America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Los Angeles' Jody was immersed in his acting school course, transforming into a master of clandestine photography when Martin and Nolan finished their brief Latin American promotional tour and returned to Los Angeles.

The one-week promotion had a significant impact on the market, with "The Dark Knight"'s overseas box office nearing 400 million US Dollars.

In North America, it had already passed 450 million US Dollars, with the global box office steadily advancing toward 1 billion US Dollars.

So far, the only films worldwide that have achieved this milestone are Titanic, Star Wars Prequels 1, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and The Lord of the Rings 3.

As Martin exited the psychology clinic, he was blocked by a few reporters at the door.

One of them asked, "Martin, what do you think about the dispute between fans of The Dark Knight, The Godfather, and The Shawshank Redemption on websites like IMDb?"

In such matters, it's best for officials and leading actors not to make reckless comments, and getting personally involved is a big taboo. Martin naturally put on a confused face, "I came straight to see the psychologist as soon as I left the airport. I have no idea what you're talking about?"

A reporter wanted to explain, but the clinic's security personnel had already come out, standing in front of Martin.

Martin ducked into the Escalade, telling Bruce, "Let's go."

Bruce had just heard the reporters' question. He started the car and while hitting the road, he said, "I heard it was quite a commotion."

Martin replied, "Let them make noise. The bigger the commotion, the more attention it attracts."

Suddenly, his Nokia phone beeped once.

Martin took it out to check, and the message was just a few numbers, signed JJN, obviously a code sent by Nicholson.

He showed the phone screen to Old Cloth, "What does this code mean?"

Nicholson had composed so many codes that he couldn't remember them all.

Bruce didn't remember some of them either and reminded, "In the storage compartment."

Martin rummaged for a piece of paper and matched the numbers one by one until he finally understood the code's meaning: Meet at the usual place.

He said to Old Cloth, "Head to Century City."

Upon arriving at the east side door of Century City, Martin was just about to get out of the car when, remembering Nicholson's seriousness, he took out a small makeup box. He meticulously applied a fake beard, changed into ordinary oversized sportswear, slung a trendy shoulder bag over his back, and then entered the door.

A moment later, a maintenance worker came out and whispered, "What's Jack's favorite thing?"

Martin replied, "Marlon Brando."

The maintenance worker entered the security passage. Once Martin followed him in, the worker said, "Remember, it's Rose. Answer wrong next time, and I'll take you out."

"Aren't you being a bit childish?" Martin immediately found a point of counterattack, "Shouldn't you have taken me out this time?"

Nicholson didn't bother with this nonsense and got straight to the point, "TMZ has an undercover at the acting school, and there's been no news. The situation is a bit out of my control."

"We can only make TMZ interested; we can't control their exact progress," Martin said patiently. "When we fire a bullet, we have to wait for it to fly a bit before we know if it will hit the target."

Nicholson placed his hands on his hips and thrust his pelvis forward forcefully, boasting, "I'm such a sharpshooter, my shooting is the best in Los Angeles."

Just as Martin was about to mock him, Nicholson suddenly grabbed onto the wall, "Ah, my back, my back."

It was obviously not an act: "Come help me quick."

Martin hurried over to support him.

Nicholson slowly pulled back his thrusting pelvis, saying, "I've been playing around a bit too much with Jennifer Lawrence lately, my back can't take it."

Martin cautioned, "Watch out for sudden death."

Nicholson moved his back a little, "It's not too serious. I just need to rest a bit, and I'll be fine."

After a good half an hour, the two left Century City separately.

Martin didn't forget to remind him, "Your girlfriend is only 18, and you're 70. Try to live a few more years."

In the presence of great love, a fifty-year age difference is not a problem at all.

......

Burbank, Jann and Ben's acting school.

A small class ended, and a few girls left the classroom. Hailey, the actress recently personally directed by Ben Affleck, held back tears of sorrow and watched as Big Ben disappeared through the doorway.

The young actress had golden hair that fell over her shoulders, a beautiful face, and a sexy, enchanting figure.

Jody had been observing her closely for the past few days; among all the actresses in the class, Hailey was one with a particularly strong sense of self-esteem.

Not everyone who wants to become a star has completely thrown their dignity away.

Jody picked up her handbag full of ladies' embraces, stuffed with sanitary pads, and approached Hailey, once again attempting to console (stir the pot), "Just endure, and it will pass."

Hailey kept her head down, silent.

Jody, taking her by the arm, led her outside, "Let's go have a drink."

Hailey looked at those young actors who seemed to delight in the favors they received from Ben, feeling an inexplicable sorrow, and could only get into Jody's car.

They arrived at a soda shop; both ordered drinks and sat in front of a glass window to talk.

Hailey took a sip of her icy beverage and asked, "Jody, how can you stand it?"

Jody said, "Because he is Ben Affleck. If I offend him, I'm finished." She stoked the fire again, "Just bear with it, and it'll be over."

