I Am Hollywood

by Cui Shi yi

1 - 702

36. 1095

I am Hollywood #Chapter 1095: Chapter 1097: The Last Thing - Read I am Hollywood Chapter 1095: Chapter 1097: The Last Thing Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

[Chapter 1097: The Last Thing]

"This is the crux of the matter," the paparazzo continued, "On the surface, they are all Williams' women, but privately, they are a couple. Just think about it, if this gets exposed, wouldn't Eric Williams feel played and throw a fit?"

Carmen Kass' eyes, which had been dull for days, suddenly lit up.

Although homosexuality was rampant in the fashion industry, someone of Eric Williams' caliber certainly wouldn't tolerate two little darlings playing coy with him. The only reason Giselle Bundchen could bully her so brazenly was because of the backing she had from Eric Williams.

Originally, she had asked the paparazzo to sneak some photos just to retaliate against the bullying. But if her adversary was abandoned by Eric Williams, her current predicament would be resolved effortlessly.

Thinking this way, Carmen Kass wanted to pick up the stack of photos again to take a look. But this time, a hand pressed down on the photos, followed by the paparazzo's voice, "Miss Kass, don't forget what you promised. You still need to pay me $100,000."

Recalling how she had worked hard over the years to save a bit of money only for someone to snatch it all away, Carmen Kass suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

Gently biting her lip, she straightened her posture and strengthened her tone, shaking her head, "No, this is not enough. You have to print these photos in the newspaper."

The paparazzo shook his head in response, arguing, "Miss Kass, that was not in the scope of our initial agreement. You said that once I got you the information you needed, you would give me $100,000. Now that I've done what I set out to do..."

Carmen Kass fell silent.

If it was just about getting the photos, she had no channel to disseminate them.

The paparazzo paused for a moment, noticing her silence, then continued, "However, Miss Kass, I can help you complete the last step by finding a very influential newspaper to publish this, of course, this would also come with a fee."

Carmen Kass hesitated and shook her head, "I don't have any money left."

The paparazzo remarked, "I just saw you pull up in a Chrysler."

Carmen Kass felt a flare of anger. How could someone be so greedy, wanting not only all her money but even her car?

"That's my last possession."

"New York Post," the paparazzo casually dismissed her feelings. "It's the most influential gossip paper in New York, with a daily circulation of over 500,000 copies. If these photos get published in the New York Post, Eric Williams will know about it right away."

Carmen Kass only occasionally flipped through fashion magazines and had never paid attention to gossip papers like the New York Post, but she believed that the paparazzo wouldn't try to con her with something so easily disproven.

She was a decisive girl in her actions and, after a moment of hesitation, nodded, "Alright, I'll agree. But I must see these photos appear in the New York Post first before I hand over the car and the final $100,000."

"That's not going to work," the paparazzo insisted in a principled tone, "I've brought the photos to you, so you should pay me the compensation I deserve. As for publication, I can guarantee you'll see the article in the New York Post tomorrow morning."

Once again instinctively biting her lip, she fell silent for a moment. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the cash she had prepared beforehand and coldly pushed it toward the paparazzo.

"Then let's have a pleasant collaboration," the paparazzo said without checking the money, readily accepting it, then pointing at the photos on the table, "Miss Kass, do you need to keep a backup?"

Desperately wanting to say no, she still quietly gathered the photos on the table.

...

Back in her apartment, Carmen Kass's thoughts were a jumbled mess and not wanting to do anything, she curled up on the bed without even changing out of her clothes, staring blankly at the bedside lamp.

She didn't know when she fell asleep, but when she woke, the first light of dawn was spilling in.

Remembering what was about to unfold that day, she mustered up a bit of energy, cleaned up, and headed downstairs.

Looking at her Chrysler parked by the roadside, she suddenly lost all desire to find somewhere for breakfast.

Sitting in the car for a while as the streets began to bustle, she returned to reality, glancing around before she took off an amulet that was hanging from the rearview mirror and tucked it into her pocket.

A taxi slowly stopped nearby. The paparazzo got out of the car and noticed her sitting in the vehicle, so he walked over and tapped on the window.

Carmen Kass opened the door and got out, then the paparazzo handed her a newspaper.

In a prominent position in the entertainment section, the title was glaring: "Supermodel Giselle Bundchen Comes Out, Kissing Her Girlfriend Publicly."

Not wanting to take it at face value, she went to a nearby convenience store, bought another copy of the New York Post, and confirmed the information before she handed her car keys over to the paparazzo.

The paparazzo was well-prepared. After receiving the keys, he pulled out a few A4 sheets of paper and said, "Miss Kass, you need to sign this transfer document."

Carmen Kass didn't want to say another word to him. She hastily scribbled her name on the document and walked straight toward her apartment building.

The troubles she faced should be disappearing now, she thought with a sense of relief. However, she couldn't muster too much enthusiasm and decided to take a good nap, hoping to sleep until the next day.

Tomorrow would be a new day.

But just as she lay on the bed, her phone rang.

...

Looking at the screen, it was Paul Roland calling, so she sat up and pressed the answer button.

Before she could say a word, an agitated voice burst through the line.

Her mind was spinning as she listened to Paul Roland's frustrated rant for a full three minutes before the phone buzzed with a busy tone as she slowly pieced together his fragmented words.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"Bitch."

"Fool."

"Why did you take matters into your own hands?"

"You've been fired."

Before she could react further, her phone rang again, this time it was her agency in Paris calling with the same blunt message: she had been fired.

That wasn't all, shortly after, her small domestic agency also called. She had been scouted by this small agency, and they maintained a good relationship, representing her in Estonia for various matters.

The news from there was also grim -- she had been fired again.

However, because they had been close, they took a bit more time to explain, though it was vague, mentioning they had been under a lot of pressure.

Finally realizing something, a wave of dread washed over her.

Like a zombie, she stumbled onto the street, staring at the moving cars, and suddenly recalled a certain afternoon when she was thirteen.

...

That was in 1991, when Estonia became chaotic; it seemed the whole of Eastern Europe was in turmoil.

Walking home from school along a familiar road, she heard a distant rumble and saw rows of soldiers and tanks heading her way. She didn't understand what was happening, but fear gripped her, causing her to scramble into a small tunnel under a nearby bridge, trembling amid the noise of vehicles, voices, and footsteps.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally dared to crawl out of the tunnel.

The modest concrete bridge bore obvious cracks from being crushed under the tanks, and she felt as if she had nearly been caught under it.

...

From that day forward, she had yearned to leave Estonia.

No matter what, she had to get away.

And she did leave.

But she discovered that there was no place on earth that was a paradise.

Perhaps only the dead could go to heaven.

It was just so unfair.

In a daze, she wandered to an intersection, staring at the blaring red light. She hesitated about whether to walk across.

A taxi stopped nearby; after the passenger got out, the driver looked at her and offered, "Miss, need a ride?"

So, she got in.

The driver turned the wheel and drove off, then asked, "Miss, where to?"

Where to?

Recalling a place name that had recently come to mind, she replied, "Buckshaven, Maryland."

The driver laughed, "Sorry, Miss, this is a taxi, not a witch expedition service."

"Then just keep going straight."

"Straight?" the driver glanced ahead -- the street ran east-west -- "There's no end to that, you could even drive all the way to Long Island."

She pulled her wallet from her pocket, which held her last few hundred dollars, then handed it over, saying, "Just go straight."

The driver took the crumpled bills, realizing she was another girl in a bad mood.

Pretty girls always had their little tantrums.

The driver wasn't going to argue about the money; after all, this stack was equivalent to his entire day's earnings. So, he pressed the gas pedal without a second thought.

He figured it was just a pleasant ride with a pretty girl.

This was an experience a middle-aged driver with a wife and two kids to support had never encountered before, so he figured it'd be a nice change.

...

The taxi quickly left Manhattan, crossed the Williamsburg Bridge, and entered Brooklyn, heading east past JFK International Airport. Further on, the buildings along the road started to thin out but became increasingly elegant.

The driver had been to Long Island before and knew that Route 27 led straight there, so he didn't change lanes and headed straight down.

Occasionally testing the waters with brief conversation, he met cool responses from the girl in the back seat and didn't push it further.

Over three hours later, the taxi stopped near the lighthouse at the end of Long Island.

When she got out, the driver leaned out to say kindly, "Miss, how about I give you a ride back? You won't find any cars around here."

She shook her head and waved her phone, saying, "I'll have my friend come pick me up."

The driver glanced around. Not far off was a private riding stable where he could vaguely see some figures, and with the area being so expansive, he figured a girl wouldn't be in much danger there. So, he nodded and drove off.

...

Watching the taxi disappear, Carmen Kass forced a smile that was tinged with desolation.

What friends?

She had some friends in Europe, but after only six months in New York, most of her time had been consumed with work, leaving no opportunity to make friends.

Now she suddenly had the time.

She scanned her surroundings, tightened her black coat, and stepped off the asphalt road, staggering through dried yellow weeds toward the nearest coast.

When she reached the shore, she found a patch of emptiness to sit down.

Though it was February, the sun was shining brightly on the nearing noon, so it wasn't too cold at all.

Yet her heart held no warmth.

Staring dazedly at the deep blue ocean under the sunlight, the brightness stung her eyes, so she buried her face in her knees.

No one could see her.

Not even the sun.

And then the tears flowed.

She didn't know how long she cried, drifting in and out of consciousness, feeling sleepy.

Maybe she was about to die.

...

In her daze, she momentarily sensed footsteps approaching.

Maybe they were the same footsteps she heard years ago.

But still, she cautiously lifted her head.

Beside her stood a small figure.

It was a little girl, about seven or eight years old.

She had golden hair, big eyes, and wore a pink down jacket along with beige boots, and she held a box, curiously observing her.

Why was there a little girl here?

Could it be an angel?

An angel here to take her to heaven?

So it turned out angels had no wings.

Scanning her surroundings, she noticed a tall man in sunglasses standing nearby, arms crossed in front of him, showing no intention of approaching.

Seeing her glance toward the man, the little girl finally spoke up, "That's Aaron, Daddy's bodyguard."

Carmen lightly sniffed, knowing she must look quite the mess, and touched her face, but the little girl quickly pulled out a pack of tissues from her pocket and handed them over.

"Thank you," she muttered softly, feeling her defenses fade away.

As she wiped her cheek with a tissue, she asked the little girl, "What's your name?"

"Emma," the little girl squatted next to her, eyes sparkling, "And you?"

"Carmen," she replied.

"I know, that's the name of an opera."

"No, that's my name."

"Hmm," the little girl didn't argue, "There's also a movie with the name Emma."

Carmen chuckled softly and asked, "Emma, how did you end up here?"

"Grandpa Jeffrey sent over some foals to be boarded at the stable. Daddy brought us to ride today, and there's a barbecue, too," the little girl said suddenly, remembering something, and handed her the box, "Carmen, would you like something to eat?"

"I..." She almost shook her head but then reached out to accept it, saying, "Thank you."

Inside the box was a roasted chicken leg and a sausage. Although they were a bit cold, she didn't hesitate to grab the skewer and carefully bring it to her mouth.

Seeing her start to eat made Emma visibly happy.

Curious, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"You've been sitting here for so long that I thought you must be very hungry," Emma chirped, "But Daddy says pretty girls don't eat, so I bet Daddy."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1098: Unforeseen Disaster]

Listening to Emma's innocent words, Carmen Kass couldn't help but chuckle -- it was the first genuine smile she had shared in days.

Emma giggled in response and then curiously asked, "Carmen, why are you sitting here all alone?"

"I," Carmen Kass hesitated, considering whether there was any need to hide the truth from such a little girl. Eventually, she confessed, "I've been bullied and lost my job."

"Oh," Emma nodded, offering a sympathetic look as she earnestly reassured her, "It's okay. If you lost your job, you can always find another one."

Seeing the little adult in front of her made Carmen want to nod in agreement, but she felt a surge of vulnerability that compelled her to shake her head instead. She set down her food and said glumly, "I can't find another job. The people who bullied me are too powerful, and they won't let me continue working."

Emma tilted her head, struggling to understand. However, in her limited understanding of the world, she believed that her dad was the strongest person around. The strongest person should be able to deal with even the toughest types, right? Surely, Dad could help this big sister who couldn't find a job.

However, Aunt Joan had often reminded her to be cautious about talking about Dad or bringing others to meet him. Yet, Aunt Joan also frequently taught her the importance of helping others.

After evaluating the priorities of these two pieces of advice in her small mind, Emma made a decision, pulling on Carmen's arm as she declared, "Carmen, come with me."

Still unsure, Carmen followed the little girl's lead and stood up. Since she hadn't eaten anything since morning, her legs felt somewhat weak. Being tugged along, she walked forward a few steps, gazing at the nearby horse racing track, and asked, "Emma, where are you taking me?"

"To get help from Dad," Emma replied. "He can definitely help you find another job."

Carmen abruptly stopped, glancing at the bodyguard quietly following them from a distance, and realized that this little girl, Emma, came from an extremely prominent family. After all, how many people in the world could stand up to Eric Williams?

Furthermore, deep down, she had always been a proud person who disliked receiving favors.

Emma noticed Carmen's hesitation. She tilted her little face up, puzzled by Carmen's reluctance, and pulled her hand firmly again.

Looking into the innocent eyes of this little girl, Carmen felt her defenses ease yet again, and she took a step forward.

This kind, good-natured, well-mannered little girl must have parents who were at least decent people, right?

Maybe.

There was a hint of expectation deep down; perhaps something like in a fairy tale where a kind little girl helps a downtrodden old man and receives a great reward in return.

Though she hadn't helped Emma, the girl was just sincerely trying to help her. Regardless, she had truly hit rock bottom.

With a scattered train of thoughts, Carmen found herself alongside Emma, crossing over the low fence of the racetrack.

...

The area inside the racetrack was vast, covering several hectares. In the distance, numerous horses roamed leisurely on the yellowing grass, while a barbecue party took place in front of some adjacent apartments, bustling with about ten or more people.

Upon entering the racetrack, Emma released Carmen's hand and began to hop ahead.

With the little girl no longer pulling her along, Carmen experienced a sudden wave of anxiety and considered fleeing. It was likely the unique sensitivity of children that made Emma stop and turn back, grabbing Carmen's hand once more.

When they arrived closer to the crowd, Emma again let go of her hand and ran over to a graceful woman nearby.

Carmen stood idly at the edge of the crowd, feeling the curious stares of strangers weighing down on her, utterly bewildered.

Suddenly, the door of an apartment on her right swung open, and two men stepped out, laughing and chatting.

Instinctively, she turned to look.

Her body tensed up, her instincts screaming like a small beast facing a predator.

It was Eric Williams.

It was really him.

A wave of intense fear coursed through her, tinged with anger.

Her body began to tremble slightly.

Now that Eric Williams was there, it was obvious that the girl's parents must have some deep connections with him.

What was she doing there? Was she walking right into a trap?

Because they were so close, the two men noticed her as well, and Eric Williams looked over with curiosity.

Their eyes met.

All the feelings of grievance and anger that had accumulated within her over the past few days suddenly surged, merging with the intense fear that had settled deeply in her bones.

It felt as if she had been transported back to many years earlier.

That afternoon, staring down an approaching army and tanks, the sounds of vehicles, voices, and footsteps filled the air.

The horrifying cracks in the cement bridge loomed before her.

At that time, she could hide under the culvert of the bridge.

Now, there would be no hiding.

With a sudden resolve, all her emotions crystallized into a fierce determination, akin to that of a northern European girl cultivated by the cold, harsh air, striking down like a beast on the brink of death. She unleashed a low growl and lunged at the man without a second thought.

...

The transformation took everyone by surprise; no one had reacted when the girl, who had been so anxious moments before, had already flung herself at Eric Williams.

Eric stood there bewildered, not understanding why the girl who had suddenly appeared at the party would attack him. But instinctively, he reacted, swiftly catching her hand before it could strike his face, while his other hand came up to defend himself, shouting, "What the hell is going on?"

With Eric's shout, the previously frozen atmosphere shattered.

The women instinctively shielded the children beside them while the men rushed forward. Eric's bodyguards acted with lightning speed, swooping in swiftly.

...

The girl, fighting desperately against Eric, sensed the figures converging around her. Despair filled her eyes as she felt a grip on her shoulder. Summoning her last ounce of strength, she wrapped her petite hands around the man's arm defending himself, and without hesitation, she bit down hard on his wrist.

As several bodyguards finally closed in, they professionally restrained her, two large men gripping her arms, trying to separate her from their employer.

However, in her desperation, the girl unleashed a surprising amount of strength, her slender figure easily pinned down by the bodyguards, yet Eric was also unexpectedly yanked to the ground. She held on tight, her small mouth still firmly biting down on his arm, a drop of crimson seeping out from the corner of her mouth.

After struggling for a moment, a brutal punch landed on her abdomen, and her vision darkened -- she finally passed out.

...

Time stretched on for an indiscernible length.

When she finally regained consciousness, it was in a pitch-black dark room.

It felt as though she was tied to a chair, and the pain in her abdomen reminded her that she was indeed still alive.

But she must be on the brink of death.

She was finally, truly going to die.

Suddenly, she longed for her mother. Each time she returned home, her mother would prepare plenty of tasty food and fuss over why she kept getting thinner.

Pretty girls hardly ate anything.

It reminded her of the little girl's words. No, it was actually something the little girl's father had said.

Guilt washed over her as she wondered if she had scared them.

And deep down, she worried whether she'd put them in trouble. After all, she was brought there by the little girl, and then she had attacked Eric Williams.

What a useless person she was, unable to take care of herself and dragging others down with her.

Now, as she felt the tight ropes binding her wrists and ankles, it was clear she hadn't been handed over to the police.

However, the situation seemed even more dire.

She might end up shoved in a sack and tossed into the sea.

She couldn't even swim.

Being stuffed into a sack made any chances of swimming irrelevant.

An attempt at dry humor flickered through her mind; she tugged at her lips, tasting the salty tang of blood.

Instinctively, she extended her tongue to lick her lips.

She must have bitten that man's wrist open.

If only she were a zombie, like in those old horror films she used to watch. Being a vampire wouldn't be too bad either; she'd make sure that guy never had a moment's peace again.

The sound of a lock clicking and the creak of the door broke her thoughts, ushering in a beam of pure white light.

Anticipating what was about to unfold, she promptly shut her eyes, devoid of any false hopes.

She had heard countless stories of Eastern European girls leaving their homeland in search of dreams, only never to return.

She had long resisted acknowledging her roots. Geographically speaking, she might be Northern European; Estonians believed firmly that they belonged in the North, not the East.

The idea frightened her.

She simply did not intend to let any more tears fall, determined to keep her eyes squeezed shut even tighter.

A very familiar voice soon reached her ears, albeit with a tone drastically different from usual -- markedly humble.

"Mr. Williams, I'm truly sorry. I didn't expect something like this to occur."

It was Paul Roland.

She felt her hands and legs being freed. Finally, mustering the courage, she opened her eyes once more.

She found herself flanked by two vigilant bodyguards.

Paul Roland remained outside, still conversing with someone just beyond the door. Moments later, that person stepped inside -- it was Eric Williams.

Oddly, Paul Roland stayed back.

Carmen gently bit her lip. With Paul Roland present, she began to understand that things were perhaps not as dire as she had imagined, so she refrained from leaping up to attack again.

She simply lacked the strength.

The food Emma had given her only allowed her a few bites, and she had no idea how much time had passed since.

...

Eric Williams waved his hand, and the two bodyguards retreated, the door sealed behind them.

Though she remained seated, her body tensed again involuntarily.

She caught a glance at the bandaged wrist of the man in front of her, noticing the wraps around it.

Seeing where her gaze fell, Eric raised his arm slightly, saying, "The doctor said I might have a scar now; I've got a circle of a lady's bite mark on my wrist. How am I supposed to explain this to anyone?"

Strangely enough, hearing these words made the tension within her ease slightly, akin to the comfort she had felt while spending time with Emma.

Perhaps these people could impart that feeling too.

She felt inexplicably guilty, but it was something she would absolutely never admit.

After all, she had been bullied to this extent; she had merely bitten him in retaliation.

So she stubbornly turned her face away.

A hand reached out and gently pinched her delicate face, turning her head back to meet his gaze again.

It was a rather cheeky gesture.

She thought to herself, Alright, we're even now.

Trying her hardest not to let her eyes dart away again, she steeled herself to hold his gaze.

But in the end, she couldn't last past five seconds -- maybe six -- before she succumbed to the urge to look away from the man's penetrating stare.

What a useless mess she was.

The man sitting across from her scrutinized her for a moment before speaking again, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Her lips moved, and she finally murmured, "Emma?"

"The kids were frightened by you," he interpreted her hesitant tone. "They'll probably have a few nightmares and will never trust a big sister on the roadside again."

She sniffled slightly, a hint of embarrassment washing over her as she looked down.

...

Eric observed the girl before him and didn't pressure her to speak further.

Thinking back to the earlier events, it truly had been an unforeseen disaster.

After the bodyguards had subdued the girl, chaos still reigned; they swiftly ushered the women and children away from the scene. After tending to his own injury, Eric finally found the energy to handle the matter.

The girl had personal identification on her, making her identity easy to verify.

After some minor complications, he quickly understood the entire sequence of events.

It was both absurd and amusing.

Eric had never closely monitored the squabbles among women, yet he had not anticipated being caught in the crossfire this time.

This bite had truly been an uninvited surprise.

"Paul Roland is still outside; you'll go back with him soon," he paused before continuing, "I spoke to Gisele on the phone; she won't bully you anymore."

Carmen lifted her head once more.

Could it be that the man before her was so easily letting her off the hook?

Eric suddenly laughed. "Are you wondering why I'm letting you off?"

Feeling exposed, she instinctively turned her head away, wanting to avoid his gaze, only for that persistent hand to reach out again, forcing her face back toward him again.

That was just too much.

Did he really think she was easy to push around?

Ignited by a flare of defiance, she shot daggers at the man.

Eric raised his wrapped wrist again and said, "Don't worry, I never said I would let you off the hook."

"I," she paused, finally finding the courage to speak. "I will pay for your medical expenses."

"I'm not interested in the cost of your bite," Eric shook his head, sizing her up with a smirk, like a villain savoring the moment.

However, he didn't continue the conversation, instead rising to his feet, declaring, "Alright, let's head back."

As she stood and followed the man, her eyes darted nervously before she whispered, "I--I still need my money and my car."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1099: Selling Out?!]

Eric opened the door to the room and, upon hearing the girl's words, couldn't help but chuckle. "So that's the reward you gave someone else, and now you want it back?"

"You all tricked me."

"No one tricked you," Eric said as he led her out of the room, ignoring Paul Roland and his entourage who had immediately stood up in the outer area, walking past them. He turned to the girl beside him and added, "You just did something beyond your abilities. Don't be so foolish in the future."

She bit her lip, refusing to say anything more.

A group of them exited the apartment, still in that familiar horse ranch area. Since it was quite late, the open space outside the apartment was illuminated by lights, while everything else was shrouded in darkness. The winter sky was high, and the sporadic stars looked rather apathetic.

A business vehicle was parked at the entrance. Eric Williams waved at Paul Roland, who approached with a polite demeanor, personally opening the car door and gesturing for her to get in.

She silently climbed into the backseat. After the car door was closed, she saw Paul Roland exchange a few words with Eric before he got in with the company driver.

...

As they left the ranch and the business car drove onto the pitch-black asphalt roads of Long Island, Carmen Kass glanced at her watch under the soft glow of the interior light. It was already past eleven at night. Reflecting on the day's events, it felt as though everything had been a dream.

But she was really hungry.

Looking up at the front passenger seat, she caught Paul Roland studying her through the rearview mirror, his expression rather complex.

Even though Paul had a notorious temper and had scolded her just that day, he had still treated her decently ever since she signed with WM.

So she huddled into her seat, feeling like a child who had done something wrong, yet stubbornly unwilling to admit her mistakes.

Paul Roland was the first to break the silence, unusually gentle in tone. "It's quite late. I'll take you home now. We can discuss everything tomorrow."

She could only nod in response.

Yet, she couldn't help but think, did all these men really believe that pretty girls didn't need to eat?

But that could lead to starvation!

...

When they returned to Manhattan, it was already past two in the morning. Carmen Kass rummaged through her apartment's fridge, finding something to eat to fill her stomach, and then collapsed into bed, falling into a deep sleep.

She only woke up when she heard the knocking at noon the following day.

It was Camila, come to pick her up.

Camila didn't bring up the fact that she had been let go; neither did she mention it, as if nothing had ever happened.

After freshening up, Camila drove her to a restaurant in Midtown where Paul Roland was already waiting. There was also a middle-aged man with him, and after introductions, she learned his name was Edward Razek. She glanced at the business card he handed over, noting he was the Vice President of LTD and the Marketing Director for Victoria's Secret.

Victoria's Secret?!

Suddenly, she recalled what that man had said to her the night before: "Don't worry, I haven't said I'll let you off the hook."

She immediately felt that something was off.

However, Paul Roland and Edward Razek seemed to be enjoying their lunch, and after the meal, they finalized a contract. She was officially confirmed as one of the five brand ambassadors for Victoria's Secret.

Her mind, however, was still preoccupied with that man's ominous words about not letting her go.

In a daze, she agreed.

Okay, she was actually quite clear-headed; it was just that how could she refuse a contract worth $10 million?

Ten million!

Though Forbes had begun ranking supermodel incomes two years ago, where the likes of Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista garnered over $20 million annually, she had secretly envied them but never dreamed she would receive a $10 million endorsement deal herself.

Such a hefty sum would be enough to sell herself, practically.

Wait.

Sell herself?

Sell out!

...

"So, Edward, let's have dinner again sometime. See you next time," Paul Roland smiled as he escorted Edward Razek to his car outside the restaurant. After Razek drove away, he turned to the girl next to him, sounding a bit like a nagging elder. "Carmen, it's always good to be polite to clients. Don't forget to say goodbye when they leave."

"But," she finally regained her focus and replied hesitantly, "Paul, I... I don't want this contract."

"Don't say foolish things," Paul Roland replied, putting on his sunglasses, completely dismissing her attempt to explain. He waved for the driver to come over and said, "Come back to the company with me. We need to reorganize your contract. As it happens, your European agency has terminated your agreement, and Mr. Williams wants WM to take care of your personal affairs from now on. Our European office can easily handle just you."

Once he was in the car, Paul Roland closed the door and pressed the button to roll down the window. "I heard your car is gone. You can use the one Camila drove for now; of course, whenever you want to buy your own car, just return that one to the company."

...

Watching Paul Roland's vehicle pull away, Camila brought another car around. She stood by the roadside in a daze for a moment before finally opening the door and sitting inside.

The next few days passed in constant busyness.

She dealt with various re-signed contracts, rescheduled appointments, and attended a public Victoria's Secret event, officially confirming her new identity as a brand ambassador.

The media buzzed, especially the gossip outlets familiar with the fashion world, who were taken aback as if something monumental had happened.

She kept a low-key eye on the follow-up to that New York Post article about Gisele Bundchen since it had cost her everything, including her car.

However, subsequent reports merely stated that the kiss between Gisele and Alessandra Ambrosio at the nightclub was merely a game between friends, letting the matter fizzle out without much fanfare, as if suddenly, everyone had grown very tolerant towards same-sex relationships.

Fashion week continued, and though she missed New York, London, and Milan, she quickly reserved 17 runway shows at the Paris Fashion Week, including a grand opening with Chanel, reportedly thanks to Eric Williams personally networking with Karl Lagerfeld on her behalf.

Even though that man didn't appear before her for a while, it felt like he was somehow everywhere.

And strangely enough, she found herself compelled to pay attention to everything about him: about Firefly Group, about Firefly Investments, about his recent film, and about the new annual Forbes billionaires list.

Initially, she just thought he was an impressive figure, but the more she learned, the more she realized that his brilliance exceeded her imagination.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1100: It Must Be a Hoax]

In the evening, in the conference room of WM Agency.

The company executives and several signed models had spent the afternoon discussing the schedule for Paris Fashion Week before finally adjourning the meeting.

Today was March 1st.

Paris Fashion Week was set to open on March 5th. Several key models under WM, including Kate Moss, had already rushed to Europe ahead of the London Fashion Week. This meeting was mostly called to discuss arrangements for a few newcomers, but mainly for Carmen Kass.

As everyone began to leave the conference room, Carmen was called back by Paul Roland, who reminded her a few things before letting her go.

...

Stepping out of the conference room, Carmen initially planned to head straight back to her apartment but was stopped by a group of girls she had just seen.

"Carmen, we're all going out to eat. Want to join us?"

The spokesperson of the group was Karolina Kurkova, a Czech model who had signed with WM a little earlier than Carmen. She was also one of WM's centerpiece talents. However, at just fifteen, her career was just beginning, whereas Carmen, at twenty-one, felt the pressure of possibly missing her opportunity if she didn't find success soon.

For the past six months, WM had concentrated its resources on turning her into another Gisele Bundchen, which had already caused discontent among the other models in the company. Therefore, her popularity within WM wasn't particularly strong.

People tend to behave this way; whenever someone appeared stronger, jealousy could easily arise. Yet, if someone seemed far ahead, the comparison often faded away, shifting instead toward wanting to befriend that person.

Recently, after suddenly being named a Victoria's Secret spokesperson, Carmen felt a notable change in the attitudes of others in the company. Even Kate Moss and a few others in Europe had called her to congratulate her, and the other models left behind in New York were noticeably more friendly toward her.

Feeling the eager gaze of the nearby girls, Carmen hesitated for a moment but then nodded, saying, "Alright then, I'll treat everyone."

Despite her underlying pride and stubbornness, she had never been antisocial. During her years in Europe, she had gotten along well with the other models from her agency.

The girls were thrilled. Upon hearing that she would treat, they wasted no time moving in closer, surrounding her as they made their way out of the company.

They found a nearby British restaurant, recommended by one of the girls. The reasoning was sound; British food was notoriously bad, so by choosing this restaurant, everyone wouldn't have to worry about controlling their appetites.

Since they were about to fly to Paris, no one dared to eat too much.

...

After ordering some simple dishes, the group, which turned heads throughout the restaurant with their stunning looks, started to chat while they ate. Coming from all corners of the globe, they did have few common topics, and inadvertently, the conversation shifted to the recently popular The Blair Witch Project.

"Yesterday, New Line Cinema issued a statement; it turns out this was all just a movie promotion, and the film is coming out on March 5th, the same day as the opening of Paris Fashion Week."

"No wonder! My mom lived in Maryland when she was young, and I even called her to ask if she had heard of anything like the Blair Witch. She said she hadn't."

"That's not the case at all! I heard this is just a cover-up by the Maryland state government. The film company took over the situation and promoted it as fictional so that nobody would question Maryland's handling of it. Apparently, a lot of people have died over the years. If this were to be seriously investigated, many would be held accountable."

"I feel that way too! New Line only arranged for 200 theaters to show the film, clearly not wanting too many people to see it. Just think, if it were a real movie, considering its current popularity, at least 2,000 theaters would be necessary."

"It opens on March 5th, but unfortunately, we won't be able to make it. However, maybe we can catch it after we return from Paris."

"Yeah, let's do it together! Just hope the tickets aren't too hard to get. With only 200 theaters, Manhattan probably won't have many theaters showing it."

The girls chattered excitedly, but Carmen remained a bit quiet, only occasionally agreeing with them.

She had been following this situation earlier. But the past few days had kept her too busy to think about it much.

New Line Cinema was just a subsidiary of Firefly Group, wasn't it?

The thought of that man suddenly crossed her mind.

What was he doing now?

Had he thought of her?

As this thought crept in, she felt a bit flustered.

How could she have such a strange thought!

"It must be a hoax."

The words slipped out of her mouth without thinking.

Hearing her comment, the girls at the table paused, realizing her discomfort and quickly shifted the conversation to another topic.

The discussion of the Blair Witch at a British restaurant in Manhattan was just a small reflection of a broader social craze.

After more than a month of buildup, rumors about the Blair Witch had transformed into a viral topic of discussion, gaining traction beyond just the internet; even traditional media had gotten involved. The public clarification issued by New Line did nothing to cool the buzz but rather fueled even greater controversy.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1101: Mini Music Store]

Los Angeles, Firefly Studios.

In an office within the executive suite, Edgar Bronfman, CEO of Seagram Group, and Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music, gathered around a machine that resembled a bank ATM, intently listening to an engineer from Firefly Electronics explain its purpose.

This so-called "ATM" was actually a digital music sales terminal, which Firefly Electronics had dubbed the "Mini Music Store."

The machine was a delightful surprise for Eric, who had attended Firefly Electronics' annual meeting just days earlier. Last year, he had approved the development plan for this digital music sales terminal, but it had only been less than a year since its inception. Moreover, knowledge of similar digital music vending machines had not been part of his familiarity in this time; therefore, he hadn't paid much attention to the initiative.

However, upon seeing the prototype presented by Firefly Electronics a few days ago, Eric had indeed been amazed. The machine implemented Firefly Electronics' capacitive touch technology, featuring no physical buttons at all -- everything was controlled via a touchscreen. Furthermore, the internal chips and operating system were also independently developed by Firefly Electronics, building upon the tablet computing technology accumulated by the company.

Eric found the market research results for the Mini Music Store compelling, heightening his interest in the device. Historically, MP3 players gained momentum around 2005 when Apple opened the iPod to connect with Microsoft's Windows operating system, sparking explosive growth in the MP3 player market. By that time, the internet penetration in Western society was sufficient to support users downloading digital music from their personal computers onto MP3 players.

However, in the present, the total number of internet users worldwide was still under two hundred million, with over half of those concentrated in North America, which had a population of about three hundred million. The remaining five billion people had fewer than one hundred million internet users. This scale of internet users was far from enough to fuel explosive growth in digital music players.

This situation had already manifested itself in the previous year. When the second-generation Fireflyer player was released simultaneously in North America and Europe, at first, the shipments in European countries were on par with those in North America. Yet, in the following months, due to the limitations of personal computer and internet user numbers, the pace of shipments of Fireflyer players in Europe had visibly slowed down. Throughout 1998, out of the total of 19.7 million units shipped, only 7.7 million units were accounted for by Europe's population, which was twice that of North America, while the remaining 12 million units were consumed in North America.

The main reason for this disparity was that many European consumers lacked accessible channels to copy or download music for their Fireflyer players, significantly dampening their interest in purchasing digital music players.

While various countries were striving to invest in their respective information industries amid the tech wave in North America, Firefly Electronics clearly could not wait for the entire market to develop its own basic hardware infrastructure. Thus, creating convenient access for users to acquire digital music became a pressing issue for Firefly Electronics.

It was foreseeable that even with the current launch, within a few years, as personal computers and the internet became further widespread, the Mini Music Store would eventually be phased out like public payphones. But as long as this digital music sales terminal was successfully adopted by the market, there was no doubt that Firefly Electronics' Fireflyer player would attain a market advantage that competitors in the digital music player industry would find incredibly difficult to match.

However, the biggest challenge to promoting this device lay in music copyrights.

After all, while Firefly Electronics could privately allow and even encourage users to crack their Fireflyer players to download free music via bootleg CDs or pirated websites, they could not openly endorse such actions. Thus, this digital music sales terminal could only sell legitimate digital music through Yahoo Music Store.

Though over the past two years, the scope of music copyrights that Yahoo Music Store had available for sale had been continuously expanding, the major five record labels still granted very few licenses to Yahoo Music Store. Without resolving the content issue for the digital music store, broad promotion of this device was bound to face numerous obstacles.

...

In the office, after finishing the engineer's detailed explanation of the user login, selection, and payment processes, Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music, was the first to speak up. "There's still a crucial question. I noticed you made a purchase through a Yahoo account, but what about users who don't have one?"

"Mr. Morris, we do have a solution for that," the engineer from Firefly Electronics replied. "You see, there's also a point card purchase option. Our plan is to place many of these devices in supermarkets, subway stations, and other busy areas. Users can simply purchase a point card from nearby shops, and by using the temporary account password provided on the card, they can buy music. The principle is similar to prepaid phone cards."

Doug Morris nodded, glancing subtly at Edgar Bronfman beside him. Although his face displayed no specific expression, inside Doug Morris was completely astonished. The rapid promotion of the Fireflyer player had already taken traditional portable music player manufacturers and the major record companies by surprise. He sensed that once this digital music sales terminal was widely adopted, it would completely disrupt the current structure of the record industry.

Meanwhile, with access to both the Fireflyer player and the digital music store, Firefly Electronics' influence over the entire record industry would expand exponentially.

At that moment, Doug Morris's first thought was that Universal Music needed to either develop an exceptionally close partnership with Firefly Electronics to gain a more favorable position in the upcoming dramatic industry shift, or firmly resist Firefly Electronics' plan, exhausting all efforts to preserve the original order of the music industry.

From the perspective of a competent professional manager, Doug Morris favored the former option.

With the rise of the internet industry, the entire record industry's performance had already declined due to the impact of internet piracy last year, indicating that significant changes were inevitable. Sticking to conventional methods would only lead to downfall.

While media and record companies criticized the Fireflyer player for promoting piracy, Doug Morris knew full well that the Fireflyer's influence on piracy had yet to reach the extent typically portrayed by the media.

The record industry's impact was ultimately rooted in the rise of the internet, as most pirate users seemed more inclined to download free music resources from music websites and then burn them onto CDs to play on traditional music players. Statistics revealed that in 1998 alone, over 130 million blank CDs were sold in North America, which was more than five times the sales of the Fireflyer player.

Compared to the average price of $20 for a legitimate record, the cost of blank CDs was less than $1. Furthermore, there were no channels to curb such piracy. Ironically, while the Fireflyer player was often criticized as an accomplice to piracy, it could actually be a platform that redirected internet digital music from pirated sources to legitimate ones.

