America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

As dusk fell, a black sedan drove through the gate.

Bruce parked the car and said to Martin in the back seat, "I'm going to see Cohler, I won't be back tonight."

Martin reminded him, "Feel free to take any of the gifts from the sponsors."

Without any hesitation, Bruce took a few things from the garage, got in an ordinary Ford, and left the house.

When Elizabeth saw the gate close, she jumped up and flung herself at Martin.

Martin hurriedly caught her, picked her up, and headed toward the villa. Along the way, he slapped her bottom with a smack—the feeling was quite nice.

Elizabeth was at an age brimming with vitality. Seeing the swimming pool in the front yard, she suggested, "Let's go swimming. Whoever swims faster has the upper hand tonight."

The evening of October was somewhat cool, and Martin slapped her again, "Not tonight—the water is too cold, and this pool isn't heated."

Elizabeth, who had grown up in comfortable conditions, asked directly, "Isn't there an indoor swimming pool?"

Martin didn't feel embarrassed and replied, "The house is a bit small, so no."

Elizabeth hooked her arms around his neck, "Let's work hard together, and we'll have all these things soon."

"Okay," Martin replied out of habit, then felt something was amiss.

Elizabeth initiated a passionate kiss, and the two started making love as soon as they entered the villa.

Lily, who came to clean the villa every week, soon saw the place turned into a mess, as if a world war had erupted.

Only when Elizabeth woke up the following morning did she have time to tour Martin's house.

In a side bedroom on the second floor, she discovered a bedroom decorated extremely feminine.

Martin explained, "This is Lily's room, my sister from Atlanta, currently studying in California; she stays here sometimes."

Elizabeth contemplated more deeply, "Should I move in with you?"

"Maybe in a while?" Martin spoke the truth, "You know, Benjamin's crew is about to shoot on location soon, and it might be a long time before we return."

Elizabeth also had a role in the crew, "Right, we'll talk about it when you come back."

Martin led her downstairs, discussing as they walked, "I'm looking for a new house, this place is a bit small and lacks facilities, you might not be used to it."

Elizabeth was very happy to hear this from Martin.

She felt that part of the reason Martin was looking for a new house was definitely to consider her lifestyle.

Compared to her own home where she had lived for ten years, it indeed seemed cramped here—there weren't even conditions for swimming in an indoor pool, and the living room wasn't as large as her home's dining room.

Raised in wealth, Elizabeth had her own thoughts, "When you find a good house, shall we go see it together? If you're tight on money, I have some savings."

Martin laughed shaking his head, "I can pocket tens of millions of US dollars for a film fee."

Elizabeth sincerely admired him, "Martin, you are truly amazing!"

Martin took her to the basement storage room, "Come, I have a few nice things to give you."

Following Martin into the storage room, Elizabeth saw him open a metal cabinet and take out several gift boxes.

Martin handed two to Elizabeth, "These are Lily's works, one is a hand-carved Joker statue, and the other is an action figure, accompanied by two Bay Crocodile tooth pendants from Australia."

Remembering that these were flooding Hollywood, he specifically added, "I've given them to many friends and crew members, take them if you're interested."

Elizabeth opened them up to take a closer look and said, "They're beautiful; I really like them."

Martin then opened the safe and took out a rosewood gift box. After opening it and lifting the black velvet cloth inside, there was a full-green bracelet from Wu Maoting.

Elizabeth picked it up, and under the light, the bracelet was crystal clear. She couldn't help but say, "It's so beautiful."

Martin said, "It's for you, put it on."

Elizabeth wore it on her wrist.

After touring the house, Martin took Elizabeth out for breakfast, dropped her off at her home, and then headed to Benjamin's studio.

Upon entering the lobby, the receptionist from the crew came up and whispered, "Martin, have you seen it? There's big news about our crew."

Martin asked, "What's the situation?"

The girl whispered even lower, "TMZ reported that Kate Blanchett, taking advantage of yesterday's incident, vented her resentment toward old white men. The report says Blanchett believes she should have won the Best Actress in 1999, not Gwyneth Paltrow. The bias of the old white men of the academy led to an upset."

Martin knew that Jody wouldn't disappoint.

From multiple news stories, he had long noticed this and otherwise would have asked Bruce to collaborate with someone else.

Martin nodded, "Well done."

The young woman smiled and said, "Glad I could help."

The receptionist was one of the information gatherers Bruce had developed for Martin in the crew.

Martin then asked, "Did Blanchett come in today?"

"No," the receptionist had a lot of information on hand, "Blanchett took a day off."

Martin no longer cared about these matters and went to the special effects studio to start today's work.

......

