King of Hollywood
Chapter 500 - 221: Thoughts (2)

Chapter 500: Chapter 221: Thoughts (2)

"Thank you for the ride back, Mr. Strong; it was a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh no, it was my honor to bring you home, Miss Portman. I wish you and Mr. Cowell the best in creating even better works."

After watching the taxi leave, Natalie finally dropped her smile. A shadow passed through her eyes, followed by a soft sigh, before she turned and entered her home.

"My dear, you’re back?" As soon as she opened the door, her mother’s voice came through. She stood in the living room with a beaming smile, obviously having noticed the taxi outside and her daughter returning in it.

"Hi, Mom, it looks like you finished your work? And it went smoothly, just the way you wanted, right?" Natalie responded with a smile.

"Of course." Shelly walked over and patted her daughter’s head, then glanced outside. "How about you? You seemed quite familiar with that driver?"

"Just a fan of mine, we had a nice chat and I even gave him an autograph," Natalie stuck out her tongue playfully, "Your daughter’s quite outstanding, Ms. Shelly. She meets her fans wherever she goes."

"Yes, of course," Shelly embraced her daughter. "My Nata is the most outstanding, after all."

There was a pause before Shelly seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, I called Emily’s house earlier, she said you didn’t stay long after you arrived."

"Of course, you know, I’m working on my paper, so I went to the library to look up some more information. Mr. Charles said if my paper is more rigorous and supported by experimental results, it could be recommended for publication in a professional journal," Natalie replied smoothly, her face displaying pride, showing no hint of other emotions.

"That’s really great, your father will be so happy when he hears—he’s already very happy," Shelly said with a laugh.

"Of course," Natalie sighed, "Thank you, Mom."

"Hmm?"

"For not saying that perhaps that would make him even happier."

"Nata!"

"Alright, I’m going back to my room to work. Remember to call me for dinner." With that, Natalie dashed upstairs, leaving Shelly standing alone, feeling both annoyed and amused.

Clang—Natalie closed her door, let out a breath, took a few steps to her desk, and gathered her papers before sitting down and flipping through the materials, beginning to double-check and revise. Adrian was right, although the paper wasn’t of much value and at best could offer a new line of thought to those in academia, having it published in a professional journal would be enough for an actress.

College students in Hollywood were rare, high achievers from prestigious universities even rarer, and those who made accomplishments outside of acting were exceedingly scarce. Hedy Lamarr, the mother of CDMA technology, could be considered the highest achieving actress outside of her film work, yet her films could never shed the "decorative" label.

Since Natalie had chosen this path, she naturally aimed to walk one that was unique and unparalleled; she never wanted to be referred to as someone’s second. She wanted future actresses to be called "the second Natalie"! Therefore, the value of this paper to her wasn’t in its academic utility but in its potential for publication; hence, MIT was out of the running, and Harvard from the Ivy League was her choice! Only...

Suddenly setting down her pen, the girl leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and furrowed her brow tightly. That troubling feeling surged up again, leaving her unsure of what to do. The scene from a few weeks ago continued to haunt her.

"Hey, Natalie, have you slept with that Miracle Director?" A somewhat shrill voice rang out, unapologetically imbued with a hint of smugness and self-assuredness.

"What?" Sitting on a bench at the school’s sports field and reading a book, Natalie lifted her head in confusion, as if she hadn’t heard clearly what the other person was saying.

Ever since she had become romantically involved with Adrian, she had been mentally preparing herself; such blunt questioning wouldn’t affect her. However, what she hadn’t expected was that the questioner would be Morrison Slater, the cheerleader captain—someone with whom she barely interacted.

Natalie didn’t have many good friends in high school. Although there were a few with whom she got along reasonably well, they weren’t very close. Firstly, because she was an actress of no small fame, and secondly, because she was both studious and highly intelligent. Indeed, that was the reason, as students who excelled academically in American high schools—particularly public ones—were not very popular, especially in an anti-intellectual climate where good students could be equated with nerds in the eyes of average students.

But Natalie was also very clever. Trying to show off or play pranks in front of her was simply asking for trouble. Coupled with her status as a fairly well-known actress, she didn’t care about being ostracized. Therefore, while many girls would chat with her, they also maintained a certain distance. Now that Morrison had come to her so abruptly with such a strange question, it really was a bit odd.

"Well, Natalie, although we’re not exactly on good terms, I promise I won’t tell anyone. Actually, it’s no big deal, right?" Morrison patted her shoulder and plonked herself down beside her, signaling a few of her lackeys to do the same before she looked at Natalie with a cheeky grin, posing the question again with feigned curiosity, "So, have you slept with that Miracle Director, Adrian Cowell?"