Yet, although Doug Morris had a series of considerations stirring in his mind, he knew he couldn't make unilateral decisions; everything depended on Edgar Bronfman's thoughts.

...

Meanwhile, Edgar Bronfman hadn't expressed any doubts. After pretending to reflect for a moment, he finally asked Eric directly, "Eric, how many of these machines does Firefly Electronics plan to launch into the market?"

Doug Morris instinctively felt like putting his head in his hands upon hearing Edgar Bronfman's question.

What kind of question was that? The number of machines Firefly Electronics planned to deploy shouldn't concern Universal Music at this stage. They should be more focused on how to collaborate with Firefly Electronics!

Eric remained patient, smiling as he replied, "The first batch will consist of 10,000 units, which we will install for testing primarily in Europe. If the results are promising, the deployment scale will rapidly expand."

While he felt this question was inappropriate, seeing Eric Williams' response, Doug Morris began making quick calculations in his mind. Ten thousand units.

This figure didn't seem high at all; in fact, it was quite low. London, an international metropolis with a population of six to seven million, might not even have enough with 500 machines to achieve adequate coverage.

Additionally, in Doug Morris's view, digital music sales terminals should particularly focus on second- and third-tier cities. The penetration of personal computers and the internet was often very high in first-tier cities, while second and third tier cities had sufficient consumer purchasing capacity for digital music players, but they might not possess the necessary hardware and software to access online music.

There were thousands of cities throughout Europe, not to mention smaller towns. With 10,000 machines spread across thousands of cities, each city wouldn't receive even ten units; they might have fewer than banks' ATMs.

Of course, these weren't issues Universal Music should concern themselves with -- at least not for now.

Noticing that Edgar Bronfman was about to speak again and apprehensive he might divert the discussion, Doug Morris hesitated for a moment but still interjected, "Eric, we all understand your intention in showcasing this machine, so let's talk about your thoughts."

Eric nodded, gesturing towards the nearby couch. After they all sat down, and he instructed the secretary to bring in coffee, he said, "Ed, Doug, we all recognize that the current state of the record industry is drastically different from the past. It's much like when Hollywood faced the advent of TV and VCRs. The whole industry was on high alert, frantically trying to prevent the television and VCRs from infringing on Hollywood's interests. The two sides were at a standoff for a long time. It was not until Hollywood realized they could not defeat the opposing forces that they were forced to collaborate. Ultimately, it turned out that television and VCRs did not harm Hollywood's interests; they actually provided Hollywood companies with additional revenue channels.

The situation the record industry faces now mirrors that of Hollywood back then, but it's even more grave because the internet is spreading far more rapidly than TVs and VCRs did back then. Furthermore, the cost of digital pirated music is much lower than film; often, just one person and a server could facilitate the dissemination of thousands of pirated songs online. Thus, time is of the essence. You can't afford to hesitate for long. If you miss the opportunity to establish a legitimate digital music sales platform, setting the public into habits of accessing free music via the internet, then the record industry might face its terminal decline."

Doug Morris couldn't help but interrupt, sensing his nerves twitching. "Eric, you're being alarmist."

"Whether it's alarmism or not can be seen from last year's sales slump in the record industry," Eric shrugged. "Thus, what I mean is that we should quickly reach a cooperative agreement to formalize the digital music industry through the internet. That's the only way to save the entire industry from collapsing."

Edgar Bronfman then spoke again, "Eric, let's discuss your cooperation plan."

"Of course," Eric nodded. "Actually, the current sales model of Yahoo Music Store is what I propose for our cooperation plan. Universal Music can place its music resources into Yahoo Music Store, and the revenue-sharing ratio would be 70/30, with you getting 70%. Additionally, if you prefer, Universal Music can have a three-month exclusivity window for newly released physical albums, after which digital albums can be released, followed by the release of individual tracks three months later."

"Eric, if all you're offering are these conditions," Edgar Bronfman continued, "I don't think there's any need for us to proceed further."

"Actually, I came to introduce Firefly Electronics' newly developed Mini Music Store to both of you," Eric replied with a smile. "We can discuss specific cooperation plans later, and whether Universal Music has any additional requirements. Certainly, our plan for brick-and-mortar music stores won't be delayed by this. Firefly Electronics intends to officially announce that plan in April, coinciding with the launch of the third-generation Fireflyer player. Of course, if we can reach a cooperative intention before then, I believe it will benefit both of us."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1102: Women's Reactions]

Whether to fully enter the digital music sales market was a fundamental strategic issue for several major record companies.

Eric didn't expect any agreement to come from their first meeting. After some tentative discussions with Edgar Bronfman and Doug Morris, they scheduled a follow-up meeting and the two men took their leave.

After personally escorting Edgar Bronfman and Doug Morris out of the executive building, Eric returned to his office and picked up the phone to discuss the recent encounter with Edgar Bronfman with Victor McNally, CEO of Firefly Electronics.

In fact, while Eric was in talks with Universal, Bill Olsen, the president of Firefly Electronics, had already flown to Europe with a prototype of their mini music store to persuade the two major record companies, EMI and BMG.

Similar to the past two years, the launch of the new generation of Fireflyer players was scheduled for Easter in April, which was only about a month away.

Under pressure from numerous electronics companies announcing their entry into the digital music player market, and considering how successful the mini music store plan would be for maintaining the market-leading position of the Fireflyer player, both Firefly Electronics and Yahoo focused on forming a close partnership with at least one of the five major record companies to secure music copyright resources to offset the content shortcomings of the mini music store.

Among the five major record companies, Sony Music, owned by Sony and already having its own music player product, was undoubtedly the toughest nut to crack. Eric basically kept his hopes low and saw no point in contacting them. Warner Records, part of Time Warner, was facing internal turmoil following the recent merger announcement between AOL and Time Warner. With the complications that arose from various parties' interests, establishing a partnership with Warner Records within a month seemed nearly impossible.

This left Universal, EMI, and BMG as the available options. Among these three, Universal, having recently acquired Polygram, solidified its position as the world's largest record group and was undoubtedly the best choice. Though Eric had shown no cards during their last discussions, he was more than willing to pay a price to make this partnership happen.

That said, Eric didn't place all his bets on Universal, hence Bill Olsen's trip to Europe.

...

After discussing matters with Victor McNally for nearly half an hour over the phone, Eric hung up and checked his watch. With some time still left in the workday, he opened a document on his desk and absentmindedly reached for a nearby pencil.

As soon as he held the pencil in his right hand, the movements agitated the bite marks on his arm, which had started to scab. Unable to resist, he rolled up his sleeve to take a look at the bandaged wound.

After the incident that afternoon, the kids had been frightened, and coupled with the alarming bite marks on Eric's arm, Virginia had scolded Eric fiercely without much reflection, even Joanna displayed an uncommon level of irritation.

Returning to Los Angeles, the atmosphere became even livelier as women gathered to gawk at Eric's "terrible" bite.

Drew expressed envy, wanting to leave her own mark on Eric's arm.

Aniston was curious about how exactly Eric had managed to attract the attention of a girl named Carmen Kass.

Elisabeth bluntly stated, "Serves you right."

Julia wore a sympathetic expression but her glances hinted that she wouldn't mind if Eric also showed some affection for her.

Nicole carefully examined Eric's wound with genuine sympathy, though she "accidentally" removed a freshly formed scab, then looked innocent while claiming she had a compulsive need to pick at scars.

Famke felt the bite mark was misaligned; it might have looked better if it were centered on the outer side of the arm.

"Okay," Eric thought as he observed such a shameless bunch.

Only Caroline showed genuine concern after seeing the bite mark on Eric's arm and reportedly called Olivia, prompting yet another wave of worried messages from across the pond.

...

Lost in thought, Eric recalled the petite girl with piercing eyes. Paris Fashion Week had just commenced, and she must have started her runway show by now.

With that on his mind, Eric reviewed a few more documents when his secretary knocked on the door to inform him that Kenneth Horne was waiting outside.

A bit puzzled, Eric let him in. Kenneth Horne walked into the office, looking very excited. "Eric, I just got off the phone with several theater managers. Guess what the box office for The Blair Witch Project is?"

"It must be outstanding," Eric replied, putting down his pencil and swapping it for a pen to sign his name on a document. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have rushed over here."

"Not just outstanding; it's absolutely phenomenal," Kenneth said as he pulled up a chair to sit opposite Eric. "The manager from Regal Cinemas told me that all 50 of their screening rooms were nearly sold out the entire day, and tickets for tomorrow are already gone."

Eric nodded. "Then go ahead and increase the screenings; just handle it yourself."

Compared to its former identity, Firefly have changed and, considering it was the off-season for movies, increasing the screening scale could easily be accomplished within a week if necessary.

"Hey Eric, you don't seem excited at all," Kenneth said, feigning disappointment. "You have to realize, a movie with a $32,000 investment, even with post-production expenses, totals only around $60,000. If 200 theaters are full next week, we could create a box office miracle."

"We have already created enough miracles," Eric chuckled as he set down his pen and looked up. "Alright, since you're so excited, I'll give you a chance. You can treat us to dinner tonight, and feel free to invite Jeffrey and others -- if you guys don't have family plans."

Kenneth nodded some, looking slightly "disheartened," and asked, "Isn't it Friday? Don't you have any plans?"

"None."

Eric shifted his wrist slightly, having been inclined to ignore the women's recent avoidance toward him.

As they spoke, Eric's personal cell rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he picked up the phone right in front of Kenneth Horne. "Hey, Warren. Long time no see... Of course, how are you... I'm still at Firefly Studios, just planning to gather everyone for dinner. Care to join?... Oh really, just tell me where you're at, and I'll send someone to pick you up."

After chatting for a bit, Eric hung up the phone.

Seeing Eric's casualness with the call, Kenneth asked, "Warren? Warren Buffett?"

Eric nodded. "He's probably here for the Clover Fund."

While Kenneth couldn't directly see the financial data of the Clover Fund, the topic was not a secret among executives like him. Curiously, he asked, "Speaking of which, the stock value of the Clover Fund should be around $30 billion by now, right?"

"It broke the $30 billion mark last week."

"I don't understand much about stocks," Kenneth said, amazed. "But Eric, I hear the Nasdaq index is in shaky territory, and everyone's selling off tech stocks. You should be more cautious."

Though Eric wouldn't easily change his plans, he also welcomed well-intentioned advice, nodding in agreement. "I understand. Now, call Jeffrey and the others. Since Warren's here, let's treat him well."

"I think you just want us around, so Buffett can't advise you to sell your stocks," Kenneth joked, but still took out his phone to make the call.

...

Despite Berkshire Hathaway only holding a 5% stake in Firefly, if liquidated, even after all the fees and taxes, Berkshire Hathaway would still pocket at least $1 billion.

One billion dollars is a sum any enterprise wouldn't overlook.

However, in the event of a Nasdaq crash, the stocks held by the Clover Fund could be trapped long-term. There wouldn't be any feasible way to liquidate cash without selling at a loss.

A conservative and cautious individual at heart, Warren Buffett was clearly not interested in that scenario, which was why he rushed from Omaha to Los Angeles.

Nevertheless, during the dinner gathering that night, regardless of Buffett's attempts at persuasion, Eric was steadfast about not selling his shares in the Clover Fund.

As events unfolded, Eric was unquestionably gambling.

As long as the Nasdaq successfully surpassed 3000 without collapsing, based on the historical uptrend of the index, the amount of cash that could be liquidated from the Clover Fund would likely exceed $40 billion or even $50 billion.

In that case, even after taxes, Firefly could still retain around $30-35 billion in cash.

Such a massive sum, coupled with Firefly's existing reserves, was enough for Eric to capitalize on the impending economic downturn in North America, allowing him to expand his economic empire while minimizing dilution of equity as much as possible.

When persuasion failed, Buffett left Los Angeles the next day in a huff.

...

Meanwhile, although the weekend was not yet over, news about The Blair Witch Project potentially achieving box office miracles began to circulate widely. Numerous media outlets published photos of fans queuing outside theaters showing the film.

Furthermore, several professional critics engaged in spirited discussions about the "Blair Witch phenomenon."

Despite many critics savagely criticizing The Blair Witch Project and unabashedly revealing through various analyses that it was merely a fabricated film rather than a genuine documentary, public interest had reached a point where the truth about the Blair Witch incident no longer mattered.

Everyone was curious about what this film that seemed to be discussed worldwide was truly like.

Thus, when the three-day weekend concluded and the new week's box office data was released, The Blair Witch Project's astonishing box office figures became a focal point for national discussion once again.

$11.2 million.

This was the box office data for The Blair Witch Project over its opening weekend.

Just over ten million dollars might indicate a significant failure for many blockbusters if such earnings were achieved in the first three days.

However, after a slew of data disclosures, everyone could only describe it as a miracle.

The production cost of The Blair Witch Project was only $32,000.

Even when accounting for the quality restoration that Firefly Group undertook to create copies, the total cost remained just $60,000.

$60,000 was only part of the story.

More impressively, the film's screening scale comprised only 200 theaters, meaning during the opening weekend, each screening room achieved an attendance of about $56,000.

If there was no basis for comparison, there's no harm.

Now let's look at the concurrent release of Mel Gibson's crime action blockbuster, Payback.

In its second weekend, Payback earned $14.37 million, surpassing The Blair Witch Project by $3 million, with a total of $41.33 million after ten days.

However, Payback had a screening scale of over 2,700 theaters and its average box office per theater was only just above $5,000, less than one-tenth that of The Blair Witch Project. Furthermore, Payback's production cost soared to $90 million, which was 1,500 times the entire production budget of The Blair Witch Project.

Given the vast disparity in production costs and release scale, to say that Payback only exceeded The Blair Witch Project by a mere $3 million could only be described as a failure.

Of course, there was another question at hand.

Why was Mel Gibson's $90 million big-budget film dumped into the graveyard of a March release?

The answer was simple.

This film was entirely funded and shot by Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions, with no involvement from any major studios.

While Paramount handled the distribution, they would naturally reserve the best release windows and marketing resources for their own productions. As for films from independent studios, regardless of big stars, big productions, or big investments, as they lacked the studio's involvement, Paramount would not expend much effort. In fact, they would tacitly suppress such films.

To put in perspective, after Columbia abandoned distribution, Adam Sandler's collaboration with an independent film company, Out of the Blue... Entertainment, on Big Daddy eventually landed Warner Bros. as its distributor, but the release window was still set for the end of August during the summer.

While Hollywood films continued to thrive, the consolidation of media groups made it increasingly difficult for independent film companies to claim their share of the pie.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1103: What About You?]

"According to our distribution department's analysis, the popularity of The Blair Witch Project primarily relied on the audience's curiosity and voyeurism. The film's content didn't have much to showcase. If we want this film to achieve even better box office results, we must keep the audience's desire as heightened as possible. Thus, for the next round of screenings, we shouldn't expand too much at once; 1,000 screens will be sufficient. During the second and third weeks, we should maintain the screening number around 1,000 screens. If there's still demand, we can further increase the screenings starting from the fourth week."

At the start of a new week during the company meeting, Kenneth Horne presented the opening weekend box office data for The Blair Witch Project, leading to further discussion on the film's subsequent distribution strategy.

This ultra-low-budget film, with a total budget of only $60,000, managed to generate an incredible $11.2 million in box office revenue during its first three days. This news stunned the media and left the Firefly Group equally amazed. As a result, this topic became the most important agenda item of the company meeting that week.

After carefully reading the project materials for The Blair Witch Project, Robert Thompson, president of the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company, though not directly responsible for the matter, expressed his dissent: "I don't agree, Ken. For the past month, the company has been using deceptive marketing to promote this film. Since we declared it was just a movie marketing strategy, and with the public release of the film revealing the truth, the foundation of the popularity created by that marketing has started to fade. Luckily, the box office miracle created during the opening weekend has brought the film's topic back to the forefront. Therefore, we should seize this opportunity and expand the screenings to over 2,000 screens while the film is still popular."

Simon Parker, president of the Consumer Products Division, chimed in: "I agree with Kenneth's plan. The popularity of The Blair Witch Project is strong enough to support a longer box office run. Rushing it could backfire. The mistakes made by Hasbro with the Star Wars prequel have been a prime example for us."

As Simon finished speaking, Thomas Schumacher, head of Firefly Pictures, added, "However, I must remind everyone that the next two weeks without any competitors should be the most crucial for The Blair Witch Project. In two weeks, Easter will start, and I remember three new films are premiering on March 26: Paramount's The Mod Squad, Universal's EDtv, and Warner's Run Lola Run. The competition in the following weeks will be much tougher, leaving little time for The Blair Witch Project to be in the spotlight."

Hearing Thomas's words, everyone paused and looked towards Eric, who was seated at the front.

Indeed, Run Lola Run had been snagged by the financially stronger Warner Bros. for $12 million. With the momentum from Eric's viewing at Sundance, Warner Bros. decided to take advantage of its success and place the film in the Easter lineup.

However, Eric wasn't too concerned about it. Run Lola Run was merely a quirky, low-budget independent film with limited box office potential. Even if his subordinates wanted to snatch the film away, hoping to gain some pride by maintaining Eric's approval, he wouldn't agree. His focus remained on The Blair Witch Project. To keep management disputes at bay, Eric quietly whispered a few words to Katzenberg before decisively stating, "Let's expand as quickly as possible. This film doesn't have enough strength for a long run. Now, let's discuss establishing a dedicated online marketing department. I believe everyone has already realized the effectiveness of online marketing. However, I must remind you that online marketing is merely a supplement to traditional marketing techniques for films, at least for the foreseeable future. The Blair Witch Project can only be considered an exception that's hard to replicate. I mean, New Line and Buena Vista should each establish a dedicated online marketing office. Let's not forget we're a major movie production company; legitimate operations are fundamental. We mustn't get sidetracked by short-term gains."

With Eric's decision made, everyone ceased opposition. Kenneth Horne then asked, "So, Eric, should we move quickly to consider a sequel?"

"No. We won't discuss any sequel ideas for this film for the next five years."

In Hollywood's past, two well-known low-budget mockumentary films stood out: The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.

Unlike Paranormal Activity, which managed to produce multiple successful sequels, The Blair Witch Project's sequels could only be described as failures. This was primarily because, although Paranormal Activity employed a mockumentary style, it excelled in creating a genuinely frightening atmosphere. Thus, audiences remained willing to engage with its sequels.

The Blair Witch Project, on the other hand, relied heavily on a carefully crafted backstory. Without that, the film appeared to consist solely of its protagonists' startled reactions, lacking any genuine scares. Most viewers watched it out of curiosity influenced by extensive media coverage, and once the intrigue faded, many found the film offered little of substance, feeling deceived.

In such circumstances, launching a sequel would almost certainly lead to failure. However, starting the project five or more years later would yield a different outcome. The reason for this lies ultimately in one word: nostalgia.

...

After the two-hour meeting concluded, everyone returned to their workstations, leaving Eric and Katzenberg in the conference room.

This afternoon, Katzenberg was set to head to Washington to participate in a consultation meeting initiated by the Department of Justice regarding the merger between AOL and Time Warner, which had sparked discussions throughout the entire media landscape.

As the first large-scale merger between emerging and traditional media, the deal was unprecedented at $140 billion. The Department of Justice was approaching this merger with caution, largely due to the underlying power struggles.

According to the merger announcement by AOL and Time Warner, once merged, the new company would leverage AOL's vast user base and Time Warner's content advantages, aiming to create a comprehensive media group integrating internet access, cable television, and fixed-line telephone services.

At that point, AOL-Time Warner would encompass all information media business areas, including channel service and content production. If it were to develop according to Steve Case's vision, the new company would undoubtedly grow into a media super-giant.

Consequently, in theory, any company in direct competition with AOL and Time Warner should work to halt this merger. Both Firefly Group and Yahoo within the Firefly system had direct competitive ties to AOL and Time Warner. However, Eric had no intention of preventing the merger; furthermore, the Firefly system would seek to use its influence to facilitate its completion.

According to Eric's expansion plan, Firefly Group planned to enter the cable service provider market, a necessary step for the Firefly system. After all, whether it was Firefly Group, MGM, or the allied 20th Century Fox, all operated numerous cable channels. With the further proliferation of cable networks in North America, failing to engage in cable services could lead to troublesome situations in the future.

"If the Department of Justice blocks the merger between AOL and Time Warner, it will be even harder for us to pursue a foothold in the cable operator business in the future. I've talked with Ian; he wanted to discuss some restrictive agreements with AOL early on, but I feel that's unnecessary. This isn't about short-term gains. Helping AOL merge with Time Warner will ultimately help us," Eric said, lightly stroking the bandage on his arm through the shirt fabric. He paused for a moment and added to Katzenberg, "Also, once you're in Washington, you may as well meet with the President and First Lady privately. Given everything that's happened, I think he should be able to see reality. Instead of stirring up a war to divert attention from his political issues at home, Hollywood's stance would be of greater assistance."

In February, following the final round of impeachment voting in the Senate, Clinton managed to navigate through the Lewinsky scandal without serious repercussions.

During this time, the White House was heavily lobbying the Department of Defense to initiate a war in Kosovo, even proposing a full-scale ground conflict to distract from the Lewinsky affair and reshape his political image and influence.

Katzenberg nodded attentively but still expressed his concern: "Eric, are you not at all worried about the implications of the AOL-Time Warner merger for us?"

"What is there to worry about?" Eric smiled and replied, "Just take a look at Steve Case's management appointments for the new company. Post-merger, although AOL's management leads the new firm, the internal power dynamics of Time Warner will not change. With no absolute control, do you think Steve Case can successfully implement his development strategy?"

Katzenberg thought for a moment, clearly agreeing with Eric's perspective, before asking, "What would you do, Eric, if you were leading the AOL-Time Warner merger?"

Eric halted the motion of rubbing his arm, his expression turning colder as he replied, "First and foremost, a major purge. Either non-obedient individuals leave, or I will. Phoenix must rise from the ashes; you must disrupt the old to build anew."

Even now, the various media resources held by Time Warner were still incredibly robust, rivaling those of Firefly Group.

Warner Bros., Time Inc., Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting, HBO, and others were all high-quality media assets. However, even with a premium acquisition, AOL could only offer $63 billion for Time Warner, which was significantly less than half of the general valuation media attributed to Firefly Group.

The underlying reason for this situation lay in Time Warner's unending internal competition.

In retrospect, if Steve Ross, the founder of Time Warner, could have continued to lead for another twenty years like Murdoch or Redstone, the company would undoubtedly be in a different position today. Unfortunately, Steve Ross passed away in 1992.

As for Steve Case, even without previous memories, just observing his willingness to compromise on control issues before the merger completion made Eric pessimistic about the future of the new company.

...

As the workweek commenced, The Blair Witch Project maintained its strong momentum at 200 theaters across North America, with almost all display rooms showing sold-out screenings.

On March 12, when the first week's box office earnings were reported, the numbers astonished many once again.

Although it finished $3 million behind Payback during the opening weekend, The Blair Witch Project managed to reach an astonishing total of $21.27 million after a successful run in 200 theaters over the workweek, successfully surpassing Payback for the weekly box office crown. Meanwhile, the dramatic drop in attendance during weekdays affected Payback, leading to a second-week earnings of only $20.54 million, placing it in second.

At the same time, due to rigorous operation, the screening size of The Blair Witch Project was increased to over 2,100 screens starting March 12, officially rolling out across North American theaters. New Line Cinema allocated an additional $10 million for advertising, beginning promotional campaigns for The Blair Witch Project through traditional media channels.

...

After the first meeting, Universal Music took a full week before responding again.

Eric scheduled a meeting time with Edgar Bronfman again on Friday morning, but this time Universal Music CEO Doug Morrison did not attend.

In Eric's office at Firefly Studios, after brief pleasantries, Edgar Bronfman got straight to the point: "Eric, since the Yahoo Music Store needs a cut from digital music sales, I believe the record companies are also entitled to a share of the profits from Firefly Electronics' hardware sales."

Eric put down his coffee cup and shook his head, saying, "Ed, there's no such precedent. Have you ever heard of a projection equipment sales company sharing profits with a movie studio?"

"Clearly no such precedent exists," Edgar Bronfman responded calmly, "but I'm sure you get my point."

Eric understood perfectly what he meant: Seagram was trying to invest in Firefly Electronics. However, if Firefly Electronics was merely a portable music player company, he might consider it, but the company involved too many of Eric's future plans.

As Eric mulled over how to phrase his response, there was a knock on the office door. Caroline pushed it open, holding a mobile phone: "Sorry, Mr. Bronfman and Eric, but there's a call coming in from New York."

Eric turned to Caroline and asked, "Couldn't it wait?"

"It's Mr. Paul Roland from WM," Caroline explained. "He says it's an urgent matter; he's heading to JFK and is about to fly to Europe."

Hearing it was Paul Roland, Eric inferred it was likely about Carmen Kass. He wondered what had happened this time; hopefully, she hadn't bitten someone again.

With that thought, Eric stood up apologetically and said, "Well, Ed, I'm sorry about this. Just one moment."

Although Edgar Bronfman felt slightly displeased, he didn't show it and smiled graciously, "No problem, go take your call."

Stepping out of the office, Eric took the phone from Caroline and, despite being aware of his bright-eyed cousin beside him, he felt a bit guilty as he walked out into the corridor and finally put the phone to his ear: "Paul, what happened?"

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1104: Lion's Share]

On the other end of the phone, Paul Roland was speaking rapidly about something, causing Eric's brow to furrow gradually.

When Paul Roland finished, Eric turned to the Caroline, who stood not far away, and asked, "Carly, Estonia is right next to Finland, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Caroline nodded, replying, "Helsinki is just across the sea from Estonia's capital, Tallinn. It's less than a hundred kilometers apart."

"Help me get a hold of Olli Kallasvuo," Eric instructed, then turned his attention back to his phone, saying to Paul, "You won't make it to Europe in time, so I'll have someone there take care of things. You stay in New York and coordinate things here."

At the end of last year, Jorma Ollila officially left Nokia.

Upon Jorma Ollila's recommendation, former Nokia Chief Financial Officer Olli Kallasvuo took over his position, becoming the new Chairman and CEO of Nokia.

Caroline was puzzled as to why Eric suddenly wanted to contact Olli Kallasvuo, but she quickly picked up a cordless phone from the secretary's office and skillfully dialed a number. Moments later, the call connected. After a brief conversation, Caroline came over and handed the cordless phone to Eric.

...

Edgar Bronfman didn't expect Eric to take half an hour just to make one call. As time passed, he even started to wonder if the other party was intentionally keeping him waiting.

His growing dissatisfaction accumulated, and just when Edgar Bronfman was contemplating whether to leave, Eric finally pushed open the office door and walked in.

"Sorry, Ed," Eric said, still holding a phone as he approached. "I ran into a really troublesome issue that made you wait."

Edgar Bronfman forced a smile and tried to appear curious.

Eric, however, offered no explanation. "Anyway, let's continue our earlier discussion. Ed, to be frank, Seagram investing in Firefly Electronics is definitely not a good idea. You know very well that Firefly Electronics does not lack funds, so for a long time to come, this company has no plans for an IPO or dividend distribution. Moreover, the industry generally values Firefly Electronics at around $30 billion, and I believe you cannot accept investing at this valuation."

"Alright, Eric," Edgar Bronfman stifled his frustration. "Then, Firefly should show some sincerity if they want Universal Records to join the digital music store, but up until now, I haven't seen any sincerity from you."

"Ed, you should understand that as long as Universal Records joins Yahoo Music Store, both Yahoo and Firefly Electronics, or even the whole Firefly Group, will allocate as many resources as possible to promote Universal's music content. This advantages us in ways other record companies can't match. Of course, we also have our own record business, but as everyone knows, Firefly Records is quite small and hardly makes a dent in the bigger picture," Eric paused for a moment before adding, "However, I will certainly show my sincerity. The revenue split between Yahoo Music Store and record companies is 70-30, and that cannot be changed. But if Universal agrees to cooperate, Firefly Electronics can return a certain percentage of sales revenue back to Universal Records through marketing subsidies over the coming years."

In reality, as long as he could convince Universal Records to open up its content, Eric would be willing to return all music sales revenue to them over the next few years, even if it meant losing some margin in the process.

Compared to the gigantic profits from hardware sales, the revenue share from the digital music store was something Firefly could afford to let go.

Of course, Yahoo Music Store was part of Yahoo Network's operations. Since Yahoo was already public, Eric could only use Firefly Electronics to subsidize record companies for the sake of financial reporting and stock prices.

Edgar Bronfman fell silent for a moment. From Eric's tone, he could roughly gauge how substantial these so-called subsidies might be.

Yet, thinking of the recent media analysis of Firefly Electronics' revenue data, Edgar Bronfman still felt resentful. Among the five major record companies, Universal was the largest, but its annual revenue was only around $5 billion, with profits hovering around the $500 million mark.

However, media analyses indicated that Firefly Electronics, which had only launched its products two years prior, already had annual profits equivalent to twice that of Universal Records. How could this not stir envy throughout the entire record industry? Indeed, many believed that the money Firefly was earning was essentially the profit lost by the record industry during the overall decline of recent years.

If possible, Edgar Bronfman would have preferred not to partner with Eric Williams at all.

It's just that the current situation for the Seagram Group wasn't looking good.

In the past few years, as Seagram fully transitioned into the media industry, it had made several acquisitions, including MCA, PolyGram, and the cable network, which resulted in an overall debt of $12 billion for the company. Moreover, since Edgar Bronfman had focused most resources on the record business to build the world's largest record group, while he had achieved his goal, the sudden downturn in the record industry had put the Seagram Group's operations in jeopardy.

Last year, while Michael Eisner's Universal Pictures posted solid profits, Seagram Group still faced a loss of over $1.3 billion for the fiscal year 1998 due to the struggles in its record business.

With the integration of PolyGram with Universal not going smoothly in the coming years, if the overall record industry did not reverse its fortunes, the Seagram Group might continue to incur losses. The Bronfman family controlling Seagram even began to consider selling the company while shifting blame toward Edgar Bronfman.

Edgar Bronfman certainly didn't want that to happen. Although he had a tendency to be stubborn, he wasn't someone lacking in capability.

After discussing it with Universal Records CEO Doug Morris, they both agreed that collaborating with the Firefly system was very necessary and could potentially become the key to reversing the current situation for Seagram Group.

"Eric, this isn't enough," Edgar said after pondering for a moment, shaking his head. "If Yahoo Music Store wants Universal Records' content, Firefly must offer more."

Eric instinctively placed his left hand on the bandage on his right arm. He had developed this habit unconsciously lately, but his expression remained calm. "So, what does Seagram want?"

"A zero-interest loan," Edgar bit down on his lip, recalling media reports about Firefly's abundant cash reserves. He temporarily changed his previous figure, boldly stating, "Three billion dollars."

Due to uncontrolled expansion and massive losses, the Seagram Group's financial chain was perilously stretched. Not to mention that the $12 billion debt incurred an annual interest payment of around $600 million.

Even though the overall economic landscape in North America was thriving, the Seagram Group found itself in a very difficult position to secure financing from external sources.

"Three billion dollars? That's impossible," Eric shook his head while rubbing the bandage on his sleeve. "I can offer you a maximum of $500 million, and it must be repaid within three years."

It was unclear whether Edgar Bronfman sensed the ease in Eric's tone, but he suddenly became resolute.

Eric, however, wouldn't budge easily.

Firefly undoubtedly had funds, but $3 billion was a massive amount.

Since they were willing to temporarily forego all digital music sales revenue, Eric certainly wouldn't be overly concerned with the interest from parting with $3 billion. But such a sizeable sum raised his worries that if the Seagram Group fell into deeper trouble, they might not be able to repay.

To put it starkly, if the Seagram Group went bankrupt, Eric had no interest in the assets of its record business. As for Universal Pictures, $3 billion was simply unmanageable, and no other creditors would easily relinquish such a prime asset to Firefly.

After over an hour of negotiating various details, the meeting ultimately reached no agreement.

However, although they hadn't settled on the loan, Edgar Bronfman agreed to allow Universal Records to begin preliminary discussions with Yahoo and Firefly Electronics on their departure.

After seeing Edgar Bronfman off, it was nearly noon. With no call from Europe yet, Eric was about to reach out himself when his phone rang again.

...

The nine-day Paris Fashion Week was drawing to a close.

Thanks to the arrangements made by some guy, Carmen Kass had been shining brightly at this year's fashion week. But, just as she was gearing up for the final shows over the next two days, she unexpectedly received a call from her sister back home.

Their mother had been kidnapped.

Upon hearing this news, Carmen was stunned.

Kidnapping.

How could such a thing be linked to her?

She knew Eastern Europe was chaotic due to poverty.

In the years following the tumult, she had heard countless stories about kidnappings, extortion, and even assassinations -- stories about Estonian gangs in Finland being beaten back by Russian mafia. Yet, she had always thought that such things were far removed from her ordinary life.

And then, suddenly, it happened to her.

It felt like the sky was falling down.

Her mother had divorced her father when she was very young, raising them three siblings alone with great difficulty. She remembered how her mother worked late nights and would sneak in and hold her when she thought Carmen was asleep, but she was actually awake -- small child, small mind, not knowing what to say, so she just pretended to sleep.

The kidnappers were demanding a ransom of 10 million Estonian kroons, which didn't amount to much -- about $600,000. Yet, despite having signed a contract with Victoria's Secret, she didn't have that kind of money at all.

For some reason, the first thought that crossed her mind was of the man whom she had bitten hard.

And then she came back to her senses and hurriedly called Paul Roland. He quickly replied, asking her to provide the contact information of her siblings and told her to wait patiently and not to do anything rash.

How could she bear to wait? She only wanted to get back and rescue her mother as soon as possible, so she frantically borrowed money from familiar and unfamiliar people around her.

However, though many models under WM had decent incomes, none of them had much cash on hand. She didn't dare explain why she needed to borrow money and ultimately only managed to gather a little over PS200,000 before hastily boarding a flight to Tallinn.

No matter what, she needed to get back quickly.

However, while leaving London was fine, upon arriving at Tallinn airport, she made a careless mistake and forgot to declare her cash, leading to her being detained.

She had already become something of a celebrity in Estonia, and the customs officer didn't make things too difficult for her. They merely wanted her to explain the source of the cash. How could she dare to explain? Although she had never been involved in a kidnapping case, she knew well enough that such matters needed to be kept discreet; she couldn't cause a fuss, or else...

Seeing her disheveled state only made the customs officials more suspicious, and they dared not let her leave easily; instead, they had to report to higher-ups and wait for instructions from above.

So there she was, trapped in the airport holding room like a stubborn and dazed little beast.

Inside, she hoped that someone would come to help her.

If that happened, she would rather have him bite her back.

She ended up thinking of that guy once more.

She would never admit that she was a girl who lacked a sense of security deep down, but at that moment, she realized that this man somehow gave her an enormous sense of security that she had never experienced before.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1105: J'adore]

In just two days, Carmen Kass deeply felt the power and influence held by that man far away in Los Angeles.

Upon receiving instructions from Eric, Nokia's professional crisis management team flew directly to the central Estonian city of Parnu. Before her flight from Paris to Tallinn had even landed, they had already rescued her mother. They also quickly helped her resolve issues with customs.

While her mother had not suffered any harm, Carmen dared not allow her to stay in that small town in central Estonia any longer, and she wasn't even at ease with her being in Tallinn. After some hesitation, the Nokia team's leader suggested moving her mother to Helsinki. Carmen felt a bit apprehensive but quickly agreed.

So, in two short days, she encountered troubles that ordinary people might never face in a lifetime, and she didn't have to lift a finger. Someone effortlessly handled all of it for her. Moreover, no one ever mentioned any costs that might be involved. When she offered to repay the ransom that Nokia had fronted, the manager from the Nokia PR department who assisted her simply said it was outside his jurisdiction, and that was the end of it.

Her sister, having witnessed everything, had recovered from the shock and even joked with their mother, asking if Carmen had another identity, like a Finnish royal princess or something.

Of course, Finland had no royal family.

However, compared to the generally faded kingdoms of Norway and Sweden, Nokia's influence in Finland certainly exceeded that of any royal family by tenfold or a hundredfold. Such a company was merely part of Eric's many holdings.

With the troubles resolved, it was time to return to work.

...

Paris Fashion Week had concluded, and she could have flown straight back to the U.S. However, Paul Roland, who had come from New York, insisted she return to Paris for a potential endorsement opportunity, prompting her to rush back.

Upon landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport, it was already the afternoon of March 15. Paul Roland personally came to pick her up, accompanied by her rather pitiful assistant, Camila. Since she had hurried back to Estonia alone, unable to bring her passport and left to stay in Paris, Paul chastised her quite harshly.

"Don't be so impulsive next time," Paul lectured once they got into the car, "I know you're worried about your mother, but I clearly told you to stay in Paris until the situation was resolved. Did you take a moment to think? Going back alone won't help; it could complicate things."

Listening in silence, Carmen waited for Paul to finish before quietly saying, "Can I... can I say thank you to him?"

This thought had been circling in her mind for two days. But she regrettably didn't have Eric's contact information. While others might have been aware, she hadn't mustered the nerve to bring it up with anyone at Nokia while in Helsinki. Only facing Paul had allowed her to finally voice her desire.

Paul Roland didn't seem to realize how much courage it took for her to say that. He casually glanced at his watch and replied, "Los Angeles is nine hours behind Paris. It's not even six in the morning there yet. You should thank Mr. Williams in person next time."

Then he started lecturing again.

She could only listen, feeling a strange mix of disappointment and an unacknowledged expectation. ...

With the closing of Paris Fashion Week, the half-year fashion season officially ended. Fashion icons who had been running around the world no longer needed to rush; many stayed in the fashion capital of Paris to enjoy some leisurely time after the hustle.

