America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 544 - 537: A Business Worth Billions

In the morning, Bruce took a set of newly purchased women’s casual clothes and delivered them to Martin’s suite. Just as he was about to knock on the door, the room door across from him suddenly opened.

Mene stepped out, bursting with vigour on his nearly washed-out face, looking like a handsome young man of just twenty years old.

Bruce wondered, "When did this guy get back?"

Mene just chuckled but didn’t speak.

Because from inside the room came the pleasant voice of a woman: "Wait for me, let’s have breakfast together, and we’ll come back after. How did you train your tongue? It’s so flexible; you can even tie knots in hair. I’ve been through a lot, but this is the first I’ve seen."

Bruce looked at Mene in shock. He had already trained to this extent? Wasn’t that a bit exaggerated?

A middle-aged woman in her forties came out of the room.

Anyone familiar with European films could recognize her at a glance—Sophie Marceau!

Bruce silently gave Mene a thumbs up.

"Are you Bruce, Martin Davis’s bodyguard?" Sophie Marceau had seen the video from the Santa Monica Pier incident and recognized Old Cloth, inviting him, "Where’s Martin? Come join us for some fun later."

Bruce knew Martin wasn’t interested in her and said, "Martin has urgent matters and is preparing to leave."

Although Sophie Marceau felt regret, Mene was indeed impressive, and she latched onto Mene’s arm: "Let’s go to the restaurant."

Mene smiled and said, "Old Cloth, we’re off to have breakfast."

Sophie Marceau said as they walked, "Don’t eat anything too stimulating for breakfast. Your technique is too good; you don’t need that."

Mene stated seriously, "I’m purely technical."

Sophie Marceau gave her approval: "Later, help me tie a knot so I can take a picture to commemorate it."

This actress, who had multiple wardrobe malfunctions on the red carpet, was considered very open-minded even among the French.

Once the two had turned into the elevator, Bruce knocked on Martin’s door and delivered the women’s clothing.

Ten minutes later, Martin and Lea Seydoux emerged from the room, heading first to the restaurant for breakfast.

Lea Seydoux also noticed Sophie Marceau, saying, "I can’t believe she’s here."

Martin said, "The guy next to her is called Mene, my old buddy, who has a kind of special magic that always attracts the attention of older ladies."

Lea nodded gently: "I know him. He’s Yuper’s young lover, right? I heard he’s particularly popular among older women because of his good looks and skills. It seems true."

Martin asked, "Is Mene already that famous in France?"

"It’s been circulating in the circle of female actors for quite some time." Perhaps struck by French romanticism, Lea seriously considered, "Later, if you have time, introduce me to Mene. I want to introduce him to my mother."

Martin’s fork slipped and fell onto the ceramic plate with a ’ding’, and he asked in disbelief, "Are you serious?"

Lea said, "Of course I’m serious. My parents have been divorced for a long time, and it hasn’t been going well for my mother in that respect…"

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Martin mumbled, "Let’s talk about it later."

After breakfast, Bruce drove the car, taking Martin and Lea to an empty apartment in the Seventh District. Lea’s mother had an unused apartment there, where the secretly recorded videos were hidden in a concealed safe.

Although Lea Seydoux hadn’t explicitly said so, Martin knew without guessing that she definitely made multiple copies.

Security in Paris wasn’t great, especially the notorious Province 93, deemed by the French to be forsaken land.

But like the 16th Arrondissement, the security in the wealthy Seventh District was relatively good. Even though Lea’s mother’s apartment was unoccupied, it hadn’t been targeted by thieves.

Lea removed a picture frame, opened the hidden door on the wall, and revealed the safe inside.

Martin and Bruce had already gone to the balcony.

The latter asked, "Will she step in personally?"

Martin looked back and said, "She’s not insane. I promised her that if things aren’t clear, I would find a chance to release a recording to TMZ or some other media."

Bruce asked, "What about the video?"

Martin replied, "She won’t give it to us yet, but she did tell me something. After the post-production of ’Inglourious Basterds’ was finished last year, she paid close attention to Harvey, knowing that Harvey might harass another actress, a Franco-American actress, who also detests Harvey. So she provided that actress with a hidden camera. Harvey did indeed go after her."

Hearing the many rumors about Harvey, Bruce said, "With Harvey’s style, if he didn’t force her, I’d be extremely shocked and surprised."

"It might be a special fetish developed by the big players; the obedient ones are no fun," Martin guessed randomly, continuing the earlier topic, "Lea is sure that the actress recorded the video that night but she left Los Angeles shortly after, and the video is very likely in her possession."

Bruce asked, "Who is she? Where does she live? I’ll send someone to find her."

Martin waved it off, "We don’t know yet, getting this information might cost me a lot today."

"Go for it," Bruce slapped Martin’s shoulder, offering encouragement, "With your capabilities, spending a few billion should ensure success."

