boxer to hollywood

"Link, where are you? Are you okay?"

In the morning, while Link was eating breakfast on the balcony and reading the newspaper, Selena called with a panicked tone, as if she had been frightened.

"I'm at home having breakfast. Where are you? What's going on?"

Link asked quickly.

"I'm at home too."

Selena sighed on the phone, then said, "Link, listen to me. Whatever you do, don't go to the beach these days. I had a dream where you fell into the sea and were gulping down water. I tried to pull you out, but I couldn't. The dream felt so real, I was crying."

Link was speechless, glancing at his phone. "It's almost nine o'clock. Are you still dreaming in bed? What time did you go to sleep last night?"

"Ah? That's not important. Don't interrupt me. Did you remember what I just said? Don't go to the beach. My dreams are very prophetic."

Selena said sternly.

If she were next to him, Link would have been tempted to knock her on the head. "Are you still half-asleep? Who am I? I'm a record holder in four swimming events, an elite diver, and often dive without equipment in the sea. Do you think I'd drown?"

"Hmm, that does make sense. I'll go back to sleep then. I'll dream you float up by yourself and don't need my help. Bye."

Without waiting for him to ask more, Selena hung up the phone.

Link texted Katherine, asking what Selena had been doing last night and why she was still sleeping.

Katherine replied that Selena had bought a sports car and spent yesterday night racing on the streets with some friends, not returning home until after eleven.

Link shook his head. Selena had become more playful now that she was an adult, and Katherine and Mandy probably couldn't control her either.

Katherine told him that the cast for *Bridesmaids* had been finalized, with Paul Feig, the director of *The Heat*, in charge, known for his comedic work.

The next step was casting, and she asked if he had any recommendations.

Link said no; he didn't remember the names of the main characters and didn't plan to interfere. He just asked her and Ms. Vega to choose actors based on the needs of the script and not be influenced by others, aiming to find the most suitable ones.

Katherine understood and then inquired about the album's release.

After chatting with Katherine, Link put away his phone and continued his breakfast. Ding ding! A message came in from Beyoncé.

Beyoncé asked, "Do you still have the whiskey I gave you?"

Link shook his head. "I don't drink. I gave it to the staff backstage."

Beyoncé replied, "Okay, just checking. Your album's sales exceeded a million copies in four days. How do you feel about that?"

Link smiled. "Feeling great so far!"

Beyoncé said, "Don't get too smug. You've surpassed Lil Wayne and Usher in first-week sales records. They're really angry and said they're going to take you down."

Link laughed. "Thanks for the heads-up. I'll go buy a bulletproof vest tomorrow."

Beyoncé responded, "A bulletproof vest won't help. Here's an insider tip: get ready. Usher said Scott has some dirt on you and is preparing to ruin your reputation. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely not good for you, so don't celebrate too early."

"My dirt?"

Link was taken aback, trying to think of what he might have that Scott could use.

"Could it be about the backstage incident? Were we caught on camera?"

"No way. If it were our photos, Scott would have told Jay-Z beforehand. Jay-Z wouldn't have stayed calm if he knew."

"Then what could it be?"

"Don't ask me. You must have done something similar to other women if you tortured me like that. Think carefully if there was any incident where you got caught."

"It's not that. I'm not as promiscuous as you think."

"You'd better not be. Otherwise, when the dirt comes out, your perfect man image will collapse. Also, you owe me a favor now, remember to return it."

Beyoncé signed off.

Link deleted the message, feeling some concern from Beyoncé's warning.

If it wasn't about the backstage incidents, what could the dirt be?

Could it be about Amy Adams?

If so, why is it surfacing after so long? If not, what could it be?

Aside from these two women, he couldn't think of any other misconduct.

He decided to text Mandy, asking her to inform the marketing department at Link Music to temporarily stop promoting his "good guy" image and avoid marketing his relationship with Taylor, as it wasn't suitable to use such matters to promote the album.

Mandy agreed and later called back to say that the marketing department didn't have any such plans and hadn't been promoting him as a good guy.

The media had taken the initiative to report on it. Since he and Taylor were both top-selling artists and a couple, the media thought this kind of news would attract attention from their fans and sell more products.

Just like the media coverage of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

The PR department believed this was normal practice to promote his record and hadn't intervened.

Hearing this, Link grew more concerned.

Previously, Beyoncé had warned him about Scott having dirt on him, which he didn't fully believe. Now, he was starting to.

The media wouldn't promote his relationship with Taylor and build up his good guy image for nothing. There was clearly an agenda behind it.

Building up his good guy image first and then using the "dirt" to bring him down would cause greater damage.

But since the dirt was in Kunas's hands, obtaining it would be difficult.

"What are you thinking about? You look like you're in a daze."

As he was pondering how to deal with the situation, Taylor suddenly walked over, her blue eyes fixed on him.

Link's heart skipped a beat as he saw his phone had turned off. He shrugged and said, "The media has been hyping me up as the world's perfect man these past few days. It feels a bit cheesy. I called the PR department to stop these articles, but they told me it wasn't the company's doing but the media's initiative. I feel something's off."

"What's wrong?"

Taylor put her breakfast plate down and tore at the soft bread, saying, "If you're a good guy, what does it matter if they say you're a good guy? Unless you think you're a bad guy."

"Yeah, being called a good guy isn't a problem, but being called a perfect good guy is excessive. Honey, look at the news in the paper—whenever perfection is mentioned, there's bound to be a problem. It's like they're setting a trap for me."

Link poured a glass of milk for her.

"Are you overthinking?"

Taylor picked up the newspaper and looked through a few articles before laughing, "Some of it is exaggerated. Saying you're the best boyfriend and ideal date is obviously fake. You're lecherous, reckless, vain, wake up too early, and disturb my rest. You're far from perfect."

Link smiled gently and watched Taylor for a while. "Darling, we've known each other for almost two years and been together for over a year. You should know me. While I have some issues, I'm not irredeemable, right?"

Taylor put down her spoon and looked at him, "Why are you bringing this up suddenly?"

Link said, "Recently, I've become very popular. When someone is too popular, it invites jealousy. I feel like someone is trying to take me down, and I'm not perfect, so I hope that if you see any negative news about me, you don't easily believe it and give me a chance to explain."

Taylor pursed her lips and stared at him closely, "I'm not a fool. If the news is fabricated, I'll be able to tell and won't take it seriously. But from your expression, it's clear this isn't so simple. Have you done something bad behind my back?"

"Don't jump to conclusions. I'm saying this as a precaution. You know, the business world is like a battlefield. Sometimes, even if I haven't done anything wrong, opponents can fabricate fake news to attack me, just like what MJ went through.

Now that Link Music and I are both very popular, there are more interests involved, and many people want to take me down. I don't know what they'll do, but before it happens, I need your support."

Link crossed the small round table and took Taylor's hand.

Taylor blinked her blue eyes, looked at him for two or three seconds, and asked with a serious face, "Is it about you and Ivanka?"

"No, there's nothing special between me and Ivanka."

Link shook his head.

Taylor frowned. "So, besides me and Ivanka, are you messing around with other women?"

"No, during this time, I've been training boxing and staying at home. Where could I have gone to mess around?"

Link shook his head.

Taylor snorted, "Not necessarily. Last year, when I was only out for two hours, you managed to write a hit single and film a music video. Now you're going out every day to train for three or four hours. I'd believe it if you were fathering a bunch of kids with other women."

"Darling, you've been saying that for a year."

Link said helplessly.

"Okay, I promise you, as long as you haven't done anything to betray me, I won't care about those news reports."

Taylor withdrew her hand.

(End of Chapter)