Chapter 279: The Storm Begins
Chapter 279: The Storm Begins
Seeing that Eric looked as if he might explode at any moment, Arnon Carpenter did not linger. He left behind a business card with simple contact details written on it and said, “Mr. Williams, whenever you want to talk, call this number.”
After saying his final words, Arnon Carpenter got up and left. Eric casually tossed the business card into the trash, then stood and went to the study. He took the recorder pen from his pocket and pressed play. The voices of the two men’s conversation came from inside it.
Afterward, he took the freshly recorded videotape out of a machine with a monitor in the study, opened the VCR, inserted the tape, and pressed play.
The image of Arnon Carpenter sitting directly in front of the camera appeared on the television screen. The picture quality was clear enough to reveal Arnon Carpenter’s every movement in fine detail. Even an ordinary person could roughly make out what he was saying from the movement of his lips.
The recording was not long and quickly finished playing. Eric locked the recorder pen and videotape together inside the safe before finally letting out a soft breath. At the very least, he would not fall into the same predicament as Michael Jackson in his previous life, where he had been completely unable to defend or explain himself.
It was rather funny when he thought about it. Under normal circumstances, very few people would install cameras inside their own homes. But who asked him to build this villa according to the Iron Man mansion in his memories?
Since he was imitating it, he naturally could not forget these small details. Not only the living room, but many places throughout the estate had cameras connected to his study. As long as Eric wanted, he could sit in the study and learn about every slightest movement anywhere in the estate.
He had never expected that a momentary whim back then would give him something so crucial today.
January 1, 1990. New Year’s Day.
Jeffrey returned to Los Angeles a little after ten in the morning. Chris Hansen came with him. Chris had already resigned from Morgan Stanley and had been preparing Eric’s investment company during this period. After hearing about the matter from his father, Chris felt uneasy and followed him to Los Angeles.
After learning the detailed course of events, the three of them not only failed to come up with any solution, but instead discovered that Firefly was now facing many thorny problems. However, neither Jeffrey nor Chris ever suggested that Eric compromise with those people. In the end, they decided to observe the situation and respond move by move.
New Year’s Day seemed to pass quietly, but it was like the last calm before the storm.
On January 2, Eric got up early and had a servant bring in that day’s newspapers. On the front page of the Los Angeles Metropolitan News, a bold, black headline immediately entered his eyes.
Eric Williams: Hollywood’s Most Hypocritical Playboy.
“Heh. No mercy at all.”
Eric glanced at the photos on the front page. Photos of him with several women had all appeared there, without a single one missing.
The article itself was even more outrageous. It took all of Eric’s romantic affairs involving his pursuit of beautiful women and distorted them heavily, forcibly portraying him as a shameless man who would not give actresses roles unless they paid with their bodies.
He flipped through several other newspapers. Although more famous papers such as the Los Angeles Times did not yet carry the news, many papers one level lower had already published similar reports.
Ever since the end of the big studio era and the Hollywood film industry became increasingly structured, the so-called unspoken rules no longer had the soil they once needed to survive. Stars were no longer members of major studios without personal freedom, so they no longer needed to compromise and let powerful figures play with them.
But that did not mean unspoken rules had disappeared. Rather, everything had been placed out in the open.
In Hollywood, if an actor wanted to climb upward without any background or patron to rely on, the only thing they could offer was their body. Because of this, many years later, an American magazine listed dozens of secrets to becoming a star, and the first was: regardless of whether you were male or female, regardless of your sexual orientation, if you wanted to become a star, you had to be ready at any time to provide sexual services to those who could open a path for your career.
Of course, although this kind of thing was extremely common in Hollywood, most people silently followed these rules and did not break them. The occasional unwilling “rebel” could hardly stir up any real waves.
Naturally, the public was not completely ignorant of what happened inside Hollywood circles. It was just that what they saw had always been Hollywood’s most gorgeous and sunny side. Therefore, the public image of most Hollywood stars was very positive, and everyone was happy to immerse themselves in that glamour.
But today, someone had suddenly taken the scandals between Hollywood’s great director Eric Williams and numerous actresses, embellished and distorted them, then publicized them with great fanfare. Eric had undoubtedly been passively turned into a “rebel” against Hollywood’s rules. Therefore, after seeing these articles, Eric’s image in the public’s mind would certainly plummet.
Within only a few hours after the new day’s newspapers went on sale, Eric’s mansion in Malibu was surrounded so tightly by paparazzi who had heard the news that not even water could pass through. Eric had originally planned to go out, but seeing this situation, he could only honestly stay inside the estate.
…
Inside a small villa in Beverly Hills, Aniston was waving the newspaper in her hand and screaming at Nicole, who sat at the dining table, in a near-collapse.
“Why? Why is this? I treated you as a good friend, but you seduced my boyfriend. You bitch. Drew is a bitch too. And Julia Roberts, and…”
The girl, emotional and agitated, read out the string of names in the newspaper, then tore the paper into pieces in a few swift motions and threw them at Nicole.
“You’re all bitches. I’ve had enough!”
Nicole calmly pulled out a scrap of paper that had flown into her collar before saying, “You say we’re all bitches. Then what are you? If not for Eric, would you have gotten the female lead role in Friends? Would you have your current fame?”
Aniston choked for a moment, then said, “I’m his girlfriend!”
“So what?” Nicole raised her head and still said lightly, “Even if you two got married, so what?”
“You…” The girl pointed at Nicole, gritted her teeth, then furiously returned to her bedroom. With a clatter, she stuffed her belongings into a simple suitcase, dragged it out, and slapped a check in front of Nicole. “This is my rent. From today on, I have nothing to do with you.”