He suggested, "How about I go down later, right here."

Martin, however, said, "It’s better to go back to the hotel room. No accidents will happen there."

Bruce realized that just as Lea Seydoux had secretly recorded Harvey, she might have installed something here to secretly record Martin.

He cautioned, "It’s difficult for us alone."

Martin mentioned, "A while back, Silsa Ronan called me about a project that might involve Harvey and Warner. I had Thomas look into it."

Lea’s voice came through, "I found it."

Martin and Bruce returned to the living room together.

In her hand, Lea held a USB drive, which she handed to Martin.

Bruce opened the laptop he had brought with him, allowing Martin to plug in the USB drive and hit play.

First, there was an audio clip of Harvey Weinstein making threats, which did not mention Lea Seydoux by name, but the intention to coerce was clearly expressed.

There was also a video clip, obviously edited, where only Harvey appeared, his vicious manner no less menacing than a veteran gangster ready to act in Province 93.

Lea said, "I’m really not being oversensitive, you see, which normal woman wouldn’t be disgusted by him?"

Martin suddenly thought of Joanna Chapman. With the workload over the past year, his bet with Leonardo and Nicholson due at year-end was fast approaching.

As long as he pushed through a little longer, he would win!

Martin had heard from the old fox Angela Lindvall several times over the phone about Joanna; after he introduced them, the two of them, along with Carolina, often hung out together.

Lea added, "This is all we have for now; the rest isn’t in Paris. When I have time to retrieve it, I’ll bring it to you."

Martin told Bruce to secure the items and said, "Let’s go, show me around Paris."

Lea said, "No problem."

The two first visited a few of Paris’s most famous sights and then went shopping on the Champs-Élysées.

Since becoming wealthy, Martin had never been stingy, spending over a hundred thousand Euros in one afternoon.

In the evening, back at the hotel, Martin devoted all his energy to discussing a multi-billion dollar business deal with Lea Seydoux.

After swallowing the enormous sum of several billion, Lea Seydoux’s hatred for Weinstein deepened, and she unhesitatingly provided the French-American actress’s name, address, and contact information.

Martin immediately forwarded it to Bruce, urging him to act quickly.

Bruce got in touch with Ivan, who had been on vacation in Long Beach but rushed off to San Diego upon receiving the news.

In addition, Martin had smoothed things over with Lea Seydoux, who agreed to come forward and accuse Harvey when necessary.

Of course, she was to be the one who strikes the final blow, not the whistleblower.

Actually, everyone in the circle understood that the first few who accused Harvey essentially ended their acting careers.

So, Martin never counted on breaking through with the testimony of A-list actors.

Yet once the breach was open, those who had once been closest to Harvey Weinstein, like Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and Meryl Streep, would also be the ones to trample him most ruthlessly.

The next morning, Lea Seydoux left the hotel early, and Martin returned to the film set to continue shooting the remaining scenes in Paris.

After two consecutive days of filming, he reached the final scene of the production.

Director Nolan had deliberately saved the climactic ending scene for last in the shooting schedule.

On set, Martin accepted a box personally handed to him by Nolan, and upon opening it, inside was a metal top.

Nolan pointed to another table, "Let it spin for a bit longer later. I’ve decided to go with the ending you suggested."

Martin, preparing emotionally, replied, "No problem."

Nolan returned to his director’s chair, thought for a moment, and feeling that Martin’s box-office draw should not be wasted, turned around.

Assistant Anderson immediately rushed over, "Director?"

Nolan said, "Document the behind-the-scenes, before shooting the final scene, Director Nolan decided to use an open ending based on Martin’s suggestion."

Anderson quickly noted it down and asked, "Does the protagonist Cobb return to reality?"

This question gave Nolan another inspiration, and he continued, "In any version of the promotion, don’t give an answer. Let the audience guess and create a talking point for the promoters."

An enigmatic ending wasn’t for any profound theme or idea, but purely for promotional needs.

Nolan even planned further ahead; if this movie succeeded, for later promotion of The Dark Knight Rises, he could drag out this ending to spark discussions!

Just then, the clapper loader came in front of the camera to slate, and the scene of Cobb’s return began filming.

Scene after scene went smoothly, and it came time for the spinning top segment.

Martin had practiced in private, and when the top fell from his hand, it spun incessantly, as if it were an obedient woman.

Director Nolan didn’t wait for the top to stop spinning before shouting, "Cut, that’s a wrap."

Then he announced the end of the shoot.

With "Inception" wrapped, Martin received the spinning top as a souvenir.

The crew held a party that evening and then dispersed in all directions.

Mene stayed in Paris to prepare for a collaboration with Yuper. Find adventures at novelbuddy

Martin first visited Milan to see Elizabeth, who was there for Milan Fashion Week, then returned to Los Angeles.