King of Hollywood
Chapter 465 - 186: Will It Ever End?!

Chapter 465: Chapter 186: Will It Ever End?!

"Hmm...Ed...did you need something from me?" Although she felt it was somewhat inappropriate, Blanchett still asked the woman who had just come out of the office.

"There isn’t anything special," the other woman said with a smile, not giving the answer Blanchett desired. However, Blanchett caught the fleeting sneer that passed through her eyes.

Blanchett couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly, but the other woman quickly composed her expression and pointed at Blanchett’s clothing."Do you plan to go in like that?"

"I’ve already delayed some time removing my makeup, and taking off this outfit is quite troublesome. I think Ed won’t have too much business, so I just came over like this." Blanchett shrugged her shoulders. The attire of the Queen’s theatrical costume had too many adornments. Not to mention anything else, just removing the ruffled collar around her neck was troublesome enough. Of course, this also had the benefit of reducing the chances of Adrian getting handsy in the office.

The other woman nodded in understanding and then quickly walked away. After watching her figure disappear into the distance, Blanchett finally pushed the door and entered the office. She neither liked nor disliked Adrian’s personal secretary. Charlize sleeping with him was an undeniable fact. Given Adrian’s nature, having such a beautiful and sexy woman around, the chances of nothing happening between them were definitely lower than the odds of the world not ending in 1999.

However, this woman almost never interacted much with her or Gwyneth. Even if there was something she needed to notify them about, she always spoke in a strictly business tone, neither superior nor overly humble, just a very ordinary attitude. Blanchett knew Adrian had a fondness for her, even though he didn’t show it. As his woman, she could see that.

Besides that, this woman almost never openly displayed affection towards Adrian in public. She was a very competent secretary and assistant. When Blanchett or Gwyneth flirted with Adrian, she would discreetly disappear, which was no surprise why Adrian kept her around. After all, he had always tried to avoid the presence of the several other women simultaneously, apart from Gwyneth. Blanchett and the other few women didn’t have much deep contact.

Thinking it over, besides herself and Gwyneth, were there four or five others? He was truly skilled at charming women. Blanchett, entering the room and finding that Adrian was not there, sat down on a chair and waited. She bit her lip involuntarily then looked up at the ceiling, a slight confusion showing between her brows.

She had once thought about being a mere drama actress, finding a man who loved her to marry, and then having one or two adorable children...But now, she found herself in Hollywood, becoming a top star, falling for a womanizing man and getting manipulated by him, even starting to indulge in these feelings, so much so that she willingly joined an alliance with one of his many women and even started engaging in lesbian relationships...

The lady’s thoughts began to blur. She scratched her head, then heard some indistinct sounds, intermittent, as if someone was talking. Blanchett looked around, confirming the noise came from the inner room. She furrowed her brows and walked over, but just as she reached the door, the sound suddenly stopped. The intrigued lady immediately pressed her ear against the door.

Damn it! We had an agreement! And it has lasted this long! We would have won once the movie was finished! I never expected her to be settled now! Blanchett, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm down temporarily, furiously waved her hand, her chest heaving, her emotions apparently intense.

No wonder, finally seizing the chance to show Adrian some colors, and Gwyneth betrays her at this moment. How could Blanchett not be furious? Of course, the small chaos in her thoughts was completely thrown away now.

Calling me to the office, is this how you demonstrate your power, Ed? Don’t think I will surrender. Even without Gwyneth, I can still hold up! Blanchett paced back and forth in the room, muttering silently to herself, occasionally glancing toward the inner room’s door, but unfortunately, several minutes passed without it opening.

Alright, have your fun slowly! I’m not accompanying you! Blanchett thought resentfully, lifting her leg to leave, but just at that moment, the inner room door opened.

"Hi, Kate, sorry to keep you waiting," Adrian leaned lazily against the doorframe, grinning at her with a disheveled appearance, especially below, his belt hanging loosely and his zipper undone.