Thus, in the evening, the party hosted by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy at the Crillon Hotel near Place de la Concorde was crowded with celebrities.

Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, abbreviated as LVMH, comprised three companies: Louis Vuitton, Moet, and Hennessy. Just by looking at the name, one could see it included two globally recognized brands, Louis Vuitton and Hennessy. Moreover, as the world's largest luxury goods group, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy also controlled several luxury companies such as Dior, Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs, covering a range of products from fine wines and champagnes to fragrances, cosmetics, and fashion items.

"Calice Becker just developed a new perfume for Dior and is searching for a spokesperson. She saw a few of your shows and thought your image was perfect, especially since you just secured the Victoria's Secret endorsement. Otherwise, Dior would probably not have given you a second glance," Paul Roland informed Carmen Kass as he guided her toward the party hall after posing for photos by the media wall. "This perfume is called 'J'adore,' targeting the image of modern women who are noble, charming, and self-pursuant. So, be confident when you present yourself."

As he spoke, they heard a group of girls laughing and approaching from down the hall. Carmen turned to look back but instinctively shrank a little. Remembering Paul Roland's previous admonitions and some conflicting emotions in her heart, she quickly adjusted her posture, though her feet hesitated to move.

...

Noticing Carmen's stillness, Paul Roland also paused and turned to see that it was Gisele Bundchen and a few others approaching. Given the previous events, Paul Roland surely didn't feel pleased about seeing these girls, but he couldn't show his displeasure. He politely nodded and gently tugged at Carmen to continue walking, but she didn't budge. With pursed lips, she stubbornly fixed her gaze on Gisele.

The girls walking beside Gisele -- Alessandra, Miranda, and Fernanda Tavares -- noticed her too, their expressions becoming coy. Gisele slowed down, unaware of the recent incidents at the Long Island racetrack, assuming Eric wanted to discipline her because he thought she had gone too far.

Although she could no longer push Carmen around, Gisele wouldn't shrink away. With an air of superiority, she confidently approached Carmen. After sizing up Carmen's outfit for the night, she smiled and remarked, "This Givenchy looks stunning on you, Carmen. But I think your temperament is a bit weak; it doesn't quite hold up. Still, it's impressive that you got to wear this gown so quickly; it looked even better on Fernanda the other day on the runway."

Carmen Kass wasn't particularly articulate. She opened her lips but couldn't think of a sharp retort, merely lifting her chin slightly, defiantly staring at Gisele.

Gisele, however, seemed completely unfazed by Carmen's aura. With a chuckle, she was about to lead her friends away, but then stopped and turned back, saying, "I heard Dior wants you to be the spokesperson for their new perfume? There's no need to be so tense. I wouldn't steal it from you; it's just a new fragrance line. If it flops, I wouldn't want to face the embarrassment."

With that, Gisele turned away without looking back. She then started speaking in rapid Portuguese with the girls beside her, clearly enjoying themselves as they laughed unabashedly.

It wasn't until Paul Roland lightly tugged at Carmen again that the momentum she had just built dissipated, and she felt a wave of disappointment following him, murmuring, "Why... why would he like girls like that?"

"Do you think she acts like that in front of Mr. Williams?" Paul Roland remarked as he guided her into the bustling party hall, taking a look around. "Calice Becker probably hasn't shown up yet. I have some matters to take care of. You should go find Kate and the others. Don't be so isolated; mingling with everyone will surely do you some good."

Carmen Kass nodded. She was never really a loner; it was just that the WM models had been rejecting her.

Paul Roland understood her situation and personally led her to Kate Moss, quietly explaining a few things to her before stepping away.

...

Once Paul Roland left, Kate linked her arm with Carmen, affectionately saying, "Come on, Carmen, let me introduce you to some of my good friends."

Though a bit displeased by Paul Roland's preferential treatment toward Carmen, Kate recognized that Carmen was now one of Victoria's Secret's five spokespersons. The next few years were destined to make her one of the top supermodels with the highest exposure, which diminished Kate's competition thoughts. After all, her personal style would never get her onto the Victoria's Secret runway.

In a way, Carmen had become one of the most noticed emerging models in the fashion world during this time. After being suppressed by Gisele and nearly crushed, she suddenly became a hot deal as one of the Victoria's Secret representatives; the turn of events was nothing short of strange. As a result, many people felt rather fond of her.

"I genuinely apologize; I had no idea you were dealing with such things at home; otherwise, I would have tried to help you," Kate began as they navigated through the party crowd, eventually discussing Carmen's hurried return to Estonia. Now that the issue was resolved, Carmen didn't feel the need to avoid the topic anymore.

Kate appeared very apologetic as they approached a group of men and women, enthusiastically introducing, "Hey everyone, this is Carmen; Carmen, this is Carla, Carla Bruni, whom I'm sure you've heard of. She's thinking about stepping back from the runway and starting a music career, but I'm not so sure about that. It seems more like she's straying from focus. And wow, Jack, you've put on some weight! Don't think I can't tell just because you're wearing this outfit. You better be careful; otherwise, Ennis will leave you for sure."

Half a year ago, Carmen wouldn't have qualified to attend such a party. Like the other new girls in the company, she would have completed her runway shows in Paris, hurried back to New York. Staying in Paris was simply too costly, and the company was unwilling to cover the expenses.

However, thanks to Kate's introduction, she quickly began to integrate into the scene. With her new status as a Victoria's Secret representative, people accepted her presence.

Yet her eyes couldn't help but roam across the party hall, like a small creature on the lookout for predators while searching for food. She spotted a familiar figure blending effortlessly among the crowd. There was Gisele, chatting amiably with fashion mogul Marc Jacobs. A young man approached her, and after exchanging a few words, she embraced Alessandra Ambrosio and planted a deep kiss on her, leaving the young man looking terribly awkward afterward.

She must be gay, she thought, feeling a strange anticipation that he would see through her true self. How could someone so amazing be fooled by her?

With such thoughts racing in her mind, she quickly refocused to take over Carla Bruni's conversation. Yet all of a sudden, she saw the young man who had been chatting with Gisele nearby.

...

He looked to be in his early twenties, with a round face that added to his youthful charm. Remembering how he had been conversing with Gisele, she initially intended to keep her distance, but Kate and the others greeted him warmly.

"This is the son of the LVMH CEO; seize the opportunity!" During their chat, Kate leaned in to whisper this reminder, and she finally understood why everyone was being so friendly.

Still, even if he were the head of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, he was just a kid, and she definitely wasn't interested in a greenhorn.

"Hello, Miss Kass, I'm Antoine Arnault," the young man greeted everyone and then turned to her, reaching out his hand in a friendly manner. "Can I call you Carmen?"

She recognized that she didn't have to feign disinterest toward the young man, as he was polite and respectful. So, she extended her hand to shake his and nodded, "Sure."

Antoine Arnault continued to greet others and engage in light conversations. Yet due to his status, he clearly maintained an air of superiority over the others. It inevitably reminded Carmen of her brief encounters with Eric, which made her feel an unguarded closeness to him.

He was clearly in a different league.

After chatting for a few minutes, Antoine seemed ready to leave but suddenly turned back to her with a gentlemanly demeanor. "Carmen, would you like to join me in meeting a few friends?"

Hearing Antoine's invitation, a hint of envy flashed across the faces of the people around them. What a lucky girl! In just a month, she had not only secured the Victoria's Secret Angel endorsement but also caught the attention of the LVMH heir. She truly was the one to watch.

However, without hesitation, she shook her head. "Sorry, Antoine, I'm waiting for my boss. I have a very important matter to discuss."

"Oh, that's too bad," he replied, still smiling politely. Just as he was about to say something further, Paul Roland approached along with two other ladies.

Before anyone could move, Antoine walked eagerly towards one of the young women, hugging her and saying, "Hey, Delphine, I didn't expect to see you here tonight! Oh, I just met an interesting new friend; let me introduce you."

Turning back to Carmen, he said, "Carmen, this is my sister, Delphine. She works at Dior, handling the fragrance department. And this is Calice Becker; she's one of the best perfumers in the world."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1106: Beware of Firefly]

After introducing the two ladies, Antoine Arnault naturally turned his attention to Paul Roland.

However, Paul Roland was focused on Carmen Kass, his eyes betraying both caution and inquiry. He hadn't expected that after just stepping away for a moment, Carmen Kass would meet the son of the owner of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. Previously, he would have welcomed the news with open arms, but now, if Carmen Kass entertained any unwarranted thoughts, it would be a disaster for him.

God knows, WM had just gotten over a disaster.

Feeling Paul Roland's gaze, Carmen Kass instinctively shrank her neck slightly, unable to offer any explanations in such a setting.

Delphina Arnault, who had come with Paul Roland, watched her brother seriously introduce Carmen Kass to everyone and found it somewhat amusing.

Of course, she wouldn't embarrass her brother in front of outsiders; instead, she greeted Paul Roland warmly and introduced him to Antoine Arnault, "This is Mr. Roland, the owner of Miss Kass's management company. What a coincidence that you know her!"

Antoine Arnault recalled Carmen Kass's remark about waiting for her boss and immediately understood the situation, which brought an awkward expression back to his face.

Upon hearing Delphina Arnault's introduction, Paul Roland returned his attention from Carmen Kass with a smile and shook hands with Antoine Arnault. Although he longed to whisk Carmen Kass back to New York immediately, he knew he had to maintain decorum.

Having just been teased by a pair of onlookers, Antoine Arnault felt a twinge of embarrassment at making a fool of himself again. He exchanged a few casual words with everyone and made an excuse to leave.

...

Once Antoine Arnault exited, Paul Roland relaxed and took Carmen Kass to find Delphina Arnault and Calice Becker a seat where they began discussing Carmen Kass's endorsement deal with Dior's J'adore perfume.

As Gisele had mentioned, J'adore was merely a new perfume line, and the future was uncertain. Still, this was Delphina Arnault's first project after joining the family business, and to ensure success as much as possible, Dior put significant effort into this product.

With the contract for the Victoria's Secret Angel endorsement secured, Carmen Kass was set to become one of the fastest-rising supermodels in the fashion industry over the next few years. Additionally, her image and temperament aligned perfectly with J'adore's positioning, so both parties quickly reached a preliminary collaboration agreement.

...

Once the discussions wrapped up, Delphina Arnault and Calice Becker excused themselves to mingle with other guests. Carmen Kass seized the moment to quietly say to Paul Roland, "What if I just drop this endorsement?"

Paul Roland paused briefly at Carmen Kass's words and then shook his head with a smile, "No need for that, Carmen. Just make sure you know what you're doing. By the way, didn't you say you wanted to thank Mr. Williams this afternoon? I thought about it, and since the Oscars are this weekend, that's a bit tricky. But I'll see if I can get you an invitation to the Vanity Fair party; that way, you'll have a reason to go to Los Angeles."

Carmen Kass's eyes flickered; she lowered her head and whispered, "And what about him?"

"I can't say for sure what Mr. Williams is thinking, so you should just approach him directly." Paul Roland guessed her concerns, clarified, and added with a smile, "By the way, the North American media is buzzing today. You should pick up a newspaper tomorrow morning."

So, it turned out he wasn't suggesting a meeting himself.

Disappointment washed over her. Upon hearing the latter part of Paul Roland's words, she felt confused and looked up at him.

Paul Roland nodded, "Of course, it's about Mr. Williams."

...

In Paris, it was nighttime; meanwhile, it was daytime across both coasts of North America.

Indeed, the North American media was abuzz today. The new annual Forbes Global Billionaires List had finally been officially released. To keep up with the trend, Forbes even chose to publish the 1999 Billionaires List via the internet for the first time.

Prior to this, many media outlets had predicted this year's rankings, but the long-standing authority of Forbes meant that both the public and the press in North America remained focused on the data provided by them.

Without any suspense, Eric's name remained firmly at the top of the list.

Equally unsurprising, Eric became the first individual to amass a personal fortune exceeding $300 billion.

$315.5 billion.

This was the exact figure ultimately confirmed by Forbes.

Forbes valued the Firefly Group at $120 billion, an increase of $20 billion from the previous year. With a 73.7% stake in the company, Eric's wealth from the Firefly Group alone amounted to $88.5 billion.

Beyond that, Eric's other assets primarily came from technology stocks owned by Firefly Investments, with this portion valued at over $200 billion.

Moreover, Eric's personal fortune of $315.5 billion blazed past the total wealth of all others in the top ten of the Forbes list.

While the overall recovery of the North American and global economy had led to a noticeable rise in the wealth of most billionaires, even the combined total wealth of the nine billionaires ranked second to tenth was only $245 billion -- $70 billion less than Eric's fortune.

Last year, Eric's personal assets of $136.7 billion had already captured the world's attention. This year, crossing the $300 billion milestone left most ordinary people unable to fathom the true meaning of such staggering wealth.

...

However, amidst the confusion, there were still those who considered themselves clear-sighted.

"After extensively investigating the vast corporate assets controlled by the Firefly system, I felt a profound fear. I could almost envision a scenario even more terrifying than the Rockefeller family's control over the federal energy sector through Standard Oil. If it weren't for Steve Case's team successfully leading AOL to an exit, the Firefly system would have nearly constructed a complete profit chain throughout the internet industry. This chain encompasses equipment manufacturers, service providers, and content providers. Cisco, AOL, and Yahoo all belong to the ranks of the internet industry's absolute leaders, with Yahoo alone controlling over 70% of North America's most significant portal market share.

Although AOL's departure dealt a severe blow to the carefully crafted internet industry chain of the Firefly system, it did not impede its crazy expansion. Amazon, meanwhile, is the most significant example of a platform that shares the number one market share in North America.

Furthermore, after acquiring Sony's film division, the Firefly system now controlled four of the seven major Hollywood studios, facilitating a fierce takeover of Hollywood's media resources. Last year, of the $7 billion in box office revenues within North America, the Firefly Group, MGM, and Fox collectively garnered over $4.5 billion in box office receipts, accounting for nearly 65% market share. One can only imagine that once Columbia Pictures, which holds famous franchises like Men in Black, bounces back, the Firefly system will gain a near-monopolistic advantage in Hollywood.

If anyone believes that the Firefly system's power is confined to just these areas, then they are gravely mistaken.

During the research process, I also discovered that while Eric Williams' comprehensive layout across the internet sector failed due to AOL's exit, this truly astonishing young man, reminiscent of an alien, is quietly making brilliant strides in another crucial technological field -- the mobile communications industry. His foresight in this area is nothing short of astonishing.

Seven years ago, when digital communication technology was still emerging, Eric Williams invested heavily to acquire 51% of Finland's Nokia Group's mobile communications division, establishing absolute control over this mobile device manufacturer. At that time, Firefly Investments paid a mere $420 million for that 51% stake. Seven years later, Nokia has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of mobile communications equipment and handsets, boasting a market valuation of over $60 billion.

Close to this, five years ago, Eric Williams again acquired a controlling stake in another company, Qualcomm, which was then relatively insignificant.

This investment turned out to be a masterstroke.

While major communication equipment manufacturers were at each other's throats over second-generation digital communication technology patents, Qualcomm quietly controlled thousands of third-generation digital communication technology patents, creating a patent barrier that the entire mobile communications industry could hardly cross. If interested, readers can explore the differences between Qualcomm's CDMA technology and the second-generation FDMA technology to grasp the reality of this unexaggerated claim. At this point, it was evident that the entire mobile communications sector had similarly woken up. Taking into account the data from Forbes, last year, Qualcomm's market valuation was just $5.76 billion. In the short span of one year, that figure skyrocketed to $28.6 billion by the time Forbes compiled this data.

Finally, the Firefly system also invested in one of the three major telecom operators, Sprint. Although Sprint ranks weakest compared to ATT and Verizon, they managed to acquire a larger number of licenses during the mobile communications license auction than the combined total of ATT and Verizon. Considering Eric Williams' strategic positioning in the mobile communications sector, Firefly Investments' stake in Sprint makes perfect sense. Currently, Sprint's market valuation has also reached $56 billion, which is a 500% increase compared to three years ago. There is no doubt that Eric Williams once again placed the right bets, or perhaps, I dare say, Eric Williams seemed to possess foresight into the future.

So, let's reconsider: Nokia, manufacturer of mobile communication devices; Qualcomm, developer of mobile communication technology; Sprint, mobile network operator. The synergy here closely mirrors Eric Williams' strategic layout with Cisco, AOL, and Yahoo in the internet sector.

Despite the severe bubble present in the Nasdaq market today -- where market dynamics have detached from economic fundamentals, creating a speculative playground for investors -- I must admit that sectors like internet, mobile communications, and electronics have undoubtedly become new economic realms at least as significant as the early-20th-century oil industry in the new century. Therefore, I must caution the federal government that it has become paramount to vigilantly monitor the terrifying Firefly's continued expansion. Otherwise, for the next century, all of North America, not to mention the world, could fall under the shadow of this firefly."

...

In the following days, with the release of the Forbes Billionaires List, among the plethora of media articles discussing Eric's personal wealth, Howard Glassman's report for The Washington Post undoubtedly stirred the most significant reaction.

Even Eric himself was left astonished by Howard Glassman's profound analysis of the Firefly system's industrial layout upon reading the article.

Yet, amazement quickly gave way to a headache filled with various troubles.

While most people could hardly comprehend what $300 billion truly represented, the ordinary public's envy of the wealthy remained a persistent emotion in this world. As fears of oligopolistic monopolies mounted, following the publication of the report in The Washington Post, numerous articles calling for the federal government to impose restrictions on the Firefly system's expansion were quickly released.

Eric gradually realized that accumulating wealth wasn't a challenging task for him. Perhaps, for a long time to come, guarding what wealth he already possessed would present the real test.

Of course, this storm of discussion not only pressured the Firefly system; the article in The Washington Post also led to a significant rise in stock prices across all publicly traded companies connected to the Firefly system. From March 15 to March 19, within just a week, buoyed by the overall surge in the Firefly system's tech stocks, the Nasdaq index officially breached the 3000 mark.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1107: Reverse Push]

"Right now, a lot of people on Wall Street are gnashing their teeth at us. Within a week, Yahoo's stock price jumped 17%, causing the major short-selling funds to lose over $3.1 billion. Many highly leveraged shorts were directly liquidated; it's a disaster zone out there."

In a small conference room at Firefly Studios, Chris, connected via video conference from New York, spoke up.

Eric lounged in his leather chair, waiting for his secretary to bring coffee for himself and Jeffrey Katzenberg before turning his attention to the multiple screens in the room. The conference room was linked to Yahoo's headquarters in Boston, ABC's headquarters in New York, and Chris's office.

"But I'm sure there are people extremely grateful for us. $3.1 billion is not a small amount," Eric raised his coffee cup, noticing Emily's silhouette appear behind Chris. He smiled and greeted her, "Hey, Emily, it's Saturday. Aren't you home watching the kids?"

Emily reached for a folder from Chris's desk, threw a playful eye roll at the camera, and said, "Vicky and Joan already found out that you secretly had Edward sign that girl. You might want to think about how to explain it to them. Vicky mentioned she's set up the couch for you; you can sleep on it when you come over for Easter."

Eric immediately raised his hand in surrender, "Stop, Emily, I'm the boss here; cut me some slack."

The room erupted in laughter as Emily continued to ignore him, clutching the folder and disappearing from the frame.

Once his wife left, Chris revealed a rare hint of curiosity, lowering his voice to ask, "By the way, Eric, what's going on between you and that girl?"

"About that," Eric shrugged, "Do you honestly think that lowering your voice will keep everyone from hearing?"

Another round of laughter echoed.

After some jokes, Eric clapped his hands and said, "Alright, let's get down to business. First, regarding the acquisition proposals submitted by Yahoo."

As he flipped open a file in front of him, his expression turned serious. "I remember saying before the IPO that the bubble in the Nasdaq market is bound to burst. Once that happens, the entire tech sector could fall into a funding winter. Although we raised over $5 billion through the IPO, that amount is essentially just Yahoo's 'winter provisions,' so I expect every penny to be well spent.

Now, let's look at your proposed acquisitions. For example, this one -- a software solution aimed at speeding up browser page loading. That's a great product. But $20 million? Are you kidding me? Pull ten engineers from our team and give them a month. I don't believe they couldn't whip that up. Ten people, a month; can someone tell me how much that would actually cost?"

In the conference room of Yahoo's headquarters in Boston, Ian Gurney hadn't expected Eric, who had just been joking with Emily, to suddenly show signs of fury. He quickly explained, "Eric, it also involves patent issues."

"Then find a way around it, or seek alternatives. If you can't, why should I keep you on?" Eric shot back dismissively, tossing the file away. "In any case, I won't approve any of the proposals you submitted. I know the whole industry is anxious and eager to burn cash. You all think that since the company went public, we have to adhere to the rules of public companies -- burning cash, making acquisitions, and expanding aggressively, or we risk criticism from the market and pressure from investors. But you're wrong. I'll tell you, Yahoo only needs to proceed steadily along the established path. We don't need to be accountable to stock prices or Wall Street. If anyone needs to be accountable, it's just to me."

As the sound of papers fluttered from the speaker after the file flew out, Ian Gurney awkwardly nodded. Steve Mitnick, who had been casually tapping on his laptop, straightened, while Tina Brown slightly bowed her head, gently pinching the corner of the document in front of her, seemingly trying to flatten it.

Everyone in the meeting was seasoned; they had all encountered their boss blowing up at some point. Among them, Eric was definitely one of the milder bosses. But at that moment, as Eric erupted, everyone sensed how genuinely angry he was, so no one dared to make a cheeky remark.

Eric sipped his coffee, calming himself before continuing, "The pace of Yahoo's expansion in recent years has indeed been quite large, with 6,000 employees, surpassing every other pure internet company. Also, after the IPO, many became millionaires or billionaires and might start feeling complacent, thinking they could enjoy life now. Or they may feel that holding a few million in stock doesn't match their current positions. I understand all that, but I won't tolerate it. So, I need you to prepare in advance; after the tech stock bubble bursts, Yahoo will have to undergo layoffs, eliminating those who wish to enjoy life. Yahoo still has a long way to go, and we can't afford complacency in our ranks. Of course, they've contributed before, so when the time comes, the company will buy back their shares, allowing them to enjoy life or start anew."

Having said this, Eric took the reorganized file handed to him by the secretary without waiting for Ian Gurney and the others to respond and added, "Okay, let's move on to the next topic: the merger between America Online and Time Warner. The situation has become quite delicate; I'm sure you've all read that article in The Washington Post. This week, all stocks within the Firefly system went up, but America Online's stock actually rose even higher than Yahoo's. Clearly, many are optimistic about the merger, believing that if these two companies unite, Firefly will face a formidable competitor, which is beneficial for us.

But at the same time, we must change our established strategy. At least publicly, we need to firmly oppose the merger between America Online and Time Warner. The more vehemently we oppose it, the less resistance they'll face in the merger. So, what should we do specifically?"

With the release of the Forbes Billionaires List this year, Eric's personal fortune, exceeding $300 billion, finally unleashed pent-up emotions in North America that had been brewing for years due to his skyrocketing wealth.

While capital pursued profit driven by Eric's impressive investment vision, nearly all stocks related to the Firefly system skyrocketed, but calls to limit its continuous expansion grew louder.

Of course, in a mature capitalistic society, no matter how vast Eric's personal fortune was, the federal government would not dare to ruthlessly strip him of his private property; that would touch on fundamental systemic concerns. However, given the current state of affairs, it's not hard to foresee that Firefly's every step of expansion would face rigorous scrutiny and restrictions -- not out of the federal government's wariness over overwhelming private wealth, but due to other capitalist forces in society instinctively striking back to protect their interests.

In the short term, establishing a powerful competitor for the Firefly system, like America Online-Time Warner, was something many would welcome.

To be fair, Eric hoped for such an opponent, one he could foresee and control to some extent.

As for longer-term expansion of the Firefly system, Eric would need to either eliminate the competition or bring them into the fold.

In addition to discussing Yahoo's business strategy and how to reverse-engineer the merger between America Online and Time Warner, there were discussions about Eric's personal asset control issues and a variety of other matters, making the meeting last all morning. By the time it ended, it was already afternoon on the East Coast.

...

Stepping out of the conference room, Marissa Mayer handed over a phone, indicating that Paul Roland was on the line.

Eric and Katzenberg walked towards the dock to have lunch together, and after exchanging a few words on the phone, he hung up.

Thinking back to Emily's earlier reminder, he realized he had quite a dilemma on his hands.

Initially, it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to bring Carmen Kass on board; however, Eric overlooked the potential feelings of the women in his life. Virginia and Joanna had generally avoided his outside activities, but the last time Carmen attracted attention, it had genuinely scared the kids.

He was momentarily caught up in these thoughts before brushing them aside.

When trouble showed up, he would deal with it.

Moreover, with the recent outside pressures weighing on him, Eric felt considerable stress.

...

Arriving at the restaurant aboard the ship, after ordering lunch, Katzenberg brought up The Blair Witch Project.

"In its second week, it grossed $61.5 million. The cumulative box office for two weeks stands at $82.78 million, with production costs being a mere $60,000. In the coming weeks, the total box office might surpass $150 million. Everybody's saying this could be why you became the first billionaire to exceed $300 billion in personal wealth. There probably won't be another film that surpasses the investment return of The Blair Witch Project."

Eric took the bottled water handed to him by Amy Adams, smiled at her, then replied to Katzenberg, "That's not necessarily true. Hollywood is never short of miracles. Speaking of which, we can certainly give bonuses to those two young directors now, along with the marketing team from last time."

Katzenberg nodded, saying, "Actually, Kenneth asked me to check your thoughts on this. I believe $1 million each would suffice, since the box office success primarily stemmed from our marketing strategy."

"Let's give each of them $5 million. A million feels a bit too stingy," Eric shook his head and smiled. "If you're reluctant, I can just write them a personal check."

"Fine, $5 million it is. However, since we're not planning to greenlight a sequel to The Blair Witch Project in the short term, it's reasonable to have those two sign on for two more films. The Blair Witch Project has been a box office hit, and even if they make traditional films, they will likely attract more attention than new directors."

"That's between you and Kenneth; I don't have the energy for it right now."

"By the way," Katzenberg nodded and continued, "Are you going to the Oscars tomorrow?"

"Not interested; there aren't any good films up for Oscars this year."

"Actually, I meant to say," Katzenberg said, "About the promotional efforts for Iron Man. Eric, everyone's feeling a bit lost right now. Ordinarily, a big-budget film would have its stars start doing various TV appearances to promote it by now."

"I'm starting to regret it, thinking I shouldn't have taken on this role," Eric sighed. "After all the media frenzy lately, people are likely hostile towards me as a billionaire. I'm not sure anyone will still want to see a movie that I star in. I've even thought about whether we should adjust the Marvel Cinematic Universe plan and marginalize Iron Man."

"If necessary, we might indeed have to make that adjustment," Katzenberg expressed his agreement, not echoing the regret in Eric's tone.

After all, Iron Man was originally a secondary superhero within Marvel. His original success stemmed from fortunate timing, and now, with so many changes occurring, an adjustment was warranted.

Eric hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, what needs to be done always gets done. I'll go to the Oscars tomorrow, and let Buena Vista start the regular promotional activities; I'll cooperate as much as I can."

"Okay," Katzenberg replied. As Amy brought their lunch, the conversation paused momentarily. Then Katzenberg added, "Do you have plans for tonight? If you're free, I'm hosting a small party at my place?"

Eric shook his head with a smile, "I need to head to San Francisco this afternoon to discuss the stock incentive plan for Firefly Electronics, so I probably won't be back tonight."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1108: Just Like This]

Although Eric had recently flatly rejected Edgar Bronfman's attempt to invest in Firefly Electronics, he had graciously offered a stock incentive plan similar to what Yahoo had done before.

After careful consideration, Eric ultimately decided to sell 12.5 million shares from Firefly Electronics' total of 250 million shares at a discounted price, exclusively to key executives and elite employees.

These 12.5 million shares represented about 5% of Firefly Electronics' total equity. Based on the industry's common valuation of around $30 billion for Firefly Electronics, the value of this equity had reached a staggering $1.5 billion, which was 50% higher than the total value of stocks awarded during Yahoo's initial 20% equity incentive plan.

Firefly Electronics had risen so quickly that they hadn't signed a stock incentive agreement in advance like Yahoo did. To avoid issues like tax implications, this incentive did not involve free shares.

However, Eric offered these stocks at a low price, using a price-to-earnings ratio of about 10 times, with each share priced at only $32 -- roughly a fourth of its market price of $120. Furthermore, the executives and employees granted the subscription could simply apply for an interest-free loan from Firefly Investments to cover the stock purchase, repayable through company dividends in the future, meaning they wouldn't actually have to put any money up front.

Of course, these shares came with very strict restrictive clauses.

During this time, as major electronics manufacturers announced their entry into the digital music player market, Firefly Electronics had begun to see alarming signs of employee turnover. However, with the rollout of this stock incentive plan, this trend could be effectively curbed.

...

Arriving in Palo Alto, San Francisco, by the afternoon, the day had already turned to night by the time the meeting concluded. Caroline had been invited by Melanie to stay at her place, and Eric had even given her a few days off, leaving her free to return to Los Angeles whenever she wished.

After attending a cocktail party hosted by Larry Ellison, Eric returned to his home in Atherton with Merissa Mayer, the clock nearing eleven.

With the NASDAQ booming, the entire Silicon Valley was engulfed in a palpable atmosphere of excitement. The once-quiet Atherton neighborhood now buzzed with energy. Eric's car navigated through the streets, revealing groups of men and women lingering outside, while inside the brightly lit mansions, the parties raged on.

In just the two months since the beginning of 1999, over 100 technology companies had gone public on NASDAQ. Those who hadn't lived through this era would find it hard to believe the frenzy that ensued. Some tech companies managed to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding based solely on business plans that existed only in PowerPoint presentations, creating a surge of millionaires and billionaires almost overnight.

As Eric's car pulled into his mansion in Atherton, he unexpectedly heard the faint sounds of a party from a neighboring mansion. There were even raucous female screams. Though the large distance meant the noise wasn't too loud, and he figured he could escape it inside, it still caused him to frown.

Merissa Mayer walked alongside him, noticing his expression. "That's Jean-Louis Gassée next door, the founder of Be, Inc. He was originally an executive at Apple but got ousted by Jobs. A few years back, Apple almost considered using the BeOS operating system that Gassee developed, but he priced it too high, wanting 15% of Apple's shares. At that time, CEO John Sculley vetoed the deal. However, Be has recently gone public, and with Microsoft's antitrust troubles, stocks for other operating system companies are soaring. Be's valuation has also recently surpassed $1 billion."

Eric merely nodded, showing no interest in desktop operating systems that were destined to fail. He entered the villa with Merissa, and the distant noise faded completely. He casually removed his suit and tie, sinking comfortably into the living room sofa.

"Mary, play me a song. See if you can guess what I want to hear," he said.

Merissa hung up the suit, intending to get him a glass of water since he had consumed some wine that night.

Upon hearing his request, she turned to a digital sound system in the corner, developed by Firefly's RD department. Eric didn't want to distract Firefly from their portable music player line, so he had declined other product lines, but he still kept a beautifully designed prototype in the villa.

Moments later, the soothing notes of Young and Beautiful began to play softly.

I've seen the world, done it all, had my cake nowDiamonds, brilliant, and Bel Air nowHot summer nights, mid-JulyWhen you and I were forever wildThe crazy days, city lightsThe way you'd play with me like a child

...

Satisfied, Eric shifted slightly on the sofa, resting his head on a cushion, kicked off his shoes, and let his legs lounge draped over the armrest, enjoying the music that filled the air.

A faint hint of a woman's scent wafted past his nose. He opened his eyes to see Merissa nearby, holding out a glass of water, her strands of golden hair cascading down as she leaned in.

Eric didn't reach for the glass; instead, he caught the drifting locks of hair and slowly traced his fingers up to her smooth face.

He enjoyed the sensation of his fingertips gliding over her skin and continued to slide down.

It felt like a long-ago night.

This time, Merissa didn't speak, her eyes narrowing slightly like a cat's, her cheek turned slightly, seeming to invite him to touch her palm more. After a moment, she released the glass she held, kneeling softly beside him on the sofa, allowing him to slide the strap of her deep red dress down inch by inch.

Until he grew impatient and reached to draw her body closer, she murmured softly, "Eric."

Eric paused, gazing at the flushed girl. "Yeah?"

"Nothing," she hesitated before shaking her head. Leaning against the side of the sofa, she added, "Nothing at all."

Eric chuckled. "Why don't we go to your room?"

"No, no need," Merissa Mayer hesitated briefly, but then she stood up, gradually crawling onto Eric, saying, "Just like this."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1109: You Villain]

It was early morning.

Eric woke up to find Merissa Mayer beside him, holding a pillow and resting her chin on her arms, gazing intently at him. He chuckled lightly, reached over, and pulled her naked body onto his. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Merissa was pressed closely against Eric, especially with the discomfort caused by the man's morning arousal. Her face flushed slightly, and she gently struggled to free herself. Seeing it was futile, she finally gave in and whispered, "Eric, I want to start working at Firefly Electronics early next year."

Eric's hands, which had been caressing her, froze for a moment. "Isn't that a bit soon? Besides, I hoped you'd go to Nokia."

"I know," Merissa Merissa Mayer replied. "But if I just jump into leading a mobile phone development department at Nokia, I'm worried I won't do well. So, I want to get some experience at Firefly Electronics first. I found out that most of the key technologies involved in your vision for smartphones are with Firefly."

"If that's what you want, then of course, it's fine," Eric said, nodding slightly. "But suddenly I feel like you're trying to escape from me, and that makes me unhappy."

"I do want to escape from you," Merissa propped herself up on Eric's chest, locking eyes with him. "If I don't, I fear one day I'll end up like those other girls. You're a great lover but also a terrifying one; a woman feels like she can't escape."

"That's not the case at all," Eric gently pressed her back against him again, saying, "You know, many women have escaped from me."

"That's because you don't care about them at all. No matter how much money you throw at them, no matter how gentle you appear, even if you elevate them to stardom, you truly don't care. They didn't escape from you; they were abandoned by you," Merissa said, tracing a circle on Eric's chest with her finger. "You can be really cold at times, which is scary. So, I plan to escape from you before I end up as pitiful as those girls you've left behind."

"Suddenly, I feel like a villain. Looks like I need to truly repent," Eric jested.

"You already are a villain."

"I'm just trying to show a bit of humility. Don't take it so seriously."

"You villain."

"Oh, I get it. I must be provoking you," Eric tightened his embrace, flipping Merissa on her back. "Provocateur, accept your punishment."

Merissa giggled, wrapping her long legs around Eric's waist. Feeling the sudden rigidity in his body, she wore a playful expression and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on his lips, whispering, "But, Eric, our flight is at nine o'clock."

"Then we'll leave at ten," Eric pressed her legs down, loosening his hold slightly, his tone turning playfully stern again. "No, I'm really angry now, so it'll be eleven."

...

After finally having lunch with his female assistant in Palo Alto, Eric flew back to Los Angeles.

Upon hearing that Eric had decided to attend the Oscars that night, Nicole called him early. She would also be attending the ceremony for similar reasons, as The Mummy 3 was set to release in June. Although this might be the last film in the Mummy franchise for her, she remained dedicated to fulfilling her promotional duties.

As for the other women, they might attend the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars, but they had no interest in the ceremony itself.

Julia had projects last year and this year; her film this year, Erin Brockovich, was even an Oscar contender. By rights, she should have been at the Academy Awards, but she had always been indifferent about these matters. In Eric's memory, though she had long been qualified, Julia had never bothered to leave her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

...

By five in the afternoon, Nicole and Eric headed to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles.

After leaving Nicole's place in Beverly Hills, they arrived downtown nearly at five-thirty. Their vehicle, amidst a convoy of a dozen stretch limos, slowly made its way to the red carpet entrance outside the pavilion.

A few minutes later, the limousine finally came to a stop at the red carpet entrance.

As the driver opened the door, Nicole held Eric back again, carefully checking him over before allowing him to exit. This was one of the rare occasions she publicly appeared with Eric, and she wanted everything to go perfectly.

Once Eric stepped out, he walked around to the other side and gentlemanly offered his arm to Nicole, who looked stunning in a light blue gown, and together they approached the red carpet.

However, as they stepped onto the carpet, Eric couldn't help but frown.

The Oscar red carpet was always the most crowded of all film festivals or awards ceremonies, but today, it was even more chaotic than he had imagined. Not only were the crowds jostling together, but the guest areas on either side also seemed messy.

ABC had long been a fixed partner for the Oscars. Although the ceremony was primarily organized by the Academy, Eric decided to have Katzenberg follow up with ABC's executives about how this was happening after the event was over.

Nicole had initially been smiling and waving to the audience while holding onto Eric's arm, but when she noticed Eric's security guard, Carter Moen, closely following them, her demeanor changed. She tugged at Eric's arm and asked, "Do we really need to have Carter following us like this?"

"The latest security assessments suggest that my chances of being attacked in public are higher than both John Lennon and John Kennedy combined. You don't really think everyone is friendly towards me, do you?"

Although Eric hadn't faced any attacks since his rebirth except for that one incident at the Long Island racetrack, he had never relaxed his security protocols.

Eric was acutely aware of his circumstances; his power and wealth attracted too many eyes, and having risen so quickly, he hadn't laid down a solid foundation to support his fortune. He didn't even have an heir to continue his empire, and if something happened to him, the consequences would be dire.

Nicole, momentarily overwhelmed by all these thoughts, instinctively glanced around nervously upon hearing the names John Lennon and John Kennedy. But she quickly pinched Eric's arm gently, teasing, "I actually think you're just worried about another girl jumping out of the crowd to bite you."

