The Wolf of Los Angeles-Chapter 412: The Unexpected DVD

[Chapter 412: The Unexpected DVD]

In the small cafe on the 16th floor of the Coastal Building, Hawke sat by the window, flipping through today's newspaper.

A waitress poured tea, ready to serve it.

Caroline appeared and took the tray, saying, "Let me handle this."

The waitress quickly replied, "Yes, Director."

The click-clack of high heels reached Hawke's ears. Without looking up, he recognized the sound and rhythm; the Sheep had arrived.

"Here's your tea," Caroline said, placing the tray on the table across from him.

Hawke looked up and saw a splash of red.

Caroline was dressed in a vibrant red women's suit, standing gracefully. Around her slender neck was a pink scarf.

Hawke pointed to the chair opposite him and asked, "Did you just get back from Africa?"

Caroline touched her chin, thinking to herself she looked paler than before, definitely not tanned.

Hawke casually said, "You ate too many African shrimps -- you look like a flamingo."

"Flamingos are prettier than sheep," Caroline replied, pulling out the chair to sit down. She glanced at the newspaper in front of her and asked, "I heard Woods responded again?"

Hawke nodded. "Woods must have been pushed by his wife. At a press conference, he asked reporters to respect his privacy and announced he has a sex addiction."

Caroline shook her head. "Claiming sex addiction might be a tactic to calm the public, but his previous actions weren't very smart -- they stirred public and media anger."

Hawke said, "Not all PR moves are effective."

He knew from experience that in entertainment, crisis PR often makes things worse.

Caroline smiled, eyes narrowing. "Woods should hire you for PR; you'd handle it well."

Hawke sipped his tea. "Unless it concerns our own interests, I generally don't take on PR work these days."

Just then, Edward arrived with some people. Caroline glanced over and recognized Hawke's charity foundation chairman. She stood immediately. "I have to get back to work."

She greeted Edward as she left.

...

Pierce Madden had come today to submit a detailed tree-planting plan for Africa.

Twitter was preparing for its second round of fundraising, and Hawke expected a significant income soon.

The African tree-planting project would begin shortly.

Hawke put away the plan and said to Pierce, "Pay attention to one thing."

Edward produced a photo and laid it before him.

The woman in the photo was stunning with an exceptionally attractive figure.

Pierce looked closely. "Who is she?"

Hawke explained simply, "Her name is Reni. She has a daughter with a congenital illness and will apply for medical charity aid soon -- which will be approved quickly."

Pierce didn't ask further. "Understood."

---

In the hospital room, Jacqueline smiled as she hugged the frail girl. "Lina, I'll visit you again soon."

The little girl smiled innocently with admiration, "You'll become a more famous star then, right?"

Jacqueline didn't want to disappoint her. "Absolutely."

Reluctantly, the girl let go. "I wish I could grow up soon. Then I want to be a big Hollywood star like you."

At that moment, both Jacqueline and Reni's smiles froze for a second.

Jacqueline quickly recovered and laughed, "You will be a star."

Reni said to her daughter, "Stay here for a while, I'll go out with Aunt Jacqueline."

Lina nodded, sat on the bed, and quietly read a picture book of fairy tales.

...

Jacqueline and Reni stepped out and got into Jacqueline's red Mercedes.

"Thank you for coming to see Lina," Reni said gratefully.

Jacqueline squeezed her friend's hand, "Lina will get better." She took an envelope from her bag and handed it to Reni. "Here is their promised payment. Count it."

Reni opened it and counted $30,000 exactly. "Thank you."

"You deserve it," Jacqueline said, starting the car and driving toward the charity foundation to apply for aid.

Reni nodded earnestly.

...

Soon, they stopped in front of the foundation building. Jacqueline called Edward and staff guided them upstairs.

They submitted medical records, diagnosis certificates, and completed applications.

Pierce, the foundation chairman, came to meet Jacqueline and Reni.