"No worries, I was just about to leave anyway. We can talk later," Blanchett feigned indifference with a "cold smile."

"That won’t do," Adrian wobbled over to her, "besides me, someone else is waiting for you, and she has something for you."

"Something?" Blanchett asked, puzzled. Just then, Gwyneth appeared at the doorway, covering her mouth with a mischievous smile.

Blanchett immediately understood what she intended to do and tried to run away, but unfortunately, Adrian quickly grabbed her from behind.

"No! Damn it! You two..." The struggling lady hadn’t finished shouting when her face was grabbed and her mouth was gagged.

"Gwyneth!" After being released and catching her breath for a moment, Blanchett recovered some clarity and roared furiously.

"Oh, Kate, come on, it’s not the first time," Gwyneth licked her lips with an innocent look, long seeing through Blanchett’s fierce facade.

"Not at all," Gwyneth sighed, "our leverage was caught by him, Kate, he threatened me, so..."

She shrugged and spread her hands, but her shifting gaze seemed to find the situation amusing. Blanchett, clueless, watched her: "Leverage?"

"Simply put, two beautiful women who might evoke fanciful thoughts in men, caught in the act of passionately embracing each other in bed," Adrian, who had tidied up his clothes, said with a light laugh.

"You... you mean... you mean..." Blanchett’s face twisted strangely, and she started to stammer.

"One day, he sneaked into my room and saw and heard some things, so he placed a few DVRs in both your and my bedrooms, so..." Gwyneth shrugged again.

"How could you do such a thing!" Blanchett immediately glared at Adrian with wide eyes, looking as though she might jump up and bite him at any moment.

"Only you two can scheme against me, but I can’t scheme against you?" Adrian chuckled, "Besides, those DVRs have been in the room for quite a while. Even though I hid them well, isn’t it my fault that you haven’t found a single one yet?"

"You..." Blanchett gritted her teeth, not knowing what to say. Just the thought of the passionate moments between her and Gwyneth being captured by this jerk made her cheeks flush with the urge to turn red.

"You know how terrible this is?!" She said somewhat deflated after a moment.

"It’s not that exaggerated. I’ve kept them all very well, and it’s not like it hasn’t been done before." Adrian said with a playful shrug.

Both Blanchett and Gwyneth blushed a bit. Normally, lovers taking some videos in bed to commemorate or flirt was quite common. Only very rarely would someone take certain kinds of photos, and they were no exception. But the problem was Adrian, not satisfied with just that and knowing they wouldn’t compromise further, lured them into taking photos. Although he wasn’t as good as a professional photographer, he was a film director with experience in composition and color. He had taken photos before, so the pictures turned out pretty good.

First, there were some relatively normal photos, then they started to become more artistic, and eventually, topless photos were taken just before coming to the United Kingdom. He even wanted to take some bolder photos. Despite them all being just photos and despite them being in their own possession, thinking about it now still made them feel a bit shy and naturally speechless in front of Adrian.

"Okay, anyway, I should apologize. I ignored your feelings, but you shouldn’t confront me like this, should you?" Adrian then changed to a gentler tone, teasing before offering comfort as usual.

Blanchett looked at Gwyneth, who spread her hands in resignation. Even if they weren’t satisfied, what could they do about it? Could they retaliate? But this question didn’t stump Blanchett.

Gwyneth, not quite understanding, raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe someone would like to find out what that tastes like; you never know," Blanchett said, her gaze shifting back to Adrian. Gwyneth’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she also looked maliciously at Adrian.

Facing these two gazes, Adrian couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air, "What are you planning to do?!"

"Oh, we don’t want to do anything. We just want to kiss you."

"Damn it! What is this! I warn you..."

"How disappointing. You said you loved us, Ed, didn’t you? Can you not even handle this?"

"Damn it, you... don’t push your luck!"

For a moment, the temporary office was in chaos.

