America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 447 Making Big Money

Early in the morning, Martin woke up from his sleep and felt something pressing on his face, with a refreshing fragrance.

When he struggled out, he found that Elizabeth's facial cleanser had been thrown on his face at some point.

She seemed to be having a sweet dream, with a sweet smile on her face even in her sleep, which made people feel good from morning to night.

After getting up and washing up, Martin went to the floor-to-ceiling window and slightly opened the curtains. The rays of sunlight from the east fell on the spacious courtyard, dyeing the road, lawn and trees golden.

Compared to the recent hustle and bustle in the Koti community, it's much quieter here.

Martin went downstairs to prepare breakfast. Elizabeth bought a lot of semi-finished products yesterday.

When he arrived at the kitchen, he found Bruce busy inside and asked, "Did Thomas go back last night?"

Bruce, who was frying eggs, was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "If he doesn't go back, will he stay?"

Martin's asshole words came out of his mouth: "I thought he would live on your side."

Bruce picked up the pan and dumped the fried eggs into the trash can: "You don't have breakfast."

"I smell burnt food," Martin said. "You are a terrible cook."

He went over to help, and before they had finished breakfast, Elizabeth had already come downstairs and took the initiative to get the tableware.

When the three of them sat at the dining table, Martin said, "We need a permanent chef."

Elizabeth looked at the huge yard outside and said, "It seems that we still need a housekeeper."

"Take your time looking for it." Martin concentrated on his breakfast.

After breakfast, Bruce went out to look for Ivan, leaving Martin and Elizabeth alone in the new home.

The two of them held hands and went for a walk in the garden.

As they walked, Elizabeth said, "Come back with me to Sherman Oaks this afternoon and help me move."

Martin asked, "Are you going to live here from now on?"

Elizabeth turned to look at him, a little surprised: "Is it not possible?"

"I'm worried that your sisters won't agree." Martin responded quickly: "You can move in whenever you want and stay as long as you want."

Elizabeth drew circles on his chest: "As long as you don't move away, I want to live here forever."

Martin nodded and said, "No problem." He suddenly thought of an important question: "You haven't been to acting class recently?"

Elizabeth hugged Martin, and finally showed worry on her face: "I'm afraid that something will happen to you, that you will continue to be affected by the role, and that you will really become that clown. I accompany you and play the game you like, which will always make you feel more relaxed and happy."

Martin hugged her back and they kissed passionately.

It was a long time before we separated.

Being with Martin every day made Elizabeth feel extremely happy both physically and mentally. Her ambition for career faded. She continued the previous topic: "It's okay. If you miss this period of the actor class, I can still take the next one. This kind of class is for professional actors, and everyone's class time is intermittent."

Martin nodded: "It's up to you."

Elizabeth suddenly remembered: "I am going to Europe with my sisters before the weekend. They are going to the UK to develop the market. I may have to help them there for a while."

She explained: "From childhood to adulthood, I have always been spending their money, enjoying the benefits they bring, and hiding under their protection. Now that I have grown up, I will help as much as I can."

Martin understood what he was worried about and said, "I'm fine here, just go ahead and don't worry."

Elizabeth threw herself into Martin's arms: "Let's do it here once? I haven't tried outdoors yet."

Martin picked her up and put her on the swing in the garden.

…………

Matt Damon's mansion in Brentwood.

Ben Affleck picked up the bottle, poured most of the glass of wine, and drank half of it in one gulp.

Damon glanced at Jennifer Garner, who was with his wife Lucy, and asked, "Are you having a conflict?"

Big Ben shook his head: "It has nothing to do with Jennifer. I'm just a little depressed after reading the recent news."

Damon understood: "Martin Davis and the Dark Knight?"

"Yes, it's this bastard." Ben Affleck drank the remaining half glass of wine. "Why is this bastard so lucky? He plays the second male lead in a movie, and it's a big hit at the box office. But this supporting role completely overwhelms the protagonist. The Joker is ten times more successful than Batman."

Damon also had a bad impression of Martin, but the contradictions and knots were fading over time. After all, he did not have a direct conflict with Martin. He also poured a glass of wine and asked before drinking: "I heard that The Dark Knight broke the North American weekend box office record?"

In Ben's eyes, Martin was just a bastard who intervened and snatched a project that was about to be completed by him, so he has always been paying attention to Martin and the Dark Knight.

He roughly said: "Not only the North American weekend box office record, but also the single-day box office record, and the fastest box office record to exceed $2 million. Just yesterday, the fastest record to exceed $2.5 million was set. If nothing unexpected happens, the North American second weekend box office record will also belong to The Dark Knight."

Damon didn't pay much attention, but was a little surprised after hearing this: "With this trend, won't North America break $5 million? Globally, it's expected to reach $10 billion? I see clowns everywhere. With this kind of commercial performance, Martin will surely become a superstar."

"Fame and fortune! I heard that he signed a salary plus commission payment model." Thinking that Martin might earn tens of millions of dollars, Ben Affleck felt worse than going bankrupt. He felt like a mountain was pressing down on his heart: "That bastard, it's not enough to have a project like The Dark Knight, but he came to steal my money!"

