Eric talked about all the things that happened in the past few days and his own guesses on the phone. Jeffrey in New York also realized the seriousness of the matter and said that he would return to Los Angeles tomorrow morning.
After hanging up the phone, Eric sat alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and continued to be in a daze. As the sunset completely sank to the sea level, the living room without lights dimmed. Xiao Nizi didn't know where she went crazy, and the servants of the manor would not enter here without orders, so Eric was the only one in the whole villa, which seemed silent and empty.
I don't know how long it took, the intercom in the living room rang beeping, and after Eric got up and pressed the call button, the voice of the manor's security came: "Mr. Williams, there is a man named Arnon Capone Special people come to visit."
Eric wondered: "I don't know such a person, did the other party say what he came for?"
The security guard said: "No, but he said that he is a 'messenger'."
"The messenger," Eric repeated in a low voice, quickly thought of something, and said to the security guard, "Let him in."
"Okay, Mr. Williams," the other party finished and terminated the call.
Eric turned on all the lights in the living room, and the originally dim living room soon brightened like day∝, and then, Eric walked to the study.
A few minutes later, a polite Caucasian man with glasses came in with a black leather bag, looked around the gorgeous interior of the mansion in the bright light, and let out a few low praises, although he knew that he might never It is possible to own such a mansion, but thinking about what I have to do today, I will inevitably have a somewhat deformed sense of self-satisfaction in my heart.
The man saw that Eric was not in the living room. Not at all polite. He walked to the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window and sat down on his own. Looking at the sparkling sea outside the window, I patiently waited for the owner to appear.
After a while, Eric came out of the study and frowned slightly when he saw the strange man who had already sat on the sofa, but he quickly regained his composure and walked towards the strange man.
Hearing footsteps, the man stood up, but did not move. Standing still and waiting for Eric to approach, he stretched out his hand and introduced himself: "Hi, Mr. Williams, my name is Arnon Carpenter."
Eric reached out and shook hands with the other party, but he didn't speak. Seeing that Arnon Carpenter didn't care about his indifference, and was about to continue to sit down in his original position, Eric said: "I'm sorry, This is my favorite seat, Mr. Carpenter. Please sit over there."
Arnon Carpenter's expression changed, but a sneer soon appeared on his face. Pretentiously stood up and said: "As you wish, Mr. Williams."
Eric sat down in the seat vacated by Arnold, then looked at Arnold Caput who was sitting opposite him and said, "I heard that you are a 'messenger', so let me tell you why you are here. "
Arnon Carpenter didn't speak immediately, but opened the leather bag he was carrying, took out a stack of photos from it, and pushed it in front of Eric: "Mr. Williams, you can take a look first. Look at these."
Eric brought over a thick stack of photos, and the first one he saw was a photo of Drew curled up in his arms like a kitten. It was taken at the gate of the Malibu estate a few weeks ago. The son yelled that he hit his knee that time.
A flash of clarity flashed in Eric's heart. It turned out that what he felt that day was correct, and someone was indeed following him and secretly taking pictures of him. Well, maybe the rest of his feelings these days weren't wrong either.
Although he was very shocked, Eric still flipped through the following photos calmly. Except for the "intimate photos" of him and Drew, none of the women who had contact with him were let go. Over the past year, Eric didn't even remember many photos at a glance. It takes careful recall to roughly remember the time and place of the incident. Moreover, these photos are taken quite skillfully, so that people can tell at a glance that the relationship between the men and women in the photos is ambiguous.
After seeing the photos, Eric immediately determined that this matter had nothing to do with Fox, because Murdoch once admitted that a reporter from the "New York Post" under News Corporation had followed him for several months. Moreover, there are even photos of him and Nicole in this stack of photos, but there are no photos of him and Elizabeth. If these were written by other forces, wouldn't it be more sensational if the relationship between the newly-emerged famous director and the media tycoon's daughter was exposed
However, although Fox can be seen from the photos, Eric can be sure that things are far from that simple. If only the News Corporation family wanted to use these tricks to force him to submit, the result would only be to push him to other forces. Neither Murdoch nor Barry Diller could be so stupid.
