America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 461 Spitting Blood

Inside the study, Martin sat in front of the computer, browsing various news articles about Ben Affleck, thoroughly enjoying the gossip, when suddenly the sound of an engine came from outside.

A red lawnmower drove onto the lawn in the front yard and began mowing the lawn.

A pretty girl wearing a sun hat was sitting on the bus.

Martin left the study, exited through the side door of the villa, and called out, "Lily, come here for a second."

The lawnmower circled around and stopped by the roadside. Lily, wearing jeans, jumped out of the vehicle and quickly went to Martin's side: "Is something wrong? I still have work to do."

Martin pointed to the lawn and the car: "Why are you suddenly doing all this?"

"You said it," Lily said with a smile.

Martin was puzzled. Had his constant attention made the girl go crazy? He said, "Wasn't it more than ten days ago when I last asked you to trim the lawn? You haven't done it yet."

Lily explained, "That's why I felt guilty, and since I happened to have time today, I quickly trimmed it."

Martin stared at her.

Lily, worried about the iron fist of concern coming down, honestly said, "First it was Casey Affleck, now it's Ben Affleck. I saw in the gossip media that Ben is raising money for his brother."

Martin waved his hand: "Casey is your concern, but Ben is none of yours."

Lily didn't listen at all: "I can't help you with anything else, I can only help you with chores."

Martin asked, "Have you finished carving the statue Leonardo wanted?" Seeing Lily shake her head, he urged, "Get to work."

Lily had no choice but to put down her lawn mowing work and go back to sculpting.

She got in her car, but instead of heading straight back to the college studio, she deliberately drove around until she reached the vicinity of Ben Affleck's house.

There were at least several hundred women gathered there, along with a large number of media reporters, and a television broadcasting van was parked nearby.

"Punish the murderer severely!"

"Protect women's rights!"

"Ben Affleck must be severely punished."

Posters and banners covered with slogans were held high by them and displayed in front of the media cameras.

Lily pulled out her carving knife from her pocket, but under Martin's protection, the knife was completely useless.

"You two rotten brothers!" She gave the middle finger to the direction of the house. "I hope you spend the rest of your lives picking up soap in jail!"

After Lily drove away, a minivan turned from the street corner and drove into the slowly opening gate of the main house.

Matt Damon, Casey, and lawyer Cole got out of the car and went into Ben's villa.

Ben sat alone on the sofa, holding a large bottle of tequila, gulping it down with listless eyes.

Damon strode over, snatched the bottle from Ben Affleck, threw it into the nearby trash can, grabbed Ben Affleck's shoulders, stared him in the eye, and yelled, "If you don't want to go to jail, you better fucking pull yourself together!"

Big Ben looked up: "Every company I've partnered with has called to terminate their cooperation with me. What can I do?"

"You don't have any commercial endorsements, so you won't face lawsuits from commercial companies like Pitt did!" Damon tried to rouse Ben Affleck's fighting spirit: "They want compensation, right? Just pay them! Once this is settled, even if you can no longer act, you can still go behind the scenes as a director with your abilities."

His voice rose higher and higher: "This is Hollywood, for crying out loud! They don't judge people by morality. As long as you make money for the big studios, they don't care what you've done!"

Ben Affleck's eyes, still hazy with alcohol, finally brightened a little: "Where's Harvey? Harvey didn't say anything?"

Damon emphasized, "Don't say anything about Harvey, understand?"

Ben nodded subconsciously: "I didn't mention Harvey to anyone."

Damon said, "Harvey can't come to see him, but he asked me to pass on his message that he will never abandon us brothers! Only if you settle things with those women and the public outcry subsides will Harvey find a suitable project for you to direct."

At this point, nothing can be resolved without significant bleeding.

Cassie said, "Ben, this is all my fault."

Damon raised his hand to stop him from continuing, still staring at Ben Affleck: "Men do these things, it's normal, there's nothing scary about it. What's scary is that you don't have the courage to face it."

Big Ben swayed as he stood up: "I have the courage to face it, but not the money."

With over a dozen girls in the acting class, plus those who jumped ship while working on the film crew before, it would be difficult to manage without tens of millions of dollars.

After all, there's Brad Pitt as a ready-made example.

Ben turned to Attorney Cole: "Can I sell my marital property?"

Attorney Cole replied, "Jennifer Garner has officially filed for divorce, requesting an equal division of your marital assets..."

Big Ben knew he had to calm this chaotic situation down quickly; who knew what would happen if it dragged on? He said, "Then let's divide it equally. I've had enough of this woman. Since we got married, my career has never been successful; it's been on a downward spiral!"

He told lawyer Cole, "I want a divorce from her. Get it done quickly; I desperately need the money!"

Attorney Cole nodded: "I'll meet with Jennifer Garner's lawyer this afternoon."

