America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 415 focuses on a friend proactively helping to solve financial difficulties.

After hanging up the phone and putting it down, Martin picked up his knife and fork, cut into the roast meat Lily had prepared, and carefully ate a piece, only to find that it tasted surprisingly good.

He swallowed and said, "When did you become such a good cook?"

Lily deftly cut all the roasted meat into small, square pieces and said with a smile, "I practiced on Hall. I wasn't very good at first, but Hall was very supportive. Even if I put too much salt in and the meat was burnt, he would still eat it all."

Martin observed two seconds of silence for Hall: "It's truly remarkable that he grew up this big."

Bruce, who was eating with his head down, glanced at Martin, then at Lily, and thought to himself that his younger brother probably had no human rights since childhood.

After Martin finished his meal, he picked up a set of documents and handed them to Lily: "Take a look."

"This..." Lily thought it was something like review materials, after all, Martin, that scoundrel, had given her several boxes of bison horns as gifts back then.

Facing Martin, Lily felt more confident than when facing Elena, and said weakly, "I've tried my best, you don't need to give me any more of this."

Martin couldn't help but laugh: "Take a look first."

Lily opened the file folder and found that it was mostly photos, including photos of a mansion that looked quite large. Not to mention the courtyard and sports field, there were two large villas alone.

She has been in Los Angeles for over a year and knows the area somewhat; this is likely a mansion worth over $2000 million.

Martin asked, "How is it? Not bad, right?"

"Uh, very good." Lily misunderstood: "This is too expensive..."

Martin shattered her illusions: "Don't worry, it's not for you. The house was just listed. Go and buy it for me, in your name."

Lily asked curiously, "Why don't you go yourself? It's too much trouble for me to go through the process again."

Martin spoke frankly: "This house belongs to a friend of mine. He's in some trouble right now, lacking sufficient cash flow, and wants to sell the property to raise money. I'm a good friend of his, and it wouldn't be right for me to take advantage of his situation and buy his house at a low price."

Lily thought to herself, "Who is this unlucky guy who managed to make such a good friend as you? He must have been cursed by Satan at birth."

But she only dared to think these words; she never dared to say them aloud.

Martin asked, "If you don't want to go, I'll find someone else."

Lily quickly agreed, "I'm fine with that." She decided to straighten her back a little, after all, she was a wealthy young woman, and her financial foundation gave her some confidence: "After you buy it, you have to reserve a room for me so I can decorate it however I like."

"Okay." Martin wasn't Elena after all, and wouldn't resort to loving fists all the time, but he was even worse in some ways: "From now on, the cleaning of the villa will be your responsibility."

Lily looked at the villa in the photo, then at her own artist's hands, and felt like crying.

Martin deliberately said, "Go ahead, millionaire lady, go buy that mansion."

Lily stood up, straightened her clothes slightly, took the documents Martin handed her, contacted the real estate agent, then drove out in her red Cadillac straight to Beverly Hills.

During her six months on the set of "The Dark Knight," Lily has seen a lot and is not afraid at all.

Martin and Bruce got into a Volkswagen sedan and followed.

…………

Beverly Hills, the best location north of Sunset Boulevard.

Pete walked past the outdoor pool in the back garden, entered the main house through the back door, picked up his bag, looked around the somewhat empty house, and felt extremely reluctant to leave.

He spent over $1200 million a few years ago to buy it; it was a nearly abandoned house, and the money was essentially used to buy the land.

It took more than $2500 million to demolish and rebuild it, resulting in its current appearance.

"I think this house is worth $3000 million," Pete said, looking at his investment advisor. "But it's only listed for $1300 million."

The investment advisor said, "This is not like a few years ago. We are in an economic crisis, the real estate market is sluggish, and housing prices are falling across the United States. Moreover, we are in a hurry to sell, so we need to lower prices to sell quickly. There are not many buyers who can come up with tens of millions of dollars to buy a house at once. You live in Beverly Hills and you can see the situation around you. There are quite a few houses that are vacant and you want to sell, but you can't sell them because of the price."

Of course Pete saw it; otherwise, why would he have agreed to sell it at such a price?

I used to think that having too much cash on hand was a waste of assets, but when I actually needed it, I realized that liquid funds were the life-saving capital.

The investment advisor added, "If you don't sell this one, you'll have to sell your house or estate in New York..."

Pete didn't want to stay in Los Angeles anymore; the city made him feel insecure: "No, I can't sell the house in New York, but what about the stocks in the stock market?"

The investment advisor looked grim: "You can't find anyone to buy your Fannie Mae shares."

He put it nicely, saying that a few years ago the real estate market was booming and Washington made it a priority for the economy, with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being the stars of the stars.

It was obvious to everyone that this boom was unsustainable. He had advised Pitt not to invest in Fannie Mae, but Pitt wouldn't listen, and as a result, most of his liquid funds were tied up in Fannie Mae.

Fannie Mae's stock is now practically worthless.

