention, and the focus of Los Angeles media was all on the colorful world of entertainment.

The Latin woman Caroline, after finishing a day's work, didn't want to go straight home and decided to find a bar for a drink.

Ever since she took the initiative to accuse Brad Pitt, Caroline's life had improved considerably.

Although the small group led by her had never reconciled with Pitt, mainly because they couldn't agree on the financial side, the compensation they received from selling news and paid interviews significantly improved her family's livelihood.

Even Caroline thought Pitt was a good man who had changed her family's fate.

Such a good man, of course, must be held onto tightly, to bite off more flesh.

As darkness fell, she got out of the car and proceeded cautiously.

In this Latin Community, security wasn't very good; not to mention the near absence of surveillance, many street lights had been smashed as well.

Caroline hadn't gone far when someone suddenly called out to her from behind a lamppost.

"Hey, Caroline, let's chat."

Hearing the stranger's voice, Caroline stopped warily and reached into her bag, grabbing her pepper spray.

"Keep your distance; I won't come close, just want to chat." The person wearing a hoodie had the visor casting a shadow over most of his face, "Brad Pitt's assets are beyond your imagination, and he also has a huge amount of fixed assets."

After agitating Pitt for nearly a year, Caroline knew a thing or two about him, "I know."

The person's voice was hoarse, quite unpleasant to hear, "The compensation you're asking for is nothing to him. Do you know why he has always been unyielding? It's not because you are asking for a lot of money, but because he wants to drag it out. He has enough assets to sustain a long battle, hoping you'll all cave in and settle with him naturally."

He reminded, "Don't forget, the Los Angeles Police Department has already lifted the restraining order against Pitt."

At that, the person produced a tape recorder and pressed the play button. Pitt's voice emanated.

"I'd rather give the money to lawyers than give those poor bastards a single penny!"

Caroline had been Pitt's nanny and recognized his voice.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The person said, "Someone who has a grudge against Pitt and sympathizes with victims like you."

Caroline didn't ask further.

The person lowered their hoodie and, using the cover of darkness, walked away alone toward the outskirts of the community.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Passing a dumpster, he pulled out the tape from the cassette, ignited it with a lighter, and burned it to ash.

So-called Pitt's words, although truly recorded and spoken by Pitt himself, were lines from one of Pitt's works.

Half an hour later, Jody, who had just left TMZ, sat in a café.

As she drank her coffee alone, Ivan entered the café in a hurry, pulled out a chair, and sat across from Jody.

Jody asked, "What do you want with me?"

Ivan first ordered a black coffee and then spoke, "I've been updating equipment and changing houses recently, and now I'm out of money."

This being a crucial news source, Jody didn't hesitate, took out her wallet, and placed all her cash on the table, "This is all I have right now."

Ivan didn't even touch it, saying, "I want to make big money, even more money."

Jody leaned forward and brought her chair closer, lowering her head towards Ivan, "Any confidential news?"

"Remember the agreement we reached with Lawyer Camille?" Ivan whispered, "We help her get the right to represent Pitt's victims, and in return, she gives us a cut of the legal fees as compensation."

He was straightforward, "Aren't there still many victims who haven't reached a final settlement with Pitt? Is there a way to increase the compensation? The more the victims receive, the higher Camille's legal fees, and the bigger our cut."

Jody frowned, "It's very complicated…"

"Pitt owns a vast amount of prime assets." Ivan had done his homework, "I have reliable information that multiple brands Pitt previously endorsed plan to unite and sue him for breach of contract during his endorsement period."

This was not news, as Cadillac had caused a stir last year. Jody, pondering, said, "As the global spokesperson for many brands, strictly speaking, the 'nannygate' incident with Pitt did indeed cause huge reputational and image damage to the associated brands."

Ivan clenched his fist and banged the table, "Those business conglomerates eat the big chunks of meat at the forefront, we follow behind, picking up the scraps will be enough to stuff us."

With a huge opportunity before her, Jody couldn't resist giving it a try, "Are you sure about your source?"

Ivan assured, "Absolutely no problem."

Jody made up her mind, "I'll go see Lawyer Camille."

She left the café without rushing off; after sitting in her car, she made several phone calls and soon received confirmation. Cadillac had already notified its representative law firm in Los Angeles to restart the pursuit of Pitt's breach of contract. Continue reading at empire