America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 709 The Singer's Nemesis

In December, Martin returned to North America, arriving in Nashville, Tennessee, the mecca of country music.

A minivan was waiting at the airport. As soon as Martin and Bruce came out, it picked them up and headed straight for Forest Mountain.

Earlier this year, Taylor Swift purchased a Greek Revival-style estate in Forest Hills, covering nearly 2.5 square meters.

The location was somewhat remote, and it took nearly an hour to drive into the manor.

The car stopped in front of the villa's main entrance. Martin got out, and a middle-aged woman waiting at the door opened it, saying, "Mr. Davis, please come in. Miss Swift is waiting for you."

Martin nodded to her and went straight into the villa.

With a creaking sound as the door closed, the villa's curtains automatically fell, and a few beams of light shone in the darkness, illuminating the second-floor stair landing.

Martin stopped and looked up with his hands in his pockets.

Taylor Swift, wearing a high-slit stage outfit, stood in the center with her hands on her hips, tiptoeing to reveal one of her long legs.

A few meters away, a model-like girl, taller than Taylor, was Karlie Kloss.

On the other side, Blake Lively, dressed in red, stood with her feet on the freestyle, highlighting her near-perfect S-shape.

She has a better figure than professional model Karlie Kloss.

The three of them blew kisses to Martin at the same time and walked down the stairs.

Taylor said as they walked, "Today, Blake Lively wants to join the group of girlfriends. As the only tester, Martin Davis, are you willing to put her to the test?"

Martin said, "That's why I'm here."

Taylor continued, "Blake, if you want to sing, you have to keep your throat clear."

Karlie Kloss, who seemed to have a special connection with her, chimed in, "Also, keep your vocal cords clean."

Blake Lively stepped down the stairs, cupped her hands on her stomach, and stared intently at Martin with her bright eyes: "I have a wealth of talent, but it's stuck in my chest, unable to unleash my singing voice. Please open the channel for me, so that my voice can resound from now on."

Martin stood still, waiting for them to come over.

Every move and every word spoken by these three people was a performance.

Taylor and Carly worked together to push a wooden table in front of Martin.

Blake sat down, slid forward on his back, and bumped his head on Martin's leg.

Before long, the singing began.

"He's showing you incredible things, magic, frenzy, heaven, hell, I want to see you lying down!" Taylor's voice was exceptionally loud, and the lyrics were quite unique: "Oh my god, look at your face, one side puffed up high, do you want to play this wonderful game...?"

Martin acted like a conductor, controlling the rhythm of the performance.

At first, Taylor was singing and Blake was playing the accompaniment. After a while, Karlie Kloss became the accompanist.

Finally, the solo turned into a trio.

The concert lasted from the afternoon until nightfall.

Blake Lively has officially joined Taylor Swift's group of girlfriends.

At dinner time, the four of them sat in the restaurant and enjoyed a Tennessee country-style dinner.

Martin asked Taylor, "Was that the new song you wrote last afternoon? Is it finished?"

Taylor smiled like a golden fox: "I plan to use it as the lead single for my new album and aim for a Billboard number one single."

Carly said, "This new Martin song is great."

Although Blake was a little jealous, since eating alone had turned into a group meal, the pleasure of sleeping with her idol again made her easily suppress her displeasure, saying, "The lyrics can easily lead to some unpleasant associations."

"Is this the effect you wanted?" Martin, who had personally mentored Taylor, naturally understood her intention: "To make the media and audiences around the world speculate and generate buzz for the song."

Taylor said, "You really do understand me best."

Carly interjected, "Didn't you say that Martin was your best teacher?"

Blake looked at Martin: "I remember you had a student."

"Who?" Taylor was furious. "Who wants to steal my teacher?"

Blake said, "An actress, I forget her name."

Martin casually remarked, "Saoirse Ronan, an Irish actress, has a great talent for acting and can also sing."

Because Martin taught her so much and helped her transform, Taylor felt a strange sense of crisis, as if the knowledge that should have been hers had been taken away by someone else.

Carly, knowing her best friend well, leaned closer and whispered, "Want me to introduce a few people to our group of girlfriends? Call tonight, they can come over tomorrow! I recently met a few models in New York, one is Kendall Jenner, one is Gigi Hadid, and another is Bella Hadid, but they're a bit too young, not meeting your requirement of being over eighteen."

Taylor corrected, "Eighteen years and older isn't my standard, it's Martin's standard."

Carly said, "He really has principles."

Martin remembered something important and said, "Taylor, I have a film project here, a musical, with quite a few songs."

Taylor was excited and asked, "Are you going to cast me as the female lead?"