“Oh.” Nicole picked up the check and looked at it. Then she folded it and, right in front of Aniston, charmingly tucked it into the bra at her chest. She even threw Aniston a flirtatious glance. “I’ll take the extra as a tip.”
“Bitch!”
After cursing again, Aniston dragged her suitcase and walked outside.
Nicole watched the living room door slam shut with a loud bang, picked up a torn scrap of newspaper from the dining table, spread it open, and looked at the contents on it. She murmured, “What an idiot. She can’t even tell that bastard is in trouble. All she knows is how to get jealous.”
…
Aniston stuffed the suitcase into her car. She had just opened the small courtyard gate and had not yet gotten into the car when several paparazzi surrounded her.
“Miss Aniston, what do you think of today’s newspaper reports?”
“Jennifer, will you break up with Mr. Williams?”
“Miss Aniston, you live together with Miss Nicole Kidman. Does that mean you already knew about what happened between her and Eric Williams?”
“…”
Hearing the buzzing voices around her, Aniston irritably pushed away a recorder shoved in front of her and shouted, “All of you, get lost. From now on, I have nothing to do with Eric Williams. Stop bothering me.”
Faced with Aniston’s loss of composure, the reporters became even more excited. This was exactly the effect they wanted. If the person involved acted calm, they would not be able to dig out even more explosive news.
“Jennie, will you continue acting in Friends?”
“Miss Aniston, are you certain that what you just said means you’re breaking up with Eric Williams?”
“Jennie…”
With a cold face, Aniston pushed through the crowd, got into her car, and slowly drove onto the road before finally shaking off the paparazzi. She wandered aimlessly around the streets and alleys of Los Angeles for several laps before her mobile phone rang.
After answering and hearing her father’s voice, the girl slowly pulled the car over to the roadside and finally cried into the receiver in grievance.
…
“We are now reporting live for you from the entrance of Eric Williams’ estate at Point Dume in Malibu. Since the day before yesterday, the scandal involving Eric Williams and numerous actresses suddenly erupted. However, more than seventy-two hours have now passed, and the estate gates remain tightly closed. Eric Williams has also not appeared to make any clarification.”
A woman in a small blue suit stood outside the bustling crowd of reporters, holding a microphone as she spoke to the camera. Behind her was the tightly shut gate of the estate. Although three full days had already passed, the storm in the newspapers showed no sign of subsiding. Therefore, the number of reporters at the estate entrance had not decreased. Instead, it kept increasing. At present, at least more than a hundred people had gathered there.
“Due to the impact of Eric Williams’ scandal, the box office of all five Firefly-related films currently in release has been affected to varying degrees this week. Among them, Sleepless in Seattle has suffered the most serious impact from the scandal, with its second-week box office dropping by more than forty percent and taking in only seventeen million dollars. The other three films, The Others, Home Alone 2, and Steel Magnolias, also saw box office drops exceeding expectations. Because Scent of a Woman has not opened on a large scale, it received the smallest impact. According to data released by relevant statistical agencies, due to the impact of the Eric Williams scandal, the total subsequent box office losses for the five films may exceed one hundred million dollars.”
“Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Virginia Madsen, the well-known actresses implicated in Eric Williams’ scandal, are currently all silent. None of them has issued any statement. As for whether they have received warnings from certain forces, we have no way of knowing. Meanwhile, Eric Williams’ publicly acknowledged girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, announced on the day the scandal broke that she had broken up with Eric Williams. The copyright for Friends, starring Jennifer Aniston, belongs entirely to Firefly. After this couple has turned against each other, the main cast lineup for the second season of Friends has also become a major suspense.”
“Famous model Leigh Zimmerman, who gave an outstanding performance in Home Alone 2, publicly stated in an interview with the Manhattan Morning Post that Eric Williams is a very gentle and considerate man, and that many newspapers’ attacks against this young director are completely slanderous. So far, she is the only actress from Eric’s several films who has spoken in defense of Eric Williams.”
Inside the Malibu mansion, Eric sat motionless on the sofa, watching the rolling news coverage about himself on the television not far away. The coffee table and floor in front of him were covered with all kinds of newspapers.
Drew carried a small tray with several delicate dishes on it and carefully moved closer to Eric.
“Eric, do you want to eat something?”
Eric’s eyes, which had been fixed on the television, moved. Then he turned his head and looked outside the window. Several pieces of “garbage” still floated on the blue sea. At some point, the sky had darkened again.
“Put it there. I’ll eat later.”
Drew obediently placed the tray on the coffee table, then tidied up the scattered newspapers before carefully moving close to Eric’s side.
After being with Eric for so long, the girl could keenly sense even the slightest emotional change in him. Now, she could feel that Eric was very angry, the kind of anger that might erupt at any moment. Although she knew Eric would definitely not vent his anger on her, the girl still became timid.
After sitting quietly beside Eric for a while, the little girl finally said, “Eric, why don’t I find a woman to come over?”
“Hm?” Eric looked at the girl in confusion.
“I think… I feel like you may need to vent,” Drew said hesitantly.
Eric gave a bitter smile. “Who would you find? Do you still think things aren’t chaotic enough right now?”
“Then…” The little girl slowly lowered herself and knelt on the floor. She crawled to Eric’s legs and reached out to undo his belt.
Eric stopped Drew’s movement, rubbed the furry bun on the little girl’s head, and forced a smile. “Alright. I really don’t have that mood right now.”
Hearing Eric say this, Drew stopped moving. However, she still lay against Eric’s leg and rubbed her cheek against his thigh. “Eric, no matter what they do, I’ll always be yours.”
“You misunderstood, Drew. I actually called them and told them not to speak. Under these circumstances, staying silent is the best choice for them.”
“Mm.”
Drew obediently hummed. At this moment, whatever Eric said was right.