America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 548 - 541 Hope is Born

The sun had just shifted to the west when Ben Affleck stepped out of the apartment building, carefully supporting Toni as she descended the steps, even more attentive than he had been with Jennifer Garner back when she was close to giving birth.

As he held her, he kept saying, "Take it slow, take it slow, no need to rush."

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Toni, with one hand on Ben and the other on her belly, said, "I might be having contractions; my stomach hurts a little."

"Hang in there, we will get to the hospital in no more than ten minutes." Ben helped her into the back seat of the car, took the driver’s seat, and drove off towards the nearby maternity hospital.

While waiting for a traffic light, he even called Casey Affleck, telling him to hurry and bring the birthing bag to the hospital.

More than half an hour later, after they had arrived at the hospital and Ben had finished all the formalities, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Casey rushed in from outside.

Ben took the maternity bag from his hands and delivered it to the hospital room, only to be quickly ushered out by a nurse.

Toni was about to give birth.

Sitting on a bench by the door, Casey asked, "What should we do next?"

Ben knew he wasn’t influential enough on his own, so he said, "I’ve contacted Pitt and Harvey; Harvey is in London arguing over the Tolkien copyrights, but he should be back in a few days."

Casey, feeling quite desperate, said, "So we still have to wait a while longer."

Ben’s phone rang, and seeing it was a call from Harvey, he walked to the end of the deserted corridor to answer, "Harvey, I’ve brought the woman carrying Martin’s child to the hospital; she might give birth today."

In London, just back at his hotel from a round of haggling with the Tolkien rights agency, Harvey Weinstein finally heard some good news, "Ben, you’ve done well. Make sure the child is born and ensure they are safely discharged from the hospital."

Ben assured him, "Harvey, don’t worry, I’ll stick around the hospital."

Harvey thought about the recently released "Inglourious Basterds," and he seethed with frustration.

This film, one of his rare major investments in recent years, failed to win any major prizes at Cannes, lacked the commercial draw of A-list stars, and performed merely satisfactorily at the North American box office, with a little over 20 million US dollars in its opening week.

Eventually, he was back to the old strategy, recouping the investment through DVD sales and TV rights and other offline markets before making a profit over time.

Harvey didn’t want to go down this road by choice. With "Inglourious Basterds," they raised the investment and even set a record for the highest single-movie investment by Weinstein Films. They also actively invited an A-list star like Martin with strong market appeal to be the lead actor, all in the hopes of making a significant impact at the box office.

Didn’t he want to break even just from the box office returns?

A pang of financial pain hit Harvey as the unexpected complications with the project cost him tens of millions of dollars.

Ultimately, all of it was caused by Martin Davis.

Harvey had it all figured out, it might have been Martin messing with Pitt, causing the first setback to the project, then Martin declined his invitation, leading to a second setback, and then at Cannes, he stole Best Actor, depriving the film of a major attraction for movie fans.

No need to mention the past issues, like poaching Wes Craven, which deprived his Dimon Films of its strongest horror pillar.

Harvey quickly made up his mind and said over the phone, "Ben, once that woman and her child are discharged, find the right opportunity, the more public and media-filled the setting the better, and have them meet Martin Davis for a public acknowledgment of paternity."

"Great idea!" Ben laughed heartily, "It’ll definitely be quite the show. Whether Martin acknowledges them or not, it will drag his reputation through the mud!"

Harvey thought further, "No, an illegitimate child will only affect reputation, it won’t land a fatal blow to Martin. Knowing that bastard as I do, and seeing the example set by Nicholson, the ’big three’ boss, Martin won’t acknowledge the child."

He asked, "Does that woman have any videos or recordings of their encounter?"

Ben regretfully admitted, "I’ve probed her several times about it, but she was too caught up in the moment to think about that."

Harvey shook his head, "That’s too bad." He felt only a slight regret before continuing, "In a case like this, Martin would definitely refuse, and you are quite friendly with that woman, understand?"

That was exactly what Ben had in mind, "I know how to handle it."

Harvey abruptly ended the call.

Just as he was about to go down for dinner, his wife Georgina Chapman called with a video call.

As the video connected, his wife, who was removing her makeup, appeared on the screen.

Harvey waved, "Hi, darling, are you still in New York?"

With her long hair tied up, Georgina said, "I’m planning to head back to Los Angeles today. A few friends from the fashion circle want to join me, and I’m planning to throw another fashion party."

Harvey understood, "Whatever expenses are needed, just sign for them, I’ll settle the accounts when I return to Los Angeles."

Georgina was especially happy, "Thank you, darling, you are the best husband in the world."

It was thrilling to spend her husband’s money in preparation for a tryst with another man.

Georgina couldn’t wait to return to Los Angeles.

Harvey said, "Alright, let’s leave it there, I’ll be back in Los Angeles in a few days."

After the video call ended, someone approached.