One week before Thanksgiving, the Miracle Director announced the completion of his two films in London, which caused quite a stir again. He actually managed to finish the films in the same minimal amount of time as before. It wasn’t just Hollywood that was impressed; there was no director in the world this efficient, especially with a guaranteed level of quality.

However, this time it was hard to say. Many initially neutral spectators began to waver, although they believed the Miracle Director could possibly create another wonder. But considering it took only about four months to shoot two films! If it had taken half a year, they might have accepted it, but maintaining quality under such circumstances seemed overly exaggerated.

The major media in the United Kingdom, which had previously been neutral, began to show bias, and in the United States, the Washington Post placed a huge question mark on a page 2 of the entertainment section, preceded by the words: "He surely will keep up." This reflected the mindset of most Americans who still thought Adrian could do it, but they couldn’t help harboring some doubts.

Faced with these circumstances, Adrian unusually answered a few questions outside the film set after wrapping up. He didn’t say much, just stated that facts would speak for themselves.

"What has happened before doesn’t need my repetition. I understand everyone’s doubt, so no amount of talk is as convincing as facts. But please don’t judge lightly before that," he said finally and then ended the impromptu interview. As for the reporters who asked him about his relationship with Gwyneth and Blanchett, he ignored them from start to finish.

As for what the media might say about him being arrogant or conceited, or too scared to answer, it didn’t matter.

Adrian’s statement indeed sparked a lot of comments, but whether it was confidence or just stubborn defiance, it couldn’t stop the mainstream media from shifting their focus as another hot movie season approached with Thanksgiving.

Every year, the two hot spots never stopped the movie companies’ competition for box office and Oscars, and this year was no exception. Early promotions for movies aimed at either box office or Oscars had started. This season, three significant films were being released by AC Media’s three main production companies: "A Time to Kill" featuring Kate as the lead actress, "Armageddon" with Liv as a supporting actress, and "L.A. Confidential" with Zetajones as a supporting actress.

Frankly, these three films were good but not enough to outshine other companies as in the past. "A Time to Kill," addressing racism, should perform well both at the box office and in reviews, but making a huge profit was unlikely; "Armageddon" was sure to do well at the box office as audiences weren’t yet tired of Michael Bay, but beyond box office, there wasn’t much else; "L.A. Confidential," a story about 1950s Los Angeles, probably had the best reviews of the three, but its box office would at most be about the same as "A Time to Kill."

So did this mean the other film companies could breathe easy? Of course not, because that big ship was still lingering on the box office charts!

Originally, as the summer season ended, "Titanic" inevitably began to slide after dominating for over three months, but even so, the big ship was still fluctuating in the top ten of the North American box office chart, with the North American revenue pushing towards $700 million, astonishingly. Just as the end of October came and the big ship finally fell out of the top ten and began to plummet, and just as the big movie company executives were breathing a sigh of relief that this oppressive period was over, right before Thanksgiving, the big ship surged back to the 15th place.

The executives from the major film companies nearly choked, knowing the 15th place, though not high, meant at least a million in weekly box office—a nearly half-year-old movie still pulling in such box office numbers was a hard-to-imagine miracle.

"They’ve already swept the entire summer season! Do they also want to dominate the Christmas season?!" It was said that a Warner executive privately expressed dismay.

"When will they ever be done!" An MGM department manager even lost his temper in his office.

While the North American box office was moving toward $700 million, the overseas box office was nearing $1.1 billion. What other movie could drive the whole world so crazy like "Titanic"?

Fox, although earning a lot from distribution fees, equivalent to making a high-grossing movie, had privately lamented why they let Adrian take people away. But such complaints could only be kept to themselves; the executives knew they weren’t as generous or bold as Adrian to give Cameron $200 million to splurge, plus an additional $40 million.

As for getting Cameron back, that was now impossible. He had already received the 18th check for $5 million, and it was still not over. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to vote and support me; your support is my greatest motivation.)