To be the cheerleader captain, Morrison naturally had a certain charm. Although her face was rather ordinary, she had a good figure and her dancing was exceptional. Of course, she also had all the bad habits of a cheerleader captain—arrogance, conceit, condescension, leading her minions to do whatever she pleased and being hot and heavy with the quarterback of the school football team.

When Natalie was a sophomore, Morrison had cornered her in the bathroom under the guise of wanting to see what a movie star was like. However, Natalie had deftly turned the conversation to the topic of "how to moderately control your diet to maintain your figure," captivating the girls and taking control of the situation, leaving Morrison powerless to intervene.

Having witnessed Natalie’s tactics, Morrison never troubled her again and even avoided her entirely, which was quite smart of her. And this had continued up to today.

"Why would I sleep with him?" Natalie feigned ignorance.

"Oh?" Morrison narrowed her eyes and looked Natalie up and down before revealing a playful smile. "Don’t tell me you’re still a virgin, Natalie."

"What exactly are you getting at, Morrison? If you’re looking for gossip, I’m sorry, but you should buy a copy of World News Weekly instead of asking me." Natalie shrugged.

"Okay, what I actually wanted to... um, what I meant to say..." Morrison scratched her head, "isn’t this a common thing in Hollywood?"

"A common thing?" Natalie furrowed her brows and shook her head, intending to stand up and leave. Initially, she was a bit worried that Morrison might have heard some gossip and was trying to confirm it, but now it didn’t seem to be the case, so there was no need to continue this pointless conversation.

"Wait, I mean..." Morrison hastily stopped her, gestured to one of the followers, and took a magazine from her hands. After flipping to a certain page, she continued, "It says here, if you encounter difficulties in Hollywood and want to break through, why not provide some ’services’ for directors or producers with clout, to make them happy and satisfied..."

Natalie’s eyebrows lifted imperceptibly. She was beginning to understand Morrison’s thinking. This cheerleader captain was graduating this year and, clearly fond of the cheers and applause, she obviously sought greater prospects. So... In any case, it was not difficult for her. Last year, a new male student transferred in and quickly stole the position of quarterback. Morrison didn’t hesitate to dump her previous boyfriend and hooked up with the new one, and the two were quite unrestrained—rumor had it that they had been seen making love near the sports field at night.

A feeling of disgust emerged within her, though she didn’t let it show. Instead, she calmly turned the magazine cover around, letting out a light chuckle tinged with disdain, "Teen Reading Guide? Can you really trust what’s written in such a gossip magazine?"

"Why not? Some of the stuff is exaggerated, but some is quite useful," Morrison retorted, somewhat displeased.

"Alright, if you want to believe that, that’s your business. The only piece of advice I can give you is, if you want to make it to Hollywood, then you’d better find a capable agent," Natalie stood up as she spoke, "Excuse me."

She walked away from the girls, striding towards the sports field exit, yet she could still hear their voices in the distance.

"What’s the big deal, it’s just shooting a few movies."

"She must have slept with Miracle Director or someone, pretends to be conservative but is actually just a whore!"

"Maybe Adrian doesn’t even fancy her, just you wait, once I get to Hollywood, and meet all those big shots, I’ll definitely be more famous than her. I heard Miracle Director is a playboy."

At first, Natalie had a cold look on her face, and was quite angry at these sporadic comments, but it didn’t take long for her to calm down. Why bother with these foolish women? However, some things, some previously ignored matters, began to resurface and disturb her.

If this affair were to really come to light or be known by her parents, Natalie wouldn’t deny it, and she believed Adrian wouldn’t either. He was that kind of person, as if nothing in the world could shock or scare him, but still...

Natalie opened her eyes, propped her elbow on the desk and covered her mouth, her expression fluctuating. Of course, she knew about Adrian’s reputation as a playboy, and the women who might have been involved with him. She was no fool. But she didn’t ask, and Adrian didn’t tell. If Adrian didn’t tell, she wouldn’t ask. It used to be something she could overlook, but not anymore.

Rubbing her cheeks in some irritation, Natalie took a deep breath. Forget it, just wait a bit longer, now is not a good time. Maybe there’ll be better options after a while.

Adrian was not aware of Natalie’s thoughts, although he felt something was off with her, he couldn’t pinpoint what she was worried and hesitant about. To tell the truth, he disliked this uncertainty, this lack of control, and that ghostly sense of something not being right resurfaced.

Forget it, let’s wait and see, he can’t guess it out right now. In the end, Adrian also chose to put it aside.

Then, he went to his uncle’s house, dutifully listened to a lecture, and was complained at by his aunt for not bringing Lily along.

"Victor isn’t even considering marriage, let alone children. Lily is my only granddaughter now, don’t you think you should bring her to visit me more often?" His aunt said this; old people always love children.