The assistant, holding a phone, said, "Boss, Warner Bros. just called about licensing rights for The Hobbit. They’ve made an offer of 5 million US dollars for us to give up the rights."

"5 million dollars? Warner must be dreaming!" Harvey understood the market value of this franchise well; if managed right, it could bring in billions of dollars in revenue.

He adopted his usual tough stance, "Go call Warner back and tell them, there’s no deal on the copyright!"

The assistant hurried to make the call.

Harvey was again annoyed. They had been busy for thirty years, and the size of their movie company couldn’t even compare to the Big Six, not to mention DreamWorks, which was barely alive; in terms of revenue, they couldn’t even match the subsidiaries of the Big Six.

Fortunately, he always had ways to make things happen at the Oscars, which is how he had gained such tremendous influence today.

Harvey sat on the sofa, contemplating more matters, especially about Martin.

Targeting Martin was not just about venting anger, but also about actual profits.

Harvey remembered clearly that Martin’s Davis Film Studio had purchased the adaptation rights to several literary works, some of which had already been pushed into the adaptation stage. Judging by Martin’s eye for potential in the past few years, these adaptations held extremely high potential value.

If they could take down Martin and acquire these projects...

Even with Harvey’s disposition, a chrysanthemum-like smile bloomed on his chubby face.

......

Under the Los Angeles night sky, many people were busy. Jody had obtained a series of explosive copies, checking the data on related personnel. After making contact with one of them, she immediately took a red-eye flight to the city where they were located.

As a senior entertainment reporter who had continuously reported on Brad Pitt Nannygate and Ben Affleck’s teaching scandal, Jody knew exactly how to handle the situation.

There probably weren’t many reporters in the whole of America more experienced than her.

Jody was very clear that if she couldn’t take down Harvey Weinstein, she would be in a lot of trouble.

A car rushed into the Burbank hospital, and Brad Pitt, wearing a beanie, got out and hurried toward the ward building. Before he had even reached the entrance, he saw Cassie Affleck outside, smoking.

He quickened his pace and asked, "What’s the situation?"

Cassie replied, "She’s in labor. Ben’s waiting at the door; he sent me here to wait for you."

Pitt licked his dry lips and said, "Hope is about to be born at last!"

Cassie led the way, "This way."

The two went upstairs, turned into a corridor, and saw Big Ben pacing back and forth anxiously, even more agitated than when his own wife was giving birth.

Pitt, having no children and never having been through this, said, "Keep your cool."

Big Ben nodded, looked around, and seeing no one else, said, "I’ve just been in contact with Harvey. Harvey will be coming to Los Angeles soon, he wants us to make a push at the forefront, find a public appearance of Martin, especially at places where media reporters gather..."

Hearing this, Pitt said, "I still have some connections in the industry. Keep an eye on the related media. The ’The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ starring Martin Davis will be released soon…"

Talking about the film, Pitt felt an inexplicable discomfort, so suffocating that he could hardly breathe, as it was originally intended that he would play the lead.

He paused briefly, then continued, "He’s definitely going to attend some promotional events, then we’ll take him down together!"

Big Ben mentioned another strategy, involving denying the child.

Pitt nodded, "We need to make him taste what has happened to us." He inferred from his own guess that Martin was also a bastard, "There’s never just one of these things; there will always be a second and a third. As soon as the first one comes out, the rest will follow."

Having been through it himself, Big Ben agreed, "Exactly, I refuse to believe Martin doesn’t have a second one!"

Suddenly, the door beside them opened, and a nurse came out, asking, "Who is Toni Fellman’s family?"

The three men immediately went over.

The nurse announced, "It’s a boy, mother and child are both safe and well!"

Pitt made the sign of the cross over his chest, "God bless!"

......

The night at Davis Estate was exceptionally quiet.

In the villa’s living room, after Martin had finished his video call with Elizabeth Olsen, Bruce approached and said, "Jody left on a flight during the night."

Martin responded, "She has a wealth of experience in this area; she’s our best choice."

Bruce scratched his head, "She’s just too skinny, barely any meat on her."

Martin looked at him in surprise, "How do you know so much about her?"

Not wanting to continue the subject, Bruce handed an invitation to Martin and couldn’t help saying, "It’s so damn weird. We’re preparing to take down Harvey Weinstein, and suddenly his wife, along with your numerous supermodel mistresses..."

Martin corrected him, "They can hardly be considered that, it’s more like mutual stamp collecting."

Bruce did not dwell on that and said, "Georgina Chapman has invited you to a fashion party in Malibu."

Martin took the invitation and noticed that besides Georgina, the names Angela Lindvall and Big KK were also in the signing column.

Not only Old Cloth, but Martin himself felt that things were developing in a strange way.

Therefore, he contacted Angela and Georgina among others; the party decorations and venue would be arranged by his side. Discover more stories at novelbuddy