America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 769 You wouldn't want to see your sister get into trouble, would you?

At Los Angeles International Airport, Martin pulled a suitcase, walked out of the terminal, and stretched.

He slept soundly in first class the whole way, and most of the fatigue from last night had dissipated. He gradually recovered and was full of energy.

Thomas came over and helped the two of them put their luggage into the trunk of the Cadillac Escalade.

Bruce took the driver's seat.

As the Cadillac drove out of the airport, Thomas opened his briefcase, handed the materials he had just collected to Martin, and said, "Information regarding Billy Milligan and those two non-fiction biographies."

Lily and Elizabeth were waiting for him at home; a tough battle was about to begin. Martin was resting with his eyes closed. "Tell me about it," he said.

Thomas said, "Things are not quite as expected. The copyrights to both books are in Billy Milligan's hands. After Billy Milligan was released from a mental health center more than a decade ago, he registered a small production company in Los Angeles and once announced that he would adapt his experiences into a movie."

Martin was genuinely surprised and asked, "Did you take the picture?"

"No filming," Thomas explained in detail. "These two books brought Billy a lot of income, enough to cover his daily expenses and even save some money. A few years ago, he used that money to hire a screenwriter to adapt the two books into a screenplay called 'The Crowded Room.'"

Martin opened his eyes: "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."

Thomas pointed out, "It must be from media reports. Billy gave an interview claiming he wanted to make a movie out of this script, which uses multiple personality disorder as its selling point, and even planned to cast Tom Cruise or Leonardo DiCaprio as the male lead, which is himself."

Reminded by him, Martin remembered: "Yes, Leo mentioned it. At the time, the gossip media hyped it up, using him and Tom Cruise as a gimmick to attract people. Leo didn't seem to respond, and it faded away quickly afterward."

Thomas said, "That's right. The matter was quickly resolved. Billy didn't sell his script, and he didn't have the funds or ability to make it into a movie."

Bruce interjected, "Isn't Billy schizophrenic, with twenty-four personalities? How could he possibly make a movie like this?"

"According to mental health experts, all aspects of his personality have reached a compromise." Thomas checked the detailed information: "He is now able to live a normal life and poses no threat to society."

Martin wasn't interested in any of that and went straight to the point: "Is Billy interested in selling the rights?"

"We can try making contact," Thomas advised. "We'd better hurry; from what I understand, Billy seems to have been diagnosed with a tumor."

Martin nodded. "Contact Jessica and buy the rights as soon as possible." He thought about what had happened before and emphasized, "Keep a low profile and be quick."

Thomas said, "I'll take you back; I'm going to Burbank."

Bruce cautioned, "Be careful when you go. Although that guy has been released, he used to be a dangerous person."

Thomas decided to bring a few bodyguards, adding, "The series of incidents involving Billy can be considered a public event. If negotiations don't go smoothly, we can still adapt the story; there's no copyright conflict."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "To reduce future troubles, let's try to get the copyright first. If we can't get the copyright, then we can talk about other things."

The car drove into Beverly Hills, making a special trip through Century City to drop off Thomas before heading to the North Side of Sunset Boulevard.

Upon entering Davis Estate and parking in front of the villa, Martin got out of the car and found that no one came to greet him, so he had no choice but to carry a bag into the hall.

The villa's main gate suddenly closed, the curtains automatically shut, and all the lights went out.

Martin heard the familiar footsteps, so he didn't move.

Lily quickly moved behind Martin, pressing the knife-shaped stone carving against his lower back, and said, "Don't move, put your hands up!"

Martin moved slowly.

Lily grabbed him by the back of his collar: "If you don't hurry up, I'll stab your kidney!"

Martin felt his shirt being lifted up at the back, and a cold, hard, long object was pressing against his back.

He put down his bag and raised his hand.

Lily wasn't finished: "Put your hands behind your back!"

Martin's hand slowly fell behind him.

"Hurry up, it's your turn!" Lily called out from a short distance away.

Suddenly, a leg clad in a black over-the-knee boot emerged from behind the screen, and Elizabeth Olsen, dressed in a red leather hunting outfit, stepped out.

She was carrying a red rope in her hand.

Lily asked, "Is the person right?"

Elizabeth tried to make her smile more fierce, but in front of Martin, her smile unconsciously turned sweet: "Yes, it's him! We've captured America's hero!"

Lily said, "Very good, tie him up. We'll interrogate him carefully and examine him thoroughly to see if he has enough!"

Martin understood the first part, but what does this last part mean?

Elizabeth skillfully tied a slipknot, intending to loop it around Martin's hands.

Martin played along with them, putting on a full act, as if he had been completely subdued.

As the noose fell, Lily instinctively moved her hand back, causing the object pressing against Martin's lower back to move slightly backward.