"How can I bear with it!" Hailey said with a face full of grief and anger, "Just now, he was 'teaching' me how to react in a love scene. Under the guise of seeking authenticity, not only did he repeatedly squeeze my breasts, but he also reached into my underwear!"

Some things are not acceptable to everyone, and with hatred she said, "That bastard, he even wanted to invite me to his hotel room!"

Jody, much older than Hailey, whispered, "It's because I've always refused such invitations, refused to give in, that I couldn't become a real actress..."

"I came to Los Angeles to make money, not to be insulted!"

Apart from Jody, who had become close to her in the past few days, Hailey, new to Los Angeles, hadn't made any friends yet and could only confide in Jody: "I'm a country girl from a small place. I borrowed some money to come to Los Angeles to earn big money, but after coming here, I found that becoming an actress is ten times harder than I imagined."

Jody caught the key point in her words, "Are you in desperate need of money?"

Hailey glancing outside at the bustling Los Angeles said, "I want to stay in the big city, to live a little more comfortably, and not to work on a small farm all year like my parents did, where most of the income goes to bank interest, working for the bank their whole lives."

"I'm also from the countryside," Jody said half-truthfully, "I had to fight with everything I had to gain a foothold in Los Angeles."

Hailey was in pain: "Why is it so hard for us ordinary people to make money?" She glanced at Jody's designer bag: "How did you first make money to survive in Los Angeles?"

Jody, a reporter who values professional ethics, revealed a little: "Aside from being a part-time actress, I have a regular profession."

Hailey was surprised, "What profession?"

Jody lowered her voice, "I'm also an entertainment reporter..."

Unexpectedly to her, Hailey wasn't surprised; instead, she asked, "Can you expose that disgusting Ben Affleck? Expose him, ruin him! I didn't say everything just now. His fingers went inside! You know what I mean, expose him! That way I might have a chance to get my tuition back, I really, really need the money."

Jody sat straight up, no longer a classmate, but adopting a professional demeanor, "Hailey, I have a plan. Do you want to make more money?"

Hailey had her own principles, "I will absolutely not sell my body."

"You don't need to sell your body," Jody said, "Ben Affleck has tens of millions of US dollars in fixed assets, and if we do this right, you could get a large sum of compensation."

The two spoke in hushed tones for a long time.

Jody specifically mentioned someone, "Do you know Brad Pitt? Those nannies he violated and harassed, each got a hefty compensation. Even those who had no physical relationship, just behavioral and verbal harassment, received compensation of over two hundred thousand dollars each."

She smiled, "The Pitt nanny affair, I was the one leading the reports!"

Hearing the high compensation figures and seeing Jody's press card, Hailey, a country girl who wanted to get rich in Los Angeles, felt like she had found the secret to wealth and said, "I'm in!"

She had seen related entertainment gossip and guessed why Jody came to the acting school.

As for the concealment, Hailey didn't care as long as it could make her enough money!

The next day, Hailey and Jody continued to attend classes, still enduring Ben Affleck's harassment.

The former even went alone to Ben's office to "seek advice" on acting questions.

Ben actively invited Hailey to his hotel room, and after she refused, he first tried to lure her with promises of roles and then threatened that she wouldn't be able to work as an actress if she didn't comply.

During that time, he also made inappropriate advances towards Hailey.

After many years in the Foot Clan, Ben hadn't learned much else, but he had learned all too well Harvey's methods of inviting actresses to hotels and coercing them with threats and promises.

After all, Ben was the man who repeatedly covered up for Harvey.

Although Hailey refused yet again, Ben believed that this pretty country girl, wanting to develop in the show business, would eventually have to yield.

In so many years, Ben had become accustomed to Harvey's methods, believing them to be the rules within the industry. It hadn't fully dawned on him that things had changed after the Pitt nanny scandal blew up.

After work, Cassie invited Ben for a drink, and the two brothers met in a small bar in Santa Monica.

Cassie was in a mess recently and could only hope for Ben's help, "Lawyer Cole has cut it down to two million dollars, but the other party is hanging on tight..."

Ben said, "I told Lawyer Cole to drag it out as long as possible. The acting school is bringing in money fast."

"Don't let it affect your relationship with Jennifer," Cassie cared for Ben too.

"If she would just sign off on the sale or mortgage of our joint property, as for now?" Ben shook his head, "Don't worry, this little amount of money can be sorted out."

Cassie asked, "Is that acting school job really that good?"

Ben smiled happily, "It was nothing when I was popular, but for now, it's a pretty quick and fun way to make money."

He lowered his voice, "Those little girls dreaming of being stars, they are so easy to get your hands on. Apart from a few who can't see the reality, it's easy to invite them to the hotel."

The two brothers happily raised their glasses to drink.

That same evening, Jody, with specially equipped recording devices and Hailey herself, walked into the TMZ office building.