Throwing the photo in his hand on the coffee table in front of him at random, Eric raised his head and stared coldly at Arnon Carpenter opposite him: "What does this mean?"
Arnold Carpenter slightly dodged Eric's indifferent gaze, and said, "Mr. Williams, this is why you asked knowingly."
Eric said without a wave in his voice: "Do you think you can influence me with these little tricks?"
Arnold Carpenter said: "Whether I can or not depends on whether my boss is willing or not. Mr. Williams, you have to understand that many famous people like you in Hollywood history may be because of one or two A scandal that was originally inconspicuous and fleeting like a meteor, do you need me to list a few?"
Eric said in a deep voice: "I and these women in the photo are all what you want. If it is exposed, I will be regarded as a playboy by the public at most. There are not many playboys in Hollywood."
Arnon Carpenter sat up straight with a sneer, and said, "Mr. Williams, the 'public' you are talking about is the most ignorant group. What kind of person they will take you depends on the people who control you. The public opinion media wants them to think of you. And the person who let me spread the word happens to control a large part of the North American public opinion media. So these photos are enough to make you notorious. And, this is just the beginning That's all, after small troubles, there will be bigger troubles waiting for you."
Hearing what Arnold Carpenter said, a strange look flashed in Eric's eyes, but he quickly covered up the emotion, and said in a slightly angry tone: "Carpenter Sir, can you tell me the boss behind you, or who are the bosses?"
Seeing that Eric was finally irritated by himself, Arnon Carpenter said proudly: "Mr. Williams, you are so smart, how could you not guess it?"
"Okay," Eric continued, "So, tell me what conditions they have?"
"Forty percent of the shares in Firefly Films," Arnon Carpenter said smoothly as if endorsing, and continued: "Look, Mr. Williams, the boss who sent me to pass the message Don’t be greedy at all, give up 40% of Firefly’s shares, then you will still be the largest shareholder of Firefly. But if you don’t agree, wait for everything to start, and then ask my boss to stop, the price you pay is far more than that too much."
Eric snorted coldly. The 40% of the shares did not seem to be greedy. However, after losing the 40% of the shares, minus the 3% that was just transferred to Jeffrey not long ago He only has 42% of the shares left in his hands. Although he is still the largest shareholder of Firefly, he cannot achieve absolute control.
And Robert Shea, although his talent is mediocre, has always been a person with a very strong desire for power. If those people promise to give Robert Shea what he wants after obtaining 40% of the shares, Eric can be sure that Robert Shea will definitely fall to the other party. At that time, Eric will also lose control of Firefly .
After merging with New Line, Firefly, which has a film distribution channel, is not yet as large as the seven giants, but it has initially taken the rudiments of developing into a film giant. Once the control of Firefly is lost, Eric can be sure that it will be difficult for him to develop a film company with complete distribution channels under the joint suppression of the seven major film companies. The media group will usher in a big trend of integration. At that time, facing the film giant that merged with the media group, Eric will only be thrown further and further away. Even if he can continue to shoot blockbuster movies, he will no longer have the strength to bargain with those film companies, and he will only become a pawn of the big group in the end, not a player who can control the game.
Thinking about this clearly, Eric didn't want to go on with this stranger in vain, and directly issued an order to evict the guest: "Mr. Carpenter, go back and tell your boss, if you want fireflies, come and get them, try them." Let's see if we can get it."
Arnon Carpenter's expression became even more smug, and he continued: "Mr. Williams, my boss had already guessed in advance that you would reject this proposal directly in a young and energetic way, so he asked me to tell you that you still have tomorrow." Take a day to think about it, calm down and think about it. You see, this villa is so gorgeous and luxurious, if you want to maintain everything here, the annual expenditure will probably not be less than one million dollars, right?"
Eric seemed not to have heard what Arnold Carpenter said, pointing to the door and said: "Mr. Carpenter, I am actually very uncomfortable that a stranger like you appears here, so please immediately Go away, I'm afraid I will lose control and let the security guards throw you into the sea, you have to know, this is private territory, I have the right to do so." (To be continued..)