America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 183: Chapter 183 Sophia's Shadow Looms

At the Four Seasons Hotel, Martin and Bruce arrived at the café, found a booth, and waited for Vincent and Sophia to come over.

Bruce wondered, "How can a scumbag like you be afraid of Sophia? It doesn't make sense."

"Is your head filled with dog shit?" Martin reminded, "Sophia is my patron. I can't afford to suck up to her enough, let alone offend her. Since I can't offend her, with the way she conducts herself, how can I not be afraid?"

Bruce, with personal pain understood, "That makes sense."

Martin tentatively asked, "What about you, old Bruce?"

Bruce thought about rolling up his shirt and being a gentleman again.

Martin quickly added, "I didn't mean anything by it; I'm just trying to help you find the root of the problem and get rid of your psychological shadow."

Bruce seemed to be recalling a distant event, "Sophia saved me once."

"I see," Martin started to guess eagerly, "You both were originally a pair of Bonnie and Clyde, Sophia saved you but chose Vincent's father. To protect your beloved, you joined Vincent's family. Sophia, unable to forget the old feelings, got you drunk and then…"

Bruce glared at Martin, "Shut your mouth! Believe it or not, I'll hand you over to Sophia!"

Martin could tell that there was definitely a dramatic and troublesome story, but old Bruce wasn't willing to talk about it.

On the upper floor of the hotel, Sophia, dressed in sportswear, stepped out of the suite. Despite the clothes being loose enough, they still looked tight on her, emphasizing her vast frame.

Her investments had been hugely successful, and she could not hide the smile on her face,

Unfortunately, the severe loss of collagen made her smile appear somewhat horrifying.

Her bag-carrying lackey Scott followed behind with a peculiar walking posture, his legs split.

Meeting up with Vincent, the three of them entered the elevator area.

There were also three people waiting for the elevator to go downstairs, Harvey Weinstein, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon.

Sophia caught sight of Harvey immediately and couldn't help but grin, which looked particularly ferocious due to the excessive flesh on her face, "What a coincidence, fatty, we meet again."

Harvey remembered the female King Kong and said with a tough resolve, "I don't know you."

He looked around, thankful that this time he had two lackeys with him.

After last time at Warner Bros. Studios, Harvey had specifically inquired about them. They weren't involved in Hollywood but came from Georgia and were totally outside his sphere of influence.

Sophia gestured for her bag-carrying lackey, "Water bottle."

Scott immediately pulled out a pink water bottle and handed it to Sophia. She unscrewed the straw cap, grabbed the bottle by its crown, and started gulping down water, her eyes continually drifting towards Harvey's plump behind.

Harvey unconsciously took a step back, moving towards the corner to keep his backside out of sight.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, witnessing his behavior, thought they were encountering some powerful female figure and did not rashly interrupt.

Ordinary actress issues, they'd dare to push forward and help Harvey out.

But with someone even Harvey feared, they decided to wait and see.

Sophia's gaze then shifted to Harvey's mouth and then down to the water bottle, then again to Harvey's big mouth, as if contemplating the issue of size.

Sophia remembered quite clearly how this fat man had wanted to snatch "The Hills Have Eyes" from her.

Vincent tilted his cowboy hat slightly and flexed his wrist a little.

The atmosphere grew tense as Harvey couldn't help saying, "This is Los Angeles, this is a lawful society!"

Sophia chuckled coldly, "When you tried to snatch 'The Hills Have Eyes', why didn't you talk about the law? Didn't get it from me, so now we're talking law?"

Harvey looked somewhat weaker, he couldn't afford to lose face right then, "'The Hills Have Eyes' made it to the box office top, what else do you want?"

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were familiar with the movie, last week's North American box office champion, a low investment, high return film. They hadn't expected Harvey to have fought over it and lost.

Who was this woman?

As if instinctively, without conscious thought, both men took a step away from Harvey.

It was as if they were saying, we're not familiar with this fat guy.

The elevator doors opened at that moment, and Harvey was the first to step in. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck hesitated for a moment but still followed him in.

Harvey kept pressing the close door button, and, once the elevator doors were shut, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Matt Damon was a deep thinker, and just like when he helped Harvey suppress media and actresses, most of the time he would motivate Affleck to make the calls, making calls himself less frequently.

He appeared candid, "Harvey, who was that? Like a female assassin, she scared both me and Ben."

Harvey responded, "Some redneck from the southeast, crude, rude, doesn't understand the rules of the civilized world, I'll deal with them sooner or later."

Affleck asked, "Did they snatch 'The Hills Have Eyes' from you?"

Damon elbowed Affleck, and Affleck quickly shut his mouth.

Harvey seemed unconcerned, "It's business, win or lose, it's normal. They got mine this time, next time I'll naturally find a way to take theirs."

Damon followed his lead, "Are they planning to continue investing in Hollywood?"

"Possibly." The elevator opened and Harvey stepped out, pulling out his phone to make a call, "A few people... keep an eye on them for me, and by the way, find out what projects they want to invest in Hollywood."