In less than fifteen minutes, Reni completed all the paperwork. Now they just had to wait for the foundation's notification.

...

As they left the building and got in the car, before they even left Ocean Park Avenue, Reni's phone rang.

It was the foundation, informing her the application was approved. Starting next month, on the first day of each month, they would receive monthly medical aid payments.

Reni thanked frantically, tearing up.

She cried openly, unaware when the call ended.

...

After a while, she regained composure, wiped her tears, and said, "I lost control."

Jacqueline smiled, "It will get easier. The doctors said Lina's condition improves with age. A surgery in the future can solve everything."

Reni nodded firmly. "I won't do that job anymore. I'll find a new one."

Jacqueline reassured her, "Don't worry. As long as you stay in Los Angeles, agents won't bother you. If anyone gives you trouble, call me."

One of the sisters invited Reni to join SugarBaby.

Those in that line were used to making quick money by easy means and then earning honestly -- all very difficult.

Originally, Reni wanted that too -- lying down and getting paid fast.

But after seeing Lina's innocent eyes in the hospital, she changed her mind.

With medical costs sorted, even if she had to be a cleaner...

Reni worried about her daughter growing up and encountering online videos if she did that work. How could she explain it?

Would Lina be affected as she grew older and enter that industry?

As a concerned mother, Reni thought differently than childless feminist groups.

Through Jacqueline's introduction, Reni planned to interview for a janitor job at Paramount Studios.

---

Jacqueline saw the time, called someone, and drove straight to Emerson Film Studios.

Inside, she found Eric Emerson, pleading, "Director, I haven't landed a role in a while. I heard you're working on a new project. Can I have a part?"

Eric appraised her and said, "I know a few feminist groups in Los Angeles. Join them, observe their actions, understand their mindset. My new movie is about the Los Angeles fire, based on the female assistant chief commander who was in charge during the incident. She was a feminist."

Jacqueline, having lived in Hollywood for two years, understood feminism and its power, but had concerns, "I can join the feminists, but this movie..."

She worried about backlash at the Oscars. This year's biggest winner was a feminist movie; would it be boycotted?

Eric had already discussed this with Hawke, "Don't worry; someone can keep feminism in check."

Jacqueline remembered past conflicts between feminist groups and the Mattachine Society, where feminists were often defeated.

Confident, she said, "Director, I'm in for this role! Don't cast anyone else. What do you need me to do?"

Eric knew she was an old friend of Hawke's and said, "Join the feminists as I said and experience their life."

Jacqueline grabbed her bag, "I'll get started right now."

It was easy to join feminist groups as a rising Hollywood actress.

---

In downtown Los Angeles, the Special Operations Division.

In the afternoon training session, Erica personally participated in long-range sniper and air support exercises.

As deputy commander of Team A, she might be deployed for emergency incidents, so she had to be familiar with Teams B, C, and D's capabilities.

After training, Erica returned to her office, showered in the suite bathroom, changed into casual clothes, and prepared to leave for home.

Before exiting, someone called, "Mail for you."

This unit was the LAPD's elite tactical team, where mail was security-checked by dedicated staff.

Erica took it, walked to the parking area, and opened the black envelope.

Inside was a transparent flat plastic case containing a DVD.

Curious, she checked the postmark -- it was from New York.

She got into her SUV, set the DVD aside, and drove home to Beverly Hills.

...

Once there, Erica found a new offline computer, started it, and inserted the DVD to see its contents.

At that moment, Hawke came home, saw Erica fiddling with the computer, quickly sat beside her, and teased, "Got some good stuff from San Valley? Doing some sneaky research?"

Erica rolled her eyes. "I got this DVD at work today, mailed from New York. Don't know what's on it."

Hawke, acting like a super detective, stroked his chin. "You're LA's fiercest lady detective. Someone sent you a DVD. With my years of experience, it must be full of evidence."

"Or just a bunch of computer viruses," Erica replied, dark humor evident, having made many enemies.

She opened the DVD, and a video appeared.

*****

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