America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 412 Liability for Breach of Contract

While it was still bright daylight, Martin rode out of the Nightclub in Nicholson's extended Lincoln.

The trio of scoundrels, who had just enjoyed the facial cleanser treatment, were now full of energy.

Nicholson put on sunglasses and yelled, "Have a party! Have a party! I can take on ten! No... twenty!"

Leonardo glanced at the delusional old bastard and said directly, "I don't want to attend your funeral tomorrow."

Martin lowered the partition slightly and said to the driver, "To my place." He raised the partition again: "I just got a few bottles of good wine. Tonight's Golden Globe Awards, let's drink and watch the pretty girls."

Leonardo DiCaprio said, "It's a place full of monsters and demons, where are the beauties?"

Martin pointed at him: "You're such a troublemaker. When you're drunk, I'll call a beautiful woman for you and call Gisele Bündchen."

Leonardo DiCaprio was enraged and unleashed his ultimate three-hit combo: "You think I'm afraid of this? Go ahead and call Gisele Bündchen!"

"If you propose to her right now, I'll immediately hire someone to charter a plane and bring Bonson over," Martin said with an air of exceptional responsibility. "I'll cover all the expenses for your proposal and wedding!"

Leonardo was defeated, but unwilling to admit defeat, he said to Nicholson, "See that, Jack? Martin's gotten cocky. He doesn't treat money like money anymore. Doesn't he look like a nouveau riche?"

Martin leaned back in his seat, exuding an air of arrogance: "You should let someone who has just become a multi-millionaire show off."

Actually, he only exhibits this dissolute behavior among the trio of scoundrels.

The Lincoln sedan quickly drove into Martin's house.

The three bastards went into the living room and found that someone was home.

Wearing a professional apron and holding a carving knife, Lily is sculpting a clay sculpture that is half the height of a person.

Martin let the two bastards in first and asked, "When did you get here?"

Lily said, "After lunch, I came over to help you clean up the house. It's a mess. After cleaning up, I had nothing to do, so I just practiced my cleaning skills."

She took the initiative to greet Leonardo and Nicholson.

Martin also introduced both sides.

Upon hearing Lily's name, Leonardo immediately understood: "You are the original maker of the clown statue."

"It's me." Lily has been working part-time on the Dark Knight set for the past six months and has become almost numb to seeing so many people with the clowns she sculpted. "Do whatever you want, don't worry about me."

Martin called Leonardo to go to the wine cellar to get some wine, and Nicholson turned on the TV; the Golden Globe Awards red carpet was already nearing its end.

Leonardo took three glasses, poured some wine, and asked Lily, "Would you like a drink?"

Lily shook her head: "I'm not old enough to drink."

Martin came over and patted Leonardo on the shoulder, kindly reminding him, "Don't mess with her."

Leonardo was completely baffled, so he simply sat on the sofa and drank with Martin and Nicholson.

Lily was about the same age as Nicholson's daughter, Lorraine. Nicholson raised his glass to her from afar and said, "Your sculpture is wonderful. Thank you for the statue."

"You're welcome." Lily picked up the can of Coke next to her and clinked glasses with Nicholson from a distance.

Just as Leonardo was about to pick up his wine glass, he noticed Lily put down the can and picked up a sharp carving knife.

The carving knife danced like a butterfly between her slender fingers.

Then, Leonardo saw Lily's carving knife gleaming coldly as she poked at the clay figure with a series of "plop plop plop" sounds.

When she stopped, there were more than a dozen holes in the sculpture's vital parts, such as its eyes, throat, heart, and lower abdomen.

This would be really painful to the touch...

Leonardo quickly turned back, picked up his glass, and downed the entire glass in one gulp to suppress the feeling of trepidation.

Martin turned around and asked, "What's wrong, Leo?"

Leonardo quickly shook his head: "It's nothing, I just wanted to drink."

Martin took the bottle and filled his glass: "Drink as much as you want. Any wine from my cellar, you can have whichever you like."

"Of course." Leonard thought to himself, people who grew up with Martin all seem a little abnormal.

The three of them sipped their wine while watching the Golden Globe Awards.

On the other side, seeing that she had frightened Leonardo, Lily rearranged the sculpture, pushed it into a storage room, tidied up the scene, and said to Martin, "I'm going back to school. Be careful and don't always leave the house so messy."

Martin waved his hand: "Go on, I won't see you off."

After Lily left, Martin and his two friends enjoyed the Golden Globe Awards, sipping fine wine and discussing the gossip and scandals within the industry.

At their level, the Golden Globe Awards are truly just a source of amusement.

For example, Julian Spenell won Best Director for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly".

Players like the Coen brothers and Ridley Scott all finished as runners-up.

The film that the former is vying for awards this year is called "No Country for Old Men".

When it came to Best Actress, Julie Christie won, not Kate Winslet who had swept various Best Actress awards since the start of awards season.