In a house in Santa Monica, Kate Blanchett was flipping through the newspapers and magazines in front of her, all of which had relayed the latest entertainment news disclosed by TMZ.

Among them was the content where she lashed out at Nicholson.

Blanchett, still furious, said, "It was Jack Nicholson who provoked me first. If he hadn't gone too far, I wouldn't have said those things. I was driven mad by him at that moment. He kept provoking me."

This wasn't the first time but a culmination from Toronto to Pine Forest Film Studio and then to Los Angeles, leading to her emotional outburst.

Actors are naturally expressive people, especially when their anger keeps building up.

Her agent, Hilda Quill, pressed down with both hands, "Kate, calm down. The problem now isn't about how it all started."

The PR manager Dana pointed to the newspapers and magazines on the table, "Since TMZ broke the story first, 'Hollywood Reporter' and 'Entertainment Weekly' and other print media didn't go through the traditional procedures of giving me or Quill a heads-up. Now it's been published in influential outlets within the circle, and we have to consider the consequences."

Dana picked up a notebook and played the video from TMZ for Blanchett to watch.

Blanchett exclaimed angrily, "Despicable and shameful!"

"That's not the key issue," Dana played the key few sentences and the circled media reports several times, "These words came from your mouth, with the video as proof."

Blanchett slowly understood what Dana meant, "Nicholson provoked my anger first and then deliberately misled me."

But Dana shook her head, "What people see is not necessarily what they perceive as the truth. They might think Nicholson was declaring his love for you, even striking such a romantic stance, which seems sincere. More importantly, Nicholson is an American and one of those old men, part of the group of old white men you cursed at. And you, Kate, are just an Australian..."

Blanchett had already figured out who Dana was referring to as the old men.

Quill continued, "'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' was about to start screenings, and you aimed to use it to run for the Oscar for Best Actress."

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Dana suggested, "Kate, I advise you to publicly apologize as soon as possible."

Blanchett nodded, "I will apologize for my unguarded words."

Dana's advice was not just that, "Also apologize to Nicholson."

"No, I absolutely will not!" Blanchett couldn't accept it, "This was all started by Nicholson."

Quill, while recognizing Nicholson as the instigator, knew that things often didn't unfold based on who was right or wrong. She could only try to persuade Blanchett, "Apart from professing his love, Nicholson didn't make any inappropriate comments, nor did he act out of line."

Blanchett sadly realized the truth of the matter but couldn't accept it, "I can publicly apologize for my harsh words, apologize to the group of old white men, and even say I was wrong and ask for their forgiveness, but I cannot apologize to Nicholson personally."

She resorted to her final argument, "I'm a woman, and he's a man!"

Dana, an experienced entertainment PR manager familiar with the industry, said, "Most of the time, that argument works very well, but the group you're up against is even more sensitive, and they hold significant power in the Academy."

Blanchett remained resolute, "I'd rather give up this year's Oscars."

"Would the crew agree to that?" Quill reminded her of the gravity of the situation, "The focus of this film's award campaign has been on Best Actress. If you give up voluntarily, how would Universal Pictures and various investment funds think? Hollywood is short on money now, and you might be blacklisted by some investment funds."

Still, Blanchett's stance did not waver.

Quill was getting anxious, "Kate, think about it. This is not about a single Oscars. Many actors who are unwelcome to the Academy, did they really do anything so outrageous? They simply spoke out of turn and, as a result, were held grudges against for years."

She stated harsh realities, "You've always taken the artistic route to awards, but if the Oscar path is blocked, what do you plan to do? Do you have the drawing power of Julia Roberts or Cameron Diaz? If so, you could ignore those old white men and still become a superstar. Once the artistic path is blocked, your acting career will be quickly over!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Blanchett slightly bowed her head, seemingly pondering Quill's words.

Seeing her attitude start to soften, Dana quickly said, "As long as we remedy the situation promptly, it will not get as serious, at most affecting this award season."

Quill added, "You've already won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, don't you want to win Best Actress? Once you're crowned, you could look for ways to strike back."

She gave an example, "Who knows, by then, Nicholson might end up down and out like Marlon Brando."

Blanchett slowly let out a long breath, trying to release all the pent-up frustration inside her.

Although she knew that with Martin Davis and Leonardo around, Nicholson wouldn't become the next Marlon Brando, what other option did she have right now?

Should she accuse Nicholson of harassment and completely offend the group of old white men?

Blanchett forcibly suppressed her inner unwillingness and slowly said, "Dana, please help me draft a statement to address the media at an appropriate time."

Dana responded, "I'll get to it right away."

Quill gently patted Blanchett's hand, "A temporary setback is for a better future."