King of Hollywood-Chapter 625 - 33: Nothing New Under the Sun

Just as Adrian expected, on the second day after the premiere of "Miss Congeniality," the reviews from major media were unexpectedly consistent: a cliché popcorn movie, but still entertaining enough to kill time. As for the performance of the leading lady...

"Mediocre, although Kate Beckinsale did a fairly good job in shaping the character’s personality, she obviously doesn’t quite fit this style of movie," said the San Francisco Chronicle.

Given that this was the evaluation from the leading newspaper under Hearst, one of AC Media’s closest partners, one can imagine what other media outlets might say. The more favorable ones were similar to the San Francisco Chronicle, while the meaner ones straightforwardly stated that she showed none of the acting skills she had demonstrated in "28 Days." If Kate wanted to progress in comedies, romantic comedies like "Serendipity" would be more her scene, not one where the lead is required to combine comic timing with acting skills.

In essence, under the sharp and sarcastic criticism of these folks, Kate was portrayed in a very unflattering light, just short of being told to stick to niche films for a few more years to hone her skills. Perhaps these negative reviews had an impact because the box office results were not very optimistic—$12 million over three days in 2,750 theaters—which was quite poor for the current season. However, Adrian wasn’t too concerned. Although the box office was lower than expected, it was still within acceptable limits. They could step up the promotion, and if the uptick was high enough, it wouldn’t matter if the final box office fell short of the original—especially since the movie’s target was box office returns, not critical acclaim.

"I really didn’t care, why should I? Especially with you here," Kate responded with a shrug when Adrian asked, her attitude casual but with an undertone of helplessness and hidden pleasure.

Indeed, if the Miracle Director wasn’t saying anything and didn’t seem worried at all, then what was there for her to worry about? Adrian, who had seen through her, broke into laughter. Although this experiment was not very successful—okay, maybe it couldn’t be called a failure just yet, since the final box office results were not in, and the film was meant to make money rather than win critical praise.

While they were satisfied, there was someone who was not too happy. Lily was quite upset she couldn’t go to the premiere to watch her mom’s movie firsthand. The nearly five-year-old little one had the intelligence of a six-year-old at least. She not only understood a lot but could also read articles in the newspapers that didn’t contain difficult words. Additionally, she often took a DV camera everywhere to shoot footage, which, despite being haphazard, produced stills that were quite interesting. Kate couldn’t help teasing that she had inherited Adrian’s interest and talent in filmmaking.

At first, they thought Little Emma was precocious because she was naturally bright, but now it seemed that Adrian’s influence might be part of it. However, Lily was not likely to turn into a little devil in a few more years, like Little Emma did.

Even though Lily was clever enough, there were many things she could not understand right now. Therefore, she was very dissatisfied with her parents’ decision to keep her at home on the day of the premiere.

"I just want to see Mommy. I’ve seen all of Mommy’s movies at home many times, and also watched lots of movies from Aunt Sarah, Aunt Yukie, Aunt Monica, and Aunt Sophie. I just want to go to the scene and see it for myself, is even that not allowed?" The little one stood in front of her dad, hands on her hips, looking up at him with a huff.

Adrian was initially startled when he heard this. Whether it was Kate’s, Sarah’s, Yukie’s, Monica’s, or Sophie’s movies, many of them were not suitable for her age, and she definitely needed adult supervision to watch those others. Though the private cinema was strictly managed, if the little one sneaked a videotape to watch on her own, that would be really bad—she had done such things more than once.

Luckily, after asking Yukie, he found out Lily hadn’t watched those movies that were inappropriate for her age. Monica’s was "The Matrix," and Sophie’s was "First Kiss." It seemed her self-regulation probably had a lot to do with Adrian’s solemn warnings. In the little one’s heart, Daddy still had a lot of credibility, so—

"Trust me, okay, dear?" Adrian held his daughter in his arms. "There are some things you can’t understand right now, so sometimes when Daddy and Mommy don’t explain, it’s not that we don’t want to explain, but that we don’t know how to."

"But I’ve already figured out a lot of things," the little one still wanted to argue. "I know I came out of Mommy’s belly and wasn’t brought by a stork." She wanted to struggle further. "I can also take apart the DV and put it back together..."

Before she could finish, Adrian gave a long "Oh," looking at Lily with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. The little one’s cheeks immediately turned red, and she bashfully stuttered, "Okay, I admit Auntie Yukie helped a lot, but I seriously remembered every step. If I took it apart again, I’m sure I could restore it!"

By the end of her statement, she puffed out her chest, although her confidence was obviously waning.

"Alright, little one," Adrian said tenderly, pinching his daughter’s cheek. "Wait another two years, wait until you start school, then you’ll understand why Mommy and Daddy do this."

Lily reluctantly agreed, but at the same time, her curiosity grew. Why did she have to wait until school to be told? She knew she had to go to school eventually, but now the idea of starting school seemed a bit scary. Adrian didn’t explain further to his daughter. After all, she would naturally understand when the time came. Plus, given the current situation, it was likely she wouldn’t have to wait that long. He thought he should probably teach her to be more open-minded when he had the chance.

Logically, after "Miss Congeniality" was released, he should have gone to London as promised. The filming of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" was nearing its end, and he had promised Little Emma to visit before the completion of the shoot. But Adrian was still leisurely staying in Los Angeles, enjoying life. There was no rush; as long as he arrived in London before the last day of shooting, he wouldn’t be breaking his promise, right? And as for Little Emma possibly being upset about it, when was she not upset?