Just like in real life, as soon as the knife left her hand, Martin grabbed Lily's wrist and snatched the knife from her hand.

He pulled Elizabeth close, the stone knife pressed against the little witch's neck, turned to face the opposite side, and shouted, "Don't move!"

Across from her, Lily was dressed in a black, tight-fitting leather outfit, and a carving knife was spinning rapidly between her fair fingers.

The custom-made outfit accentuated her figure so much that Martin kept looking her up and down: "Don't move, I'll take action!"

He suddenly laughed, touched Elizabeth's chin with the back of his hand, and said to Lily, "Beautiful lady, you wouldn't want to see her bleeding profusely, would you?"

"You bad guy, let go of my sister!" Lily was quite dramatic, with a righteous expression on her face.

Martin acted like a villain: "I'll let her go, but you have to do as I say."

Elizabeth got into character too: "Leave me alone, you hurry up and leave!"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely save you!" Lily's bright eyes widened. "What do you want to do?"

Martin said, "I want your leather hunting outfit!"

"Don't worry about me..." Before Eliza could finish speaking, Martin held the stone knife to her mouth.

Lily said, "Don't do it, I'll give it to you!"

After saying that, she turned the carving knife around and slashed it across her chest and abdomen, the sound of leather tearing echoing continuously.

Martin was surprised.

Elizabeth, worried, immediately snapped out of her reverie: "Don't hurt yourself!"

How could the famous young artist Lily possibly hurt herself? She used herself as raw material and skillfully sculpted a human figure.

The leather pieces fell off one by one, revealing parts underneath that looked like pink diamonds inlaid on pure white jade.

Martin commanded, "Come here."

Lily's righteous indignation turned into humiliation. She moved step by step toward Martin and then did all sorts of unbelievable things according to his orders.

The battle between the beautiful woman and the evil dragon has begun.

Meanwhile, Bruce packed his luggage in the annex, sent Martin a message, and left the manor for TMZ with a handbag containing gift boxes.

He hadn't finished get off work yet, so he waited in his car for a while. Suddenly, Jody appeared on the passenger side and knocked on the window.

Bruce quickly opened the car door, let Jody get in, and tossed her the handbag: "It's a gift from the sponsor. I don't really need it, so you can have it."

Jody glanced at the Hermès logo and wondered when Martin had ever collaborated with Hermès.

"Where to?" Bruce started the car.

Jody said, "Come to my place." She asked deliberately, "You just got back from Boston and you're already coming to see me? It seems our relationship is different now."

Bruce remained unfazed and readily offered his excuse: "I'm Martin's agent and public relations manager, so of course I need to maintain a good relationship with the editor-in-chief of America's number one gossip media."

Jody thought to herself, "You only have eyes for Martin."

But she wouldn't say those words aloud, pretending not to hear them. She glared at Old Brooks and said with a cold laugh, "Very well, you don't want to see negative news about Martin exposed, do you know what to do?"

Bruce nodded, making another sacrifice for Martin.

…………

As darkness fell at Davis Estate, Martin sat in the dining room with Elizabeth and Lily, chatting and eating dinner.

Lily rubs her knees frequently, clearly indicating that she is not feeling well.

Martin pretended not to see it.

Elizabeth handed over a document and said, "Lily and I chose a business jet."

Martin didn't open it to look: "Have you made your selections? Just place the order, and I'll pay later."

Elizabeth, however, unwrapped the cover and placed it in front of Martin: "We've chosen a Bombardier Global 6000, which can carry up to 15 passengers, has a maximum range of over 1 kilometers, and costs around $6000 million."

Martin glanced at the specifications and interior design and said, "Okay, let's choose this one. You place the order."

Lily became interested and said, "Once the plane is delivered, the three of us will go up into the sky together."

Elizabeth said, "Haven't you been tortured enough?"

Lily grinned: "He was fiddled with at the same time, and he was also fiddled with!"

Martin looked up at Lily, as if transported back to his Atlanta days, and said, "Idiot, stop swearing!"

Elizabeth didn't want to hear Atlanta slang, but said nothing, and pulled the full Lily to the living room: "Let's contact the people at Bombardier and place an order."

Lily nodded and whispered, "Let that bastard Martin bleed a lot!"

After finishing his meal, Martin went straight to his study and called Leonardo DiCaprio to ask about the events surrounding "The Crowded Room" from back then.

Leonardo DiCaprio said, "I don't know how it happened. I only found out about this project because the gossip media suddenly reported it. I'm not interested in the 24-personality role you mentioned. It would be too much trouble to play."

"It's because your acting is terrible." Martin hung up the phone after saying that, not giving Leonardo a chance to retaliate.

Then he called David Fincher, wanting to meet him to discuss the project.

In Martin's opinion, David Fincher is better suited to direct this type of film than Night Shyamalan.

(End of this chapter)