"Your acting isn't good enough," Martin bluntly rejected. "Right now, the film's songwriting is mainly done by a male musician; he's not very good at singing the songs for the female lead."

Blake hurriedly asked, "What kind of character is the female lead?"

Martin didn't give her any room for imagination: "You're not right. You don't have that personal experience of climbing back up from the bottom."

Blake Lively was born into a privileged background; she debuted as one of the leading actresses in movies.

Martin briefly described the character: "She's basically a struggling actress who writes a script, stars in the project, becomes a big star, breaks up with her boyfriend from before she became famous, marries a producer, and then runs into her ex-boyfriend again after she becomes a big shot. She has some feelings about this, so we need a theme song that really captures the essence of the character."

"Songs written by female celebrities for their ex-boyfriends, that's something I'm good at." Taylor was telling the truth: "Next time I go to Los Angeles, show me the script."

Martin nodded: "No problem."

Blake's foot moved under the table, preparing to ambush Martin's vitals, but instead bumped into a foot wearing stockings.

Taylor suddenly looked up at Blake.

The two locked eyes, a spark flying between them.

Martin handed the fork in his left hand to Taylor and the knife in his right to Blake. Leaning back in his chair, he said, "Alright, let's begin the duel to the death."

Taylor and Blake were so angry at this bastard that their noses were crooked.

The phone rang suddenly. Taylor put down his fork, found the phone, went to answer it, and quickly returned.

She said, "My goal has finally arrived."

Martin asked in surprise, "Your target isn't me?"

Taylor's eyes sparkled: "It's you, but there's another one."

A dozen minutes later, a car stopped in front of the villa, and the front gate opened again from the outside.

A burly woman with long, dark brown hair and wearing a fruit-patterned jacket strode into the villa.

Martin felt that the face looked somewhat familiar.

Taylor introduced, "This is Katy Perry, a singer."

She then introduced Martin: "Katie, this is Martin, my good friend and teacher."

Katy Perry stepped forward and shook hands with Martin: "There are rumors in the industry that Taylor has a mastermind behind him, and it seems that's true."

Martin, of course, sided with Taylor: "Taylor is a very smart girl."

Taylor pulled Martin aside: "Let's go to the study with Katie to talk." She waved to Carly and Blake: "You two have fun."

The three walked through the corridor and entered a study.

Katie found a place to sit down and said directly to Taylor, "I've discussed it with my management team, and we agree to the strategy you proposed."

Taylor sat down next to Martin: "Your agent isn't stupid, just a bit stubborn, which is good for both of us."

Katie pouted: "No wonder you became famous so quickly, you actually came up with this kind of publicity method."

"This wasn't my idea," Taylor said, resting her head on Martin's arm. "These were Martin's suggestions."

Martin understood and asked, "Are you and Katie going to become mortal enemies?"

Taylor, with a hint of Martin's shrewdness, said, "That's right, it's not just Hollywood's awards season, it's the music industry's awards season too. We're going to pick a good time to start our showdown."

Katie spoke first: "I'll fire the first shot!"

This suited Taylor perfectly; her persona was that of an innocent, pure woman: "No problem, you can have the first shot!"

Martin asked, "Are you two going to start fighting right away?"

Katie could tell that Taylor and Martin had a special relationship, so she deliberately asked, "How about we two start doing this here, and Martin you cheer us on from the sidelines? I don't mind."

Taylor's face darkened; she had never considered bringing Katy Perry into her group of girlfriends.

Martin ignored the two female singers' nonsensical ramblings and said, "It's too sudden for you two to become enemies so easily."

He looked at Taylor: "You two had better present yourselves as best friends first, create a persona of close sisterhood in front of the media, and then publicly fall out. Best friends turning against each other and sisters becoming enemies will attract more attention."

Katie thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Martin makes a good point."

Taylor thought of a more fitting way for the two to fall out, based on Martin's words: "The best way for the two of us to fall out is through music."

Martin gave Taylor an admiring look and said, "You two can subtly criticize each other in your songs. You mock me, and I mock you. The media will be absolutely thrilled."

Katie stared intently at Martin: "I want to right now..."

Taylor grabbed Martin's arm and warned Katie, "I'm not your real best friend, we're just pretending."

Martin stood up to leave: "If there's nothing else, I'm going to find Carly and Black."

Taylor pushed Martin out, saying, "You go first."

Martin left the study and went to the hall.

While Taylor was away, the two women dragged Martin upstairs, insisting on singing for him.

Martin was happy to help people and personally adjusted their voices.

Taylor and Katy Perry discussed the matter for nearly an hour.

The latter then left.

Taylor also found a quiet room and called her agent and parents.

This matter involves not only the two individuals, but also their teams.

Taylor Swift's rivalry with Katy Perry is about to begin.