Pete said with a touch of melancholy, "I hope the next owner will treat this house well."

The investment advisor received a phone call: "Good news, the real estate agent will be bringing people to see the house soon."

Pitt desperately needed a large sum of cash to solve his problems, or even face imprisonment, so he immediately walked outside, saying, "Let's go."

As the two were leaving the gate in their car, they saw two cars driving by.

They recognized the car in front—the real estate agent's Mercedes—but behind it was an unfamiliar red Cadillac.

Through the windshield of the Cadillac, Pitt saw that the driver was a pretty young girl.

Real estate agent Susan's Mercedes was parked by the fountain in front of the villa. After Lily got out of the car, she said, "This house was only built 6 years ago, and the previous owner lived there for only 3 years. Everything looks brand new..."

Lily walked up the steps and looked around. The front yard, planted with flowers, grass and palm trees, was spacious and flat, and the independent outdoor barbecue area could easily host a party of hundreds of people without feeling crowded.

Nearby, two large two-story villas with attics are connected in an L-shape, yet remain independent of each other.

Behind the house, on one side is a garden and an outdoor swimming pool, and on the other side is a tennis court and a helicopter landing pad.

Compared to this mansion, Martin's current house is far inferior.

Lily had a feeling that, under normal circumstances, the $1300 million the real estate agent was asking for would be far too much; she'd be lucky to even get the land.

She asked curiously, "Susan, who owns this house?"

Susan couldn't hide it any longer, so she simply said, "It's Brad Pitt. You should have heard about him. He wouldn't be selling it for this price if he didn't need to raise the money as quickly as possible."

Upon hearing the name Pete, Lily immediately understood why Martin hadn't come forward personally.

Pete is Martin's "good friend"!

Lily followed Susan around for a bit and said, "I don't want any furniture or anything like that. Can you lower the price a bit more? If it's suitable, I can sign the contract and make payment today."

Susan couldn't make the decision herself, so she made some phone calls and communicated with others, ultimately setting the price at $1200 million.

With the global economic crisis, it's not easy to find a customer who can quickly come up with such a large sum of cash.

The following day, Lily, accompanied by her lawyer, helped Susan complete all the formalities, and before she could even warm up to the present, she was forced to hand the case over to Martin.

The money from the sale of the house only stayed in Pitt's hands for two days before a significant portion was paid out after a settlement agreement was reached with the victims' group led by Caroline.

In this special period, Pitt acted swiftly and decisively, learning from Nicholson, the leader of the trio of scoundrels, how to deal with illegitimate children. He gave the child a sum of money to send him away and signed an agreement to keep him as far away as possible to avoid legal proceedings.

The main problem is a guilty conscience. Once the legal process begins and the paternity test confirms the child, it won't just be a small expense; it will be a painful financial blow.

With these concerns resolved, Pitt and his lawyers can focus on dealing with Breitling and Cadillac's breach of contract lawsuits.

Compared to those, this is the most terrifying opponent.

If he cannot reach an out-of-court settlement or loses the lawsuit, Pitt could even go bankrupt due to the compensation.

To assemble a high-profile legal team, Pitt once again raised funds and sold a luxury apartment near Central Park in New York at a low price.

He never lived in the house after he finished decorating it.

New York was hit hardest by the economic crisis, and with property prices already low, people were eager to sell and raise funds, so prices had to drop even further.

Martin had been keeping an eye on Pete, and Lily, his tool, immediately stepped in, flying to New York and buying a Central Park view apartment that was over 300 square meters in size.

The main point is that a good friend should help solve financial difficulties in a timely manner.

Pete doesn't know yet, but once he does, he'll definitely yell and thank you.

In Beverly Hills, Martin ignored Lily, who was busy working herself to the bone in New York, and called on his beloved little witch. Together, they drove their Porsche to a luxurious villa on the north side of Sunset Boulevard.

As the car pulled up to the gate, Martin pressed the wireless key in his hand, and the wrought iron gate opened automatically.

Elizabeth walked along the curved main road until she arrived at the villa's fountain plaza. After parking, she said, "This house is big enough; it's much better than my sisters' houses."

Martin specifically mentioned, "There's an indoor swimming pool, but we haven't bought any furniture yet."

Elizabeth jumped out of the car: "Come on, let's go inside and take a look."

The mansion, built six years ago and maintained extremely well, looks almost brand new. Martin doesn't plan to touch the exterior, but the interior needs some renovation and improvement, and the furniture needs to be bought again.

Elizabeth was increasingly satisfied with the view. The courtyard was large enough, the building area was also large, and it had an indoor swimming pool and gym, as well as a private cinema that could accommodate more than a dozen people at the same time, and a super large restaurant that could seat more than 30 people.

"Two years ago, this house would have sold for at least $2800 million," Elizabeth said, familiar with luxury homes. "You got a great deal."

Martin smiled but didn't say anything more.

They stole women, endorsements, movie roles, and now a luxury mansion.

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(End of this chapter)