With that, Eric recalled Paul Roland's phone call from yesterday. He glanced at Carter Moen behind them and felt inclined to say something. But realizing the situation wasn't right, he decided to hold back for now.

This red carpet was exceptionally chaotic, and both Eric and Nicole felt impatient dealing with guests who occasionally came up to greet them. Ignoring the media's attempts to keep them longer, they quickened their pace and soon reached the end of the carpet.

...

As Eric and Nicole appeared, Nicole's manager, Pat Kingsley, and an ABC producer with an earpiece approached them. Nicole had already pre-arranged a red carpet interview.

The final interview spot at the end of the red carpet was the only relatively formal point Eric had seen today. According to the norm, there should be three interview spots set at the entrance, middle, and end of the red carpet, but Eric hadn't noticed where the first two were, further contributing to his dissatisfaction with the ceremony's execution.

Although he wasn't overly keen on these matters, he still remembered the names of several common hosts for the Oscars, such as veteran Robin Roberts from ABC. However, the person currently at the interview platform was a tall, young blonde host with a sweet, beautiful face, dressed in a pink off-shoulder gown, easily outshining most of the women on the red carpet.

At that moment, however, Eric had no interest in admiring beauty. His expression was rather somber.

Pat Kingsley nodded at Eric, whispered a few words to Nicole, and stepped aside. The ABC producer gestured for them, "Mr. Williams, Miss Kidman, this way, please."

Eric helped Nicole step onto the interview platform and turned to the producer, "Who is directing this year's ceremony? Have him come see me."

The director of the Oscars usually was the head of the ABC team.

After saying that, Eric stepped onto the interview platform.

The producer had already recognized the cold expression on Eric's face and was visibly wary. Upon hearing Eric's request, he quickly relayed it through the microphone back to the control room.

...

"Mr. Williams, Miss Kidman, hello, I'm Laura Spencer," the attractive blonde host introduced herself respectfully.

Though it was her first time covering the Oscar red carpet, Laura Spencer was not intimidated. If she were interviewing other guests, she might have cracked a few jokes, but she could sense that the big boss's mood was anything but cheerful.

Nicole was naturally more attuned to the shifts in Eric's emotions. She engaged with Laura deftly, secretly pinching Eric's waist with one hand.

Eric forced a smile, trying to appear less bothered.

The producer indicated the interview could start, and the three adjusted their positions before commencing in a serious tone.

They followed the typical conversation about Nicole's gown and makeup and her upcoming film, The Mummy 3. Laura Spencer seemed a bit intimidated by Eric, only offering polite wishes for Eric's luck later that evening, which he simply acknowledged with nods. The interview content had been prearranged, and since he had only decided to attend yesterday, he harbored no ill will towards the host for lacking focus on him.

..

After leaving the interview platform, the Oscars' director, Louis Horvitz, was waiting nearby.

With so many camera lenses around, Eric couldn't afford to explode with anger. Instead, he pointed toward the chaotic red carpet and coldly told Louis Horvitz, "Look at it -- doesn't it look like a bunch of lost fish? I hope the upcoming ceremony isn't as chaotic as this red carpet. And," he gestured toward the young host, "how old is she? Is she even eighteen?"

After making those statements, Eric lost interest in Louis Horvitz's reaction and began walking forward with Nicole. Since he had spoken up, he was confident Robert Iger would have to provide him with some answers.

"I think this red carpet isn't too bad," Nicole hesitated before softly saying, hanging onto Eric's arm. But her words lacked conviction.

Eric recognized she was trying to appease him and shook his head, smiling. "Alright, I guess I am being too harsh."

"Not at all, you're the boss; your word is always right," Nicole quickly changed her stance, adopting a very neutral tone.

"You're not Julia in a Nicole disguise now, are you?"

Nicole retorted playfully, "Are you saying you want us all to be like Julia?"

"Not at all."

...

After taking a few pictures at the media wall, Eric and Nicole finally entered the grand lobby.

The lobby of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was also packed with people. As there was still some time before the ceremony began, no one had taken their seats yet.

"Hey, Eric, good afternoon."

As Eric made his way in, Harvey, along with the crew from The Horse Whisperer, approached him. Robert Redford's expression upon seeing Eric was remarkable: "Eric, it's unbelievable; with $60,000, it has now grossed $80 million! How did you do it?"

"That's definitely a secret," Eric knew Robert Redford was referring to the still-running The Blair Witch Project. "But I can assure you, next year's Sundance Film Festival is going to be packed."

"That's what I think too," Robert Redford responded with a grin. "Just don't know if that's good or bad for Sundance."

The Sundance Film Festival had always prided itself on fostering new talents and independent films. The arrival of The Blair Witch Project, a dark horse at the box office, would undoubtedly attract many mainstream Hollywood companies to Park City for profits, making it likely that the festival would become increasingly commercialized in the future.

...

After exchanging pleasantries with guests in the lobby, Eric finally found a moment to pull aside Carter Moen, while Nicole was chatting with Meryl Streep. He whispered, "Call Paul Roland and ask where Carmen Kass is right now. Don't let her go to the Vanity Fair party. Have someone pick her up and bring her to Liberty City."

Although Nicole was the only one attending the ceremony, her friends would likely show up at the Vanity Fair party, and while the women's attitudes about the biting incident were mostly one of schadenfreude, it was hard to imagine what would happen if Carmen Kass appeared at the Vanity Fair party.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1110: One-Man-Band]

At six in the evening, the awards ceremony officially began.

This year's host was once again Billy Crystal. However, perhaps because the nominated films had so little sparkle, Billy Crystal made a show of climbing onto the stage with a handheld camcorder, claiming he intended to shoot a zero-budget film, while still holding onto the receipt, which he could return once the shoot was done.

This scenario was, of course, a jab at the box office sensation The Blair Witch Project, and it certainly got some laughs.

Unfortunately, the rest of the ceremony turned out to be rather dull. Under the powerful PR machine of the Weinstein brothers, the already controversial film The Horse Whisperer took home several significant awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Eric believed that in the coming days, the media would certainly stir up a wave of discussions questioning the fairness of the Oscars. At the same time, the Academy has come to its senses, and Miramax will definitely not have an easy time in the next few years.

As for Firefly's Elizabeth, the outcome was even more surprising. Though it received several major nominations, ultimately, it left empty-handed.

Eric had initially thought that Cate Blanchett might have a chance to win the Oscar for Best Actress on her first nomination, but he ultimately underestimated the conservatism of the Academy. The Best Actress award finally went to seasoned British star Judi Dench.

...

As soon as the ceremony ended, Eric was intercepted by the director of this awards ceremony, Louis Horvitz, who also introduced him to Laura Spencer, the female host he had seen on the red carpet.

Robert Iger's call also came through from New York. With some matters to handle, Eric sent Nicole off to the Hilton Hotel's Vanity Fair party while he took Robert Iger's call backstage at the awards ceremony. Meanwhile, he glanced at the resume that Louis Horvitz handed him and looked curiously at both Louis and Laura.

Having only mentioned it casually, Louis had promptly handed over this woman's resume. Was he trying to prove that she was over eighteen or something?

Noticing the look in Eric's eyes, Louis Horvitz felt a bit uncomfortable. Even before the ceremony was over, he had received a call from his colleagues at ABC's New York headquarters, stating that the ratings for this year's Oscar broadcast were simply dismal, dropping as low as 37 million, with the average viewership likely not breaking the 40 million mark.

As one of ABC's renowned program producers, Louis had directed the Oscars more than once, but nothing about tonight's event had been expected even by him. In the past decade, the average viewership for the Oscars had never dipped below 40 million.

Everyone understood that the main reason was the disappointing selection of nominated films this year.

However, the big boss had called him in before the awards ceremony to publicly criticize the chaotic red carpet, adding, "I hope the awards ceremony won't be as messy as the red carpet." Now, Louis couldn't say whether the ceremony itself was considered messy in the big boss's eyes, but 37 million in viewership definitely counted as a disaster. This left Louis feeling very anxious, and he urgently called New York, hoping that Robert Iger, who had helped promote him, could back him up.

...

After plopping down on a couch, Eric ignored Louis and Laura standing nearby. He propped his leg up and placed Laura's resume on his knee while talking on the phone with Robert Iger. The staff wrapping things up for the awards ceremony saw the situation and tactfully kept their distance.

Robert Iger's explanation made Eric not sure how to feel. The awful red carpet situation ultimately stemmed from the uninspiring nominated films this year. Because there was little buzz or excitement surrounding the nominated films, advertisers had little motivation, leading to record-low ad prices for the ceremony's auction. Typically about $1.2 million for a 30-second spot, this year it barely surpassed $1 million.

With a huge drop in advertising revenue, the Academy reduced the event's budget, even shortening the usually around 200-meter-long Oscars red carpet to less than 150 meters. The Oscars red carpet had always been among the busiest at any film awards, and now that it was suddenly shortened by a quarter, it was no wonder that the number of attendees remained unchanged.

While Eric was dissatisfied with the Academy's penny-pinching decision to shorten the red carpet, he didn't want to intervene too much. Firefly was already too prominent in Hollywood; picking at such trivial matters with the Academy would only invite discomfort for himself.

Once Robert Iger finished explaining, he brought up Laura Spencer. Only then did Eric open the resume resting on his knee.

Last year, ABC's daytime news program Good Morning America had lost its star anchors, Joan Lunden and Charles Gibson, whose popularity had driven its ratings for years. After their departure, the program suffered significant losses in viewership, even being surpassed by NBC's Today Show, which had been lagging behind for a decade.

In an effort to revive Good Morning America's ratings, ABC's management had been revamping the show, and Laura Spencer had just been promoted as one of the network's new national correspondents.

Hearing Robert Iger's explanation, Eric felt relieved.

"National correspondent" sounded prestigious, but in reality, it was quite a demanding position. Unlike news anchors who typically only worked in the studio, ABC's national correspondents needed to not only conduct studio interviews but also often work on-site as field reporters.

After all, this was ABC's morning news from 7 to 9 AM.

Studio interviews were manageable, but for on-location work, reporters often had to travel the day before, meaning they had to rise early to prepare. From this perspective, it was certainly a challenging job.

Moreover, the details in the resume completely rid Eric of any bias against Laura Spencer.

This blonde, who seemed barely in her twenties, was actually already thirty. The resume revealed that she was a scholarship recipient from the University of Pennsylvania and had once been a national-level diver. After graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Pennsylvania, she had worked in media for eight years. Her work history during that time was impressive. She was skilled in various roles, including reporter, producer, camerawoman, and editor. She even received a "one-man band" label, which indicated her high level of expertise.

Assigning Laura Spencer as the Oscars red carpet host was also a way to boost her profile and indirectly raise the visibility of Good Morning America.

...

Eric had always admired women who were both beautiful and hardworking, as those who excelled at both were rare.

After chatting for over ten minutes, Eric ended the call with Robert Iger. He stood up and handed Louis Horvitz the resume before extending his hand to Laura Spencer and saying, "Alright, Laura, I apologize for my earlier bias; you're really impressive."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Williams."

Laura Spencer shook Eric's hand, feeling slightly overwhelmed. She had been apprehensive about losing this job so soon after her promotion, even feeling a bit frustrated with Mr. Eric Williams, the big boss, thinking, "Do beautiful women always have to be seen as just pretty faces?"

However, as Eric reached out his hand to her, her dissatisfaction evaporated. After all, she had never expected the big boss would apologize to her.

"Well, you both carry on," Eric told Laura. After withdrawing his hand, he turned to Louis Horvitz and was about to leave when he noticed Laura Spencer still wearing that beautiful pink wide-shouldered deep-V gown and asked, "Laura, are you heading to the Vanity Fair party? Need a ride?"

Laura Spencer had just relaxed, but hearing Eric's question made her heart race again. She suddenly remembered that her boss was notorious for being a playboy.

The reason she was still in her formal gown was merely that she had been so tense since Louis's earlier remarks that she hadn't even thought about changing clothes or attending any party, not to mention that her position wouldn't afford her an invitation to the Vanity Fair party.

Noticing the change in Laura Spencer's expression, Eric quickly caught on, chuckling, "Then never mind. See you next time."

Just as Eric turned away, he heard Laura Spencer's voice behind him: "No, Mr. Williams, I--I'm willing to go."

With Nicole and the other women already at the Vanity Fair party, Eric wouldn't be able to do anything else even if he had other intentions. He had only mentioned it casually. Now, watching Laura Spencer look as if she were about to make a noble sacrifice, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Alright, let's go."

Watching Eric and Laura Spencer walk out of the backstage together, Louis Horvitz rolled up the resume in his hand and tapped it against his palm, shaking his head in envy. "What a beautiful woman."

...

Once outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Eric and Laura Spencer got into the car.

As the driver started the vehicle and left downtown, Eric glanced at the somewhat reserved woman beside him and asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Laura Spencer froze for a moment, her eyes flickering. She shook her head honestly, "No, I don't."

"Oh," Eric nodded, nonchalantly. "If only you did, maybe we could have him join us, and then you wouldn't feel like a nervous little hedgehog right now."

Hearing Eric's direct comment made Laura relax a bit, prompting her to boldly ask, "Mr. Williams, do you have a girlfriend?"

"I do," Eric replied. "They're all at the Vanity Fair party, keeping a close eye on me, so you can rest easy."

Laura Spencer couldn't help but laugh when she heard Eric's words, teasingly picking up on a particular term, "They?"

"Yep," Eric nodded, "they."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1111: Don't Scare Everyone]

The center of attention at the Vanity Fair party was likely the media area outside. Once guests entered the party hall, the atmosphere turned exceptionally relaxed and pleasant.

Eric walked into the party hall, greeting familiar guests while scanning the room in search of Nicole and others. Columbia Pictures' CEO, Bill Mechanic, approached with a middle-aged man wearing black-framed glasses. Recognizing him as Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of the Men in Black series, Eric stepped forward to greet them.

As they got closer, Barry Sonnenfeld extended his hand to Eric, smiling as he said, "Good evening, Mr. Williams."

"Hello, Barry," Eric responded, shaking Barry Sonnenfeld's hand before reaching out to Bill Mechanic. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked, "What are you guys chatting about?"

Bill Mechanic replied, "Some movie-related topics."

Sensing the vague tone in Mechanic's response, Barry Sonnenfeld cleverly raised his wine glass toward Eric and said, "Well then, Mr. Williams, you two continue your conversation; I'm going to say hi to Will."

...

Eric nodded in acknowledgment as Barry walked away. He casually picked up a glass of red wine from a passing waiter and moved to a nearby corner with Bill Mechanic. Once settled, he inquired, "How's it going?"

Given Bill Mechanic's connection to Barry Sonnenfeld, it was no surprise the conversation revolved around the Men in Black series.

Bill Mechanic sighed, shaking his head. "Barry and Will just signed a deal with Warner Bros. for a project by Jon Peters, which is a film adaptation of a TV series called Wild Wild West. I investigated and learned it's a sci-fi film about two agents protecting the president from an evil doctor, set a hundred years in the past. Plus, I feel like Warner is clearly trying to replicate Men in Black's model -- aside from Jon Peters, Barry, and Will, they are planning to cast another actor reminiscent of Tommy Lee Jones. Sci-fi, buddy duo, comedic style -- it's practically the same, just substituting aliens with mechanical monsters created by an evil doctor. The other elements are almost identical."

Eric listened to Bill Mechanic and couldn't help but frown slightly. A few years prior, when Sony removed the two leaders at Columbia, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, Guber had already enjoyed his retirement, while Peters remained active in Hollywood, returning to his former home at Warner Bros.

While Eric had picked Men in Black as a project, the main responsibilities fell to Columbia's crew at the time, including Jon Peters and others. Hollywood's tendency to follow trends was hardly surprising, but a nearly identical imitation could be rather off-putting. If Warner brought Tommy Lee Jones into the mix, it would essentially be a version of Men in Black without the aliens.

Eric couldn't recall much about Wild Wild West; he wondered if it had flopped.

After some more probing of Bill Mechanic, Eric realized Wild Wild West was technically categorized as a western period sci-fi film.

Combining elements of the western genre, period settings, and sci-fi offered an uncomfortable mishmash that reminded Eric of Disney's box office disaster, The Rocketeer. While The Rocketeer had flopped as a retro sci-fi film, Wild Wild West upped the ante with some distinctly doomed western elements.

Feeling his mind start to spiral into bias, Eric shook his head to dispel those thoughts. After all, a film as seemingly flopped as Pirates of the Caribbean had been a massive box office success. Who could really say how Wild Wild West would fare?

Speaking of which, Warner had been making quite a few moves recently in the film business, first securing distribution rights for Adam Sandler's Big Daddy, then snatching up Run Lola Run at the Sundance Film Festival, and now this Wild Wild West project.

The merger between America Online and Time Warner was under intense scrutiny by the U.S. Justice Department, so these moves probably represented Time Warner's push to establish a foothold and demonstrate power within the new company after the merger.

While Wild Wild West definitely rubbed Eric the wrong way, he didn't intend to engage in any kind of grudge with Warner.

Of course, if the film expected to secure quality advertising resources on the Firefly Group's television platform in the future, it could forget about it. The digital sector wouldn't offer any special effects support either; Warner seemed ready to team up with Universal and Paramount to do their own thing with their new visual era.

With these thoughts in mind, just as Eric was preparing to part ways with Bill Mechanic, a light bulb went off in his head, and he called out, "John Woo is working on an action film for you guys, right?"

"Yeah, The Replacement Killers -- he just secured his creative team, and they're about to start production," Bill Mechanic nodded. "Eric, is there a problem?"

"No, I was just wondering if Woo is also preparing a war film."

"Right, he showed me the script; it's called Windtalkers," Bill Mechanic added, then remembered, "By the way, Kenneth mentioned you advised everyone not to get involved with that project, so I didn't follow up with him."

Eric thought to himself, 'So it's Windtalkers.' He kept a neutral expression while advising Bill Mechanic, "Try to find a way to pitch that project to Warner."

Bill Mechanic's face broke into a wry smile as he immediately understood Eric's intention, saying, "But, Eric, you haven't even seen the script. I actually think this project is pretty decent. Are you so sure Woo will mess it up?"

"Everyone has their strengths," Eric replied. "Have you heard of Woo directing war films? I can't even understand why he's interested in them; he used to make comedies that flopped hard. He switched to action films and found success, but now he wants to change gears again. I'm not optimistic at all."

"All directors want to try new things," Bill Mechanic countered. "Haven't you been doing the same?"

"I don't have the energy to argue this with you," Eric chuckled, shaking his head. "Just do as I said."

Bill Mechanic looked conflicted. "But what should I do?"

"That's your business, think it through," Eric replied, flicking his finger against his glass. "For example, you could say I suddenly became interested in the script after reading it, and then negotiate firmly with Woo. You can drop hints, and naturally, people will come rushing."

"What if Universal or Paramount snatch it away?"

"As long as it's not us, that's all that matters," Eric shrugged. "I feel Warner is the most likely candidate to take it on; over at Universal, Michael is sharper than you think. As for Paramount, Redstone is becoming increasingly conservative, so I doubt they'll jump in."

"Alright," Bill Mechanic reluctantly nodded, but then added, "What if, I mean, what if Windtalkers becomes a hit?"

"Two options," Eric replied, lifting one finger in front of Bill Mechanic and grinning, "You take the blame, or I take the blame."

"BOSS, can I pick the second one?"

"You tell me."

...

After parting ways with Bill Mechanic, Eric noticed Julia's figure and headed straight towards a booth nearby.

Upon reaching the booth, he found not only Julia and Elisabeth but also Amy Pascal. Surprisingly, Tina Brown was there as well.

As the boss, Eric couldn't keep track of his employees' movements. Tina Brown, former head of Vanity Fair and creator of the Vanity Fair party, had moved to Yahoo long ago. While he was surprised to see her there, it wasn't entirely unexpected.

After greeting everyone, Eric casually sat down between Julia and Elisabeth.

Julia, playing the perfect hostess, called a waiter to bring Eric a drink, and Elisabeth curiously asked, "What were you and Bill talking about for so long?"

"Hollywood guy talk, of course it was about saving the world," Eric joked. Elisabeth lightly hit him but didn't mind, smiling back, "So what about you guys?"

Elisabeth shot Eric a look. "I'm brainstorming ideas with Amy to see what Firefly should produce next; what do you think about Harry Potter?"

Eric raised his drink in mock surrender, pleading, "Can we skip Harry Potter? Let it count as a favor I owe you?"

The women laughed, clearly aware of Eric and Elisabeth's $100 million box office wager regarding The Blair Witch Project. Additionally, with the rise of interest surrounding the Harry Potter series, discussions had begun internally about launching a movie project, and whispers had recently surfaced in the media.

After some laughter, Tina Brown remarked, "Speaking of, The Blair Witch Project is really a miracle, Eric. I'm here to personally sift through the marketing plan for it; it's bound to provide great insights for Yahoo."

Hearing Tina Brown's explanation for her visit, Eric nodded. "I'll be having breakfast with Jeffrey tomorrow; you should join us so we can discuss. Also, if you need any materials, I'll make sure this team helps you out."

Tina was thrilled to have direct assistance from the big boss.

After chatting for a bit, Eric didn't want to leave Amy Pascal out, so he asked, "Amy, how is the prep for The Bourne Identity coming along?"

"Doug Liman just finished his new film; I've already talked to him, and he's eager to take this one on," Amy replied. "Also, regarding the leading man, ICM has recommended a few candidates, and I plan to send you the materials next week."

Eric sensed something was off and asked, "By the way, what about the producer?"

"John wants to be personally in charge. I think it's feasible," Amy replied, referring to John Calley, MGM's vice president.

Eric didn't want to probe deeper into that situation and simply shook his head. "John Calley is in charge of television, let him focus on that." He then thought for a moment and added, "I remember, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy at Amblin want to step down. Try reaching out to them; securing both would be terrific."

Because Hollywood history has been severely distorted by Eric, the big butterfly, Amberlin Pictures, which was established by Spielberg and others to replace the former DreamWorks, has declined much faster than in the original time and space. However, over the past few years, Spielberg and others felt that going solo was far from as simple as they had imagined, and now there are signs of splitting up.

Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy were once Spielberg's top producers, crucial to the breakout series like Indiana Jones and Back to the Future. Interestingly, the original Bourne series had been in their hands too; if Eric could bring them to MGM, it would create the original team all over again.

"That might not be easy," Amy said. "I heard they want to start their own production company."

However, Eric wasn't concerned.

If the two were starting a production company, they'd inevitably look for a major studio as their base, much like Jerry Bruckheimer's production company had ties with Firefly. Eric didn't believe that under Hollywood's current conditions, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy would want to launch an entirely independent film production and distribution company.

"Get in touch with them first, and if needed, I'll talk to them myself."

Amy nodded, "Alright, I'll arrange a meeting with them tomorrow."

As Eric was talking to Amy, he noticed Elisabeth's eyes sparkled with excitement. He playfully hooked his pinky with hers while asking, "What about Drew, isn't she supposed to be here?"

"How should I know?" Elisabeth shrugged, pouting. "I didn't raise her like a daughter."

Just as Elisabeth finished her sentence, Drew's voice from nearby chimed in, "I think you might as well consider me your daughter!"

Turning around, Eric saw Drew, dressed in a ginger-colored one-shoulder dress, squeezing past Julia to sit on Eric's lap. Her small hands began to explore, and she asked cheerfully, "Where is she? I heard she was here. I've looked everywhere and couldn't find her. You're definitely hiding her, right?"

"Stop it," Eric chuckled, pinning her restless hands down. "I've shrunk her and tucked her away in my pocket. I'll show you when we get back -- don't scare everyone."

Drew huffed in discontent. Given that the booth could comfortably seat three, fitting four was impossible. Seeing that Julia and Elisabeth showed no sign of making room, she reluctantly wriggled away.

Amy and Tina, noticing this situation, stood up laughing, saying they'd go say hi to others. Once they left, Drew plopped down across from them, still not giving up, pouting, "You definitely hid her, didn't you?"

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1112: Take a Look for Yourself]

Not many people knew about Eric being bitten. After Amy Pascal and Tina Brown walked away, Eric felt freer to speak. He smiled and asked Drew across from him, "What did you want to see her for?"

The girl knelt on the other side of the table, her small arms resting on the surface. Showing her white teeth, she replied, "To help you get your revenge."

Eric reached across the table, playfully touching her delicate face as she leaned closer. "Listen, how about I plead for her? You guys shouldn't bully her anymore, okay?"

"Hmm," the girl shook her head, brushing off Eric's hand. "Eric, I'm jealous."

At this moment, Elisabeth realized what was being said and chimed in, "I'm jealous too."

Julia nodded in agreement, expressing her jealousy as well.

"Alright, let's not do that," Eric said, pinching the girl's chin playfully before retracting his hand. "I'm already under a lot of pressure. If you keep pushing me, something might go wrong. If I lose my mind, there won't be anyone to support you."

Upon hearing this, Elisabeth rolled her eyes and said, "If you lose it, we'll build you the most luxurious mental institution in the world."

Julia nodded again, seemingly eager to move in.

But suddenly, the girl quieted down, her gaze fixed intently on Eric. After a few seconds, she leaned in, disregarding the cups and plates on the table and the curious looks from nearby guests. She cuddled Eric's shoulders and kissed him a few times on the lips. Quickly, she backed away, standing tall and declaring, "Alright, I'll let her off the hook."

Once Drew stepped away, Elisabeth snapped out of her daze, looked at the messy table, and assessed Eric for a few seconds before pinching his waist and saying, "Let me out of here. I need to stay far away from this little madwoman."

Eric gave a wry smile as he stood aside. He waved to a nearby waiter to come over and clean up.

Suddenly Nicole appeared from who knows where, accompanied by her friend Naomi Watts.

Looking at the disarray being tidied up by the waiter, Nicole asked, "What happened here?"

"Nothing much," Eric shook his head. He greeted Naomi Watts, "Hey, Naomi, what have you been busy with lately?"

"Good evening, Mr. Williams," Naomi replied, her curiosity piqued by the situation. "I just got a role from Miramax, thanks to Nicole's introduction."

At that moment, Eric wasn't particularly interested in what role Naomi had landed and merely nodded. After the waiter cleared the long table, he gestured for the two women to sit down and casually ordered a glass of red wine while chatting with them.

...

Moments later, an elderly man in his sixties with graying hair and several associates approached. After some introductions, Eric learned that the man was Robert Rehme, the newly appointed president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Academy's presidency operated on a rotating basis, often changing hands, and the terms were quite irregular. Eric wasn't particularly keen on getting to know these elderly gentlemen, most of whom were at least sixty.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Robert hoped Eric could join the others for a private conversation. So, he bid farewell to Nicole and the other women and followed the group to a meeting room at the Hilton Hotel.

...

Once inside the meeting room, it became clear that other significant Hollywood figures attending the Vanity Fair party were also present.

There was no formal agenda - it felt more like a rally. The Academy hoped Hollywood would pay more attention to the artistic quality of films produced by studios rather than focusing solely on commercial viability. They expressed a desire for the upcoming Oscars to not repeat this year's debacle. Although the conversation was somewhat dull, the old man had a lot of chatter in him. By the time everyone left the meeting room, nearly an hour had passed.

...

Returning to the party hall, Eric discovered that Drew, Elisabeth, and Nicole had all left. Although the party still had time left, Eric felt disinterested. After making some weak attempts at mingling, he decided to leave the hall and head back to the Liberty City Manor.

When he arrived at the hotel lobby, he noticed a slender figure in pink standing by the entrance, holding a clutch. Recognizing her, Eric called out, "Hi, Laura."

Laura Spencer turned around upon hearing the voice, suppressing her racing heart as she smiled. "Mr. Williams, are you heading home?"

After being escorted by Eric to the media wall earlier in the evening, Laura had seen him at the party but hadn't had a chance to interact with him again. Under other circumstances, she would have cherished the opportunity to expand her contacts, but tonight she was completely preoccupied with a certain man and had no inclination to socialize.

She had spent a good hour searching for Eric at the party, thinking he had left, and had decided to leave herself. Unexpectedly, Eric appeared behind her.

"Yeah," Eric replied with a smile. "What about you?"

"All the hotel cars have been sent out," Laura said, sounding a bit embarrassed but also hinting at some hidden anticipation. "I have to wait for a while."

"I see. Then let me give you a ride."

As they spoke, Eric's bodyguard had pulled up his vehicle to the hotel's entrance. After hesitating for a moment, Laura decided to join Eric in the car.

As the car door closed and the driver started the engine, pulling away from the Hilton, Eric asked her, "By the way, where are you staying?"

"At the Hollywood Royce Hotel."

"Hollywood, oh, then we need to turn around," Eric noted, casually speaking to the front seat. "Aaron?"

Since Eric didn't lower the partition, the driver could hear their conversation and nodded in acknowledgment, actively turning the steering wheel.

Eric lived in Malibu, which required heading west, while Hollywood lay to the east of the Hilton. As Laura felt the car beginning to steer in that direction, she wanted to say that it was unnecessary to turn around, but ultimately, she kept that hesitation bottled up. After all, if the big boss rejected her, it would be too embarrassing.

However, as a notorious playboy, Eric surprisingly didn't take the initiative, which left Laura feeling disappointed. Moreover, throughout the ride, Eric seemed quite subdued, unlike the exuberance he had when leaving the awards ceremony.

Could it be that she encountered a fake Eric Williams?

After about ten minutes, outside the Hollywood Royce Hotel, Laura Spencer watched the sleek black Maybach drive away, feeling a twinge of melancholy.

She definitely met a fake Eric Williams.

That guy.

...

Leaving the bustling Los Angeles area and returning to Liberty City Manor, the time was nearing midnight.

As the car slowly drove through the estate's gates, Eric asked, "What about her?"

"Miss Kess," the driver hesitated a moment before responding. "She refused to go to Mary's place to rest and seems to have been sitting by the tennis court."

Eric then remembered that besides himself and the close women around him, nobody else had access to the Shell Villa. In addition to the Shell Villa, the estate had several apartments where bodyguards and servants lived.

Seeing that the car was approaching the tennis court, Eric said, "I can get off here. You guys go get some rest."

The driver stopped the car, and Eric alighted, making his way directly to the tennis court illuminated by lights. He quickly found a figure sitting alone on a bench by the court, looking a bit forlorn.

...

Carmen Kess seemed lost in thought, completely unaware of Eric's approach. It wasn't until Eric seated himself beside her that she reacted, jumping up like a startled rabbit before quickly settling back down next to Eric.

Patting the space beside him, Eric said, "Come here."

After hesitating, Carmen Kess returned to her previous spot, perhaps moving a bit away from Eric.

Eric didn't mind. He leaned back against the chair, resting his hands on the back, gazing up at the dark night sky sprinkled with stars.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Eric finally chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "This feels strange. I feel like I'm keeping a young lover while worrying about my wife bullying you. Why am I being so nice to you?"

"I," Carmen bit her lip and said, "I'm not your lover."

"Yeah, I guess I'm losing out here," Eric replied, shaking his head. "I even helped plead your case tonight, asking them not to bully you. And you're not even a little grateful."

"They," Carmen recalled Gisele, hesitating briefly before softly saying, "they aren't good women."

"Are women who bite their men considered good?"

"I'm not your woman."

Eric nodded in understanding. "Oh, that's true; you weren't before."

Carmen wanted to say she wouldn't be in the future, but recalling everything that had transpired recently, she couldn't bring herself to voice those words. After a moment, she softly murmured, "I... I want to thank you, and I'm sorry about what happened that day."

Eric just responded with a soft "hm." He didn't say anything more.

After sitting in silence for a while, Carmen finally ventured, "So, how's your arm? Is it better?"

"Here," Eric extended his right arm to her and said, "Take a look for yourself."

Upon seeing him stretch out his arm, she instinctively adopted a defensive posture. But a moment later, she gently rested that arm on her knee, rolled up the sleeves of his suit and shirt, and revealed the wound still wrapped in bandages.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1113: Unbreakable]

Back then, the bite had indeed been extremely fierce. More than half a month passed, and the scar on Eric's arm still bore a layer of scabs.

Under the soft yellow lights by the tennis court, Carmen Cass looked down at the bite mark on Eric's arm, and she felt a pang of guilt swell within her.

She cautiously stole a glance at him, relieved to find he wasn't staring back. With her gaze returning, her slender finger gently touched the scar. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, "The scar should heal."

"I'm not planning to treat it," Eric said with a smile, shaking his head. "I remember someone saying that real men should have a few scars."

If it had been anyone else saying this, she definitely would have shot back a sarcastic remark about how a man was nothing to be proud of when he was bitten by a woman. Yet now, hearing him say this, she felt a flutter of anxiety.

If he chose not to remove the scar from his arm, then it would be difficult for her to sever this connection between them.

She couldn't help but replay the events of the past weeks. From Gisele Bundchen bullying her, to their encounter at the Long Island racetrack, and then the twists and turns that followed, including the terrifying incident of her mother's kidnapping during Paris Fashion Week.

Although their interactions had been brief and undeniably awkward, she felt as though this man had somehow submerged himself entirely into her life, like the very air she breathed. It was as if, without realizing it, she had developed an indescribable dependence on him. When she heard about her mother's abduction, the first figure that flashed through her mind was that of the man she had bitten so hard.

People who knew her thought she was too stubborn. But only she understood that she had never truly been a strong girl. Growing up in an unstable environment after her parents divorced, she had lived in an atmosphere devoid of security all her life.

The fashion world was filled with girls who were less financially prudent than most Westerners; some carefree ladies would spend their future earnings at the blink of an eye. But because of her deep-seated insecurity, she had always saved money and had often been teased by friends for being a miser.

However, after that day, the profound insecurity that had accumulated within her since childhood seldom bothered her.

Perhaps, not severing this bond with him didn't seem so bad after all.

After zoning out for a while, she realized she was still holding on to the man's arm, and he seemed to have no intention of pulling away. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, she carefully rewrapped the bandage she had just untied, helped him roll down his sleeve, and decided to let him keep his arm resting on her knee.

But once she adjusted his sleeve, the man withdrew his arm.

"By the way, although pretty girls don't usually eat, you must be hungry, right?"

She instinctively nodded.

Suddenly, she remembered that familiar saying. The little girl named Emma had said it: "Daddy says pretty girls don't eat."

Daddy?!

Her impression of Emma was excellent; she believed that Emma's father must be a really interesting person. Later, when she attacked Eric Williams, she felt very guilty about possibly impacting that family. But now, she suddenly connected the dots.

So he was the interesting person she had always thought about.

Daddy, daughter, daddy, daughter.

Although in recent days, due to her focus on him, she had seen some gossip about him already having a child, confirming it now stirred a complexity of emotions within her.

Well, although she felt she didn't have any right to feel this way, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Eric, however, had no clue about her thoughts. He stood up and said, "Let's go get something to eat. I'm feeling a bit hungry too."

She stood mechanically, following Eric toward the villa.

Leaving the tennis court and walking along the estate's path, she hesitated before finally asking, "Emma, is she your daughter?"

"Yeah," Eric replied, puzzled by the sudden question but nodding. "But technically, she's my adopted daughter. By the way, you still need to formally apologize to Emma next time you meet; she was pretty scared after your last encounter."

She simply responded with an "uh-huh," but her mind suddenly felt lighter.

Though she still had a few lingering shadows of that racetrack, she was oddly in no mood to inquire further, adopting an ostrich-like attitude.

As they walked into the cliffside shell villa, it was indeed large, resembling a palace.

But with only the two of them inside during the late night, it inevitably felt a bit empty, even desolate.

Yet he seemed to relish this atmosphere, so she quickly adapted to it.

When they reached the kitchen and started preparing a simple late-night snack, she awkwardly helped him. Of course, she knew how to do house chores, but out of a woman's instinct, she felt it was more appropriate to act a bit clumsy.

After making the late-night meal, they didn't eat in the dining room but set their dishes down at a small bar in the kitchen corner. Watching him pour a cup of warm milk for her, she quickly took a small sip and noticed the smile playing on his lips, making her feel slightly embarrassed.

Yet a warm feeling blossomed within her.

...

Eric tidied up the kitchen a bit before sitting down next to her, picked up a piece of bread, and spread some jam on it. He initiated a conversation, asking, "What have you been busy with lately?"

Carmen shook her head. "Fashion Week just ended, so everyone's taking a break. But Paul is helping me negotiate an endorsement deal."

"Is that so? I'll be staying in Los Angeles for a while, and I'll be going to New York for Easter. Maybe I can take you back with me then."

Although she had been somewhat prepared and had no real resistance, hearing Eric say that still made Carmen's cheeks flush slightly, and she shyly looked away.

Eric then asked, "What endorsement is Paul negotiating for you? I might be able to help."

"It's for a Dior perfume; we're basically close to finalizing."

"Oh, which line?"

"It's a new line," Carmen explained. "They said it's called 'J'adore.'"

Eric nodded but unexpectedly seemed to recall something, turning to study her for a moment and chuckling. "What a coincidence."

Dior's J'adore previously had a well-known spokesperson, Charlize Theron. But Carmen's mention reminded Eric of a very glamorous J'adore golden goddess poster. Though many years had passed, the memories from his past life had blurred, yet upon careful comparison, the woman in the poster closely resembled Carmen Cass beside him. If his guess was correct, she could very well be Dior's first spokesperson for J'adore.

Of course, Carmen couldn't read Eric's mind and looked at him in confusion.

"Hey, why don't you ask Paul to send over some information on J'adore tomorrow?" Eric, without explanation, smiled and added, "I could use my experience as a director and help you with the commercials."

Although she didn't understand why he suddenly seemed so enthusiastic, Carmen nodded in agreement.

...

After finishing their late-night meal, it was already 1 AM.

They cleaned up the dishes and left the kitchen, the atmosphere inevitably turning flirtatious once more.

