King of Hollywood-Chapter 587 - 308: The Matter at the Photo Studio

Children’s emotions always come and go quickly, especially after their father had spoken words like these. She might not have understood all the meanings, but she fully felt the emotions and immediately hugged her dad with teary eyes. In fact, not only was she moved, but Monica and Sophie were also touched.

"Although you’re not a good lover, you are definitely a good father," Sophie then sighed in his ear.

They still felt slightly regretful, wishing Adrian’s words had been meant for their daughter instead. Although the lively Lily was still very dear to them, they now had their own daughter, so their attitudes inevitably became slightly complicated. However, this feeling was very slight; Deva and Juliet were growing up healthy but being only a month old, they wouldn’t understand even if Adrian spoke to them.

Afterward, the recovered Lily began asking questions one after another, fully displaying a child’s curiosity, with her laughter occasionally revealing a sense of wonder, especially when Monica and Sophie were feeding Deva and Juliet, her eyes widened as she incessantly tugged at her dad asking, "Was I like this when I was little?!"

"Everyone was like this when they were young—you were like this, I was like this, your mother was like this, Aunt Monica and Aunt Sophie were also like this," Adrian affectionately stroked her little head. "Do you now realize how great ’mothers’ are?"

The little one nodded her head, looking like she didn’t fully understand, but the next day when she went back, she clung to Kate and wouldn’t leave her side; she even served her tea and water, which surprised Kate greatly.

"Dad said that in front of children, every mother is great, so I think I should show it," the little one stated, nodding her head emphatically.

"What on earth did you teach Lily there?" Kate couldn’t help but ask Adrian.

"It was nothing." Adrian laughed heartily and then briefly recounted the incident, making Kate’s expression turn complex as she stared at him intently for a while.

"Is there a problem?" Adrian spread his hands, and Kate shook her head, "No, nothing... Do you think inviting Monica and Sophie over for lunch or dinner would be a good idea?"

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Adrian then chuckled, "Hmm... maybe later."

It definitely wasn’t a good idea, though taking Lily to Orange County to see her two sisters was generally enjoyable, there had been a few incidents, such as during dinner when the little one again brought up why her sisters didn’t come from her mom’s belly, which made all three adults very uncomfortable. Moreover, even though Lily was very careful, children will be children, and somehow she ended up making Juliet cry, which resulted in Sophie coming over to comfort her daughter and giving Lily a stern look. Just minutes before they had been getting along fine, which scared Lily into hiding behind Adrian, and had Kate been there, she might have argued with Sophie.

Protecting one’s child is every mother’s instinct, and even more so when their father is the same scoundrel, which brings about a different kind of competition not swayed by their will. This is also one reason why Adrian wouldn’t have all his women gathered together unless necessary, so he wouldn’t agree to Kate’s idea.

Of course, just because it was not possible now didn’t mean it would never be; the children needed to interact to build relationships. Adrian also didn’t want to see his children and their mothers be overly distinct, so once Deva and Juliet were a bit older, able to play with Lily without easily getting hurt, he could invite Monica and Sophie over.

Kate didn’t know his plans but didn’t insist either; it was just a spontaneous idea, and since Adrian had spoken like that, she didn’t mention it again.

Life indeed was much more leisurely, especially compared to the busyness in New Zealand, but Adrian wasn’t entirely without things to do. He kept an eye on film production, like the promotional work for "Malena" which had already started. After almost a year of post-production, even though he spent most of his time in the Southern Hemisphere, the quality of the movie still reached his desired standard, and now all that was left was to wait for the film’s release after the promotion.

"This is good," Adrian increased the intensity of Monica and Sophie’s fitness routines, so they could recover their perfect figures sooner, and they also had two movies waiting for them. They had nearly vanished from the media from the later stages of their pregnancy to delivery time, which for female actors, meant potentially losing popularity due to the lack of exposure for such a long time.

But Monica and Sophie didn’t need to worry, their man was Adrian after all. Just two good movies being released could instantly regain the lost popularity, not to mention the exposure. Even if they rested for another two months, there wouldn’t be a problem. However, both Monica and Sophie had been hiding away for too long, it was time for them to come out and get some fresh air, and the two movies prepared were adaptations from novels. The one prepared for Sophie had a slightly longer timeline, but the one for Monica was approaching its deadline. Even though it had already been approved as a project, if its preparation was delayed for too long, the rights could still be retracted.