"What's going on?" Damon asked.

"I've taken a fancy to a novel and have had actual contact with the author, but I didn't expect Martin Davis to intervene midway..." Ben Affleck recounted the story of "Prince of Thieves" with exaggeration.

This reminded Damon of what happened when he was competing for The Departed: "He really doesn't follow the rules." Jennifer Garner, who was talking to Lucy next to him, looked up and interrupted: "I heard that Martin Davis has a lot of support behind him. This is not a big deal. It's over."

"Shut up!" Ben pointed at Jennifer and almost roared, "What do you know? He is not trying to steal the adaptation rights of a novel, but destroying my career and future."

Damon quickly said, "Ben!"

Lucy looked at Garner, whose face changed color, and said, "I just got a cat. It's super cute. Shall we go see it together?"

Jennifer Garner endured it. The drunken Ben was completely unreasonable. She followed Lucy out of the living room.

Damon advised: "You should drink less and control your bad temper."

Ben rubbed his face and said, "I'm not usually like this. I just feel upset when I think of that bastard Martin who stole my project and gained fame and fortune with the Joker!"

He expressed it very directly: "Martin made a lot of money, which is more than the tens of millions I lost, and it still makes me feel uncomfortable! Besides, I haven't been developing smoothly in the past few years and I have made too little money."

Damon said: "It's not difficult to find the right project and make money with your ability."

Big Ben nodded: "I'm looking for it. I can't keep going like this. If I made a lot of money like I did in previous years, Jennifer wouldn't argue with me."

It's a very realistic problem: a man cannot have a clear conscience if he cannot earn enough money to support his family.

Ben returned to the previous question: "Why can a jerk like Martin Davis make so much money?"

Damon knew, however, that the guy he was not happy with was now doomed to fail: "Ben, don't confront him head-on. If you can't find a suitable opportunity, just bear with it. There will always be a time to vent your anger."

Ben Affleck said vaguely, "I won't provoke him head-on. I suspect that Pitt must have had him behind the scenes to get to where he is now. I guess what he did is second only to Jolie and Aniston."

Damon said: "Actually, Harvey is also upset with Martin because he rejected Harvey's kindness again. Don't worry, there will always be a chance."

He picked up the wine and poured it, then asked, "I heard that Cassie has been visiting art exhibitions a lot lately? Is she obsessed with art?"

Da Ben had a general idea of ​​it, but didn't elaborate. After all, it was just a test: "He considers himself an artistic young man."

Damon said, "Cassie asked me to borrow money. She said she wanted to buy some expensive art."

Da Ben nodded: "He also borrowed some money from me."

…………

Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles.

The multi-day art exhibition was coming to an end, and Martin and Brews came on purpose on the last day.

After entering the exhibition hall, Martin found a place with few people, as if he had taken a fancy to a painting, and stood opposite it to admire it quietly.

Bruce came to the sculpture exhibition area and stood in an inconspicuous corner, his eyes occasionally sweeping over Casey Affleck.

Today, Casey Affleck came to the exhibition hall again to make one last effort.

The booth belonging to Lily Carter remained empty and no one was seen.

Cassie had had some bad associations before, but as a decadent man with overflowing self-confidence, he always believed in his own charm.

Cassie was somewhat anxious as no one was coming.

The empty exhibition stand reminded him of the art sculptures he had bought at high prices, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on them.

Cassie doesn't have a big hand in Hollywood, his salary is not high, and he has no habit of saving. He always spends whatever he has, so hundreds of thousands of dollars is not a small amount for him.

Not only did he use his credit card, he also borrowed some money from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

The money was spent, but I haven't seen the person in the past few days.

Although they were chatting inside the exhibition hall, they had a pleasant conversation about art.

From sculpture to carving, from film to medicine, there are always common topics to be found.

Seeing that it was getting late, Cassie took out her cell phone and started making a call.

"Hello, this is the Business Department of California Institute of the Arts." A man's voice came from the phone: "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

Cassie was stunned for a few seconds before asking, "Isn't this Lily Carter's number?"

The other side smiled and replied: "During the exhibition, in order to facilitate communication, the college has equipped each student participating in the exhibition with a business mobile phone. After the exhibition, the phone must be returned."

Cassie's face was filled with frustration: "Do you have Lily Carter's contact information?"

"Sorry, I don't. If you have nothing else to say, I'm hanging up." The call was very busy on the other end and he hung up directly.

Cassie heard the busy tone, put down her hands, and murmured: "Lily Carter..."

Looking at the empty booth in front of him, he understood clearly that he had been fooled by a female student!

Cassie walked around the booth. After the bubble of blind confidence was burst, people would always think of many things that they had previously ignored.

That Lily Carter clearly took advantage of his deliberate approach and sold him those worthless student sculptures at a high price.

What a stupid way to use clearly marked prices on artworks!

Cassie put her fingers into her hair and scratched it frantically, leaving dandruff all over the floor, then left the exhibition hall.

(End of this chapter)