Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)-Chapter 336 - : Gift.

[Edward POV]

"There's this new movie, Sherlock Holmes. Have you seen it?" Haley asked after we shared a kiss on the couch. She sat on my lap, her arms around my neck, resting her head slightly on my shoulder.

"RDJ's the lead. He's probably a little pissed that I haven't seen it yet," I said playfully.

The movie had been released during Christmas, and I hadn't gotten the chance to see it. Although I had watched it in my previous life, RDJ wouldn't let me off the hook so easily without proof.

"Oh, wait, we probably shouldn't go to the movies by ourselves," Haley trailed off, her eyes darting around as she searched for another idea.

Brushing her hair behind her ear, I smiled and said, "Not to worry. I can just buy all the tickets in the theater. We can have the entire place to ourselves."

Haley, however, got mad and said, "No! Don't do that. That's really wasteful."

I pretended to sulk for a bit and replied, "This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time! Now that I finally have a girlfriend, no one can stop me from doing it. We're going to have that romantic, luxury flex moment in the movie theater that only rich bosses or billionaires get to experience in movies."

Haley chortled and said, "Oh, so the next thing will be flying to Italy for a pizza in your private jet? Is that what you want?"

"Depends. Do you have a passport?" I asked, looking at her seriously. Haley was taken aback and exclaimed in disbelief, "Don't do that—no, don't even think about it!"

"Wait. We're both underage, so we can't keep the traveling a secret," I muttered. Haley finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking I had regained my rationality.

"I should fly a chef out from Italy to cook for us here," I said after thinking for a moment. Stunned, Haley exclaimed playfully, "Tch—I don't really like the rich guy flex in movies. I prefer intimate moments."

I smiled and said, "Me too." I reached for the table beside the couch and pulled out a small box. She didn't notice as she rambled on, "Don't turn into the guy who tries to buy the girl's feelings. I'll pay for every outing from now on. You just need to sit tight and look pretty—"

Finally, she saw the present I was holding and was stunned again. Her lips curled into a smile, and her face lit up. "What's this?" she asked coyly, pretending to understand the situation.

"Open it." I smiled charmingly as I handed the present to her. Haley giggled and then untied the red ribbon before opening the box.

The necklace featured a stunning teardrop emerald, its rich green hue radiating. Set in a delicate platinum filigree, the emerald was elegantly suspended from a fine chain. Surrounding the emerald, small diamonds enhanced the overall opulence of the piece.

Haley blinked quickly, thoroughly mesmerized by the gift. She looked at me instantly for an explanation. I smiled affectionately and said, "I bought that the second you agreed to be my girlfriend. It's my gift to you—"

Haley hugged me tightly before I could finish my sentence. "I love it!" Touched by the gesture, Haley kissed both of my cheeks in gratitude before hugging me again.

I smiled teasingly as she rested her head on my chest. Then I said, "Really? I'm worried you won't like it because you said you didn't want me to spend any money on you."

Haley flinched a bit and pulled her head back up before smiling, "I'm not touched because you bought me an expensive thing. I'm touched because of the gesture. You're so happy that we are a thing now that you had to give me this necklace."

"Pfft—" I held back a laugh. My reaction made Haley frown. She pouted and said, "What? Don't you trust me?"

"I do—I do," I said dismissively. Offended, Haley gasped and said, "You know what? I was planning to do something for you too, but you can forget about it now. You lost your chance." She crossed her arms, moved away from my lap to sit next to me, and pouted.

"What? What did you have planned?" I asked playfully as I grabbed her hand, interlocking our fingers. Haley blushed a bit and whispered in my ear.

"As a thank you?" I looked at her in shock. Haley grinned and said, "Or we can do it like in Titanic, where I... only wear this..." She held up the necklace.

We looked into each other's eyes, and the air started to heat up as our faces inched closer together. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. We paused, and I said, "Let's ignore it."

We continued to lean in, tilting our heads slightly as we prepared to kiss. Just as our lips were about to connect, the intercom rang.

"Edward! I know you're in there! Open the door! I forgot my stuff! Let me in; I'll be out of your hair immediately after I get it," Max shouted, her tone full of urgency.

I sighed and said, "I think the moment's passed."

"Just send her away quickly. The moment's still there for me," Haley urged. I widened my eyes slightly and immediately ran to the door. "Be right back."