However, for these two movies, most of the other aspects were already arranged, and the cast for other roles was already decided, just waiting to be finalized with Monica and Sophie.

Besides this, Adrian occasionally inquired about the television production side, especially as the post-Millennium era was a good opportunity for the development of cable television, but the opportunity with network television could not be easily missed either.

"This is a great story, Mr. Adrian," standing in the corner of the studio and watching the ongoing filming, David Rasher, the screenwriter and producer, said to Adrian.

"It’s only possible with talented people like you to complement and produce it," Adrian laughed heartily as he patted his shoulder, "The premiere did very well, you did a beautiful job, David."

Although he said this, Adrian’s gaze was constantly on the set, where several female characters were performing in front of the camera. One of them, with long straight black hair and obviously of Asian descent, was none other than Nakama Yukie.

Previously, although Yukie had gained some popularity with cameo appearances in popular American TV shows and "Ju-on," she inherently lacked support. With fewer popular Asian roles recently, she had to find opportunities in TV shows. Mild-mannered Yukie had no objections to his arrangements. Adrian dictated, and she followed. If it were Lin Zhiling—who had gained popularity before considering TV parts—she would pout and hope he would change his mind. Thinking about it, boosting Lin Zhiling’s fame too early didn’t seem quite appropriate, but Adrian wasn’t bothered, how could he make promises without some strategies?

The TV show being produced had aired its first episode in October in the fall season. The ratings weren’t high but weren’t bad either. It primarily depicted the life of a stylish and intelligent single mother and her daughter, who got along very well, not just as mother and daughter but also as friends and sisters. They lived happily together, shared everything, and although they argued, they always resolved their issues effectively. Indeed, it was "Gilmore Girls."

This was a typical series portraying American middle-class life—encompassing family, friendship, love, and issues like generation gap, ambitions, education, work, and social mobility—with very modest content. There was nearly no trace of sexual or violent content, not even the word "fuck."

This was not surprising, as this series was scheduled on ABC’s network television, which naturally had strict content limitations. Cable networks, being subscription-based and encrypted, could block underage viewers and thus afford more leeway for explicit content, mainly relying on sensationalism, dramas, and conflicts to attract subscribers. But network television, accessible throughout the United States and easily available to teenagers, was closely regulated, even censoring "fuck" from news shows or various talk shows.

Thus, network TV series relied on portraying everyday life as their selling point, just like "Friends," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Gilmore Girls." However, the original "Gilmore Girls" was aired on Warner’s WB network, which was too small a network and even after merging into the CW, only barely reached a national coverage. Therefore, despite good reviews, the series always struggled with ratings.

Now, moved to ABC and revamped by Adrian, competing with NBC, the results were much better than the original—premiere viewership hit 15 million, nearly reaching prime-time TV drama levels.

Yukie’s character in the original series was Korean, and she had a significant role, even winning an Emmy Award. Thus, Adrian changed it to Japanese and gave it to Yukie since American audiences did not really care about the difference.

As for the two female leads, Rory Gilmore was still played by Alexis Bledel. Her life had seen significant changes—although starting through community theater, she didn’t start modeling early but headed in that direction only after being eliminated in the first round of America’s Next Top Model, then auditioned for "Gilmore Girls" and was cast by Adrian.

And Lorelei Gilmore was played by Jennifer Connelly! This woman, despite being a child star with a stunning performance in "Once Upon a Time in America," had almost no memorable works afterward. Although attending Yale and Stanford from the 1980s onwards and continuously going through off-peaks, convincing her to take this role did not pose much difficulty.

This was Adrian’s intent, but he wouldn’t explain the reason just yet. In fact, if Jennifer Connelly had continued to dazzle as she did in "Once Upon a Time in America," he wouldn’t have minded placing her on the lowest shelf in his collection. Unfortunately, reality always proved to be disappointing; just look at the roles she had taken on since. Even in attempting to shed her child star image, she sometimes went overboard, and her facial features weren’t as distinct as they could be—a little more definition would have made her perfect.

However, though he couldn’t collect her, having a casual fling was still possible. Despite already having many women, he still relished such indulgences. Jennifer Connelly hadn’t even hinted at refusal. After all these years and many ups and downs, if anyone still thought she was as sweet and lovely as the girl in "Once Upon a Time in America," they were sorely mistaken. Everyone knew what being favored by the Miracle Director meant.