"Of course, Aunt, I’ll definitely bring her next time," Adrian replied with a smile.

After visiting his uncle’s house, next on the agenda was America’s Next Top Model’s New York location shoot, although it was the first season, the number of girls who came to participate was significant. The overall quality varied; how to judge was up to the professionals.

"I think number 16 has more potential, her sense for fashion is the most sensitive among the candidates, and she’s very bold, not shy at all, not even hesitating to take nude photos," Trump had judged.

They were now in a fashion magazine’s fitting room, and the contestants were selecting suitable clothes based on the fashion editors’ suggestions.

"It’s hard to say, you know, although quality is an essential condition for success, sometimes luck is also a deciding factor," Adrian replied with a smile.

"I feel like... you’re implying something, Ed?" Trump raised his eyebrows.

"No, not at all, in fact, I think you’re doing quite well as a judge. You’ve seen the critics’ reviews of the show, right?" Adrian patted his shoulder, "He ruthlessly pointed out their problems and strictly warned them of what to be aware of, while also not lacking in comforting words."

"Thank you, that’s my style." Trump immediately wore a proud expression. As someone who loved to stand out and be flamboyant, he was very satisfied with these comments, especially since they greatly increased his media exposure.

"So, I believe you can absolutely adhere to the bottom line and be a qualified judge," Adrian leisurely added.

Trump was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. Adrian’s implied message was simply to avoid getting too involved with any of the candidates, as it wouldn’t look too good if anything leaked.

"They underestimate me," Trump waved dismissively. "Now that I am a judge, how could I possibly do anything inappropriate?"

But then he immediately added, "Even if I did, I’d have a way to smooth it over, without causing the show any trouble."

Such a smug look - the very image of manhood. But that look was soon replaced, as a familiar voice drifted into his ears, "What are you guys talking about, Dad?"

"Hey, Innie, nothing much, just some stuff about being judges," Trump put on a smile and hugged his daughter.

"Is that so?" Ivanka looked at her father with a playful skepticism. "I seemed to hear something about number 16 being quite impressive."

Number 16, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, tall figure - she was definitely Trump’s type. His thinking she has potential was likely related to that.

"From a judge’s perspective, number 16 does seem to have some potential, doesn’t she?" Trump answered seriously, but swiftly changed the subject. "Oh, that reminds me, I was just about to invite Ed to a party at our house tonight."

"Oh?" Ivanka’s gaze finally landed on Adrian, her attitude involuntarily elevating a notch, "Hello, Mr. Adrian."

"Hello, Ivanka." Adrian nodded but said nothing more, still maintaining that polite, distant, and disinterested demeanor.

Ivanka couldn’t help but grind her teeth in annoyance. She was increasingly finding this man irksome, arrogant and self-styled as a charmer - the kind of playboy who liked to toy with women, infuriating just to look at. Why was her father associating with such a man? She knew that when nobody else was willing to offer a helping hand, only Adrian had assisted her father, helping their family through tough times, but still...

"Right, Ed, I recall you mentioned last time that you were planning to find material from me for a reality show, is that so?" Trump spoke again, noticing his daughter’s dissatisfied expression.

"More precisely, I was thinking of inviting you to host it, if you have the time," Adrian said with a smile, continuing to disregard Ivanka’s annoyed look.

"Of course, I have the time," Trump said promptly. It was an invitation from the Miracle Director; while his achievements in this area weren’t as surprising as in films, his touch in the TV shows that resuscitated ABC was unmistakable.

"I have a preliminary concept already, but it will take some time to refine. Besides, with the abundance of reality shows on various networks these days, viewers are getting a bit weary of them, so it needs some time to rest. I am preparing to launch it in the Millennium," Adrian spoke earnestly.

"Is that so?" Trump looked a bit disappointed but quickly recovered, "Well, then I will be looking forward to it."

His business had just stabilized and wasn’t complete on firm footing yet. Despite feeling eager, he’d have to put that on hold for now. His inquiry was a moment ago also motivated by his daughter’s apparent discontent and an attempt to shift focus.

"Don’t worry, Don, you will be the sole host of this program. It will be your stage, and when the time comes, feel free to showcase whatever unique aspects you have," Adrian laughed and patted his shoulder.

"I am even more excited now." Trump responded with a laugh of his own, as it was exactly what he loved.

After chatting a few more words with Trump, Adrian left to discuss and network with others. After making the rounds, he stopped in a corner and scoped out the production set, nodding lightly in approval. Not bad, despite some less-than-satisfactory aspects, the show had the basic effect and the ratings weren’t terrible. As long as they maintained and improved, the popularity of the program would not decrease compared to the previous world.

"Mr. Adrian." A somewhat cold and displeased crisp voice then rang in his ear. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote, your support is my greatest motivation.)