Of course, Kate won't be disappointed, since she has already won the most important Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.

Martin raised his glass and clinked it with Leonardo's: "I hope Kate wins an Oscar."

Leonardo DiCaprio put aside his joke: "God bless Kate."

Nicholson stated directly, "Kate has won almost every Best Actress award that's truly a bellwether; she's sure to win."

Martin didn't drink: "Let's not congratulate Kate yet; opening champagne at halftime is a big no-no."

Leonardo completely agreed: "That's right."

…………

Tonight, the Golden Globe Awards attracted a lot of attention, with Los Angeles media focusing entirely on the glittering casinos.

Caroline, a Latina woman, finished her day's work and, not wanting to go home immediately, decided to find a bar for a drink.

Since she took the initiative to accuse Brad Pitt, Caroline's life has become much easier than before.

Although her small group never reconciled with Pitt, mainly due to disagreements over money, the income they earned from selling news and paid interviews greatly improved their family's life.

Caroline even thought Pete was a good person who changed her family's fate.

Of course, we should hold onto such a good person tightly and try to get as much of their flesh as possible.

As darkness fell, she got out of the car and proceeded with extreme caution.

This Latin community is not very safe. Not only is there almost no surveillance, but many streetlights have also been smashed.

Caroline hadn't walked far when someone suddenly called her from behind a lamppost.

"Hi, Caroline, let's chat for a bit."

Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, Caroline stopped abruptly, reached into her bag, and grasped the pepper spray.

"Keep your distance, I won't come closer, we're just having a few words." The man was wearing a hood, the brim of which obscured most of his face. "Brad Pitt's assets are beyond your imagination; he also has a large amount of fixed assets."

Caroline has been making a fuss for almost a year, and she knows a little about Pete's situation: "I know."

The man's voice was hoarse and quite unpleasant: "The compensation you're asking for is nothing to him. Do you know why he's been so unwilling to budge? It's not because you're asking for a lot of money, but because he wants to drag it out. He has enough assets to keep dragging it out until you can't take it anymore, and then you'll naturally settle with him."

He cautioned, "Don't forget, the Los Angeles Police Department has already lifted the restraining order on Pitt."

At this point, the man pulled out a tape recorder, pressed play, and Pete's voice came through.

"I'd rather give the money to a lawyer than give those paupers a single cent more!"

Caroline had worked as Pete's nanny and recognized his voice.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The man said, "A kind-hearted person who has a grudge against Pete but sympathizes with you victims."

Caroline didn't ask any more questions.

The man pulled his hat down and, taking advantage of the darkness, walked alone out of the community.

Passing by a garbage dump, he pulled out the cassette tape from the cassette player, lit it on fire, and burned it to ashes.

The so-called "words" by Pitt, although a real recording and spoken by Pitt himself, are actually lines from one of his films.

Half an hour later, Jody, who had just come out of TMZ, sat in a coffee shop.

After waiting alone for a while while drinking his coffee, Ivan hurriedly entered the coffee shop, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite Jody.

Jody asked, "What do you want with me?"

Ivan ordered a cup of black coffee first, then said, "I recently bought some equipment and moved to a new house, so I'm short of money."

This was an important news source, so without hesitation, Jody took out her wallet, pulled out all the cash, and placed it on the table: "Right now, this is all I have."

Ivan didn't touch it at all, saying, "I want to make a lot of money, a lot more money."

Jody pulled her chair forward and leaned closer to Ivan: "What top-secret information?"

"Remember the agreement we made with Attorney Camille?" Ivan said in a low voice. "We helped her secure representation for the victims of Pete, and in return, she gave us a percentage of the legal fees as compensation."

He was very direct: "Aren't there still many victims who haven't reached a final settlement with Pete? Can't we find a way to increase the compensation? The more compensation the victims receive, the higher Camille's legal fees will be, and the more of our cut will be."

Jody frowned: "This is very complicated..."

"Pitt owns a large number of high-quality assets." Ivan had done his homework: "I have reliable information that several brands that Pitt previously represented are planning to join forces to pursue legal action against him for breach of contract during his endorsement period."

This isn't new, as Cadillac had a similar incident last year. Jody pondered, "As a global brand ambassador for many brands, strictly speaking, Pitt's nanny scandal did indeed cause significant reputational and image damage to the brands involved."

Ivan clenched his fist and slammed it on the table: "Those business groups are at the forefront, eating the meat. We follow behind, picking up scraps, which is enough to fill us up."

With such huge profits at stake, Jody was unwilling to give up without giving it a try, and asked, "Are your sources reliable?"

Ivan said, "Absolutely no problem."

Jody made up her mind: "I'll go see Attorney Camille."

After leaving the coffee shop, she didn't rush to leave. After getting into her car, she made several phone calls and soon received confirmation that Cadillac had notified its law firm in Los Angeles to reopen the legal process for Pitt's breach of contract.

(End of this chapter)