Feeling her heart racing, Carmen obediently followed Eric to the luxurious round bedroom at the highest point of the shell villa. The man helped her prepare some temporary toiletries and then ushered her into the bathroom.

After an undetermined amount of time, she finally emerged from the bathroom, donned in a large bathrobe, her freshly washed hair fully dried.

Eric lounged against the headboard, flipping through a book that she couldn't tell the title of. When he saw her, he patted the space beside him.

Carmen walked over, carefully lifted the covers, and climbed onto the large bed. Hesitating for a moment, she eventually removed her bathrobe, revealing her form-fitting bra and panties, quietly slipping under the blankets.

Eric watched her actions and chuckled, placing his book down, turning off the bedroom lights, and lying down next to her.

The sudden darkness relaxed her a bit, but she still felt slightly tense at the movement beside her.

One of his arms reached over and wrapped around her waist, pulling her gently closer. She followed his lead and leaned back until her back pressed against his chest.

"Sleep now; we have to wake up early tomorrow for work. Being a man is tough."

As they leaned together, she found herself strangely unbothered by the man's presence behind her. In fact, she even took a discreet sniff to catch the scent of the shower gel he used.

Hearing him say that, her body involuntarily relaxed.

But after a moment, that hand began to mischievously undo her bra.

Thinking he was indeed going to do something inappropriate, she slightly pouted, but she didn't resist and even found herself helping him.

She felt him discard the bra, then there was quietude.

Of course, it wasn't entirely quiet. That hand took the place of the bra.

After another moment passed without further motion, her slightly rapid breathing began to even out.

Yet, she couldn't help but have some thoughts.

Would he think she was too small?

As if sensing her thoughts, his voice resonated in her ear. "Stop overthinking, just sleep."

In the darkness, her face flushed.

Biting her lip, perhaps to mask her earlier nervousness, she spoke with a hint of discontent, "Your hand?"

That hand deftly shifted down a bit in understanding.

He must think I'm too small.

She wrinkled her nose, inexplicably producing that thought.

The man behind her soon whispered, "You're too thin."

She paused for a moment, quietly defending herself, "If I gain weight, I won't be able to find work."

"Hmm," he reassured, patting her waist, "That won't happen anymore."

Hearing those words, she froze a little, a warmth blossoming within her.

So she reached out and gently pressed her hand against his hand resting on her waist.

His large hand seemed unaccustomed to this passive position; it quickly flipped over, switching hands and enveloping her small hand in his palm.

Feeling the warmth from his palm, she couldn't help but smile and completely relaxed, drifting off to sleep.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1114: Inside and Out]

A new week began.

As expected, the main conversation among major North American media outlets revolved around the recently concluded Oscars. However, similar to this year's ceremony, which garnered a record low viewership, the discussions surrounding The Horse Whisperer's multiple Oscar wins weren't as heated as anticipated.

Most newspapers, magazines, and television outlets continued to keep their focus on the surging Nasdaq tech stock market. Last week, after Forbes reported that Eric's net worth soared past $300 billion due to the tech stock boom, the Nasdaq index experienced a significant uptick, resulting in major losses for hedge funds that shorted the index.

It seemed that while many licked their wounds over the weekend, the moment Monday started, bearish sentiments about the Nasdaq returned with fervor, as if trying to bring down the index that had just crossed the 3000-point mark last week.

Among this bearish faction, the most notable was the Tiger Fund, which two years earlier had made significant gains during the Southeast Asian economic crisis alongside George Soros's Quantum Fund. Tiger Fund founder Julian Robertson even appeared on NBC's Today show, openly criticizing the serious bubble in the Nasdaq tech stocks, specifically calling out several tech companies in the Firefly system, like Yahoo and Cisco.

Interestingly, Eric had a brief encounter with Julian Robertson at a gathering in New York last year. While he didn't expect that one meeting would forge any relationship, he certainly didn't anticipate Robertson would suddenly take aim at the Firefly system.

Eric only came to understand the situation when Chris called him from New York. Apparently, last week's surge in the Nasdaq had led to a $500 million loss for the Tiger Fund, which had established a significant number of short positions.

Just two years ago, the Tiger Fund's total capital had surpassed $22 billion after successfully capitalizing during the Southeast Asian economic crisis. However, since suffering a loss while betting on Russia alongside Soros last year, the Tiger Fund had been struggling.

After two significant failed investments in Russia and American Airlines, Tiger Fund's capital dwindled rapidly to $16 billion. Now, as the Nasdaq tech stocks kept rising and Soros's Quantum Fund remained passive, it was curious to see Julian Robertson firmly placing himself on the bearish side.

In just a week, the Tiger Fund had lost $500 million, indicating Robertson's strong commitment to shorting the market. It made sense he was anxious enough to appear publicly in this manner.

However, while this sudden downward strike resulted in a minute dip at the beginning of the new week, a surge of speculative capital continued to flood into the tech stock market, meaning this fluctuation didn't impact the overall trend of the Nasdaq.

By Wednesday, the Nasdaq index bounced back to where it was at the open on Monday, and remarkably, it didn't even drop below 3000 points throughout the entire process.

The Nasdaq index surpassed the 3000 mark several months earlier than Eric had expected, but he didn't change his original plan. He didn't even contemplate pausing due to the sudden bearish rhetoric. Starting Monday, he decisively ordered the Clover Fund's traders to gradually divest from the stocks held.

...

That same week, Yahoo soon published an article titled "AOL and Time Warner Merger Will Severely Impact Healthy Competition in the Internet Industry," boldly positioning itself against the AOL-Time Warner merger. Other media within the Firefly system quickly followed suit, advocating for the Federal Justice Department to immediately reject the merger proposal.

To avoid any blowback, Eric chose to go all out, completely cutting off any private support for the AOL-Time Warner merger and not informing the management teams of AOL and Time Warner in advance.

Steve Case didn't expect that the Firefly system, which had previously expressed support for the merger at the Justice Department consultation meeting, would suddenly turn against them. Frustrated, he quickly released an open letter on AOL's portal, accusing the Firefly system of being the real culprit behind "disturbing healthy competition in the Internet industry." He even referenced a recent article from The Washington Post to support his claim that the Firefly system sought to monopolize the industry.

This round of turmoil resulted in a plethora of voices from both the media and politics speaking out in favor of AOL and Time Warner. Naturally, the already established Firefly system, resistant to allowing any competitors to grow, found itself facing widespread backlash.

Despite the outward opposition, the Firefly system took no concrete measures to impede the AOL-Time Warner merger behind the scenes.

As days passed, it seemed that both Steve Case and Terry Semel, who was set to depart after the merger's resolution, didn't show any interest in questioning anyone from the Firefly system. It was an unspoken agreement between both parties.

...

These high-level capital maneuvers didn't occupy much of Eric's time, as he focused on Hollywood instead.

The Blair Witch Project, after its third week of showing, saw a predictable drop of 53% in box office revenue, yet it still amassed $28.9 million in that week alone. Over three weeks, the total box office took in $111.68 million, continuing to break records for return on investment.

Moreover, although the film's third-week drop was significant, the upcoming Easter holiday period promised a wave of students on break. Thus, even with several new films set to release in the coming weeks, according to New Line Cinema's distribution department, the Blair Witch Project was projected to easily surpass $150 million in North America.

Due to the box office marvel that the Blair Witch Project was creating, numerous Hollywood studios began to show interest in DV filmmaking, a burgeoning method at the time. Some studios even rushed to greenlight a series of DV film projects.

However, it was clear that most were only seeing the investment return miracle of the Blair Witch Project without recognizing that the film's success was primarily due to its groundbreaking internet marketing strategy, rather than the DV technique itself.

Even for those who realized this, the internet marketing platform had just been overly exploited by the Blair Witch Project. In the coming years, other projects trying to replicate its success were destined to fail.

...

Gravity was still undergoing a monotonous and repetitive CG production phase, so Eric didn't need to keep a close watch, which allowed him time to focus on other projects within the Firefly system.

On the Firefly Group front, the first Harry Potter film was officially greenlit, and a press conference was held that week where author J.K. Rowling flew in from London.

Although she hadn't explicitly made the request as before, Eric still proactively promised that they would employ as many British actors as possible in the film and shoot on location in the UK. This approach would accurately reflect the novel's setting; after all, the unique, chilly atmosphere of England wasn't easily replicable elsewhere.

...

On MGM's side, after a lengthy year of preparation, Bond 19 was finally set to go into production in April, with preliminary plans for a summer release the following year.

Additionally, The Fast and the Furious, which had been released earlier in the year, had completed its theatrical run after three months, ending with a total North American box office of $218.6 million. Given MGM's combined production and distribution costs of $70 million, it was undoubtedly a huge success.

Due to this North American box office triumph, The Fast and the Furious was pushed into the prime summer slots for most overseas markets. From the early reception in various international markets, it looked likely that the film would out-earn its North American revenues, with total global earnings potentially hitting the $500 million mark.

The success of the Fast and Furious franchise also shifted the stance of Kevin Costner, the male lead of the Mission: Impossible series, who had been in a wait-and-see position and eventually signed deals with MGM for two more films in the spy movie universe.

Simultaneously, as the Fast and Furious series gained traction, MGM's burgeoning interest in the Jason Bourne series naturally attracted greater industry attention.

...

Century City, MGM Headquarters.

As the end of the workday approached, Hollywood's notable producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy rose to their feet, shaking hands with Eric, Amy Pascal, Frank Mars, and several other MGM executives before bidding farewell.

After Eric had made a suggestion at last weekend's Vanity Fair party, Amy quickly connected with Frank Marshall afterward.

The Marshalls had stopped working at Amblin Entertainment and were actively looking for new opportunities. MGM offered impressive terms, and both parties agreed that upon collaboration, they would seamlessly take over the prominent projects within MGM's spy movie universe.

As MGM's key decision-maker, Eric knew he had to be present for such an important partnership, and today was the final round of contract negotiations with the couple.

With both sides eager to collaborate, a week's worth of discussions brought them to a tentative agreement.

The formal signing ceremony was scheduled for next week.

As the couple departed, the remaining executives didn't disperse and took their seats once more.

After discussing the negotiation details, Amy brought up the lead role issue in the Bourne series.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1115: Retainers]

"Eric, at the party at Frank's house last night, I ran into CAA's Richard Lovett. He said Matt Damon really wanted to try out for the role of Bourne. I remember you were really hoping Matt could take it, so you should consider it. What do you think?"

Eric flipped through the draft contract that MGM and the Marshall couple had preliminarily agreed upon without looking up, asking Amy, "Is he willing to accept our compensation plan?"

After the success of The Fast and the Furious, while determining the pay for the two male leads, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, Eric and the higher-ups at the Firefly Group had engaged in discussions and had recently settled on a brand new base salary plus bonus plan.

In simple terms, the new compensation contract would provide a base salary for the main actors. Then, based on the film's box office performance after its release, they would receive an additional bonus. The higher the box office, the larger the bonus.

For instance, for the already initiated Fast and Furious 2, due to the sweeping success of the first film, MGM offered Vin Diesel and Paul Walker a base salary of $5 million. This amount also served as the upper limit for the new salary scheme that Firefly Group planned to implement for future projects.

Next, per the contract, as long as the sequel earned a global box office of $500 million, both male leads' total pay would reach $10 million each. If the global box office reached $700 million, that number would increase to $15 million, and if it hit $900 million, their total compensation would peak at $20 million. If the numbers climbed even higher, MGM would be more than willing to pay more. However, if the sequel's box office fell below $300 million, neither of them would receive any bonus.

Of course, the detailed contracts were much more complicated than this simple calculation. Moreover, for future film projects, various factors like project themes and budget costs would also be considered. After all, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect a lowbrow comedy with a budget of only $20 or $30 million to adopt a pay structure like that of The Fast and the Furious.

Nevertheless, the overall concept of this new pay scheme was straightforward and practical. Furthermore, it maximized the alignment of actors with the projects, reducing the studios' risk while not dampening the actors' enthusiasm. Naturally, the actors would work hard to earn more.

In fact, Eric had already begun to devise similar payment structures a few years earlier. The contract signed by Stuart Ronkel with Firefly for Spider-Man had broadly adopted this model as well. The reason it had only been finalized for large-scale implementation now was that the Firefly Group had finally gained the strength to change Hollywood's rules.

Currently, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker had accepted the new payment contract. In the future, key projects within the Firefly Group, such as the Agent Universe series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe series, the Harry Potter series, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series, would all adopt this payment structure.

Amy noticed Eric's nonchalant demeanor and realized what he was hinting at. "So, Richard Lovett means Damon isn't exactly a newcomer. However, he said many things are negotiable."

"And then?" Eric looked up and smiled at Amy before lowering his head to continue reviewing the documents in front of him. "Then, when The Bourne Identity succeeded, wouldn't it all revert back to the way it was before? Constantly bickering with creatives over profit distribution issues, to the point where projects get abandoned? Just like what's happening now with Men in Black?"

Amy fell silent, and the others in the meeting room who had initially wanted to speak also kept quiet.

Eric patiently finished the last few pages of the contract draft, closed the document, and then scanned the few MGM executives still seated around him. "I've said this more than once, we are the masters of Hollywood now. Since we have the strength, we should reclaim the initiative that major studios have lost over the years, step by step. From now on, Hollywood is only ours to call the shots, not those stars, directors, or producers."

After a brief pause, Eric continued in a flat tone, "Of course, you can interpret it as this: In today's Hollywood, I am in charge. You are all retainers of Williams, and while you possess privileges, others must abide by the rules we set. So, does anyone have any objections?"

When Eric finished speaking, the meeting room fell even quieter. A few executives didn't even exchange glances, and no one dared to voice any objections. Eric's tone was calm, yet there was clearly no hint of a joke; who knew if someone suddenly speaking up would find themselves shown the door?

After waiting a moment, Eric nodded in satisfaction. "Good, then let's return to our previous topic. According to Hollywood's typical circumstances, if we hadn't taken the initiative with The Fast and the Furious series, both male leads would be waiting to negotiate. They might even consider turning down MGM's sequel offer due to dissatisfaction, jeopardizing the series' continuation. But the reality is, the sequel has been successfully launched, and because of the contract restrictions, they have to accept our proposed compensation package. Everything's going smoothly; isn't that great? Therefore, I won't make any concessions for the Bourne project either. Maybe we won't be able to invite top-tier stars in the short term, which could lead to some loss, but if we hold firm, every star in Hollywood will have to comply with our rules if they want to work. At that point, we will have completely regained all the initiative that major studios once lost."

After delivering this statement, Eric paused for a moment to allow everyone to digest his words before continuing, "Alright, that's enough for today. I've checked the actor materials submitted by ICM, and that Mark Wahlberg seems promising. While his star power is a level below Damon, he's still very suitable for the Bourne role. Plus, Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights has given him considerable recognition. What you need to do is negotiate his contract. Of course, if you can't seal the deal, it's fine; just keep looking for the next candidate."

...

In the parking lot at MGM Headquarters, watching Eric's car depart, MGM President Frank Marcasso turned to Amy Pascal and whispered, "Amy, did you accept any favors from Richard Lovett?"

Amy shot Frank an annoyed glare. "You're the one who accepted favors from Richard Lovett."

"Then why are you recommending Damon?" Frank Marcasso didn't mind her glare and joked. "You know the boss's intentions. Now look, we're all retainers."

"If you don't like it, you can quit."

Amy said with a hint of sarcasm, also feeling a little wronged. She understood Eric's thinking. But Matt Damon was something Eric had initially pushed for himself. And sure enough, Richard Lovett, the president of CAA, was indeed a skilled negotiator, which was why she had somewhat recommended him to Eric on behalf of the other side.

"Whatever, being a retainer isn't so bad," Frank Marcasso said, ruffling his thinning hair. "At least we have our privileges."

Nearby, John Calley chimed in, "I suddenly feel like the boss isn't as easygoing as he used to be."

"Probably because he's under too much pressure lately," Frank Marcasso replied, shaking his head lightly. "Gee, $300 billion, how could that not be stressful?"

"That's a good point; it's easier for us to be the retainers."

Amy rolled her eyes at them and turned towards her car, saying, "Can you two sound any more bitter?"

Frank Marcasso and John Calley shared a laugh. As MGM's executives parked adjacent to each other, they followed Amy toward a nearby corner. Frank Marcasso then asked, "So, do you guys know that Mark Wahlberg?"

"I've checked him out, and his acting isn't bad," John Calley said, arriving by his car without rushing to open the door. "And I think he has a similar look and style to Damon. Looks like the boss is leaning toward using this type of actor for the Bourne series."

Amy hadn't hurried into her car and frowned as she thought aloud, "This actor doesn't have the best background; he seems to have been a little hoodlum back in the day and even did some time."

"These are things for ICM to worry about," Frank Marcasso replied nonchalantly. "As long as we sign the deal, ICM will help him maintain his public image. Besides, this is Hollywood -- we've seen everything."

John Calley added, "But if it's him, we should definitely remind ICM about this to avoid any trouble. There will definitely be envious eyes if the lead of the Bourne series falls into the hands of someone like him."

It was Friday, and the three didn't chat for too long. After a while, Frank Marcasso and John Calley both drove off.

...

Amy got into her car, started the engine slowly, but didn't leave immediately. Instead, she found herself lost in thought.

Just ten years.

The once inexperienced young man had become a master of Hollywood.

She still vividly remembered the first time she met Eric; at that time, he was a complete novice with the demeanor of a big boy just starting out but evidently possessing a rare talent and confidence that was uncommon among his peers. Back then, she hadn't been all that seasoned herself either. Although she had secured a decent position at Columbia Pictures, she left out of youthful impulsiveness.

Now, she might never take such rash actions again.

And retainers...

That somewhat classic title seemed quite fitting after all.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1116: Her]

At four o'clock in the afternoon, she arrived in the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

She had secretly researched how to make Italian bacon pizza for two days. Today, she wanted to surprise him.

Since last weekend, she had been living in this mansion for five days. Although she occasionally felt like a caged canary, most of the time, she felt incredibly satisfied and fulfilled.

He was busy -- very busy -- but it never made her feel neglected. She sensed that he was not the type of man who easily charmed women. However, being around him, his confidence, easygoing nature, and sense of humor, even his occasional solitude and aloofness, had a natural charm that attracted women.

She even thought he possessed a mysterious ability to pull a woman into his personal world without her even realizing it, like a magician.

After spending a few days together, she found herself intrigued by many things she had never encountered before, all because he had mentioned them. Moreover, he unconsciously drew out her limited knowledge. The only thing she felt she had over him was her ability to speak Estonian, and now he already knew quite a bit of everyday Estonian dialogue.

On Tuesday, he had sneaked her into Firefly Studios to watch a preview of the movie he was working on. It was truly a secret mission, as if he were worried that she would be bullied by his women. So, she had to tread carefully, and it felt thrilling.

Firefly Studios had a large screening room that was called IMAX. Though it was just a short three-minute clip, wearing the 3D glasses and watching the three-story-high space scene before her, she was utterly awestruck.

She had no idea a movie could be like this.

That moment made her feel extremely proud.

However, there were also times of sadness.

On Wednesday night, he did not return to stay. Although he had called to remind her not to forget dinner and to go to bed early, she still acted like a little jilted lover, deliberately skipping dinner and stubbornly curling up on the sofa in the living room all night.

By morning, she heard noise early on, thinking he had returned. She rushed out in surprise, only to find two identical Russian girls with maids conducting a routine cleaning of the villa.

Her mood soured even more.

Estonians generally disliked Russians.

Or, to be precise, they hated them.

That country had brought too many disasters to Estonia. During the war, one in five Estonians had died, and after the war, Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union. Hundreds of thousands of survivors were exiled to the bitter cold of Siberia, and very few were able to return.

Now, among Estonia's population of over one million, the original Estonian ethnicity comprised less than half.

The two Russian girls were polite to her, but they were clearly distant. She naturally did not attempt to get closer to them.

So, she stayed in the small corner of the glass curtain wall, where she had set up an easel, with dye mixed by him, and a golden outline just sketched on the canvas that he had designed for her real self perfume poster.

She sat on the sofa, clutching a cushion fiercely, like a little beast fiercely guarding its territory, keeping a close watch on the maids cleaning the villa, preventing them from getting too close and keeping the twins at bay.

It wasn't until everyone left that the villa quieted down again.

That was when she deflated.

She finally understood that he could never belong to her.

Then, in the evening, he returned. With gentle words, she quickly regained her dependence on him.

She thought to herself, "I'm hopeless."

That infuriating man, who seemed to have everything, also devilishly entangled women in the identity of being owned.

She just wanted to bite him again.

As her thoughts drifted, she continued to prepare dinner.

Just then, the aroma of pizza wafted from the oven. She snapped out of her daze, hurriedly put on oven mitts, and took the pizza out.

Waiting for it to cool a bit, she pinched off a very small piece from the side and tasted it.

It was too small, and she couldn't discern any flavor or whether it was good or not.

Nonetheless, she wasn't inclined to cut a piece from the entire pizza; that would surely look awkward.

"What deliciousness are you making in secret?"

A familiar voice came from behind her. She turned around, smiled, and lifted the freshly-baked pizza toward him in a gesture of triumph.

Eric walked over with a smile, leaned down to smell the pizza she was holding, and nodded, saying, "Not bad; it must be delicious."

"I'm not so sure. It's my first time making it."

"Let me try."

Eric picked up a knife and fork, cut a small piece, put it in his mouth, and nodded satisfactorily after a moment before cutting another piece and offering it to her.

She opened her mouth and nibbled, leaning her little head forward to take it all in.

Of course, she had eaten pizza in restaurants before.

But it was never as good as what others made.

However, since he nodded, it must be good enough.

After all, she had put thought into it.

"Let's make a salad," Eric said as he watched her finish. "I remember there were some oranges in the fridge. I'll handle the juice, and that'll be enough for dinner."

She nodded and walked to the fridge with him, beginning to gather the ingredients, while casually setting up a conversation, "Do you have to work tomorrow?"

Eric shook his head, "No work tomorrow. I'm taking you to Santa Rosa Island. How does that sound?"

She tilted her mouth softly, letting a smile form, but said, "You still haven't finished that poster you were helping me with."

"Well, we might as well take it to Santa Rosa Island to finish it. The vibe there will be great," Eric said, then added, "Also, we're going to New York together the day after tomorrow."

The carrot she had just grabbed almost slipped from her hand.

Suddenly, she felt a void inside her.

In just a few days, she had fantasized more than once about staying here forever. It seemed nice, even if she had to see those two Russian girls every week. She could barely endure it.

But ultimately, she would have to leave.

Yet, beside him, she instinctively didn't want him to see through her thoughts.

So, she nodded naturally, saying, "Sure, I should go back too. Paul said there would be several important fashion shows in Tokyo next month and hoped I could attend."

"Tokyo next month?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder if I'll run into you," Eric said, pouring some warm water over several oranges, then fetching a juicer from the cupboard. "I should also be going to Tokyo next month for the premiere of Iron Man."

She looked puzzled, "Is Iron Man premiering in Tokyo?"

"Of course, not just in Tokyo," Eric chuckled. "There's also Los Angeles and London. I will personally attend the premieres in these three places, but for the other locations, I won't be going."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1117: Biological Brother?]

Due to the success of the Firefly Group's "Easter Movie Package" last year, this year's Easter release period naturally became a battleground for major studios.

Starting from March 26, the week before Easter, Warner Bros. released Run Lola Run, Universal Pictures brought out EDtv, and Paramount's teen crime comedy, The Mod Squad, officially premiered in North American theaters.

If it weren't for the surprise hit of The Blair Witch Project, Run Lola Run would have absolutely become the most talked-about film at this year's Sundance Film Festival, thanks in part to Eric's attendance. Even so, Warner clearly had high hopes for this uniquely stylized indie film, scheduling it for 1,700 theaters in its first week.

The situation for Universal's EDtv was a bit more complicated. Directed by Hollywood bigshot Ron Howard and starring Matthew McConaughey, the film had a budget of $80 million, ranking just below the upcoming Firefly's release of Enemy of the State in terms of production cost.

However, unlike Eric's strategy to cultivate the Easter market with blockbusters, EDtv appeared to have been abandoned by Universal. After all, the number of bombs Universal produced annually couldn't compare to the Firefly Group. If they weren't highly pessimistic about the film's prospects, Michael Eisner would surely not have scheduled it for the Easter release.

Lastly, there was Paramount's The Mod Squad. This film was adapted from a TV series from the sixties, but it had nowhere near the popularity of the first two films.

As for this year's Firefly Group's "Easter Movie Package," it included Firefly's Enemy of the State, MGM's American Pie, and Fox's Never Been Kissed. All three films continued the trend of collaborative promotion, rolling out over the next two weeks.

Since the plan was set in early last year, Columbia Pictures hadn't participated in this year's event.

...

After spending the weekend with Carmen Kass in Los Angeles, Eric flew back to New York with her on Monday. At first, Eric wanted to arrange for Carmen to have a place in Manhattan like Gisele Bundchen, but she outright refused.

Upon returning to Manhattan, the girl didn't cling to Eric; instead, she immediately got back to work, even planning a trip to Tokyo next week. Clearly, she wouldn't be able to join Eric for the Tokyo premiere of Iron Man at the end of April.

With only a few days until Easter, Eric also didn't rush to East Hampton. A lot of business with Firefly Investments, ABC Group, and Clover Fund required his personal attention in Manhattan.

"Eric, here's the stock trading report from Clover Fund last week. We retrieved a total of $1.625 billion, and everything has been settled into the Clover Fund account," said one of the girls.

This time in New York, neither of the two girls stayed in Eric's mansion; they both chose other accommodations. It was something Merissa Mayer suggested first, and although Caroline wanted to stay with Eric, she felt too shy to impose herself alone when Merissa brought it up.

Early in the morning, Caroline and Merissa hurried to Eric's temporary office at ABC headquarters to start their day.

As Eric flipped through the report handed to him by Caroline, he asked the two of them, "So, you guys want to join me at the Hearst party tonight?"

Caroline shook her head, "My brother's taking me out for dinner tonight."

Eric raised an eyebrow and asked instinctively, "Your biological brother?"

Caroline scrunched her nose and shot Eric a playful glare.

"Alright, I guess it is your biological brother," Eric replied, laughing awkwardly, then turned to Merissa.

Merissa shook her head, "I have plans with someone; I'm going to Greenwich Village to check out an art exhibition tonight."

Eric didn't dare ask Merissa who she was meeting in front of Caroline, but he noticed the smirk on Merissa's lips and shot her a teasing look when Caroline wasn't paying attention.

Once Eric focused back on the stock report, Caroline pulled out a few more pages of documents and handed them to him, saying, "This is a memorandum submitted by a trader under Clover Fund. He thinks our selling strategy seems too hasty. If we can analyze it more thoroughly, we'd definitely get greater returns."

Eric skimmed through the stock trading report while casually picking up the memorandum.

These past few years, Eric had accumulated enough financial knowledge. He understood that stock trading was a technical role, far beyond simple buying and selling actions. A trader not only had to perform various trades but also had to analyze how other potential traders might react and how their own buying and selling could affect stock prices. In short, a skilled trader could accurately identify or even create the best trading opportunities to maximize profits.

If it had been any other time, Eric wouldn't have minded the "slow and steady wins the race" approach.

However, he simply didn't have the time right now.

The technology stocks held by Clover Fund were already valued at over $30 billion and continued to rise.

From his previous memories, the Nasdaq index had surged from 3000 to 5000 points in just four months, followed by that infamous crash.

Now, the date when the Nasdaq index broke through 3000 points had been pushed forward by more than half a year. Analyzing the current situation from various aspects, Eric felt this time the Nasdaq was likely further from crashing. However, he didn't dare let his guard down and still set the complete liquidation time for Clover Fund within four months.

To cash out tens of billions of dollars in four months, there wasn't enough time for a detailed trade analysis; all the trader needed to do was sell, sell, and sell.

If it were any other time, the Clover Fund's cash out of over $1.6 billion within a week would certainly have alerted the Nasdaq market.

Yet, right now, the entire Nasdaq technology stock market was caught in madness, with both domestic and international funds flooding in to join this speculative frenzy. The total market capitalization of Nasdaq stocks even broke through $3 trillion, with daily trading volumes reaching hundreds of billions. Moreover, the market surrounding Nasdaq tech stocks looked equally crazed and active with index futures and other financial derivatives.

Thus, Clover Fund's abrupt large-scale reductions went unnoticed by the market.

Of course, Eric wasn't letting his guard down in the slightest.

Speaking of which, the reason he received this advisory memorandum from the trader was due to the strict confidentiality surrounding this reduction action.

To avoid any potential discovery of Clover Fund's liquidations, Eric hired twelve trading teams, half of which were based outside North America. Although these teams understood their services were going to a super client, even after the transactions were completed, they could never figure out the total amount of funds Clover Fund cashed out.

Reading through the pages of the memorandum with great interest, Eric tossed it aside and asked Caroline, "What's the schedule for the Iron Man promotion?"

"The events you need to attend are: Tokyo premiere on April 22, London premiere on April 29, and Los Angeles premiere on May 5. Also, on April 29, you need to come to New York to record Late Show with David Letterman, which airs on May 2."

Eric calculated in his mind. Tokyo, London, Los Angeles -- this seemed like another long global flight.

Caroline blinked and noticed Eric's thoughts. She said, "Eric, I heard from Boeing a couple of days ago that the two Boeing 747s are ready for delivery. But as per your instructions, the relevant documents have been sent directly to Ms. Barrymore."

Eric had never been an impatient person. However, after waiting so long, the news that the two Boeing 747s were ready put him in a good mood. He nodded, "Perfect, we can take the new planes next time."

Caroline smiled slightly, "Also, we received an email from LVMH in France, written by Ms. Delphine Arnault herself. She expressed a desire to meet with you to discuss a collaboration on a new Dior perfume advertisement."

Eric looked at the printed email Caroline handed him, perplexed. "Delphine Arnault? Who is that?"

"She's the eldest daughter of Bernard Arnault, the owner of LVMH."

Eric nodded, reading through the email, beginning to understand. The recipient had likely seen the Dior J'adore Golden Goddess poster he designed and was probably hoping he would personally handle the advertisement for J'adore Dior.

Not knowing whether to view it as a wild fantasy, Eric just smiled and said, "Have someone send her a reply declining the offer."

Eric had put a lot of effort into the J'adore Golden Goddess concept but had no intention of shooting the advertisement now. After all, although a TV ad might only last for a few seconds, bringing it from concept to final product typically required at least a couple of months.

Eric simply didn't have a month's worth of time to spare, and since he neither lacked money nor fame, he certainly wasn't interested in a situation where he would merely make a cameo as a figurehead during the ad shoot.

Caroline nodded.

After discussing these matters, Eric turned to Merissa and asked, "How's the negotiation between Firefly Electronics and the major record labels going?"

Merissa shook her head, "I haven't heard any updates in the last couple of days. Should I make a call to check?"

"Let's skip it for now."

Eric sighed.

To make up for the content shortcomings of the digital music store, Firefly Electronics was targeting the most likely partnerships with Universal, EMI, and BMG.

Due to an inherent aversion to digital music players and the desire for greater profits, the terms proposed by these three companies were very harsh. Obviously, it wouldn't be easy to follow up with a large-scale mini music store promotion right after the release of the next-generation Fireflyer player.

The hardware for the mini music store was all set, but without sufficient content support, the outcome would likely be just as dismal as an ATM machine running out of cash.

...

After a busy day, as night fell, a black sedan slowly pulled up outside a mansion on the Upper East Hydee.

After the driver got out and opened the door, Eric was the first to step out, extending a hand back into the car.

Cindy Crawford was pulled out by Eric, but they didn't immediately enter the villa. Another tall woman emerged from the car: Linda Evangelista.

The current head of the Hearst family, William Randolph Hearst III, greeted them as he saw the stunning figures standing beside Eric. His expression revealed some envy. Only a young man like him could dare to bring these two top supermodels to a party. Perhaps these two rising stars of the fashion world would only kneel in deference to someone like Eric Williams.

"Hey, William, good evening," Eric said, shaking hands with William Hearst III and introducing the two women beside him, "This is Cindy, and Linda."

"Hello, Mr. Hearst," Cindy and Linda greeted William Hearst and Mrs. Hearst before they all stepped inside the villa.

Many guests had already arrived at the villa, most of whom were socialites from the Upper East Hydee.

William Hearst III personally introduced Eric to a few people. After a bit of small talk, the couple left to attend to other guests.

After the Hearsts walked away, Linda picked a cherry out of her cocktail, playfully sucking on it, then cast an irritated glance around before addressing Eric. "I noticed everyone else only has one companion."

"I noticed that too," Eric said, taking a sip of his red wine and chuckling, "So, you two are really getting a great deal out of it."

"Pff," Linda made a feeble sound of disapproval, visibly dissatisfied. She scanned the crowd and dragged Cindy along, saying, "I saw Aerin Lauder; let's go say hi. By the way, her dress looks amazing tonight. Maybe I can ask which designer made it and get him to create a set for me."

Without waiting for Eric to respond, Linda led Cindy toward the distance.

Eric didn't follow. Just as he was about to have a chat with some familiar faces, he heard a sweet voice beside him. "You're Eric Williams?"

Turning his head, Eric first saw a doll-like face with alluring eyes and a thin mouth, giving off an oddly charming vibe.

Seeing Eric look over, the girl introduced herself, "I'm Lydia, Lydia Hearst."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1118: Unrecognizable]

"Hello, Lydia," Eric said, reaching out his hand to gently shake hers, smiling as he added, "Let me guess, you like horror movies?"

Lydia Hearst blinked her cat-like eyes, and suddenly flashed a mischievous smile. When she was quiet, her mouth was very small, fitting Eric's aesthetic perfectly, but when she smiled, it opened wide, her rosy lips parting on that delicate doll-like face, making her look even more like a little witch.

Smiling, she defensively shrank back a bit and said, "Mr. Williams, is this how a playboy approaches a girl?"

Eric nodded, looking a bit 'frustrated.' "Looks like this is going to fail; I used to succeed easily."

The girl huffed in a proud manner, glancing over at a distance, "I'm not one of those women who chase after you just because of your money."

"That's quite harsh," Eric chuckled and asked with interest, "Then what kind of guy do you like?"

"Well..." Lydia Hearst raised her chin thoughtfully and said, "First, he has to be loyal, not like some people."

"Alright, I'm completely out then."

"Second, he has to be considerate and a bit handsome, not too dull, and of course, he must have some talent," she listed out before glancing at Eric with a satisfied smirk, "Anyway, money isn't the most important thing."

"Of course," Eric nodded, "I'm sure you'll find that kind of guy very easily."

"Why?" Lydia instinctively asked back, then added in dissatisfaction, "Do you think I'm the kind of girl who's easy?"

"Definitely not," Eric laughed as he explained, "You see, saying money isn't the most important thing lowers the standards significantly. There are always too few wealthy people and too many without money. Among all those without money, isn't it easy to find the kind of guy you need? And, most importantly, you're a Hearst. Those guys, even if they don't meet your standards, would 100% try to be what you want just to get with a Hearst, especially a beautiful one at that."

Lydia Hearst listened to Eric's words, slightly stunned, tilting her head and furrowing her brow.

Eric raised his glass of red wine and took a sip, continuing in a serene tone, "You see, those women chase me because I'm Eric Williams. Similarly, those boys pursue you because you're Lydia Hearst. So, we're actually a lot alike. Why don't we start a romance between our kind?"

The girl who had been somewhat dazed from Eric's words rolled her eyes dramatically upon hearing his last sentence. "Eric, you're such an annoying guy."

"I know, the truth is always hard to accept. You can take your time to digest it," Eric smiled and said, "Now, let's change the subject."

"I don't want to talk to you at all."

Although Lydia said this, she only made a show of slightly turning away and had no intention of leaving. Her expressive eyes remained fixed on Eric, clearly waiting for him to speak again.

Eric glanced over at the other side of the hall, where Cindy and Linda were still chatting with a few women, then turned back to Lydia. "So, did I guess correctly? You like horror movies?"

Lydia clearly seemed displeased with Eric's wandering eyes and retorted, "Do we really have to talk about movies?"

"Of course," Eric nodded, "Movies are my expertise; I can control the conversation better when we talk about that."

"You're really not a gentleman, trying to take control in front of a girl."

"That is a problem; I'll definitely change next time."

"Then why don't you change this time?"

"It's not good for a girl to be so aggressive."

Lydia lightly huffed again before saying, "Alright, I do like horror movies. How did you guess?"

"You want the truth?"

Lydia thought about Eric's earlier comments and immediately shook her head. "I don't want to hear it."

"So, that means we're best suited for each other. You see, your IQ just jumped up."

"I seriously want to hit you right now."

"Did you know, Lill, hmm, I think that nickname suits you better than Lydia or Lya. I'm giving it to you for free."

"I don't want it," Lydia refused but couldn't help but ask, "What do I know?"

"Oh, it's like this," Eric said seriously, "There's a theory that has been proven multiple times: When a woman thinks about hitting a man, she may unwittingly have fallen for him."

"You must be talking nonsense," Lydia countered immediately. "There can't be such a weird theory."

"You see, your face is already red."

Lydia promptly raised her glass. "I had a drink."

"Perhaps," Eric said nonchalantly, "But you don't look like you've reached the legal drinking age yet."

"Of course," Lydia tilted her chin in a provocative manner. "And I haven't even reached the legal driving age. Mr. Williams, you've been flirting with a minor, and you're breaking the law!"

"Wait, what is the legal driving age in New York?"

"Sixteen."

"Great, nice to meet you, Miss Hearst."

As Eric said this, he raised his glass to the girl and then turned to leave.

Lydia froze for a moment but quickly chased after him like a little tail, reaching out to tug at Eric's sleeve, dissatisfied. "Eric, I was just joking; you're really stingy."