So, not long ago, they had met for the first time near the studios in an office, talked for about ten minutes, strolled nearby, and then found a storage room. Frankly, she was well-preserved, especially her full bosom, which felt quite good. Adrian had her place her hands on the wall, bent over her, and started a vigorous attack from behind, grasping those soft breasts, before switching positions several times to his satisfaction.

When free, he wouldn’t mind another few rounds. Watching Jennifer Connelly on set, poised and elegant, Adrian stroked his chin and thought to himself that she would likely be keen to earn a few Emmy Awards and achieve significant fame in TV series. So, he might as well focus his efforts there.

Then, he turned his gaze toward Alexis Bledel. She was another he couldn’t overlook; those blue eyes were striking. Just the thought of having her kneel in front of him, watching him while pleasing him, was exhilarating. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about such a beautiful girl and missed earlier opportunities for a move. But no matter, nothing was perfect, and forgetting was normal. There would be plenty of chances to get Alexis into bed, Jennifer would help, and including her in a bit of role-playing as characters from "Gilmore Girls" would be thrilling.

Although these thoughts continuously spun in Adrian’s mind, he hadn’t approached them to say hello. After chatting with Lascher for over ten minutes, he discreetly left. He knew exactly when to act, especially after that day, such rationality grew stronger. Once he left the studio, he tossed those thoughts aside.

Adrian didn’t head straight to his car but wandered around the area, greeting people he knew. He could see what other studios were producing in terms of movies or series, which might spark an idea, though it was unlikely. So, the main reason was just to relax and clear his mind.

Just as he was about to head back after making a couple of rounds, he passed a small path again and suddenly heard a soft sobbing. Adrian frowned, walked to the back of a building, and found a small figure crouching on the ground, hands cupping her face and shoulders heaving.

It was a girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, with golden-brown hair, crouched and huddled in a way that looked quite pitiful.

After a moment’s thought, Adrian approached her, "Hey, little one, what happened?"

Surprised by someone approaching, she lifted her head and gasped, then quickly wiped her eyes and stood up, "Sorry... sir, I didn’t know... there was anyone here..."

Adrian slightly furrowed his brow indiscernibly, but maintained a gentle tone, "It’s okay, I was just passing by. Are you alright?"

"I...I...I’m okay..." she stammered, though tears kept rolling down her cheeks.

"Stop crying, or you won’t look pretty anymore." Adrian slightly furrowed his brow again, took a breath, then discreetly pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her.

"Thank you..." The girl hesitated, then took the handkerchief and gently wiped her face, managing to control her tears, although her eyes remained red. To be honest, she had a rather delicate beauty.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?" Adrian sat casually on a nearby flower stand, looking very relaxed.

"I..." The little girl bit her lip and finally uttered, "There’s a TV show being produced in the studio over there named ’CSI’. I auditioned for a role, but... but I didn’t get it..."

"It’s okay," Adrian said with a smile as he spread his hands, "That’s quite normal; not every audition will be successful."

"But... but I really need this role..." The little girl blurted out, looking anxious, her body slightly trembling.

"Oh?" Adrian looked at her, somewhat surprised, "Why? Wait, where are your parents? Surely you didn’t come to audition alone?"

"...My agent accompanied me," the little girl’s face paled, and she turned her head to one side, "My mom... is still on parole..."

At her last words, Adrian slightly raised an eyebrow.

"I’m sorry," he immediately said, "That’s indeed not pleasant news — so you really want this role, right?"

The little girl silently nodded, then suddenly looked up as if she realized something, her eyes widening as she stared at Adrian: "You are... you are... you are Mr. Adrian Cowell?!"

A mix of shock, shyness, embarrassment, and hope appeared on her little face, but...

"Um... yes, I am," Adrian admitted, watching the little girl without continuing.

The girl bit her lip: "Mr... Mr. Cowell, please... could you possibly..."

"That wouldn’t be fair to the other young actors auditioning, dear," Adrian gently shook his head.

"But, Mr. Cowell, I... I really need this role... I truly, truly need it very much," the little girl became frantic, pleading in a tone filled with tears unlike before.

"...How about this," Adrian thought for a moment, "I’ll arrange for another opportunity for you to audition? You can give it your best shot."

The little girl showed a hint of disappointment but quickly nodded: "Thank you, Mr. Cowell."

"It’s nothing, by the way, I still don’t know your name."

"My name is Leighton, Leighton Meester, sir." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on QiDian (qidian.com) with recommendation tickets or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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