So no need to worry about it now. He had just completed two movies, and it was time to rest. Besides, his business in London wasn’t only about compensating Little Emma; he had other events to attend. So what was wrong with spending more time with his daughter now? Deva and Juliet, the two little ones, could already start crawling all over the house. Yet, no matter how much they crawled around, they were still much quieter than their sister. Lily, back in the day, had crawled all over Adrian’s mansion, and from the start of her crawling, she would peek around beside the stairs. If the nanny hadn’t stopped her in time, she might have already tried to venture down. Even though she occasionally fell and cried loudly, she never learned her lesson. As soon as the pain subsided, she’d start crawling around again.

"Suddenly, I remembered a line from the Bible," Adrian stood up and walked in front of her, gazing at her face, "’There is nothing new under the sun.’"

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Sarah was somewhat puzzled.

After staring at her for several more seconds, Adrian finally spoke, "In a young girl, I saw the you from before."

"The me from before? Do you mean..." Sarah’s expression became subtly complex.

"Yes," Adrian confirmed with a nod.

"You must be very pleased," Sarah said in a teasing tone, but her eyes were filled with depression and helplessness. Although she had come to accept reality, and she got along well with Kate and Charlize, it didn’t mean she liked sharing with other women.

"Maybe," Adrian sighed as he caressed her cheek, "but some things can’t be found again."

Sarah didn’t reply, but a gentle expression briefly crossed her face. She naturally knew what Adrian was talking about. As he grew more powerful, the women approaching him did so with more ulterior motives. The kind of deal that had turned into a heartfelt relationship between her and him was almost impossible to happen again.

"Was she... abandoned by her father too?" After a moment of silence, she eventually asked.

"It’s even worse than that," Adrian gently shook his head. "Her parents were prosecuted for drug trafficking and possession. Her mother conceived her in prison and then gave birth to her in a hospital near the prison, and at the time of her birth, she had no guardian."

"That’s truly awful," Sarah said in shock.

"A few years later, her parents got divorced and are now strangers to each other, while her mother hasn’t really reformed, constantly getting into trouble. Sending her daughter to act was also driven by the realization that actors can earn more money," Adrian sighed again. "The reason I met her in the first place was that she deliberately performed a scene in front of me for a role, so I’m not surprised she would make such a request. So..."

"So, out of humanitarian consideration, you agreed, right?" Despite her shock, the teasing had not subsided.

"I thought it over for a long time. She’s different from you. Your actions were for yourself and your mother, but she is entirely for herself," Adrian sighed once more.

"In the end, you still agreed," Sarah laughed. "Maybe I can spare some time to talk with her. Maybe she just... wants some security." freeweɓnovel~cѳm

There was no doubt that the girl Adrian was talking about was Leighton Meester. Ever since she had acted out a scene for her role in "CSI" in front of him, he had thoroughly investigated her family history. Despite witnessing many things in his previous and current life, Adrian was still shocked by her bizarre parents, especially her mother, Connie—a woman of utmost selfishness, who spent most of the money her daughter earned from acting, although she also left a portion to support Leighton’s career but with the intention of having her earn even more.

It had to be said that the previous life’s Leighton was quite low-key and restrained. Adrian had to search his memory for a long time before finding information about a legal dispute between her and her mother, as well as the incident of her mother misappropriating money for her sick brother’s treatment. Although the information was sparse, it was enough to prove that she had been estranged from her mother for a long time.

Putting aside the indifferent mother, she did have some similarities to Sarah. Otherwise, Adrian wouldn’t have thought of her today after his playful interaction with Sarah. Yet, sometimes she also bore a resemblance to Kirsten. He had already made plans in his mind ever since Leighton’s performance, otherwise, he would not have sent someone to Burbank to gather another situation, nor would he have arranged for her to be in "Spy Kids." However, even though he had unintentionally revealed a bit, when he gave her the role in "CSI," he had already seen through her act but had not found the right opportunity to test her yet, let alone now being a bit premature.

What he didn’t expect, however, was for Leighton to take the initiative to approach him.

"I need your support, Mr. Adrian. What can I... do for you?" In an office on set, after Leighton requested for a private chat, she immediately said this. Although her fists were tightly clenched, her lips pressed firmly together after speaking, and her eyes carried a determined look, her facial expression remained calm.

Surprised, Adrian did not agree immediately. Although he had plans for her, Leighton was different from Sarah and Kirsten. Not to mention Sarah and her mother, Kirsten’s mother, though boastful, had fulfilled the basic responsibilities of a mother. But Leighton was different; growing up in such a family, children became precocious and independent, but they also had two fatal flaws. One was that it was very easy for them to close off their hearts, becoming overly self-involved—seen in an uglier light, excessively self-serving—and despite appearing genteel, they could suddenly become furious. The second was the means they might use to achieve their ends; while cases like Penelope’s rash interference in affairs not of her concern were quite rare, no one could guarantee these wouldn’t occur again.

Moreover, Adrian hadn’t spent much time with Leighton, unsure if he could see through this young girl. What’s more important was, how did Leighton come to suddenly speak of such matters to him, when the affairs with Sarah and Kirsten had been very secretive. If it had been before, he might not have minded, but now with increased power, it was hard to say, so he eventually responded: "Let’s find time for a proper talk in a couple of days."

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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