Eric casually put his glass onto a passing waiter's tray, walked over to the buffet table, and raised a plate toward the girl beside him. "Want something to eat?"

Lydia noticed that Eric seemed to have completely forgotten what had just happened and pouted. "I'm not hungry."

Eric nodded, starting to choose food for himself.

Lydia held her glass of champagne, standing beside him and watching his movements. Unable to resist, she said, "Don't take that; it's terrible. My uncle's chef makes awful chocolate sandwiches. You should try the blueberry pudding."

Eric readily picked a box of pudding for his plate and asked, "What else?"

Lydia blinked her eyes. "Isn't this enough?"

Eric raised his food and pointed it at Lydia's forehead as he inclined it over to the center of his chest, smiling. "What do you think?"

"I'm not that short," Lydia pouted, instinctively raising her hand to smack Eric on the shoulder but abruptly stopped, awkwardly pulling her hand back and rolling her eyes in thought. "Also, ham sandwich would be fine."

"Oh," Eric grabbed a piece of ham sandwich but remarked, "Isn't it strange? A chef who can't make a decent chocolate sandwich can make a great ham sandwich?"

Lydia's eyes flickered nervously as she defended herself. "My uncle's house doesn't just have one chef."

"Good point."

Eric nodded, not paying attention to the girl's little worries. He wasn't a picky person; besides, the Hearst family's chef couldn't be that bad; it was probably just Lydia's personal taste.

After picking up some more food, Eric turned and greeted other guests along the way, quickly finding an empty spot by the window in the hall.

Lydia still followed him like a little tail, sitting opposite Eric with her cup, sipping delicately like a cat.

After a moment of silence, watching Eric eat, Lydia's gaze flickered as she took the initiative to say, "Eric, actually my earlier answer wasn't very accurate."

"It's alright; I forgive you."

Lydia's head turned as she couldn't find a sharp retort and merely pouted. "Actually, I don't just like horror movies."

"Hmm?"

"I also like John Waters' films. John Waters, do you know him?"

Upon hearing this name, Eric immediately realized what this little witch was up to.

John Waters, while perhaps not a household name, once mentioned could send shockwaves for many people through his infamous works. Pink Flamingos, a highly graphic cult classic, would leave audiences with just one prevailing feeling: disgust.

Casually taking a bite of his sandwich, enjoying the chew, Eric unfeelingly shook his head. "Never heard of him."

"Hmph, you really have no experience. Who was it that said movies were his best field?" Lydia quickly pointed out, sounding a bit disappointed first but then her eyes lit up. "You definitely know him, right?"

"Never heard of him. I'm quite a big deal; even if I've seen him somewhere, I might've forgotten."

But Lydia wouldn't give up, saying, "Pink Flamingos?"

"Hmm?"

"Polyester?"

"What?"

"Hairspray?"

"Feeling confused here."

"Desperate Living?"

Eric raised his hand, holding up a finger in front of him as if to pause things. Slowly lowering his sandwich, he casually pushed open the nearby window without looking outside and promptly spat out the food.

After taking several deep breaths, Eric finally leaned back, looking at Lydia, who was now thoroughly amused. "Alright, you succeeded."

"Haha, hahaha," realizing the setting around her, the girl laughed a couple of times, quickly burying her head on the table and chuckling for a moment before lifting her head back up, proudly announcing, "Serves you right for pretending."

Eric tried to steady his breathing as he forced himself to regain composure but lost all appetite, pushing his plate aside. "Speaking of which, those movies aren't exactly what a little girl should be watching."

Seemingly realizing discussing those films wasn't very ladylike, Lydia straightened up and said, "Well, not exactly. I just occasionally help my mom sort through them; all those tapes are from her collection."

Eric shook his head. "Your mother shouldn't be watching those things either."

Lydia's tone became hesitant. "Anyway, she likes them, so she collects them. My mom is an adult."

"That has nothing to do with being an adult. John Waters? How could your mother enjoy his films?" Eric shrugged. "That's really baffling."

Lydia's eyes flickered as she couldn't help but argue, "What's baffling? Doesn't my mom have the freedom to like what movies she wants?"

Eric noticed Lydia's emotions suddenly shifted a bit off and nonchalantly nodded. "Of course, everyone has the freedom to choose what they like."

"You, you definitely don't think so," she replied, her tone wavering a bit.

"What do you think I'm thinking?"

"You," Lydia paused for a moment and said, "You must be thinking about those things."

Eric was completely puzzled. "What things?"

"Just, just those things," Lydia's tone suddenly became more stammering, glaring at Eric like a suddenly confrontational little wildcat. "Don't you dare think about my mom like that."

"Alright," Eric shrugged, helplessly. "If I offended in any way, I apologize."

"You," Lydia wanted to say something but suddenly saw Cindy and Linda approaching with two other women. She stood up angrily, saying, "I don't want to talk to you anymore."

...

Watching Lydia abruptly run away, Eric remained puzzled but got up, nodding at Cindy and the others while making room near the table.

Cindy moved forward, taking the initiative to introduce the woman beside her. "Eric, let me introduce you. This is Aerin Lauder."

"Hello, Miss Lauder," Eric shook hands with the knowledgeable-looking lady before curiously asking, "Estee Lauder?"

"Hello, Mr. Williams," Aerin Lauder smiled and shook his hand. "Estee Lauder was my grandmother."

"Oh, she was quite an impressive woman," Eric complimented, looking over at the next unfamiliar woman.

Before Cindy could introduce her, the woman extended her hand. "Mr. Williams, hello, I'm Delphina Arnault."

"Hi," Eric smiled and shook her hand. "I saw your email this morning, but I'm afraid I don't have time."

"Why so absolute, Mr. Williams? Perhaps we could find time to talk."

Eric merely smiled as the women sat down, and he took the spot next to them.

Once the waiter served drinks, Cindy teased, "So, did you just fail at charming that little girl?"

"I don't know; as soon as I mentioned her mom, she just got upset."

Cindy, Linda, and Delphina Arnault all exhibited puzzled expressions.

Aerin Lauder, however, quietly said, "Lydia's mom is Patty, Patty Hearst."

As soon as Aerin Lauder spoke, Cindy and Linda both instantly showed expressions of realization.

Delphina Arnault, identical to Eric, remained unclear, yet the three women who clearly knew the reason weren't willing to explain it to them.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1119: A Warning?!]

As the guests began to trickle in, the hall of the Hearst mansion became increasingly lively.

Four women were chatting excitedly about the latest fashion trends, while Eric listened intently, occasionally chiming in. After a while, Aerin Lauder turned her attention back to Eric and said, "Eric, do you find it dull listening to us women talk about these things?"

"Not at all! I find everything I'm unfamiliar with very fascinating. It can spark a lot of inspiration," Eric replied.

Aerin thought Eric was being polite. "Really?"

"Of course it is," chimed in Cindy, who glanced at Eric before continuing, "Otherwise, how do you think he comes up with all those movie ideas? Aerin, one day you might realize that something you say tonight will actually show up in a film."

Aerin finally believed it and joked, "Oh, then I'll have to be careful with my words."

At that moment, Delphina Arnault interjected, "Eric, since that's the case, do you have any inspiration right now?"

Eric often found that certain things triggered memories in his mind without realizing Cindy would be so perceptive about it. It seemed many people around him shared the same view.

However, that was perfectly fine with him.

With this thought, Eric shook his head and laughed, "Right now, I have no inspiration. You see, in front of beautiful women, a man's thinking tends to slow down, especially with four gorgeous women here."

Just as he was joking, William Hearst III approached with a guest, none other than Warren Buffett.

Seeing Buffett made Eric's head spin; the old man had been calling him constantly over the past few days about Clover Fund matters.

"Eric, while everyone knows you're quite popular with the ladies, you can't completely ignore us old guys, can you?" William teased as he gestured to his side, "Warren happens to be in New York, so I doubt I need to introduce him."

"Of course," Eric nodded and replied, "But, William, you can't consider yourself an old guy at all."

Though Eric had never paid close attention to William's age, he could tell that William was definitely under fifty, still in the prime of his life.

William laughed heartily, giving Eric's shoulder a friendly pat, "Well then, you and Warren should talk."

The other women who stood with William understood that Buffett and Eric needed to discuss business and politely walked away.

...

Warren Buffett had recently been caught up in a feeling of losing control.

Ever since he had seen the technology stock portfolio of the Clover Fund last year, Buffett, who had a remarkable sensitivity to numbers and an amazing memory, had committed that series of data to memory.

With the tech stock market continuing to explode, questioning the total value of Clover Fund's tech holdings became increasingly nerve-racking for Buffett. Given his conservative nature, he would certainly have liquidated that batch of tech stocks, which had already gained far beyond expectations, when the Nasdaq index approached 3000 points, and then sat back to watch the storm unfold.

Now, even though Berkshire Hathaway had only a 5% stake in Firefly Group, the total value of Clover Fund's tech stocks was overwhelming. He often found himself anxious at the thought that he could wake up to find over a billion dollars in dividends simply obliterated.

What frustrated him further was that Eric had become increasingly tight-lipped about any tidbits regarding the Clover Fund.

Instead of taking a seat at the nearby table as Eric had invited him to, Buffett pulled him towards the window, cautiously scanning the surroundings before whispering, "Eric, I am only going to ask you one question about the Clover Fund. Just give me an answer, and I promise I won't ask again, okay?"

Eric understood exactly what Buffett wanted to know and shook his head. "Warren, if someone wanted to know when Berkshire Hathaway was trading its stocks, would you tell them?"

The answer was obvious; Buffett had always remained tight-lipped about any investment actions by Berkshire Hathaway. Typically, news would only surface after a deal was finalized. To avoid having targets leverage Berkshire Hathaway's reputation to inflate their price, Buffett often gave targets a very brief consideration period, lasting only a couple of hours after a transaction proposal -- certifying either acceptance or rejection.

Eric held firm to his stance, making Buffett look a bit disgruntled. "Eric, just one thing: tell me, have you started selling?"

"Warren, do you really want me to lie to you?"

"Alright, Eric, I just hope you know what you're doing. And I want to remind you not to be too greedy; you really don't need to take any risks now."

"Of course! But, Warren, I still stand by what I've always said: If you really need cash, I can always buy back the shares of Firefly Group that Berkshire Hathaway holds."

For a moment, Buffett almost considered agreeing to that.

However, that thought vanished just as quickly as it appeared, and the old man shook his head once more.

Berkshire Hathaway had never been a speculative investment firm. Buffett's philosophy was always about generating returns through long-term ownership.

In recent years, while the common belief was that Firefly Group had hit a development bottleneck, Buffett recognized that even without mentioning the series of valuable assets under Firefly Group continuing to appreciate in value or its stable and ample profits, there were the projects Firefly was pushing forward: the Firefly Cinemas theme park initiative, the '4200' plan, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe project. If even one or two of these proved successful, it could elevate Firefly Group to a new level.

Moreover, he had learned that Firefly Group would likely expand into the cable operator business, and if that plan were executed, the company might undergo a spectacular leap in scale.

How could Berkshire Hathaway afford to let go of such a vibrant media company with a competitive edge in Hollywood?

...

Just as Eric and Buffett stood in a silent standoff, a cheerful voice cut through. "Hey, Warren, I heard you were here. Oh, and Eric, I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Turning around, Buffett shook hands with the newcomer, a middle-aged man, and smiled at Eric as he introduced him. "Eric, this is Henry Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs."

Eric also smiled, extending his hand to the slightly balding man. "Hello, Mr. Paulson."

Henry Paulson gripped Eric's hand firmly, saying, "Eric, just call me Henry."

Eric nodded, but couldn't help but gather what he remembered about Henry Paulson. The first thought that crossed his mind was a different Paulson -- the John Paulson who brilliantly rose to fame during the subprime mortgage crisis. But then he recalled that Henry Paulson had served as the Secretary of the Treasury around that same time.

After exchanging pleasantries and chatting with Buffett for a bit, Henry Paulson turned to Eric. "Eric, Goldman Sachs is planning to go public soon. Are you interested in investing?"

Without a second thought, Eric shook his head, "I'm really sorry, Henry. I don't quite understand that yet."

Eric had already caught wind of Goldman Sachs' impending IPO; this prestigious Wall Street investment bank, in operation for 130 years, was set to list on the New York Stock Exchange in May, officially becoming a publicly traded company.

Undoubtedly, both Wall Street and Hollywood were places where one could rise to fame overnight -- prime shortcuts to achieving the American dream.

In the first few years after his rebirth, Eric still held a certain allure for Wall Street, inspired by many of his past memories.

But now, his attitude toward Wall Street had shifted entirely to one of respect from a distance; after all, Wall Street was primarily a den of greedy wolves who would do anything to chase profit without ethical standards or morals. If you weren't a powerful enough tiger yourself, your past collaborators could quickly become fodder for those predatory wolves.

Participating in Goldman Sachs' IPO surely sounded like a fine deal, yet doing so would undoubtedly lead to unnecessary speculation from Wall Street, particularly from Morgan Stanley.

The Firefly network had always maintained a relatively good relationship with Morgan Stanley. While that connection was fundamentally based on mutual interest, as long as Morgan Stanley didn't initiate any reckless actions, Eric wouldn't mind sustaining that beneficial relationship. After all, the Firefly network would focus increasingly on actual businesses, meaning they wouldn't need to engage with Wall Street very often.

"That's all right," Henry Paulson remained smiling, "but Eric, I still hope you'll think it over."

Eric nodded, "Of course."

"Additionally," Henry Paulson slightly tempered his smile, his keen gaze intently fixed on Eric, though his tone remained casual. "Eric, I've heard that Firefly Electronics recently implemented an equity incentive program?"

Eric picked up on certain subtle shifts in Paulson's demeanor but kept his response nonchalant, merely nodding slightly.

Sensing that Eric wasn't straightforwardly intimidated by the pressure he had unintentionally exerted, Henry Paulson felt a mix of disappointment and acceptance. He continued, "So, Eric, does Firefly Electronics have intentions of going public?"

"Not at the moment," Eric shook his head, "Firefly Electronics doesn't lack for funding right now."

"Eric, you should know that most companies that go public aren't exactly in need of capital, much like Goldman Sachs," Henry Paulson suddenly shifted to a joking tone. "Honestly, I'm not too keen on Goldman Sachs going public either. But if we continued down the route of being privately held, my team of eager young stockholders would turn on the company in a heartbeat. Sometimes, even if we ourselves aren't seeking more wealth, we must consider how others feel."

Listening to Paulson's comments, Eric outwardly nodded in agreement while internally he felt a chill. Despite appearing to be a brash twenty-eight-year-old, he was no fool; he clearly understood Paulson's insinuations about others' perceptions of him.

After all, some people were displeased with his 'youngster with a mountain of gold' demeanor.

With over $300 billion in wealth, Eric's presence was undeniably conspicuous.

Take Firefly Electronics alone; since its founding, it had exploded onto the scene with nearly $1 billion in annual profits in just a few short years. How could that not incite envy among many?

In North America, there were hardly more than a hundred companies achieving annual profits of that magnitude, and considering Firefly Electronics' speed of market expansion, the company's potential was far from fully realized.

After Henry Paulson finished speaking, he maintained his gaze on Eric for a moment, then smiled at Buffett, who displayed a hint of surprise, raised his glass, and turned to leave.

...

Once Paulson had moved on, Buffett hesitated for a moment before quietly saying, "Eric, you know, having Firefly Electronics go public might be a good option. Remember, your company..." He paused briefly to choose his words. "Your company faces significant antitrust risks."

There wasn't an obvious causal link between going public and antitrust risks, but Buffett's point was clear.

Eric was taken aback that Buffett would take the initiative to remind him and nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Warren. I understand."

Buffett assessed Eric with a scrutinizing gaze, nodded slightly, then added, "In that case, come meet some old friends with me. Eric, whether you like it or not, you should attend gatherings like this more often. For people like us, expanding our network can never hurt."

The rest of the party went by with Eric feeling somewhat pensive.

...

After escorting the two women back to Cindy's apartment on 75th Street, Eric sent them off to rest and slipped into the study Cindy had prepared specially for him.

Time passed unnoticeably until someone gently knocked on the door. Eric, wearing headphones and gripping his mouse, looked up to see Cindy standing in the doorway in her pajamas, smiling at him.

Cindy stepped in, glanced at his computer screen, and noticed Eric was playing a shooting game.

"Isn't it sad? Our attraction isn't even as captivating as a video game anymore."

Feigning disappointment, Cindy affectionately settled on Eric's lap.

"Linda is asleep?"

"Yeah, didn't you notice the time?"

Eric turned his head to check the time in the lower right corner of his computer screen, realizing it was already past 2 a.m. He removed his headphones and tossed them aside, wrapping his arms around Cindy and pulling her closer to face him.

The leather chair was spacious, but with the armrests in the way, Cindy managed to settle into a slightly awkward kneeling position on Eric's lap. Her hands braced against his shoulders as she felt his hands sliding down her waist. He lifted the hem of her nightgown, raising it up, prompting her to respond by playfully raising her hands.

Letting him explore her body, she gasped slightly, then moments later, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "Eric, do you have something on your mind?"

Eric paused for just a second, then nodded slightly, adding, "Speaking of which, what's the deal with that Patty Hearst you mentioned at the party? Can you tell me about it?"

"Are you still thinking about that little girl?" Cindy chided lightly, aware he was changing the topic, but she still answered softly, "That's got to be from 1974."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1120: We Should Buy the Surroundings Too]

"I can't remember the specific organization, but back in those days, everyone was unhappy with the feds. There were all sorts of chaotic events. That group kidnapped Patty Hearst, and the Hearst family tried everything they could to rescue her but failed. Then, out of the blue, Patty suddenly claimed she had joined that organization and even participated in violent crimes, like bank robberies and arson, which shocked everyone. In the end, she got caught, and the Hearst family argued that she had been brainwashed and was compelled to act that way, suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or something like that. Still, the federal court sentenced her to 35 years."

Cindy's memory was clearly a bit hazy as she thought out loud, but Eric pieced together the events and couldn't help but say, "35 years? Doesn't that seem a bit off? Even if you start counting from 1974, it's only been 25 years now."

Cindy wrapped her cool arm around Eric's, looking flirtatiously down at him. "What do you think happened?"

Eric skillfully unhooked her bra and tossed it aside, leaning in for a kiss as he remarked, "Well, who cares?"

Cindy giggled, evading his next kiss and said, "Seriously, don't you remember anything from that time?"

"I don't remember. I was just a little boy when I moved to America," he replied.

Cindy's restless movements suddenly halted. She raised a hand to touch Eric's face, a hint of an unexplainable emotion in her voice, "Yeah, and you're still a little boy now."

"Actually, I was just thinking about some things," Eric gently stroked her smooth back, pulling her closer. "Some, uh, very primitive stuff."

"About what?"

But Eric didn't directly answer. He savored the moment, caressing her body as he murmured, "I remember a few years ago, maybe it was Chris, he bluntly asked if I had thought about legacy. I replied back then that if I was dead, I wouldn't care about that. But later, I realized I couldn't avoid it, so I made some hasty arrangements. Then last year, I researched family foundation legacy models but realized it seemed too early for me to set that up based on my age. Overall, just a few hours ago, I felt pretty casual about it. If I suddenly died, the money, the women, and the kids could take what they could, and the rest? I'd just consider it a way to give back to society."

Cindy was unconsciously affected by the strong wave of pessimism coming from him, forgetting her earlier whims. She instinctively asked, "And now?"

"Now," Eric said, his hands gliding down her lovely back curve, lifting her up onto the desk before him, "I suddenly feel like, why should I be so generous to this world? What's mine is mine. Even if I'm dead, it should belong to my children. Even if I can't raise the best heirs, I'd rather leave behind a bunch of spoiled brats with a fortune and throw the world into chaos. That's the real deal -- once I'm gone, let it flood over!"

"Eric," Cindy lay on the wide desk, her legs raised straight, her eyes sparkling as she focused on the man slowly removing the last piece of fabric covering her, "I think you're crazy."

Eric tossed the small piece of fabric aside, sensing her legs wanting to entwine around him. He easily caught her delicate ankles and crossed them together, her body, toned from years of exercise, posed no challenge for him. He leaned down and kissed her lips, asking, "So, are you ready to go crazy with me?"

"Not really," Cindy's voice carried a tone of playful breathiness, born from being forced into an embarrassing position. She half-jokingly pleaded, "Eric, I suddenly feel like I want to sleep. Could you let me go?"

"No way. You have to know, in movies, the heroine who discovers the main villain's plot is always caught and tortured badly," he said.

"I'm not the heroine; I'm just a pretty trophy," she shot back.

"If you're just a trophy, your future is even worse."

"Ugh, why am I so unlucky?"

At some point, the study door swung open, and Linda walked in, her figure leaning against the table as she teasingly assessed Cindy's current state. She reached over, playfully grabbing a handful of her. "Though I really didn't want to interrupt you two, is this a rehearsal for a midnight play?"

"Eric, can you take care of her first?" Cindy asked.

"You're supposed to be best friends. Don't always be so dominant," he replied.

"Yeah, Eric, she always bullies me. This time, you have to stand up for me," Linda insisted.

"Alright, but what will you give me in return?" he teased.

"I'm not repaying you," she shot back.

"Exactly, no need to repay, since I'll make you pay later."

"Cindy baby, are you reminding me to seize this opportunity?"

"She's reminding you that starting tomorrow, you'll be picking beans like Cinderella."

"Eric, you're such a weirdo." Linda responded

"Yeah, asshole."

"I think I'm starting to understand something, but you two have really dirty minds. It seems you both need to be punished togther."

...

The sun had started its westward slant when the three finally began to wake up.

Cindy lay beside Eric, propped up on one hand, her delicate head resting casually, not caring that the covers had slipped down, revealing her figure. Her bright eyes were fixed on the man who had just woken beside her. "Eric, we can't be this reckless going forward."

Eric patted Linda's back, who was clinging to him like a koala, but turned serious, "I wasn't joking last night."

Cindy fell silent abruptly.

Linda, however, nudged closer to Eric and whispered, "Eric, I'm willing."

Cindy felt a pang of discontent seeing Linda betray her so easily. She pinched her, "You spineless person! You didn't even see a ring and are saying you're willing?"

"Ow, you're such a wicked stepmother," Linda retorted.

"Watch it or I'll throw you out to pick beans right now."

"Ugh, Daddy, the stepmother wants me to pick beans, and you're not going to do anything about it?"

"Uh, okay."

"You really said that."

"Because you always bully me."

Eric patiently calmed the two women down, dressed, and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the two beautiful women nestled together under the covers. He said earnestly, "I have just one request."

The two women ceased their playful bickering, looking at him with bright eyes, laced with a bit of apprehension.

Eric leaned down and kissed each of the women on the lips, saying, "If you want to leave in the future, I won't stop you. However, I will keep custody of the child."

"And if we don't want that?" they asked.

"Then you can forget about ever leaving," he ominously replied.

"Hmph, we aren't even with you!" Linda quipped, tilting her head to peck Cindy on the lips in a show of defiance, "I can live just as well as Cindy."

"You silly girl," Cindy retorted, pinching Linda again, "Can't you see he wants us to be this way?"

"Ugh, you're..." Halfway through her sentence, Linda finally caught on. She got up and roughly grabbed Eric's shirt collar, turning him toward her to angrily gnaw at his shoulder. "Eric Williams, you jerk!"

Eric calmed Linda down, sat up, and adjusted his shirt, reaching out to touch both women's pretty faces. "So, I'll take that as you agreeing. You want the ring, right? I'll bring it next time."

Linda nestled against Cindy, whining, "I also want a wedding."

"That's fine," Eric replied with a smile. "Pick a time, and I'll be the one to officiate."

Linda's long legs suddenly kicked out of the covers, nudging Eric lightly. "Get lost, jerk!"

Eric caught her calf and tickled her foot before releasing her, standing up. "Alright, you two get more rest. I have to head to ABC; I'll return for dinner tonight."

...

Once Eric left the bedroom, the room fell quiet for a moment, and Linda quietly asked, "That's it?"

Cindy sat up, dressing as she glanced at Linda, who had started biting her pillow. "What else do you want?"

"He didn't give us any promises," Linda replied.

"He's already given us a lot," Cindy said as she put on her bra. "Or do you think a silly person like you would have over a 100 million dollars now?"

"That stock was bought with my own money," Linda shot back as she flipped over, "He said he'd take no responsibility if it lost money."

"I think I shouldn't bully you anymore after this," Cindy said.

"Are you finally feeling guilty?"

"I worry about you dragging down my IQ," Cindy retorted.

"Don't think I can't take you on."

"You can't beat me; how long has it been since you hit the gym?"

"Well, I'm still thinner than you."

"So you'll never beat me."

"You know you'll never beat Eric."

"I just need to be able to bully you," Cindy stated.

"Wow."

...

After lingering a few more days in Manhattan, Eric returned to East Hampton on Easter Sunday.

The two women still felt a bit irritated by Eric's involvement with Carmen Kass and genuinely considered making him sleep on the couch. However, in the middle of the night, Virginia brought over a pillow for Eric, scolding him a bit, and he shamelessly joined the women back in the bedroom.

April 4th was Easter, and both Hawaii and Kevin's birthdays fell on April 10th. The two women were planning a party, and of course, Eric, as the dad, had to show up, so they confirmed they would stay in East Hampton for a week.

However, things were anything but relaxed. Eric felt a greater urgency to accomplish some tasks.

In the living room of the East Hampton mansion, Virginia served coffee to the two women and took Kevin, who wanted to cling to Eric, outside.

...

Eric took a sip of his coffee, set down the cup, and looked at his longtime bodyguard across from him. "Carter, you've been with me for nine years now, haven't you?"

During this time, Eric had hinted a few times, and Carter Moen seemed to guess what Eric planned to discuss today. He sat up straight and nodded, "Yeah, it has been a while, almost nine years."

"Nine years -- time flies," Eric said with a smile. "I remember you told me about your family -- two sons, Nicholas and Jack?"

"They're only a year apart," Carter confirmed, "Nick is graduating high school this year."

"Oh? Which college does he plan to go to?"

Carter hesitated for a moment and chuckled helplessly. "He applied to a few schools but hasn't confirmed anything yet. Jack is doing quite well. His teacher thinks he has a good chance for Ivy League next year."

"I see. Yahoo has been donating to MIT for a few research projects over the years. If Nick is interested, I could help out. Oh, your family lives in Los Angeles, right? If he doesn't want to move to the East Coast, I can pitch in at Stanford; there's also Firefly Electronics, which has been collaborating with them."

"If possible, Stanford would be best," Carter said, perking up at the thought of his children's education. "Of course, as long as they accept Nick, I'd be willing to donate a little extra; you've been paying me well over these years."

"Then it sounds like Stanford," Eric replied, smiling. "I'll make some calls this afternoon. And as for Jack -- well, from what you just said, he seems able to manage on his own nicely."

Carter nodded, although he didn't mind offering a helping hand, he felt proud that his children could gain admission independently.

After chatting about trivial matters, Eric got to the point. "Carter, I think you've probably noticed by now, so I'm considering establishing a separate security team -- would you be willing to leave Andrews?"

Andrews International was the name of the security company where Carter worked.

"Of course I'd be willing," Carter replied without hesitation but added, "However, Eric, I'm concerned that I might not be up to the task."

"You should understand," Eric shook his head, "While that's important, it's not the most important thing. I need someone who is loyal to me."

When Carter heard Eric's statement, he sat up a bit straighter and stated earnestly, "Eric, I believe I've proven that over the years."

"Then," Eric stood up and extended his hand to Carter, "I can promise you that I will never shortchange those who work for me."

The two shook hands solemnly before sitting back down to discuss the details of forming the security team when Eric's phone rang.

After taking the call and saying a few words, he turned to Carter with a hint of regret in his voice. "Sorry, Carter, but maybe we'll have to put this discussion on hold for a bit."

Carter stood up, saying, "Alright, I'll go arrange a car."

"It's nothing too crucial," Eric replied, standing up and smiling. "We're heading to the airport; you know those two planes I ordered are about to arrive. Speaking of which, you'll need to be responsible for the future pilot team as well."

"Of course," Carter agreed, smiling as he hurried outside to arrange the vehicle.

...

Virginia walked in with Kevin in tow, asking, "What's going on?"

"Nothing much," Eric lifted Kevin, kissing his son's face. "Let's go. Also, shout for Elia and Emma; we're heading to the airport."

An hour later, watching three large Boeing 747s land one after the other at the private airport on Long Island, Eric couldn't help but look around the airport, his thoughts fixating on one thing: he needed to buy everything around here.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1121: Disruption]

Eric had initially thought only two Boeing 747s would fly into Long Island, but to his surprise, three arrived.

Seeing the prominent FOX logo on the second plane reminded Eric that Elisabeth and Julia had also ordered one of their own. Moreover, the last plane carrying Drew hadn't even landed yet when Elisabeth's phone call came in to complain. Both she and Julia had excitedly gone to Ventura to see their new plane, only to find out that Drew had brought all three planes directly to the East Coast.

While Eric was on the phone with Elisabeth, he watched the last plane roar onto the airport runway and noticed something else. He recalled that Drew planned to paint her plane a vibrant pink, but now he found that all three planes were identical with blue and white bodies. Besides the respective 'FIREFLY,' 'FOX,' and 'MGM' logos on each, they didn't look much different from regular commercial jets.

Once the last plane came to a stop, Drew enthusiastically jumped off the stair truck and leaped into Eric's arms for some affectionate teasing. Afterward, she hugged Joanna and the others, giving extra attention to Hawaii, before introducing Eric to a few guests with her on the plane.

"Eric, this is Mr. Ronald Keogh, the president of Boeing Services Group, along with his assistant."

As the girl introduced him, the well-mannered middle-aged man with glasses shook hands with Eric and proactively handed over his business card, saying, "Hello, Mr. Williams, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Eric smiled and politely accepted the card, tucking it away. Ronald Keogh then offered to provide Eric with an overview of the three planes' basic specifications. Eric sent Drew along with the women and children to her plane while he and Ronald Keogh walked toward the first one to land.

Entering through the staircase, they turned down a short corridor and stepped into a simply designed modern sitting area with pure white walls and furniture seamlessly blending in. A flat-screen TV hung on the wall, and there was even a mini bar in one corner.

As Eric strolled into this small lounge, he admired the decor with satisfaction. Ronald Keogh and his assistant waited by the door, smiling. After Eric looked around for a moment, Ronald spoke, "It's a perfect Bauhaus-style design, simple yet elegant. Of course, we can't take the credit here; that belongs to Miss Barrymore and her hired design team."

Eric nodded slightly, exited the room, and continued walking through the airport interior. "I'm familiar with the basic parameters; can you tell me what makes this plane special?" he asked.

"Of course, I must say, each of these three planes is unique," Ronald Keogh replied, following alongside Eric. "However, I believe the most outstanding feature of this plane is its ability to connect any two cities on this planet."

Eric chuckled but didn't respond, waiting for Ronald to elaborate.

Ronald assessed Eric's expression before adding, "This is a standard Boeing 747-400 model, with a maximum takeoff weight of 390 tons. It has a full-load range of 13,000 kilometers, and with an empty load, that can increase by 30%. During our testing in the '80s, the Boeing 747-400 achieved several long-range journeys, including one from London to Sydney, 17000 kilometers. However, since this is your personal customized plane, we've removed a lot of unnecessary common equipment; even at a cargo weight of 10 tons, it won't exceed 320 tons at takeoff. Moreover, this plane uses the latest generation of Pratt Whitney 4056 fuel-efficient engines, providing even greater range. Our engineers calculated that under extreme conditions, this plane could reach up to 20,000 kilometers. However, we haven't tested that without your permission. If you think it's necessary, that kind of test can be done anytime."

Eric understood that the key factor affecting a plane's range was its load. A commercial Boeing 747-400, excluding its own weight and fuel, could carry around 60 tons at maximum capacity. This private aircraft truly had a significant advantage in that regard. After all, even Ronald's stated 10-ton carrying capacity was likely more than sufficient, considering Eric's personal travel needs. With a team of 20 people and luggage, they probably only needed about two tons.

As long as the plane could manage long-haul flights like London to Sydney, Eric was already very satisfied. In fact, transpacific and transatlantic flights generally hovered around 10,000 kilometers, while domestic flights in North America rarely exceeded 4,000 kilometers; this plane's specifications would suffice most of the time.

As for testing the plane's flight limits, Eric lacked interest. Due to their excessive energy consumption, private planes had long been criticized as symbols of the wealthy's extravagant lifestyles. If he accidentally broke a record during testing and the media picked it up, he'd have a hard time escaping the spotlight.

Continuing to explore the various cabin arrangements, Eric inquired, "What about the internet and communication equipment?"

"Our Boeing Connectivity Company customized a complete set of internet, television, and telephone communication equipment for you. You can connect to the internet, make calls, or hold video conferences anytime, anywhere. Speaking of which, Mr. Williams, our CEO Philip Condit is in the office today. He mentioned he'd like to have a chat if you're free."

Besides the plane's performance, Eric valued its distant communication capabilities most. This was his primary dissatisfaction with the Boeing 767 he often used a few years back. Hearing that the Boeing Group's CEO was available for a call, Eric promptly agreed; it'd be good to test the video call system. "Alright."

"Then, please follow me."

...

Ronald Keogh gestured for Eric to accompany him to a conference room in the mid-section of the airplane. Following a signal from Ronald, his assistant skillfully powered up the video calling equipment. Moments later, a tall middle-aged man appeared on the wall-mounted 32-inch screen: none other than Philip Condit, CEO of the Boeing Group, located far away in Seattle.

Eric greeted Philip and began chatting casually when he heard a faint roar outside the cabin.

Looking through the window, he saw Drew's plane slowly taxiing down the runway.

A bodyguard entered, knocking at the door. Eric glanced over and pointed outside, displaying a questioning expression.

The bodyguard nodded, replying, "Miss Barrymore said they are going to Orlando. They'll be back tomorrow."

"Did the women and children go too?"

"Yes."

Eric helplessly noted how Philip Condit was listening to the commotion and shrugged, saying to the bodyguard, "They probably headed to Disneyland. Have Carter call them and make arrangements."

"Understood, Mr. Williams."

Just as Eric was about to dismiss the bodyguard, something struck him, and he stopped him. "By the way, who was flying the plane?"

"Miss Sokolov."

Eric had felt puzzled initially; after the first two planes landed, the pilots had come over to introduce themselves, but Drew's plane had only her, the twins, and Ronald Keogh's group.

He had confidence in the twins' helicopter piloting skills since he had seen them in action, but operating such a large Boeing passenger jet? That seemed reckless.

Thinking this, Eric directed Ronald Keogh's assistant, "Connect me to that plane and have them return."

The assistant looked confused and explained, "Mr. Williams, during takeoff and landing, absolute communication with the ground command center is required, making it unsuitable for calls. However, if you think it's necessary, we could contact the pilots through navigation."

Before Eric could respond, Ronald Keogh interjected, "Eric, are you concerned about the Sokolov twins' flying abilities? I really don't think that's necessary. They had a significant role in the testing phases of these three planes, and their flying skills are on par with any experienced pilot."

"You're talking about those Russian twins, right?" Philip Condit chimed in from the still open video feed. "They are indeed very impressive girls; I've met them as well. No worries there, Eric."

Alright.

Eric chuckled and nodded.

Yet he couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes, wondering how these usually unassuming enchantresses seemed to know everything. He needed to interrogate them properly sometime.

After this interruption, Eric lost interest in further exploring the cabin's design. He exchanged a few more pleasantries with Philip Condit, ended the video call, and exited the cabin.

...

Elisabeth and Julia were still waiting eagerly in Ventura. Since they would eventually see the interior, Eric didn't board the plane with the two women. Instead, he sent the pilots to take off directly back to California. Before long, only this Boeing remained at the Long Island airport.

A little over two hours later, Drew called from Orlando International Airport, indicating that her group had arrived safely. Only then did Eric relax.

With the women gone, Eric refused to linger alone in East Hampton. After seeing Ronald Keogh and his team off, he returned to Manhattan.

...

The following week was filled with the lively festivities of Easter, along with the birthdays of the children that followed soon after.

While spending time with the women and kids, Eric's private hours were primarily devoted to discussions with Carter Moen on establishing a security team specifically for the Williams family.

Also underway was the plan to expand two private airports on the East and West Coasts. This wasn't about building more runways; Eric intended to secure adjacent land to reserve space for potential future hangars and, at the same time, create a secluded area surrounded by trees to prevent outsiders from peeking in.

After all, the sight of three large Boeing 740 private jets congregated at the airport was undeniably too conspicuous. Eric could easily imagine environmental groups showing up to protest outside his airport once they got wind of it; such occurrences weren't rare.

However, if the airport were fully enclosed within private territory, the trouble would tally down significantly.

Later, Drew explained that she hadn't painted her plane a bright pink to maintain a low profile. Despite the fact that the interior decorations of her plane were anything but understated, Eric appreciated her approach.

...

While Eric was in East Hampton, Hollywood's Easter release schedule continued bustling along.

The three new films released the first week of March 26 ended up with only Run Lola Run barely emerging as a success, raking in $11.17 million in its opening weekend -- just shy of Warner's buyout price, which promised solid profits. Universal's EDtv flopped spectacularly with a mere $8.25 million in its first week against an $80 million budget, resulting in dismal figures. Paramount's The Mod Squad fared even worse, vanishing from headlines with just $5.57 million in its opening weekend.

In contrast, The Blair Witch Project, now in its fourth week, managed to dominate the box office with $17.62 million in ticket sales, despite a 39% drop in earnings. With a cumulative gross of $129.3 million, it continued to be the envy of many in the industry.