As I opened the door, I said to Max, "You have 30 seconds to get it and then get out of here."

"Geez. Okay, I won't interrupt your love fest," Max sighed and entered the house with a playful smile.

"Oh hey, you have your top on this time," she said as she noticed Haley sitting on the couch. I pushed her, saying, "Hurry up. Don't disturb us."

"Okay, I'm going—I'm going," Max exclaimed as she hurried up the stairs. Just then, Caroline entered the house, and I was so focused on Max that I didn't realize she was behind her.

"Max, I told you not to disturb them," Caroline said as she walked into the living room. Haley was holding her phone, trying to get a photo with the necklace.

Suddenly, Caroline's eyes were drawn to the necklace in Haley's hand. Caroline began hyperventilating at the sight, leaving Haley flabbergasted. She wheezed, and her entire shoulder went up and down.

"What's wrong? Are you having a panic attack?" Haley asked, confusion and worry etched on her face. I turned my head from the stairs to check on them. "Caroline, are you okay?"

"Is that...?" Caroline trailed off as she walked closer to see the necklace. "Isn't it pretty? Edward just gave it to me," Haley said giddily. I nodded in satisfaction as I watched her brag about the gift.

We hadn't hidden our relationship from Max, and by extension, Caroline knew about it. By "hadn't hidden," I meant we "couldn't hide." Max came down in excitement, waving her small metal box.

"I found it! Let's go!" she said hurriedly. Caroline ignored her and continued studying the emerald necklace. "Crafted in 18k gold and platinum, teardrop cut emerald... I saw this before I went broke. I almost bought it, but I chose another one instead."

"Really? Is it special?" Haley asked curiously. Caroline looked at her with disbelief. "This is a one-of-a-kind emerald. Do you even know how much it costs?"

"Caroline, shut your trap," I interjected quickly. Caroline swallowed her words, but they seemed stuck in her throat. Finally, she breathed out, unable to hold it back any longer. "Three hundred..." she whispered at the end, "...grand..."

"Three hundred?" Haley asked, not catching the last part.

Max turned to Caroline, "What did you say? Three hundred grams or three hundred grand? Like my rent for three hundred months or how much weed I could buy with one week's pay?"

Caroline stared at me, her expression filled with shock and disbelief. "It's three hundred dollars," I told Haley, knowing she wouldn't accept it if she knew the truth.

Caroline quickly shut her mouth, following my lead. She understood that if she went against my intentions, her job as my assistant for the world tour would be in jeopardy.

Max was still elated, looking at the necklace as if it were a precious gift. No one ever gifted her anything before in a romantic sense.

"You got a necklace when you become someone's girlfriend? The only things I've ever gotten from my boyfriends are pregnancy scares and restraining orders." She said with a genuine smile, happy for Haley.

"Oh, I thought you were going to say STDs," I commented, glancing at Max. She grimaced and replied, "That never happened. I'm proud to admit that I've never had an STD, even though I've had a very low bar for hooking up." She grinned, bragging.

As she was distracted, I snatched the metal cigarette box from her hand and opened it. "What do you have here?" It was filled with joints.

"Hey! Give that back!" Max tried to snatch it back, but I held my arm up, preventing her from reaching it.

"Were you the one who stole the joints from Snoop? He told me to watch out for thieves in my crew last night," I asked Max assertively.

Max was stunned and immediately became meek. Smiling slightly, she said, "I mean, for a pimp, he sure leaves his bags defenseless."

Meanwhile, Haley was trying to get more details from Caroline. "Is it really three hundred bucks?" she asked in a whisper. Veins were popping on Caroline's forehead; her teeth clattered as she held her stomach, which began to churn after forcing herself to stay quiet.

Noticing something strange, Haley held the necklace with two fingers. "So it's fine if I drop it on the floor?"

"NOOO!!" Caroline immediately stopped her. Haley narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why? I thought it was only three hundred dollars?!"

"Haley, I have to say, that hurts my heart a little," I interjected, looking at Haley with a hurt expression. Baffled, she immediately defended herself, "I'm not actually going to drop it!" She held the necklace properly again and walked toward me.

"Edward~! Tell me the truth. Did you overspend on this necklace?" Haley asked, getting in my face. I smiled and gave her a peck on the lips, which stunned her.

"I'm not telling. Besides, you've already accepted it, so you can't give it back. I also swallowed the receipt, so you definitely can't return it," I said playfully before turning to the duo. "You should go. We're having a nice moment here."