The main issues in the divorce were nothing more than property and children. Ben Affleck clearly had no intention of fighting for custody, so retaining visitation rights was not difficult. The most difficult issue, property division, was agreed upon in principle, and the rest were all trivial matters.

Damon continued to encourage Ben, saying, "You have to get through this. We've been through so much since we met in Boston, and we've always made it through safely."

Big Ben nodded, feeling empty inside as he thought about the property to be divided in the divorce and the large sum of money he might have to pay in compensation.

After more than a decade in the film industry, how much of the wealth he painstakingly accumulated will he ultimately retain?

…………

In TMZ's office building, Jody received a call from the editor-in-chief and immediately dropped what she was doing to rush to the editor-in-chief's office.

"You did a fantastic job, Joe." The editor-in-chief praised without reservation: "You truly deserve to be TMZ's top performer."

Jody wasn't modest about her proudest achievements: "These are what I'm best at—the website traffic exploded after the news was published?"

The editor-in-chief said with a smile, "The results are excellent. The big boss called and asked me to urge the implementation of your reward as soon as possible."

Jody laughed too, rushing to the front to grab the news. On one hand, she loved this line of work, and on the other hand, she could earn money that satisfied her.

The editor-in-chief looked at the finance director, who was also in the office, and said, "Just distribute the bonuses directly."

The CFO took out an envelope and handed it to Jody: "Congratulations."

Jody took the check, glanced at the amount on it, and smiled even more broadly: "Thank you, Editor-in-Chief, thank you, Director."

The editor-in-chief then said, "I look forward to your more exciting follow-up reports."

Jody signed the financial receipt and was about to leave when she remembered, "There's still an informant fee; I promised to pay the informant two installments."

TMZ Energy is constantly receiving all sorts of smears and secrets. They've always been generous with their online staff's fees, so the editor-in-chief said, "Go to the finance office again."

Jody went to the finance office and easily received a $2000 check. She then called Ivan to make an appointment and drove away from TMZ.

The two met again in Griffith Park.

Without wasting any words, Jody handed Ivan $2000 and said, "If you get any similar news, remember to contact me."

Ivan put the check away with satisfaction and said, "I've got word that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are getting a divorce. You can follow up on that news. This lead is a bonus, and it's free."

Jody asked, "Any other requirements?"

"You guessed right," Ivan said slowly. "Keep an eye on what portion of the estate Ben Affleck will get."

Jody had learned about Ben Wallace's situation: "Ben Wallace and Jennifer Garner don't have much cash on hand, and if they want to compensate the victims, they will inevitably have to sell fixed assets."

Ivan nodded: "This will also help you, as it will help the victims get compensation in a timely manner."

"Thank you for the message." Jody got up and left.

Ivan left the park, got back into his car, and made a phone call to Bruce.

…………

"Come on, cheers!"

In the living room, Nicholson raised his champagne glass and clinked it with Martin's.

Martin raised a glass with him.

Nicholson, in high spirits, picked up a glass of champagne and poured one for each of them, saying, "This time, even Harvey Weinstein can't save Ben Affleck!"

Martin laughed and said, "Even if Harvey saves him, given the current situation, it will be difficult for Ben to come back. The key issue is that his millions will be wiped out."

That bastard Nicholson has no sympathy: "From a multi-millionaire to a pauper, I hope he doesn't go crazy."

"She shouldn't go crazy, right?" Martin thought for a moment and said, "Jennifer Garner is divorcing Ben Affleck. Divorce will definitely involve dividing assets, and Ben Affleck will likely sell fixed assets to reach a settlement with the victims as soon as possible."

Nicholson, who had faced accusations of having an illegitimate child, had firsthand experience: "This is the best solution."

"We can keep a close eye on Ben's movements." The leader of the trio was decisive, and Martin was no exception. He said, "The economic situation isn't good right now, especially the real estate market. Ben's fixed assets are mainly real estate. If he wants to liquidate them quickly, he'll have to sell them at a low price."

Nicholson understood Martin's idea: "Then we buy it when it's cheap?"

Martin nodded slightly: "Markets go through cycles, and the quality housing market can't stay sluggish forever. This has happened several times over the years."

"I heard you snatched one of Ben's projects, and now you're trying to snatch his real estate?" Nicholson frowned first, then laughed heartily: "I love this kind of thing."

Martin said, "I like it too."

Nicholson suddenly began to consider seriously, seemingly pondering a crucial question, before finally saying, "There's another very important asset!"

Martin thought for a moment, then, surprised, asked, "What is it?"

"Jennifer Garner!" Nicholson said seriously, "After stealing projects and houses, shouldn't the next step be stealing wives?"

Martin recalled what Jennifer Garner looked like, shook his head, and said, "If you're interested, you should go."

(End of this chapter)