Entering the hotel lobby, Harvey put away his phone and told Matt Damon, "It's going to be difficult for me to help you secure Martin Scorsese's new project. He's collaborating with Warner Bros., and my relationship with Warner Bros. is sour. My speaking for you would only backfire."

Damon was well aware that auditions weren't key to winning a role, and said again, "When you were with Mila Max, you worked with Director Scorsese twice."

Harvey thought for a moment and decided to keep them in debt to him, "I will give Scorsese a call, but you'll need to figure out Warner Bros. on your own."

Matt Damon had been cooperating with Warner Bros. on the Rohan series, so he felt that there wouldn't be any problems with Warner Bros.

In the café on the first floor, Sophia, seeing Martin and Bruce stand up to greet her, strode toward the booth.

She opened her arms and embraced Martin first, "Come, let's celebrate our success."

Even with Martin's outstanding acting skills, he was stiff and nervous at that moment.

In such a scene, few men wouldn't feel terrified.

Bruce, the pervert, was even worse; his legs trembled continuously during the celebratory hug with Sophia, reminiscent of that incident long ago.

Martin then shook hands with Vincent, "Boss, congratulations."

"You're too formal, call me Vincent!" Vincent also hugged Martin, "I've made the right decision becoming friends with you."

Martin invited the two to sit.

As for Scott, the bag-carrying lackey, he stood at a distance, knowing his place.

Sophia said, "Vincent and I discussed it, in addition to the initial investment of six million US dollars, we will invest another four million. Furthermore, all investment returns from 'The Hills Have Eyes' will be used for 'Wanted Order'."

Martin quickly did the calculations in his mind, a ten million US dollar initial investment from Sophia, including the cost of adaptation rights which Louise had accounted as a three million US dollar investment, that made thirteen million dollars.

The other two major investors in 'The Hills Have Eyes' were Pacific Pictures and Grey Media, and they also planned to invest all profits into 'Wanted Order'.

Louise had made an estimate. With North America's box office at eighty million and a global box office of one hundred forty million dollars, minus various expenses by distributor Warner Bros., the three investors' total revenue from box office, DVD, television, and other full rights would be at least over forty million dollars.

About enough to produce a "Wanted Order".

Martin, of course, looked at the numbers on paper. He didn't ask about or involve himself in the actual operations at that moment.

If something went wrong, he wouldn't have the ability to take the blame; there would be others to take the fall.

It was then that Vincent said, "I hope we can win a few more box office champions."

Martin responded, "The Hills Have Eyes is no longer possible, we can only wait for our next project."

All of a sudden, Sophia mentioned, "I sponsored a bartender contest in Georgia, and Elena won the championship."

Martin glanced at Scott, realizing that this act put both of them in her debt, a tactic he often employed himself, which Sophia handled quite adeptly.

"Thank you," was all he could say.

Once investment matters for 'Wanted Order' were confirmed, there wasn't much conversation between the two parties.

In the café, many people looked their way, seemingly recognizing Martin.

A janitor quietly ran to an empty service corridor, pulled out a worn-out phone, looked up a number, and made a call.

"I have important news," he told the paparazzi on the other end, "Martin Davis, the young star who's been all the rage of late, is having a secret rendezvous with a woman at the Beverly Four Seasons Hotel."

The paparazzi on the other end got excited right away, "Keep an eye out, I'm on my way."

The janitor wasn't new to this, "Don't forget my tip for the scoop."

Almost simultaneously, a hourly worker in the café pulled out a phone and texted an entertainment journalist they knew.

"Martin Davis at the Four Seasons."

"On my way!"

After leaving the café, Martin headed towards the hotel's main entrance.

Through the glass door, he vaguely saw paparazzi activity and asked, "Old Cloth, did you call the paparazzi?"

"No," Bruce understood immediately, "Los Angeles is full of informers. You're hot right now, someone must've tipped them off."

Martin walked out the main door; he needed the exposure now.

The flashing lights started popping off below the steps of the hotel, where seven or eight paparazzi were waiting for him.

Bruce quickly drove over, and as Martin stepped down, the paparazzi swarmed him.

"We've received a tip that you're having a secret rendezvous with a lady at the hotel. Martin, have you betrayed Annie? Or have you and Annie broken up?"

Martin completely ignored them, opened the car door, and got in.

When a paparazzo tried to grab the door, Martin pointed at his hand, and the paparazzo withdrew it.

The hotel security came out, and the paparazzi dispersed.

Bruce drove off quickly.

The paparazzi were disappointed not to have caught a photo of Martin leaving the hotel with a woman.

Those with a shred of decency followed Martin's car by bike or car.

The ones who had thrown away their scruples simply turned their cameras to capture young women entering and leaving the hotel, planning to write speculative stories later.

Martin noticed that the paparazzi were unwilling to let him go.

He still had to go to Louise's place to repay a debt that evening, and finally, he had no choice but to have Bruce take the paparazzi on a ride around town, while he drove Bruce's pickup truck to see Louise.

Repaying a debt of over a hundred million was a painstaking task.