On April 2, Firefly Films launched its heavyweight film Enemy of the State alongside several other movies, finally knocking The Blair Witch Project down from the box office crown.

However, Enemy of the State debuted with a first-week gross of only $46.3 million. Compared to last year's surprise hit Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and the recent The Blair Witch Project, this performance could only be deemed average. Though the North American box office crossing $100 million was a sure bet, it wouldn't exactly be stellar.

With Enemy of the State costing $90 million to produce, the company could only hope for strong international sales to recoup its investment.

Maybe ongoing surprises from box office hits in recent years had skewed expectations, as sentiment within the company surrounding Enemy of the State's box office performance wasn't overly optimistic. Yet Eric didn't share this outlook. While MGM and Fox's next films, American Pie and Never Been Kissed, both enjoyed solid box office openings, especially vis-a-vis their production costs, Eric still didn't regret slotting Enemy of the State in the Easter schedule.

After all, Eric's main objective was to use Enemy of the State to cultivate the market. If Easter weekends became synonymous with low-budget horror and comedy films, audiences would eventually develop a taste for them. Initially, that might seem fine, but in the long run, if high-quality blockbusters didn't spur the market, only a glut of cheap films remained. If, one year, those films collectively fell short, the entire Easter weekend box office could fall flat.

Additionally, through international releases, Enemy of the State could realistically pull in around $300 million in global box office earnings, which would help to hit the break-even point.

...

After the birthdays of the two little ones, Eric should have been fully focused on promoting the upcoming Iron Man release. However, word came from Firefly Electronics that, due to pressure from Seagram's creditors, Universal Records abruptly withdrew from the negotiations regarding digital music store collaborations with Firefly Electronics, even though they had maintained a cooperative stance thus far. Their rationale was that creditors feared Universal's shift towards digital music sales could further undermine already declining physical album sales, thereby impacting Seagram's overall profits and threatening creditor interests.

Eric quickly understood that this disruption was clearly Wall Street's official response following the comments made by Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson at the last Hearst family gathering.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1122: Guess]

San Francisco, Marriott Hotel.

Today marked the release of the third-generation Firefly player, and the hotel's largest banquet hall was packed with guests and reporters, just like last year. However, after listening to Firefly Electronics CEO Victor McNally's introduction of the new product, Larry Ellison, sitting next to Eric, was only half-heartedly clapping, then leaned in and said, "So, is that it, Eric? Bigger capacity, longer battery life, and an audio quality upgrade that's hard for consumers to grasp? Honestly, if I were you, I would fire the entire product development team right after the conference."

Eric watched Christina Aguilera take the stage for the intermission performance, and without turning his head, he replied, "If I did that, Sony, Philips, and even Microsoft, all of whom are eager to jump into the digital music player market, would go crazy. Larry, you're not considering doing the same, are you?"

Larry Ellison retorted, "Hey, I'm worried about you. So many manufacturers are launching digital music players this year, and your team only came up with a mediocre product that's no different from the first generation. Do you really think Firefly Electronics can maintain its edge?"

"Well, let's see," Eric said with a smirk. "By the way, we're already preparing a $100 million lawsuit fund, just waiting for a good fight with everyone."

"I think you're going to incur everyone's wrath," Larry Ellison said with a smirk, suddenly realizing something. He glanced at his watch and thought that if it ended this way, the conference time was too short, so he leaned in again and whispered, "Eric, there's a surprise, right?"

Eric shrugged, "You guess."

...

To be fair, the newly released third-generation Firefly player was indeed just a hardware and software update based on the previous two generations, lacking any jaw-dropping features, which explained Larry Ellison's disappointment, which was shared by the other journalists and guests present.

However, that certainly was not due to a lack of innovation from the Firefly Electronics RD team. In fact, with a strong-willed boss like Eric keeping a close watch, the RD team had to be constantly on their toes, bringing forth numerous creative new ideas every year. If needed, Firefly Electronics could always launch an all-touchscreen Firefly player or a miniature button-style Firefly player using flash storage.

But Eric didn't want to overextend Firefly Electronics' product line, creating a plethora of differently styled yet functionally similar digital music players that would lead consumers to experience decision fatigue, ultimately pushing them towards cheaper options, which would lower the average selling price and overall profit of Firefly Electronics' products.

Moreover, Eric and the management team at Firefly Electronics unanimously believed that the most vital task for the company at the moment was to enhance the ecosystem surrounding the Firefly player, such as the digital music store and user payment systems. This was the best "moat" for maintaining the market advantage of the Firefly player.

...

As Christina's performance wrapped up, Tina Brown took to the stage. Under the puzzled and expectant gazes of the audience, she officially began to introduce the mini music store project that Firefly Electronics would soon be launching in partnership with Yahoo.

When the prototype images of the mini music store appeared on the big screen, even before Tina Brown had officially started the functional introduction, there was already a noticeable stir in the crowd. After all, from the design alone, most people could easily guess the purpose of the device.

As Tina Brown began demonstrating the full touchscreen operation, many sharp-eyed media reporters started discreetly passing the news outside. Larry Ellison listened to Tina's brief introduction and then leaned in again, trying to gauge, "Eric, is this machine's operating system customized by Microsoft?"

Eric was surprised that Larry caught onto the most critical point within such a short time, laughing as he replied, "You guess."

From Eric's expression, Larry confirmed his assumption, grinning as he patted Eric's shoulder, then giving him a thumbs-up. "Well done."

Eric chuckled again, choosing not to say anything that might cover it up. It was common knowledge that Larry didn't like Microsoft, and seeing an entirely new operating system for the Firefly electronics mini music store naturally made him think Eric was intending to challenge the market position of Microsoft's Windows operating system, which was thrilling.

Had this been five years earlier, Eric might have entertained such notions, but now, with Windows 98's launch, Microsoft held an unshakeable dominance in the PC operating system market. Eric had no inclination to pursue such a doomed endeavor; his eyes were firmly set on the future of mobile operating systems.

...

The surprise brought to the conference by the Firefly Electronics mini music store far exceeded the third-generation Firefly player, which was supposed to be the main focus, along with Nokia's simultaneous release of the new M-200 music phone. After the conference ended, internet media and that evening's tabloids began flooding with news about the Firefly Electronics mini music store. Some publications speculated along the same lines as Larry Ellison. Many people started calling the higher-ups at Firefly Electronics and Yahoo to gauge their thoughts; even Microsoft couldn't sit still. That evening, Bill Gates called Eric, trying to probe the situation indirectly.

However, the external excitement over the mini music store didn't seem to excite the executives at Firefly Electronics and Yahoo too much. Eric had just rushed from Los Angeles to San Francisco for the conference. The event started at two in the afternoon and wrapped up by four, with most of the remaining guests looking forward to the evening's reception. But Eric, along with the higher-ups from Firefly Electronics, Yahoo, and Nokia, had to head to the Firefly Electronics headquarters for a meeting.

...

"Many shareholders and senior executives within the Seagram Group were already doubtful about Universal Music's cooperation with Firefly Electronics. Now, with this company's massive $12 billion debt, they had to be cautious about creditors' demands, making it reasonable that the other side terminated negotiations with us. Universal Music, Warner Music, and Sony Music are now all out of the picture. We only have the last two options left: EMI and BMG," Bill Olsen explained as Eric perused the documents in front of him.

A few days ago, Eric was surprised to hear that Universal Music had rejected continuing the licensing negotiations. He had hurried back from the East Coast to meet with Edgar Bronfman again, raising the loan amount he had promised to the Seagram Group to $1.5 billion, which was his maximum offer. He figured this would align with Edgar's original expectations. However, Edgar still didn't budge. It seemed that forces behind the scenes were well-prepared to obstruct the cooperation between Firefly Electronics and Universal Music.

With Warner Music and Sony Music already excluded, losing Universal Music as a potential prime partner left Firefly Electronics with only the two European companies, EMI and BMG, to pursue.

After Bill Olsen finished, Tina Brown spoke up, "The downturn in the music industry continues. I feel that whether it's Universal, Warner, or Sony, they will eventually have to consider transitioning to digital music players."

"The key is that we can't wait for them to transition on their own; the company needs to quickly finalize its content layout."

"Perhaps we can shift our focus to smaller and medium-sized record labels. While the big five have significant power, these smaller labels also have a wealth of content."

"The biggest artists and albums are with the major labels. Gathering a hundred records from small companies may not even match the impact of a single album from a top artist under the big five."

"Our artists like the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls can already provide a certain influence for the digital music store; we just need to offer users more options."

"..."

After listening to the discussions for a while, Eric looked up and asked Bill Olsen, who was sitting diagonally across the table, "Bill, what kind of response have the two companies in Europe had, or which one do you think is easier to negotiate with?"

Bill Olsen sighed, "EMI and BMG's attitude towards licensing for digital music has been colder than Universal's was. And they've likely had conversations behind the scenes; they've clearly formed an offensive and defensive alliance. We can only pursue both simultaneously or abandon both."

The meeting room fell momentarily silent.

After a moment, Victor McNally spoke up, "Eric, actually, the way to solve this problem has always been simple. Most record labels just want a piece of the digital music player pie. So, you just need to agree to transfer some shares of Firefly Electronics, and the situation we're in now will be resolved."

Eric twirled the pencil in his fingers, slightly shaking his head, "Victor, that's not simple at all."

"Eric, I understand your high expectations for Firefly Electronics; we have ample funds, and our growth has been strong, which are our advantages. But we must face our disadvantages as well; we need partners. Even if you believe this company will be worth $100 billion or even $200 billion in the future, we have to operate according to Firefly Electronics' $30 billion valuation and influence at this moment, that's the reality."

"But everyone should understand that the products under Firefly Electronics are absolutely not just the Firefly player."

Jeff Kleber, who was previously responsible for the Firefly Electronics supply chain after moving from Nokia, raised his hand to get everyone's attention. He looked towards Eric and said, "Eric, are you implying that the Firefly player is not the most important thing for Firefly Electronics? I recall you've expressed similar thoughts before."

Eric nodded, "Although the Firefly player currently accounts for nearly all of Firefly Electronics' profits, much like cassette players and the MD players that were expected to be phased out before full adoption, this product is likely to be replaced by new portable music playback devices in the next five to ten years, such as phones."

"Well, Eric, I might have a solution," Jeff Kleber declared, "We can spin off the Firefly player business, establish a separate subsidiary, and then seek our required partners under that subsidiary's name. This way, other potential departments of Firefly Electronics won't be disturbed. Moreover, if it's true, as you say, that the Firefly player is destined to be eliminated, we could even cash out this operation at its peak, if you're willing to sell."

Upon hearing Jeff's suggestion, everyone's eyes lit up, and Eric's finger that had been spinning the pencil stopped.

In reality, as long as they could quickly promote the Firefly player, Eric didn't mind sharing some profits with a few record labels, but he was quite resistant to allowing record companies to directly invest in Firefly Electronics. For someone who could clearly see the future, the real valuable assets of Firefly Electronics were the ARM company and multiple tech teams related to tablets and smartphones; the Firefly player felt more like a transitional product to him.

Jeff Kleber's proposal sparked a sense of clarity for Eric. Spinning off the Firefly player business into its own subsidiary could not only solve the current problems Firefly Electronics faced but could even lead to the Firefly player operating as a standalone public entity.

After all, while Henry Paulson's words at the Hearst party may have had ulterior motives, there was a truth in it: executives and employees holding shares in Firefly Electronics all hoped the company would go public to gain greater wealth, and such aspirations were entirely reasonable.

Eric slowly circled a section of the documents in front of him with his pencil. After pondering for a moment, he marked the center of the circle, looked up at everyone, and said, "Then it's decided. Now, let's discuss how to execute this plan."

...

Inside the Marriott Hotel's banquet hall.

It was already nine o'clock in the evening. Although the hall was bustling with people, a mysterious air of anticipation spread through the crowd. Despite the event being hosted by Firefly Electronics, several key executives had yet to appear. Only one manager from the public relations department had come out to host the party's opening.

To entertain the guests from all over, the banquet hosted by Firefly Electronics was exceptionally well-prepared, with meticulous attention to all details, leaving guests with little to complain about. However, curiosity among them grew stronger, and many attendees glanced towards the entrance of the banquet hall, eager for the appearance of Firefly Electronics' executives. Some journalists present even retreated to corners to contact their outlets, trying to uncover what was happening.

After more than half an hour passed, the figures everyone had been eagerly awaiting finally appeared at the entrance of the banquet hall, causing the restlessness in the crowd to build.

Eric stayed back for a while before entering the banquet hall. By the time he walked in, everyone, including Victor McNally, was already surrounded by the crowd. As soon as Eric entered, he was cornered by Larry Ellison, who exclaimed, "Eric, tell me what happened! If you hadn't shown up, I would have called the cops!"

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1123: Reverse Authorization]

Although the specific split plan still needed further detailed discussions, Eric wasn't planning to hide this news.

On the contrary, he wanted to spread the word about Firefly Electronics' intention to divest the Fireflyer player business as soon as possible. This move could signal the external world that Firefly Electronics intended to spin off this business for an independent IPO, which might temporarily quiet down some forces making small moves behind the scenes.

Taking a glass of champagne from a waiter's tray, Eric got straight to the point with Larry Ellison: "I plan to separate the Fireflyer player business from Firefly Electronics soon and establish a dedicated subsidiary. We just discussed this issue in a meeting, which is why I'm a bit late."

Larry Ellison wasn't aware of the recent negotiations and power plays between Firefly Electronics and several major record labels. However, hearing this, he naturally thought of the increasingly heated NASDAQ market. Given the promotion speed and profitability of the Fireflyer player, if they pursued an IPO soon, it would surely achieve a high valuation.

"Eric, are you planning to let this subsidiary go public?"

Eric took a sip of champagne, waved over Christina, who was curiously peeking from a distance, and smiled at Larry. "We don't have any further plans yet. We'll separate the business first and see where it leads."

Larry watched as Eric affectionately patted Christina's head, the petite girl squinting her eyes with fluttering lashes, a look of enjoyment on her face. But he slightly grimaced, returning his focus to their discussion. "Eric, the NASDAQ has already peaked and could crash at any moment. If you let Firefly Electronics go public directly, you might still make it. But if you wait until the split is complete, you might miss this bull market."

"The Fireflyer player still has a lot of growth potential. If we miss this chance, we can wait a few more years."

The current annual sales of the Fireflyer player had just crossed 20 million units, but its market limit was far greater than that. Even if they missed this tech stock bull market, as long as the global sales of the Fireflyer player continued their current growth pace, delaying the IPO launch by two or three years could actually be more beneficial for Firefly Electronics.

...

Once Larry Ellison walked away, Eric looked at Christina, who was now clinging to him. He gently lifted her chin to examine her and said with a grin, "You've put on a bit of weight lately, haven't you? Been indulging yourself?"

Christina quickly defensively denied it, "Of course not, Eric! It's definitely your imagination."

Eric joked, "I don't care whether it's an imagination or not. But if you turn from a bottle sprite to a tub sprite, I might just ignore you."

The phrase 'bottle sprite' was one of the hit singles from Christina's recent debut album, which was also her breakout song. Since it was on his mind, Eric casually brought it up.

At that moment, the still svelte Christina clearly couldn't imagine herself as a tub sprite. A horrified expression flashed across her face as she lightly tugged Eric's arm, pouting in a cute and dissatisfied way, "That's never gonna happen! Eric, you really have a foul imagination."

Eric chuckled and changed the subject, "How has your first album been selling?"

"It's already topped 15 million copies," Christina said enthusiastically, but her smile quickly faded as she continued, "However, Mr. Weisz said that hitting 20 million is unlikely. It's probably going to settle around 18 million."

With the popularity she accumulated from her recent films in the MGM spy movie universe, along with the first impression edge of releasing an album ahead of Britney Spears, Christina could be considered the fastest rising teen pop singer in over a year.

"18 million is already impressive. Most artists don't break such high sales with their first album. Just put more heart into the next one, and you'll surely surpass 20 million."

As Eric spoke, he led Christina toward the buffet table. After a full four hours of meetings since the afternoon, he felt absolutely famished.

"Eric, could you give me some ideas for my next album?"

"Sure! But I don't have too much time, so I'll see if I can write a couple more songs for you."

...

Eric initially intended to return to Los Angeles the next day. However, due to the sudden decision to split the digital music player business, he would remain in San Francisco for a few more days to take part in the discussions about the split plan.

Meanwhile, the news of Firefly Electronics planning to separate the Fireflyer player business quickly spread, with the media immediately speculating about an IPO.

Although Firefly Electronics hadn't held an official press conference yet, various rumors had already confirmed this news, prompting an immediate response from the media and market. On the NASDAQ, the stock prices of other companies related to digital music players noticeably plummeted. Shares of component suppliers like Seagate, which provided micro-hard drives for the Fireflyer player, unsurprisingly reached new highs.

The upcoming subsidiary was simply named Fireflyer. During the initial registration of the Fireflyer trademark, Firefly Electronics had also registered this company simultaneously, so they could use it directly.

Determining the detailed split plan, however, proved to be much more challenging.

For a whole week, everyone discussed incessantly during meetings. Juggling the promotion work for the upcoming film Iron Man, Eric felt overwhelmed.

...

Time flew quickly to April 20.

The Tokyo premiere of Iron Man would be in two days, and Eric needed to fly to Japan the next morning.

At Firefly Electronics headquarters, Eric was participating in the last high-level meeting before leaving San Francisco.

The separation plan between Fireflyer and its parent company, Firefly Electronics, focused primarily on two aspects: the division of technical patents and profit-sharing after the split. Summarizing it appeared simple, but many details required careful consideration.

Just the patent technical scheme distribution for the digital music player occupied the team for an entire week. High-level executives disagreed mainly on whether the complete patent technology package for the digital music player should be placed into Fireflyer.

In the conference room, Eric patiently listened to several senior executives' suggestions, deciding not to let this disagreement continue any further. "I agree with Victor's proposal; the digital music player patent technologies will remain with the parent company, and Fireflyer will obtain authorization by paying royalties to the parent company. As for the royalty fee ratio, you all need to come up with a plan for me as soon as possible."

Bill Olsen was among those favoring placing the patents in Fireflyer, and he replied, "Eric, if that's the case, we'll face a tricky issue. Fireflyer will need to continue developing new products for the Fireflyer player. How will we manage the patents developed by Fireflyer?"

Victor McNally interjected, "That's an easy problem to solve. Fireflyer will retain its own technology. After the split, Firefly Electronics will focus on tablet and phone products, and there won't be any issues with designing in this area."

"But what if the parent company's electronic products need to use technology developed by Fireflyer?"

"If needed, we can naturally obtain the authorization."

"This would be unfair to Fireflyer; if it goes public, investors are sure to have issues with this."

Noticing that the two were about to argue again, Eric interrupted. "Bill, I need you to recognize the primary issue here: for us, Firefly Electronics is the most important. Fireflyer is merely a shell we're divesting from in search of partners. As long as we confirm a specific profit-sharing plan in advance, any investors who join Fireflyer will just have to accept it or walk away. So, regarding the issue you mentioned, the solution is simple: Fireflyer's developed technologies will automatically grant Firefly Electronics reverse authorization. Of course, if Firefly Electronics applies these technologies to its own products, we will pay patent fees too. That's how it stands. I don't want to see further disputes; your focus should be on refining the separation plan. Is there any problem?"

After Eric finished, he scanned the now-silent conference room, and everyone fell quiet, so he nodded with satisfaction. "Then it's settled. I expect to see the specific plan when I return from London after the premiere of Iron Man."

...

By evening, the meetings for the day wrapped up, and everyone began leaving the conference room. Eric, however, didn't rise. Victor McNally and Bill Olsen both tacitly remained behind.

Eric quietly reviewed the meeting notes from that day before he looked up at the two, bluntly asking, "Have you two been having private disagreements?"

Recently, not only was there the issue of separating the digital music player patents, but Victor McNally and Bill Olsen had also been subtly at odds on various fronts.

"Eric, that's absolutely not the case. My disagreements with Bill are strictly about work."

"A conflict between the CEO and president on work issues is even worse for me as the owner."

Bill Olsen sensed Eric's displeasure and responded. "Eric, we can assure you that it won't affect our specific work."

"I don't see it that way," Eric chuckled, sitting up straight and looking at the two. "Let's break this down. Your disagreement boils down to the profit distribution between Fireflyer and Firefly Electronics. Bill, you lean toward Fireflyer; Victor, you firmly stand with Firefly Electronics. So I want to know why."

Victor McNally kept silent; he wasn't great with words as a technical executive. Despite being the CEO, he primarily focused on product development. Moreover, he was aware that Eric's personal stance was clearly on his side, which seemed to be enough for now.

Bill Olsen paused before speaking up. "Eric, I hope after the split I can exchange my shares for Fireflyer stock."

"Do you need money?"

Bill instinctively shook his head but felt the denial was weak, so he slightly nodded. "If possible, I'd like Fireflyer to go public quickly after the split."

Victor McNally and Bill Olsen had been with Firefly Electronics since its inception, but their pay wasn't particularly high. Eric had originally given them a starting salary of $300,000, which was only increased to $800,000 last year; this was already top-tier for a managerial position.

Of course, the primary income for top-tier managers came from bonuses and stock options, but in the first few years, their income in that area had been zero.

Only last year did they earn their first bonus due to Fireflyer's tremendous success. After Fireflyer's sales surpassed 20 million units the previous year, Bill Olsen and Victor McNally received even bigger bonuses at the beginning of the year -- both personally set by Eric at $20 million. Moreover, they also received close to $200 million in stock each.

So, hearing Bill Olsen say this disappointed Eric a bit.

"Bill, if you focus on the NASDAQ, you should understand that we can't possibly catch this bull market. Even if we barely manage to go public right before the NASDAQ crashes, your shares will still be under a year-long lockup period. So, no matter what, cashing out will be impossible."

"Eric, I completely understand that, and I never thought about cashing out quickly."

"Then that means," Eric interlaced his fingers on the conference table and leaned forward, "you want to increase your wealth, even if it's just on paper. Or do you think I've paid you too little?"

Bill Olsen fell into silence again.

Eric waited a moment, shaking his head. "If you genuinely believe that, I have nothing more to say. But you need to understand that just this year, I've given you $220 million, and the $200 million in stocks is just a conservative estimate based on a 10x price-to-earnings ratio. If Firefly Electronics goes public, at a 30x price-to-earnings ratio, that becomes $600 million. Tell me, which Silicon Valley executive could earn $600 million in a year?"

Bill Olsen slightly lowered his head, unable to meet Eric's gaze.

After a moment, Eric continued, "Maybe you feel that Eric Williams, a young punk, has $300 billion, and you only have $600 million. That's unfair; you should have at least $6 billion or $60 billion, right?"

"Eric, I never thought about it that way."

"Then stop overthinking," Eric emphasized, casting a stern glance at Bill Olsen. "I have never shortchanged anyone who works for me. In fact, I tend to give more than necessary. If you're still unsatisfied, you can tell me anytime. I can let you go to seek what you consider better opportunities."

"Eric, well, I'm sorry."

"Then it's settled," Eric stood up directly. "Get me the specific proposal as soon as possible. I hope to see a preliminary draft when I return from London."

With that, Eric left the conference room without looking back.

Victor McNally watched Eric's figure fade away before saying, "Bill, you shouldn't think that way."

"Sorry, Victor," Bill Olsen rubbed his forehead in defeat. "I've probably been too busy and stressed lately."

"You should know that Eric is even busier than us."

"Sorry."

"Let's go grab a drink; it's on me."

After hesitating, Bill Olsen nodded, then got to his feet. "Let me treat, actually."

"You should find a moment to call Eric."

"I will."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1124: Cybersecurity]

Ventura.

At ten in the morning, Joss Whedon, the director of Iron Man, along with lead actress Bridget Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Natasha Henstridge, and other key team members arrived at Eric's private airport. They gazed at the imposing Boeing 747 parked on the runway. While private jets weren't entirely foreign to most present, everyone couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

"Mr. Whedon, Miss Fonda, and everyone, please follow me," Merissa Mayer greeted them and continued, "We can board the plane directly; it will take off in half an hour. Mr. Williams is currently in a video conference with New York, so he can't welcome you all personally, and he sincerely apologizes."

Naturally, no one minded these details and readily acknowledged before boarding the plane. Several crew members even stepped forward to help carry their luggage. The journey ahead would be extensive, as the group was set to fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo, then from Tokyo to London, and afterward back -- a full globe-trotting experience.

In the past, even if the movie studio arranged the finest first-class seats or even a dedicated chartered flight, there would be some complaints. But this time, everyone was filled with deep anticipation for the trip.

The film's crew, along with staff from Firefly Group, assistants to Bridget Fonda, and others, created a party of over thirty people. Once everyone boarded and settled in, about half an hour had passed. Merissa Mayer personally confirmed that all were present before notifying the flight crew to prepare for takeoff.

...

In the front cabin, Eric's office.

Hearing the flight attendant's signal, Eric and Chris exchanged a few words before ending their video call. Eric casually pulled the seatbelt from the side of his chair and fastened it. Caroline, who had been standing across from Eric's desk, also sat down on a single sofa beside him, fastening her seatbelt.

Moments later, as the plane began to take off, causing its characteristic bumps, Eric noticed Caroline appeared a bit tense. He smiled and said, "Would you like to come over and sit with me?"

Caroline blinked, her face slightly flushed, and playfully replied, "No."

"Or should I sit over there?"

"Eric, I definitely have to tell my aunt about this trip to London."

Hearing Caroline's teasing threat, Eric humorously pretended to be afraid. "Okay, I'm sorry."

They chatted casually, and before they knew it, the plane was flying smoothly. Eric unbuckled his seatbelt and said, "I'm going to say hi to everyone."

Caroline got up and followed him.

...

Although they didn't mind others boarding the private jet, it seemed unavoidable, yet Eric still preferred to maintain his personal space. This tendency was something Merissa Mayer had joked about privately, saying Eric had a primitive sense of territoriality, like a lion.

Therefore, the first quarter of the Boeing's cabin, excluding the cockpit, was considered Eric's absolute personal space. Aside from Eric, no one else could enter without permission.

After leaving the front cabin and passing through the communal lounge connecting to the cabin doors, Eric and Caroline reached the midsection of the plane. Only the last section had a cabin similar to a standard commercial jet, reserved for bodyguards, assistants, and other crew members, but it was even more luxurious than typical first-class seating. The remaining areas closely resembled a regular apartment.

At that moment, everyone gathered at the small bar in the midsection, drinking and chatting. When they saw Eric, they all stood up.

Eric greeted everyone one by one and took a seat beside the spacious bar. He ordered a cocktail from the flight attendant and began discussing the upcoming schedule and promotional details for Iron Man. This continued until they had lunch together, at which point everyone expressed the need for a break and dispersed.

...

"New Line gave me a script. Although it's a lead role, I have to portray a femme fatale. This is all your fault, Eric! Ever since Basic Instinct, everyone has been so eager to create thrillers featuring femme fatales. My agent is worried that I'll get pigeonholed, so they turned it down."

In the lounge area next to the restaurant, Natasha Henstridge lounged on the sofa, her curves accentuated as she glanced at the man beside her, recounting her recent events. One hand toyed with the corner of Eric's shirt, seemingly checking for loose threads.

Eric clearly noticed a small thread peeking out from the hem of Natasha's blouse and wanted to help her check it. However, Caroline often instinctively avoided his interactions with other women., and after crossing that boundary, Merissa had a habit of looking out for potential interruptions, prompting Eric to suppress his less-than-innocent thoughts. "Trying different genres is fine. However, your primary focus should still be on lead roles in mid-budget action films or as a supporting actress in big productions. If you do well with Underworld, you won't struggle to find work for the next ten years. This series could easily span five or six films."

"I know," Natasha replied, noticing Eric's gaze lingering on her chest. She shot him a playful glance but was clearly puzzled by his gentlemanly demeanor today. So, she asked, "Eric, can I go check out the front?"

Eric shook his head with a smile. "Now is not the best time; it's still daytime."

As he said this, someone knocked on the door of the lounge.

Eric turned, feeling a twinge of regret for letting his thoughts wander towards his assistant, and then she appeared.

"Mary, is there something you need?"

"Eric, Mitnick is online. He said the encryption software you needed has been sent over, but there seems to be something else."

Eric nodded. "I'll head over now."

Merissa Mayer responded, casting a cool glance at Natasha Henstridge before turning to leave.

"Eric, your assistant has quite the personality," Natasha remarked.

"Yeah," Eric said, reaching out to touch Natasha's delicate face. "A pretty face alone can't get this job done."

"Are you calling me a pretty face?" Natasha replied, turning her head away, not pleased. "That doesn't sound like a compliment at all."

Eric stood with a smile. "Alright, we can chat more later."

...

As Eric walked out of the lounge, he found Merissa still standing in the hallway, pretending to read a document.

Eric casually patted Merissa on her well-fitted crimson suit at her waist and nonchalantly walked toward the front cabin. Startled by the sudden contact, Merissa shot him an annoyed glare and, with her face stern, followed behind.

Once in the front cabin office, Yahoo's Chief Technology Officer, Steve Mitnick, appeared on the video call screen, but he was busy focusing on something. Caroline, still seated on her single sofa beside him, stood up as Eric entered, intending to leave. Eric waved her off and gestured for Merissa to sit as well.

He then addressed Steve Mitnick on the video call. "Steve, how's it going?"

Hearing Eric's voice, Steve Mitnick looked up. "Eric, I've sent the encryption software to your email. The method is simple. You can also set up a decoy file; once encrypted, the encryption software, the target file, and the decoy file will merge into one. Unless the correct password is input, it cannot be separated, significantly increasing the difficulty of cracking it. I've also set up a trap; even highly skilled technicians could easily get lost and only retrieve the decoy file, while the real file would be deleted automatically."

Eric sat behind his desk, pleased as he checked his email and then smiled, "What about you?"

"I can definitely manage," Steve replied straightforwardly. "But don't worry, Eric; I won't do that. I'm a person of principles."

Eric scoffed, "I remember you sneaking into my laptop once."

"That was just that one time, I assure you," Steve dismissed. "Besides, I wasn't snooping through your personal files. As long as you physically isolate the encrypted files, I won't be able to crack anything."

"Fine," Eric shrugged. "Mary mentioned you had other matters to discuss?"

"Yes," Steve said, glancing down at his laptop, "Eric, I need to check your plane's network system. It will take about five minutes."

Eric was puzzled. "What?"

"Just consider it a security check," Steve replied, casually tapping on his laptop.

Still confused, Eric watched as his video call screen and computer began to auto-reboot. While it lasted, Eric grew concerned about whether Steve's tinkering might affect the plane's navigation. However, everything returned to normal after a while, and Steve Mitnick focused back on his laptop screen.

Seeing nothing unusual, Eric remained silent, patiently waiting until Steve looked up. "No problem; at least your plane's network is secure and hasn't been monitored. However, Eric, I still recommend a thorough bug sweep of the entire plane."

Eric chuckled, "If Boeing is found to be spying on its customers, how can they continue to do business?"

Steve shook his head. "Eric, many world leaders lack a dedicated Air Force One. Do you know why?"

"Hmm?"

"When they order presidential planes from Boeing or Airbus, they often find that it's essentially a massive surveillance device once delivered -- totally unusable. Thus, those leaders can only randomly summon commercial planes from their national airlines."

"I'm not a world leader; I'm just a businessman."

"Right now, you're attracting more attention than many heads of state, making you a prime target for anyone willing to go to great lengths to obtain information about you."

"Didn't expect you to flatter me."

"A bit of sympathy, too."

Eric shrugged. "Alright, so what's the plan?"

"First, as I mentioned earlier, you need to conduct a thorough sweep for bugs on everything around you, even your staff. Oh, Mary and Carly, I'm not suggesting it's you."

Eric interrupted, "Let's get to the point."

"Well, I can personally oversee and maintain the security of Firefly's email system, but Firefly staff could also become targets, particularly concerning your personal communications. They might inadvertently leak your private email information, so it's crucial that you minimize sending sensitive information through emails. Additionally, the entire Firefly system needs a network and device update and employee training on cybersecurity, which could be quite costly. Lastly, while I'm not an expert on mobile phones or landlines, they're also extremely vulnerable, and you'll need to hire a technology expert for that."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1125: EEstonian, is That Obscure Enough?]

Although Firefly Group was not a publicly traded company, it invested a staggering $7 billion into the Clover Fund over the past few years to buy technology stocks, making it necessary for Eric to explain this to the other shareholders.

Therefore, Clover Fund's substantial technology stock holdings were not a secret to many. This also seemed to explain why, recently, Eric's personal communication systems were often under attack.

Since making a fortune in oil futures during the Gulf War, Eric's financial success had been a subject of study for many. After the Gulf War, however, there didn't seem to be any major operations that garnered attention in the financial market from Eric. Even during the Southeast Asian financial crisis a couple of years back, his and Chris's combined investment of a few hundred million dollars was just a drop in the bucket compared to the international investments which totaled in the hundreds of billions.

In recent years, Eric had rapidly expanded his personal wealth mainly through long-term investments in new tech companies. Such long-term strategies rarely attracted speculative capital that typically focuses on short-term gains.

However, things were different now.

The Clover Fund had over $30 billion worth of technology stocks, far exceeding the profits Eric made in the oil futures market during the Gulf War. Although he hadn't shown any remarkable moves in stock trading over the years, Clover Fund's early investment in tech stocks proved his exceptional financial foresight was at least comparable to his earlier oil futures operations.

Consequently, people naturally thought that if they could figure out Eric's strategies behind the Clover Fund's technology stock operations, they could follow suit or develop specific stock investment strategies to easily profit.

Prompted by Steve Mitnick, Eric immediately wiped clean all emails related to Clover Fund's operations from his personal email and instructed all trading studios working on Clover Fund to do the same.

Eric even felt a bit relieved that he had chosen to communicate via email during this period, as he found it hard to determine whether his phone or landline was being tapped.

However, after all these actions, it was clear the situation was still unresolved.

He remembered the various eavesdropping scandals in Hollywood that had occurred more than once. Once just a spectator, Eric now found himself in the midst of the situation. Although he hadn't personally experienced it, he could gauge the potential damage a similar incident could bring to the Firefly operation.

Thus, Eric took Steve Mitnick's advice and called for a meeting with Firefly's executives on the plane to discuss rebuilding the Firefly communication system.

As for the necessary expenses, it was clearly the least concerning issue for the current Firefly operation.

Upon learning that Firefly's email system had been attacked 37 times in just a week -- and this was only regarding the breaches Steve Mitnick had personally noted after getting past Yahoo's external firewall -- everyone was extremely cautious.

Throughout the eight-hour flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo, Eric mainly discussed the matter with Jeffrey Katzenberg, John Chambers, Ian Gurney, and even Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who was thousands of miles away in Finland.

The meeting wrapped up only as the Boeing 747 entered Japanese airspace.

He briefly connected with Drew, asking her to find an information security company to conduct anti-eavesdropping checks on his locations -- Firefly Studios, the Burbank headquarters, and the various residences he often occupied, including Liberty City, Troutsdale Manor, and even in New York.

...

After hanging up, he looked out of the aircraft window, seeing the plane circling above Tokyo.

The flight attendant's voice came on again, and Eric buckled his seatbelt, looking across the aisle at Caroline and Merissa. "You girls should find an information security company in London too. When we get to the UK, let's have this plane checked out. Oh, and remind Liz and Drew about their flight. I forgot to mention it."

Both women nodded in agreement.

As the plane began its descent, Eric fell silent for a moment before asking, "What hotel did we book?"

Caroline replied, "The Okura Hotel."

"I'll pass; switch me to another hotel. Let's go with the Park Hyatt instead," Eric suddenly recalled the hotel from Lost in Translation and casually added, "And remember to keep it anonymous."

The two women understood why Eric was suddenly making such requests. He hadn't stayed in hotels much over the years, and considering this "opportunity", it was hard to imagine some people wouldn't take advantage of the situation to plant eavesdropping devices in his room.

Merissa asked, "So, Eric, should we also have someone check on the Park Hyatt side?"

Eric hesitated, feeling he really had no reason not to, nodded, "Keep it low-key. Let's find a federal company to do the check -- we're here for a movie promotion."

Merissa thought for a moment and remarked, "The embassy should have professional anti-eavesdropping equipment."

"Do you think that's feasible?"

"Well, protecting their citizens is their duty," Merissa grinned and added, "Plus, we could always get a few invitation letters for the Iron Man premiere ready for them."

Eric chuckled, "That sounds too insincere. Why not just pay for it as a rental?"

Merissa shook her head, "No need, Eric. I'll take care of it."

...

Tokyo was eight hours ahead of Los Angeles, which meant that after an eight-hour flight, it was still around 10 AM there.

After sending Joss Whedon and his crew off from Haneda Airport to the booked Okura Hotel, Eric stayed on the plane a bit longer, waiting for Caroline and Merissa to coordinate with the local office of Buena Vista International to set everything up before leaving the airport.

At Park Hyatt, it turned out the embassy staff used a few premiere invitations to entice them to conduct a comprehensive security check on Eric's newly booked room. Before leaving, several workers excitedly posed for a picture with Eric.

Such theatrics were rather predictable.

However, Merissa seemed to take it all for granted, and even brought up something she happened to know about Kevin Costner.

Years ago when Costner was in Tokyo promoting his disastrous Waterworld, he had his private jet denied landing at a Japanese airport. He had to ask the U.S. military base for help, which promptly agreed to lend him a military airport on the condition they could screen the film for their soldiers.

Inside his room at Park Hyatt, after the embassy staff left, Eric invited Buena Vista International's Japan branch manager, Coyle Crowe, to sit by the living room window and update him on the status of Iron Man's release in Japan.

Coyle Crowe was a middle-aged white man in his early forties, perhaps having spent a long time in Japan, he exuded an air of meticulousness.

After introducing the distribution work for Iron Man, Coyle pulled out a stack of invitations from his briefcase and said, "Mr. Williams, here are some invitations from companies here in Japan for you. Additionally, there's an interview invitation from Fuji TV."

"Just turn it down," Eric took the stack of invitations, flipped through them, and shook his head. "I'm only in Tokyo for two days, leaving the day after tomorrow."

"Understood, Mr. Williams," Coyle nodded without further persuasion and added, "If there's nothing else, I'll get back to work."

Eric looked at his watch and smiled, "It's noon. Let's grab lunch together, though I'm not too familiar with this area."

Coyle quickly got up, "I'll take you to a restaurant," then glanced at the two women who were changing the couch covers and bed linen, "Do these two ladies want to join us?"

Eric shook his head, "No need to bother them."

...

Eric walked out of the room with Coyle, heading to the restaurant at Park Hyatt where they ordered a simple lunch while continuing to discuss business matters regarding Japan.

As Asia's leading box office market and the largest outside of North America, Hollywood's major film companies attached great importance to this market and had set up subsidiaries in Japan.

"Recently, Hironobu Sakaguchi reached out to me; he hasn't given up on the Final Fantasy animation movie yet. However, after we declined, other Hollywood companies were unwilling to take over the project," Coyle was obviously a chatty person and began to relax a little around the boss. He continued, "Now, I hear Square has acquired a batch of graphic workstations and plans to create it without Hollywood's involvement. However, the budget for this animation film is at least $100 million. If it fails, Square will probably go bankrupt. That said, Final Fantasy is Japan's national game and should succeed easily in the Japanese market."

Eric listened with a smile; he knew that historically, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within had flopped both in North America and Japan. Square went bankrupt, merging with another game company.

Now, without the financial and distribution support from Hollywood, if this animation film matched its previous quality, it would undoubtedly lead to an even worse outcome.

Speaking of animation, Eric suddenly recalled another matter. "By the way, I remember last year we reached a cooperative agreement with another animation company here?"

"Studio Ghibli," Coyle nodded and replied, "Miyazaki is working on his new animation, with a budget of only $17 million. We're responsible for 30% of the investment and hold all overseas rights for the film."

Given that Eric had decisively shut down Disney's hand-drawn animation department, Coyle instinctively sensed the big boss wasn't a fan of 2D animation. After speaking, he cautiously added, "Miyazaki's work differs entirely from Hollywood's 2D animations and what we have in Japan. His animations are filled with imagination and philosophical contemplation. The last film we distributed, Princess Mononoke, was a solid success; the current one, Spirited Away, has a more creative script, which is why we sought to join the production team. Plus, we only invested $5 million, and with overseas all-channel operations, not recouping costs should not be a problem."

Eric maintained an indifferent expression on the surface but wondered how much Spirited Away had grossed globally.

Of course, he didn't remember.

But a $5 million investment for all overseas rights was definitely a good deal.

Eric was also aware of why Coyle's tone was so cautious. It wasn't just because of his personal decision to shut down the 2D department; in fact, before Spirited Away, while every Miyazaki film received acclaim, they often underperformed in box office revenue. Many animations barely broke even, largely relying on peripheral merchandise to recoup costs in Japan's massive animation merchandise industry.

Historically, Spirited Away was the film that cemented Miyazaki's legendary status. Afterward, his animated works frequently topped Japan's box office charts.

Truth be told, a $5 million investment hardly reached the approval threshold for Eric's level. The prior project by Buena Vista International, Princess Mononoke, didn't perform particularly well either. Eric vaguely remembered viewing the collaboration agreement between Buena Vista International's Japan branch and Studio Ghibli two years ago but hadn't paid much attention since then.

Thus, it was only now that Eric discovered, unbeknownst to him, Firefly had actually become a producer of Spirited Away.

He still had to stay in Tokyo for two more days, and given the recent network attack news from the flight, he had no desire to focus on any business matters during this time.

After Coyle finished speaking, Eric pondered and asked, "Could you arrange for me to visit Studio Ghibli?"

Coyle paused, initially thinking he misheard, but quickly nodded, "Of course, Mr. Williams! I can call them right away."

"Let's aim for this afternoon. Also, there is no need for any special arrangements; I just want to drop by privately."

Coyle readily agreed.

...

After lunch, Coyle stepped out, and Eric returned to his hotel room.

Noticing Eric's return, Caroline, who was sitting on the couch typing on her laptop, looked up and smiled, saying, "Eric, Kelly just sent another email. She's asking how we will contact Clover Fund's trading studio if we can't use email anymore."

Not knowing where Merissa had wandered off to, Eric sat beside Caroline, curious about her laptop screen. "Just use the phone. Have Kelly set up an encrypted line."

Feeling Eric's presence next to her, Caroline's cheeks grew slightly rosy as she said, "But that could still be eavesdropped on."

"Then let's make it harder for anyone to understand."After mulling it over for a moment, he said, "Let's use a pretty obscure language."

"What would that be?"

Eric thought for a second and chuckled, "Estonian, is that obscure enough?"

Caroline instinctively glanced at Eric's arm, scrunched her little nose slightly, but didn't voice any objections.

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1126: Seeking Solitude]

The Studio Ghibli headquarters was located in Koganei, a suburb of Tokyo, only a little over ten kilometers from the Park Hyatt, where Eric was staying.

From the outside, it appeared to be just a modest five or six-story building.

By mid-afternoon, the entrance bore long green vines that had climbed up its white walls, giving the structure a touch of life amidst the onset of summer.

Around two o'clock, in the open workspace on the third floor, Caroline politely thanked an employee who brought her another cup of coffee. Although she sensed the surrounding artists were stealing glances at her, she felt less shy this time. Her gaze was focused on a figure in the nearby cubicle, chatting with the well-known director named Hayao Miyazaki.

She felt a twinge of sympathy.

He possessed a personality charisma and social skills that could make anyone feel at ease within a minute, yet she knew he was not fond of socializing. It was only because of his position that he had developed this seemingly split personality.

If possible, she knew he preferred to be alone, quietly spending his days in a spacious house, sitting at a cluttered desk filled with documents, sketches, and books. Perhaps he would enjoy the company of a quiet woman, reminiscent of a cat - tall, barefoot, dressed in a white shirt with a delicate face. This had nothing to do with desire; it was purely decorative.

She'd once witnessed such a moment when she had gone to the Liberty City mansion to deliver documents one weekend. At that time, he appeared far more relaxed than usual.

Now, she wanted to hold him.

Or perhaps, she wanted him to hold her.

There was a faint regret; if only she were fluent in Japanese, she could be sitting next to him like the translator the company had invited, a little closer to him.

During this period, Caroline could noticeably feel the growing insecurity radiating from Eric. Since their acquaintance, she had gradually understood that he was fundamentally an insecure person. He seemed to have a firm grasp on the world's trajectory but remained oblivious to his own future.

The issues Steve Mitnick mentioned on the plane would surely add to his worry.

Those people were simply dreadful.

...

Initially, upon hearing that Eric Williams intended to visit the studio, Miyazaki had been quite resistant. He did not want his work to be disrupted but knew he couldn't refuse such a visit. So, he hoped to receive Eric politely, like so many times before, and then promptly send this important figure on his way.

However, after a brief encounter, Miyazaki discovered that Eric Williams was entirely different from the usual visitors who came out of curiosity, admiration, or other motives. This particularly young man seemed to come for solitude.

Although Eric had sent away the animator next door to occupy the neighboring desk, which was somewhat annoying, as long as it didn't disrupt the studio's work, these minor inconveniences were tolerable.

Then, they chatted politely through the beautiful translator seated between them.

Miyazaki soon found that conversing with this young man felt surprisingly pleasant.

"I just want to tell a story about seeking reasons and strength in life. Society is becoming increasingly restless, and people are growing numb, completely unaware of what they should pursue or how to live. In the end, I can't be sure what will come of it; I can only continue to move forward as per my goals," he explained gently, focusing on the work in front of him.

At the desk, Miyazaki, who was nearing sixty, concentrated on sketching, discussing his project in a warm tone.

Eric, also focused, bent over his notes from the animator's rough drafts, carefully drawing a scene involving Chihiro in the boiler room, casually chatting as one might with an old friend: "I think most people will see a bizarre adventure story. You shouldn't expect them to understand too much."

"That's already enough; audiences don't like being lectured. It's what filmmakers like us need to do -- embed meanings into our works. If the audience wishes to interpret them, that's great. If not, they can still enjoy a good story."

"I'm more inclined to simply give them a straightforward story."

"Eric, you're too pessimistic."

"Maybe so. In movies, I could easily be the villain who believes humanity is undeserving of saving and chooses to destroy the world."

Miyazaki laughed. "Thankfully, you live in reality; that's quite a blessing for everyone."

Eric chuckled and handed over a page of his sketch. "Hey, Miyazaki, take a look at what I drew."

Miyazaki took the sketch, initially without expectations, but after seeing it, his face revealed surprise. "Excellent, Eric! Although it's a bit too realistic. If you could intern here for three months, you'd definitely become a top-tier animator."

"Why don't we discuss my salary issue right now?"

"Forget it; that sounds more like selling off everyone in this building."

The three in the cubicle burst into laughter, catching the attention of others in the studio.

Realizing they had drawn the gaze of the entire studio, Miyazaki quickly composed himself, returned to his sketch, and tentatively asked, "What made you think of coming to see me?"

"I'm your fan."

"You aren't, Eric. You've lost your childlike spirit."

"Yeah, when Coyle told me the company invested in your new film, my first thought was how much money could be made from it?"

"I regret to inform you, Eric, my films rarely turn a profit."

"But they'll undoubtedly be worthwhile for many years to come; that's enough. I still consider myself a capitalist with some artistic pursuits," Eric replied with a smile, glancing sideways. "I heard you plan to retire?"

"Originally intended to retire, but I've thought maybe I could make one more film. After finishing Spirited Away, I really will retire."

"Ha, what do you plan to do after retirement?"

Miyazaki fell silent for a moment and then replied, "Of course, just live like an ordinary old man."

"Then why not keep working?"

"I'm old now, Eric, not as energetic as I was in my thirties or forties. I even worry that if I continue, I might die halfway through."

"From your words, it seems you're quite pessimistic. However, I still recommend that you continue -- you age faster if you stop working, and it's entirely meaningless. Hollywood's got two old guys, both older than you, probably in their sixties or seventies, but they're still working fiercely. Every time I see them, I think they could go on for another twenty years."

Miyazaki seemed curious about the two older gentlemen Eric mentioned, and the translator seated between them offered an explanation. She clearly knew about Redstone and Murdoch.

After hearing her explanation, Miyazaki still shook his head. "This is different; I truly lack the energy. I've spent my life striving to do my best, and if I can't finish what I started, that would be terrible -- my entire lifetime's reputation."

"You really shouldn't feel that way. To put it harshly, even if you did die halfway, as an artist's posthumous work, it would still have huge appeal. They'd surely help you finish it."

"I know that, but I'm just worried they won't devote enough effort."

"Then I'll keep an eye on it for you."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, if such an unfortunate event does occur, I'll oversee them to ensure they're committed to finishing it," Eric suggested, casting a glance at the translator seated between them. "Miss Sotoda can vouch for that."

Miyazaki finally put down his pencil, turned to him, then glanced at the bright-eyed translator nearby. "Eric, are you serious?"

"Of course," Eric nodded. "I don't make promises lightly."

"That's not reasonable," Miyazaki shook his head, looking touched yet hesitant, his hands habitually rubbing against his pants. "We just met."

Eric chuckled. "I'm a big shot; naturally, I have to occasionally do some unreasonable things to show my uniqueness."

Miyazaki chuckled lightly again, sitting back down, but he picked up the sketch Eric had just passed him. After a careful examination, he hesitated, saying, "Eric, when you come to Japan next time, you can stop by again."

"Absolutely."

...

After spending the afternoon at Studio Ghibli, Eric was invited by Miyazaki to enjoy dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then he boarded the vehicle headed back to the city center.

As night fell, the streets illuminated in neon lights.

Tokyo's buildings were densely packed but not overly tall; as the black SUV maneuvered through the streets, it felt more like navigating through a small town. Only upon reaching Shinjuku District did the occasional brightly lit skyscraper emerge between the closely-knit structures.

Caroline sat beside Eric; after getting into the vehicle, she snuggled up to him like a kitten, wrapping her arms around one of his, resting her head on his shoulder.

Eric gazed dreamily at the neon lights outside for a while, then tilted his head to rub his cheek against Caroline's soft golden hair, smiling, "What a pity, typically in this position, a man can feel something soft."

"Eric, you're so naughty," Caroline playfully scolded, shifting slightly and whispering, "How about now?"

"Hmm, I'd give you a passing grade."

Eric feigned reluctance, but Caroline smiled, resting her head once more on Eric's shoulder.

After a brief escape, they inevitably faced the return of reality.

...

The next morning, upon waking, everyone began preparing for the Tokyo premiere of Iron Man, remaining busy until ten o'clock that night when the premiere concluded.

The Tokyo premiere was merely part of Iron Man's promotional strategy in Japan, as the film was set to release simultaneously with North America. Following the premiere, the next steps would be handled by the local branch of Buena Vista. Eric and the crew swiftly boarded a plane bound for London.

...

In the boardroom of the Boeing 747.

"Eric, the CACI team has already arrived in London. This is an established security company from California, focusing on information security. Ms. Barrymore and Ms. Murdoch's plane inspection work has begun. They can conduct a thorough check as soon as we arrive, but the detailed results will likely take about a week."

Compared to the straightforward trip to Japan, Eric had several other tasks in the UK beyond the London premiere on the 26th, nearly requiring a week's stay.

He nodded and continued to flip through the candidate list for The Bourne Identity.

Merissa paused for a moment, seeing Eric's silence as agreement, and continued, "Also, regarding the secure phone; Nokia's lab has been considering a similar secure business phone plan, though it hasn't made it to the product line. Kelly found a Canadian company's product that focuses on secure phones. I shared the information with the engineers at Nokia, and they approved of this company's technology. One engineer even suggested that, if possible, Nokia should consider acquiring this company."

Eric looked up. "A Canadian phone company?"

Merissa Mayer handed over some documents. "Yes, here's the info."

Eric took it and glanced at it.

Blackberry.

With a smile, Eric quickly reviewed the file, saying, "Have Nokia prepare a detailed evaluation report; if possible, let's acquire this company. Also, if we can guarantee security, it won't only be for the executives -- we can promote this phone throughout the entire company."

"Got it."

Merissa nodded, beginning to jot things down in her memo.

Eric raised the candidate list for The Bourne Identity, turning to Caroline. "The others are fine, but I don't like Katie Holmes for the role of the contact Nikky; she's too mediocre, lacking any qualities that would stick in viewers' minds. Have them find someone else. Also, for the female lead, several candidates are good, but let's have them add Naomi Watts and see how her audition goes."

Caroline looked puzzled. "Naomi Watts?"

"Nicole's best friend," Eric smiled. "Nicole called me, so let's give her a shot. I think she's quite suitable."

Just then, a video call ringtone sounded. Eric answered casually, and the wall screen illuminated, revealing the girl's delicate face on video.

As soon as the connection was made, she waved a black ashtray in her hand. "Eric, guess what this is?"

"A listening device?"

"Wow, that was too easy!"

"Why don't you just tell me how things are going over there?"

"Alright," she said, shaking another box in front of Eric, producing a rattling sound, "Look, these are all the things we've gathered recently."

https//Sayonara816.

[Chapter 1127: You Seem Really Excited?]

Eric looked at the variety of electronic devices in the box in front of the girl. Although the quantity wasn't large, it still sent shivers down his spine. "Did you find all of these at our place?"

"Not all of them," Drew replied as she picked up the black ashtray again. "This one came from Jeffrey's office. He's absolutely furious about it and has already hired a detective agency to look into the matter. He wants to throw all those traitors to the company in prison. The others were gathered from my and Liz's homes, Firefly Studios, the Burbank headquarters, and the Liberty City estate. Thankfully, they only found one at the Liberty City estate, in that sitting room next to the hall, which is one place you rarely visit. The top floor bedroom and the underground study are areas that Natasha and I always kept clean. The maids didn't have access, and after multiple thorough checks, nothing was found. Also, they caught someone at the estate. I wanted to toss her into the ocean, but that would be illegal, so she's still there, waiting until this blows over, then we'll make her pay as per the contract."

Even though the estate felt relatively secure, Eric didn't let his guard down at all as he glared at the girl. "You seem really excited?"

"It's thrilling!" she unabashedly laughed and leaned closer to the camera. "It feels like we are in Mission: Impossible."

If it weren't for the video call, Eric would have immediately given her a light smack on the forehead. "Alright, focus a bit more. What's going on in New York?"

"Not much there. I even checked the house where you keep the little fox. They usually clean it themselves, so there wasn't much of a chance for anyone to plant listening devices or maybe nobody was really interested in them." The girl continued, not caring about Eric making a fool of himself in front of Caroline and Merissa. "But Vicki mentioned that there were paparazzi hanging around East Hampton a while back, but they haven't been seen for a while now."

As long as it didn't interfere with the safety and lives of the women and children, Eric didn't mind paparazzi much. He processed the information the girl provided and asked, "By the way, when was the listening device planted at the estate?"

She seriously pulled out a folder from the side and flipped through it. "March 25. She was planning to place another device in the client area by the curtain wall that day, but there was a fierce little cat guarding it, and she didn't dare approach. For the next few weeks, you were mostly out of Los Angeles, and she only did cleaning once. She was cleaning the kitchen that time, and since Natasha was nearby, she didn't get a chance."

A fierce little cat?

Eric pondered for a moment, quickly recalling that Carmen Cass had been staying at the estate those days.

Thinking about Carmen's personality, that description was actually pretty spot on. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, giving the girl a warning look but gradually began to understand that all of this, including the network attacks and eavesdropping, primarily started within the last month.

Of course, Eric was also aware that external observation of him would definitely not have begun just that month.

But every behavior needs sufficient motivation and benefit to drive it. If one couldn't expect sufficient returns, they wouldn't recklessly eavesdrop on a super rich guy like Eric; if discovered, it would surely incur retaliation, and the return on investment wasn't great enough for most to act that way.

However, things were different now. Not just with Clover Fund, even within the Firefly system, stocks like Yahoo, Cisco, and Amazon had enough weight in the Nasdaq market to influence its direction.

If someone knew about the Firefly system's equity management plans for its new tech companies, given the current frenzy in the Nasdaq market, acting on such knowledge could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for speculative capital.

Even more so, if they could access serious negative information sufficient to affect the entire tech stock market, pre-establishing short positions could yield billions when the Nasdaq market crashed.

In his memory, the shocking 9/11 incident was rumored to have involved hedge funds heavily shorting airline stocks beforehand. While no solid evidence ever surfaced, it certainly wasn't without basis. Moreover, such maneuvers through insider information were entirely feasible.

After thinking for a moment, Eric instructed the girl, "Pay more attention during this time, and don't let anything happen."

"Uh-huh," she nodded and then asked, "So, Eric, aren't we going to catch the culprit?"

"This matter is for you to handle. Just don't do anything out of line. Let's not keep that maid locked up anymore; hand her over to the FBI."

Eric had little expectation that anything would come of it. Anyone in their right mind would try to ensure they wouldn't be implicated. He also had a general idea of who was behind the schemes, likely major Wall Street investment banks and large hedge funds. Small fries probably wouldn't have the resources to pull off something like this.

"But I think if we hand it over to the FBI, we'll be less likely to find anything," she protested.

"I just want to see if they can figure anything out."

The girl seemed to understand and nodded. "By the way, Eric, the CACI team has already conducted a preliminary inspection of the planes over here. Only some details need thorough testing. The president of CACI said there were basically no issues; yours should be about the same."

...

After discussing some more matters, Eric ended the video call. He leaned back in his leather chair and began to reflect on the recent events carefully.

The eavesdropping incident started about a month ago.

Fortunately, he had been incredibly busy during this month, hopping around Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and even recently Tokyo, leaving little opportunity for anyone to eavesdrop on him.

Moreover, the party most interested in Clover Fund, he had been very cautious from the start.

So far, only Eric himself fully understood the all-encompassing four-month sell-off plan. He merely confirmed a list of stocks and their quantities each week based on market conditions, handed it to Kelly, and then she would reach out to various trading studios for the sell-offs.

Other than that, even Chris and Katzenberg hadn't been privy to much of that information.

Thinking this through, it was likely that those people could only access Clover Fund's recent few weeks of sell-off operations. But even that was just a possibility; it was more probable the opponent was getting nothing, which was why there had been a frenzied attack on his personal email last week, catching Steve Mitnick's attention.

Clover Fund started selling on March 22, and today was April 23, a Friday -- just the perfect five-week period.

This week's cash-out amount still needed the weekend for calculation, but he roughly remembered the numbers from the previous weeks: $1.6 billion, $1.8 billion, $1.7 billion, and $2.1 billion.

In just four weeks, Clover Fund had made an insane $7.2 billion cash-out.

$7.2 billion was equivalent to what Eric had invested in capital over the past few years. In fact, if one included the $2.378 billion from the sale of 3.1% of stocks to AOL a few months ago, Clover Fund had already raked in substantial profits over the past few years.

So even if the Nasdaq index were to crash right now, Eric wouldn't be too fazed.

After all, aside from the stocks held by Clover Fund, the Firefly system had no plans whatsoever to unload any tech firms like Yahoo, Cisco, or Amazon. On the contrary, Eric hoped to take advantage of the bursting tech stock bubble to increase his holdings in those firms.

Currently, Wall Street's capital not only couldn't obtain what they wanted but couldn't get any necessary information from him.

Even Clover Fund, unless they could get details on Eric's large-scale transactions of tech stocks, plus account information, before blowing it up through the media, otherwise, merely eavesdropping on scraps of information would hardly shake the now totally out of control Nasdaq market.

As for tracking the actions of Clover Fund, even that was unrealistic. Many on Wall Street had already cleared out their tech stocks before the Nasdaq reached 3000 points. So now, even if they wanted to sell, they'd need to have stocks to sell in their accounts.

What these players could do now was either short sell or buy before selling again.

The former had already seen much capital engaging in such operations, while the latter's risk was even more significant than the former's.

...

Rubbing his temples, Eric opened his eyes to see Caroline and Merissa silently sitting opposite him and said, "You both should go and rest. There's still quite a while until we get to London."

Caroline and Merissa stood up together, concerned, and asked, "Eric, do you want to sleep for a bit?"

Eric nodded, stood up, and walked out of the study, heading straight into the front cabin's bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and exhaustedly collapsed onto the large bed.

Moments later, he felt the mattress sink slightly beside him, a faint fragrance wafting in. Eric instinctively reached towards it and felt Caroline's slender waist. He turned to see her bright eyes sparkling as she sat on the edge of the bed.

He patted the spot next to him and teased, "Come here and be my body pillow."

Caroline's face flushed slightly, but she quietly kicked off her shoes, undid her suit jacket buttons, took it off, folded it neatly, and lay down next to him, wearing just a thin blouse and white casual pants.

Eric really wanted to pull the girl closer, but as he looked at Caroline's quivering eyelashes and the nervous look on her face, still wearing her serious OL outfit, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Kissing her forehead, Eric chuckled, "It feels like I'm about to be executed here."

Caroline opened her eyes and turned to face Eric, locking eyes for a moment before she whispered, "Eric, should I have Mary come over?"

Eric immediately felt a bit guilty and shook his head. "I only want Carly with me."

Caroline blinked and touched Eric's face with her hand. "Eric, I'm quite smart. I know everything."

"And you know how to make the man you like feel even guiltier?"

"Uh-huh."

Eric grasped Caroline's small hand, kissed it, and said, "Well, I'm now so guilty I feel like jumping off the plane."

Caroline smiled and nestled against Eric's chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, whispering, "Eric, I like you."

That suddenly brought back memories of that night in Lonely Pine Town, where Caroline had said the same thing.

Eric hugged the girl beside him, saying, "Now I feel even guiltier for having a girl confess her feelings to me twice."

"Eric, I plan to make you feel guilty for a hundred years."

"A hundred years is too long. Is a lifetime okay instead?"

"Uh-huh."

...

In April, London's weather still felt chilly. As the plane landed at Heathrow Airport, fine rain fell from the sky, creating a gloomy, foggy scene.

London was eight hours behind Tokyo, but the distance was considerably greater than that from Los Angeles to Tokyo, exceeding twelve hours of travel. By the time they landed, it was already the afternoon of the 23rd in local time.

Caroline's home was very close to Heathrow. The premiere would occur the day after tomorrow, so Eric arranged for a car to take the girl home right at the airport. The CACI information security team from California had begun inspecting Eric's Boeing 747 as soon as they landed, with Carter Moen staying behind to keep an eye on things.

As they entered the city, they naturally checked out the Kensington residence again. After wrapping everything up, it was already evening.

"Mr. Colin Southgate, president of Midway Group, has agreed to the lunch invitation tomorrow noon. I've booked a table at the Royal Garden Hotel restaurant. The Bertelsmann Group hasn't replied yet; we should get news by tomorrow morning. Also, here are the financial reports of the two companies for the past five years. I've highlighted the important information," Merissa said as she placed several files on the coffee table. "This also includes the guest list for the premiere of Iron Man on the 26th, and the Japanese media reviews post-premiere in Tokyo were very positive. Mr. Coyle Crowe expected Iron Man's box office in Japan to reach around $50 million."

Eric stood at the coat rack in the corner of the living room, changing out of his trench coat while listening to Merissa's updates from the sofa. "Alright, let's go grab a bite."

"Eric, I..."

"Are you attending any art exhibit?"

"No."

"Then come with me to eat."

"..."

"Did you eavesdrop on my conversation with Carly on the plane?"

"No."

"Seems like you did. That's not a good habit," Eric laughed. "Looks like I really need to teach my eavesdropping assistant a lesson."

Merissa's face turned red. "Eric, you can't say that."

"I'm the boss; I can say whatever I want."

"I'll resign if you keep this up."

"Well, you still need to change that bad habit before resigning," Eric walked over and took her arm. "Come on, what do you want to eat?"

Merissa looked quite reluctant but still linked her arm with Eric's. "There's no way we'll get a table at the corner restaurant now."

"Then let's go somewhere else," Eric shrugged. "Honestly, these restaurants are like this. The more you care about them, the more proud they become. I always thought those who felt proud of being able to reserve a table at some restaurant were pretty foolish."

https//Sayonara816.

[T/N: We're celebrating one of our biggest festivals currently, and our extended family has come to visit. I'll be busy until next Sunday, so my updates may be sporadic until then.]

[Chapter 1128: Is it Cold?]

Early the next morning, the weather in London remained gloomy.

Without any appointments in the morning, after breakfast with Merissa Mayer, Eric was in his villa on Garden Street, flipping through financial reports from the two major record companies, EMI and BMG, when he received a phone call.

Not long after, Merissa came in with a shy girl, who turned out to be Poppy Delevingne, the same girl he had met during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in London.

The girl wore a pink hoodie, her slender legs in plain flats, looking like the quintessential neighborhood girl, all charm and grace.

Noticing her visibly nervous demeanor, Eric smiled and said, "Isn't it cold?"

Feeling the warmth of Eric's friendly smile, Poppy relaxed immediately, walked over, and sat next to him, responding, "A little, but it's okay."

Eric poured her a cup of coffee from the pot on the coffee table, handed it over, and commented, "Beauty is what matters most."

Poppy politely thanked him as she took small sips of her coffee, her lively eyes scanning the room.

Merissa had to head to the headquarters of the group's UK division to fetch Poppy, and after changing into another outfit, she said goodbye to Eric and left.

Once Merissa left, Poppy seemed to relax a bit more and even shifted to a more casual position next to Eric, peering at the documents in his hand. "Eric, what's this?"

"Financial reports. I don't think you'd be interested," Eric showed her briefly before asking, "Don't you have class today?"

"It's Saturday."

"Oh, I completely forgot," Eric said, flipping a page of EMI's 1998 report and casually added, "How have your parents been lately?"

"They're great. But Dad is off in Asia, and Mom isn't in London either."

Eric recalled his previous impression of Poppy's somewhat odd parents and asked, "So who's taking care of you?"

"Who needs to be taken care of? I'm already an adult. My sister has a nanny watching her."

Looking at his watch, it was still not yet eight-thirty. "Then you definitely haven't had breakfast, right?"

"I rarely eat breakfast," the girl acknowledged with a nod, adding, "I called you after I got up, worried you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore."

"It's not good for a little girl to skip breakfast," Eric remarked, reaching for his phone. Yet, after thinking for a moment, he realized he wouldn't know whom to call for such a thing. He sighed, then stood up, "Let's go get you something to eat."

Poppy nodded with a smile. "Okay."

...

Even though it was April, the morning temperature in London was still around ten degrees Celsius, carrying a heavy damp chill.

As they stepped out of the villa, Eric wore a trench coat, hardly feeling the cold. But the girl beside him visibly shivered, her petite frame seeming to shrink a bit.

Finding it somewhat amusing, Eric asked, "Do you need to wear my coat?"

Poppy looked at the trench coat Eric wore. Although it wasn't long, it could wrap around her completely. However, noticing the smile on Eric's lips, she teasingly responded, "Eric, that question is usually not supposed to be asked."

"Oh, I guess I was in the wrong."

Saying this, Eric indeed took off his coat and wrapped it around her.

The chill was instantly blocked out, providing warmth along with the lingering scent of the man beside her. Poppy felt her cheeks warm and, peeking from the wide sleeves, linked her arm with Eric's, hesitated for a moment before daringly saying, "Eric, you remind me of my boyfriend."

"I know about that line; it's usually what boys use to flirt with girls at clubs."

"I'm not joking," Poppy replied, her expression showing slight displeasure, before curiously asking, "Have you ever tried picking up girls at a club?"

"Me? I'm too old; I don't go out to clubs anymore."

"Ha ha."

The Royal Garden Hotel was just at the street corner, and Eric led the girl into the hotel restaurant.

Once inside, Poppy handed her coat to the waiter and settled into their seats.

"I'd like a fruit salad -- apples, strawberries, bananas, and pineapple -- don't put too much dressing on it. Also, a glass of milk. That's it."

The waiter took her order and turned to Eric. "Mr. Williams?"

"Just a cup of coffee and a copy of The Times, please."

The waiter nodded and walked away.

Poppy leaned on the table and asked, "Eric, aren't you going to eat?"

"I had already eaten before you got up," he answered.

"So you specially brought me here for breakfast?"

"Isn't that touching?"

Poppy nodded earnestly, "Dad never asks if I had breakfast."

"Then I can't help explaining that to your dad."

"He always looks busy, so does Mom. I bet they're not as busy as you, though."

"I happened to have some free time this morning; otherwise, I wouldn't have the time to check on you."

"You definitely would," the girl confidently asserted for some reason, adding, "Eric, I saw the trailer for Iron Man; it looks really cool. Can I go to the premiere the day after tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'll have Mary bring a few invites for you. If your parents come back the day after tomorrow, they can come too."

"They won't be back, but can I bring my friends? It would be a big deal."

"For your sake, I have to help. Would five tickets be enough?"

Poppy eagerly nodded and giggled, "Yes, that's plenty."

...

After breakfast, the two returned to Eric's mansion.

Poppy clearly enjoyed the time spent with Eric. Even though the villa was full of entertainment facilities, she spent the entire morning curled up with Eric like a kitten, chatting about all sorts of topics.

At noon, Eric was scheduled to meet Colin Southgate, the president of EMI. As noon approached, he led the tailing Poppy back to the street corner's Royal Garden Hotel, where they had lunch.

...

At twelve o'clock, Colin Southgate arrived promptly. He was a middle-aged man with graying hair and looked to be in his forties or fifties, dressed in a dark red suit, tall and showing signs of a life of comfort.

Seeing Eric with a young girl, Colin felt a bit displeased. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they took their seats, and Colin bluntly stated, "Eric, regarding the collaboration with Firefly Electronics, the board believes it could further hurt the already declining album sales. Moreover, the measures Fireflyer players take against piracy are quite inadequate, so we cannot agree."

Poppy, sitting quietly next to Eric, was surprised by the gentlemanly man's bluntness; her brow furrowed slightly, and she looked at Eric, hoping he would respond immediately.

"Speaking of piracy, I remember, due to the promotion of personal computer CD burners, last year in North America alone, the sales of blank CDs reached 130 million units. Considering the album price of 20 dollars per disc, that equates to a loss of 2.6 billion dollars in sales for record companies."

Eric signaled the waiter to serve the dessert to Poppy before continuing smoothly, "As for the global market, I haven't seen statistical data, but it should be at least doubled. This is the fundamental reason for the decline of the music industry. Just like Hollywood once adapted to the video tape market, embracing digital music players is the best solution to prevent the music industry from completely collapsing."

Colin Southgate clearly had not kept up with this kind of information, frowning slightly but still replied, "Eric, you're being alarmist."

"I've reviewed EMI's financial reports for the last five years. Compared to last year, looking back to 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1994, although EMI's annual net profit has fluctuated, it has mostly stayed around 400 million pounds. However, last year, excluding the non-operational income from selling Virgin Records, EMI's annual net profit was just 310 million pounds, a drop of 25% compared to previous years. If you don't take action, the next few years will be even more difficult."

"Do you think partnering with Firefly Group will save album sales?" Colin clearly struck a nerve, saying, "The sales model of Firefly Electronics is completely undermining the foundation of the music industry. Besides, even though physical album sales have plummeted, Yahoo Music's global sales last year were only about 300 million dollars, which is still insignificant compared to the entire music industry."

"Colin, you've chosen the wrong comparison. Yahoo Music's sales in 1997 were just 50 million dollars, and by 1998 it was close to 300 million, a growth rate of 600%. We don't expect this year to achieve a 600% growth again, but even if it just doubles, annual sales could reach 600 million. With this sustained growth rate, within five years, Yahoo Music's revenue could far exceed any of the five major record companies, even surpassing the total album sales of all your companies combined."

Colin Southgate shook his head, "Eric, that's impossible; you don't have enough content."

Eric shrugged, "So that's what we're discussing today. A partnership would give EMI a new revenue stream, and we would also gain sufficient content; it's a win-win."

"Eric, this sounds more like a one-sided win for Firefly Group. Not only do you take all the profits from digital music players, but you also want to split 30% of the revenue from our record companies. More importantly, the control of the platform is entirely in Firefly's hands. Do you think we would agree to such an obviously one-sided deal?"

Although Colin spoke plainly, his tone softened a bit.

Eric did not respond directly to Colin Southgate's inquiries but said, "In fact, Firefly Electronics has already started discussing a spin-off plan. We plan to separate Fireflyer as an individual entity. I'm sure you've heard news about this?"

"Aren't you planning to spin off the Fireflyer business for an IPO?" Colin blurted out his assumption, but then paused, his gaze fixed intently on Eric, "Are you suggesting that Firefly Electronics is willing to accept investments from other shareholders?"

Eric shook his head, correcting, "To be precise, it's Fireflyer Corporation."

Colin Southgate remained silent for a moment before saying, "Eric, I need to see your spin-off plan first."

"The specific plan hasn't been fully developed yet, but I can have my assistant send you a draft this afternoon," Eric explained further, "And I can assure you that after the spin-off, Fireflyer's profit margins will significantly improve, as it will no longer need to bear RD costs for other departments of its parent company."

"Then, Eric, let's be frank; how much equity could Firefly Electronics, or rather, Fireflyer Corporation, transfer to EMI?"

"Eight percent."

"That's too little, Eric; it should be at least twenty percent."

"Colin, if all five record companies each took twenty percent, what would be left for me?"

Sitting quietly beside Eric, Poppy found humor in Eric's remark and let out a small giggle. Realizing her lapse, she quickly apologized by sticking out her tongue at the two men.

Poppy's interruption didn't affect Colin Southgate's train of thought, as he continued, "Eric, we all know that you don't need to win over all five major record companies. Just one large record group joining would be sufficient for Yahoo Music at this stage. Moreover, as long as Yahoo Music proves its potential, all the other companies would have to join in, whether voluntarily or out of necessity."

"You're right," Eric nodded, "However, the eight percent equity transfer rate is also something we've thought through carefully. I'm not intentionally offering a low number to drag out negotiations for months; everyone's time is precious, and I don't want to delay this further. We can calculate that the trend of digital music players replacing traditional portable players is already set in stone. Given their superior portability compared to cassette players, the market capacity for digital music players is likely to reach at least one hundred million units in the future. If Fireflyer retains just 70% market share at that time, that would mean 70 million units sold yearly, with an average selling price of 350 dollars and a 15% net profit margin -- resulting in an annual net profit of 3.675 billion dollars. After the IPO, based on a 30 times price-earnings ratio, Fireflyer's market cap could easily exceed 100 billion dollars. An 8% stake for EMI would be worth 8 billion, without considering annual profit dividends, which already matches EMI's current market value."

Colin Southgate's expression wavered, yet he did not easily concede. "Eric, this is merely your ideal numerical model; who knows how the real situation will unfold? Many electronic manufacturers are also working on digital music players. It is difficult to determine whether Fireflyer will decline in the coming years. Even if it does not, with increasing competition, you can't possibly maintain such high profit margins. Also, it's impossible for a company that only sells a simple digital music player to have a valuation of 100 billion dollars."

"Colin, if you only view the Fireflyer player as a standalone product, that would be too dismissive. The Firefly Group is building a complete digital music ecosystem; Fireflyer is just one component. It might provide significant profit for the entire ecosystem, but if other manufacturers only see this, they will never surpass us. Even if they understand the complete layout of the Firefly ecosystem, they still would not catch up because Firefly Group has already distanced itself from them considerably."

https//Sayonara816.