"Oh, you guys are going to do it—" Before Max could finish her sentence, Caroline grabbed her right arm and pulled her out of the house.

"We're so sorry to disturb you!" Caroline called as she closed the door behind her.

"You heard Max; we are going to do it, right?" I said playfully after we were alone. However, Haley grumbled, "I'm going to find out! You better tell me now."

I laughed and said, "Alright, I'll tell you... after I go to Japan."

"NO! NOWW!!" Haley pressed on, fully agitated. "Are you not telling me because you don't trust me?" she asked, her eyes shaking slightly.

Realizing that I might have pressed the wrong buttons, I sighed in defeat and said, "It's quite expensive, but you have to remember that my sense of money has been completely broken lately."

"How much?" she asked again, calmer this time.

"Three hundred thousand dollars," I replied with a wry smile.

"THREE—" Haley froze in shock. It took a few seconds for her to recollect herself. Her fingers started to shake as she held the necklace.

"I'm holding in my hand... a family heirloom?" she muttered in disbelief. I smirked and said, "It could be a family heirloom, but to do that, we need to make a family first."

"No. Ed, the mood is ruined," Haley said with a blank stare, holding the necklace in her palms as if presenting it to me. "Take it back. It's too much." She said this with her mouth, but her fingers held onto the necklace tightly.

I rolled my eyes. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you the price. Come on, it's not even 10% of my daily salary. You can have it. Sell it if you want to use the money for something else."

"I'm not going to sell it!" Haley exclaimed, taking the necklace back and hiding it behind her. Suddenly, she realized something. "Oh no. I posted a picture of the necklace on my Instagram just now."

"Oh shit." I cursed, my expression blank as I anticipated the fallout. Then I sighed and smiled, "It's alright. No harm done." I knew that it would have some implications, but I ignored them for now.

Haley beamed and became elated again. "Really? Is it really that expensive?" She took the necklace out of the box and admired it gently.

I took it from her and whispered, "Turn around."

Haley blushed slightly before holding her ponytail up, freeing her neckline. I placed the necklace around her, causing her breath to quicken.

"Thank you. I'll treasure it always," she said affectionately, turning to gaze into my eyes while holding the necklace. I patted her head and smiled mischievously. "You're welcome. Of course, I meant it when I said you can do whatever you want with it."

Haley just smiled and hugged my arm. "By the way, where's your dad? I haven't seen him around," she asked curiously.

"Oh, Dad? He and Frankie went to Skywalker Ranch this morning as my representatives," I replied casually.

"Why did they go there?" Haley asked again.

I smiled and said, "Because your boyfriend wants to buy Lucasfilm, so his dad and his company representative need to lay the groundwork."

"Oh. Is it hard to buy?" Haley blinked innocently, which baffled me.

"I guess? It's not really hard since Lucas wants to sell it—but do you understand what studio I'm talking about here?"

"I don't know." Haley grinned mischievously. "I think I've heard the studio name before. I also saw the logo..." She thought seriously as I walked to the kitchen island and took out some snacks from the fridge, with Haley following me.

"Um, this may jog your memory: Star Wars." I smirked as I saw her eyes light up in realization.

"YOU WANT TO BUY STAR WARS!? Seriously!?" she shouted in shock, though it was less than her reaction to the necklace.

"Yeah. George Lucas called me last week, hinting at it. After some calculations, I decided to take out a loan to buy the studio," I said casually.

Haley looked at me in disbelief. "Seriously? And I actually felt bad that you bought this necklace for me before. No wonder you said your sense of money is broken."

I nodded in agreement. Haley asked, "I'm actually curious. If having some money makes you splurge on buying a few movie studios, why don't more billionaires do that?"

"Well, my dear," I said, popping a grape into my mouth, "frankly, it's because it's not worth it."

"Not worth it?" Haley asked, confused. "Consider this: I take a $4 billion loan to buy Star Wars. Then, the first movie we release makes $2.5 billion globally. So it seems like we're on track to pay off the loans quickly. We just need another film to cross it off, right?"

"Right." Haley nodded in agreement.

"Ekk—wrong." I made a buzzer sound, rebuking her. "There's the theater cut. Fifty percent of the collection will go to them. In some cases, it may even go as far as eighty percent. Distribution contracts are crucial to negotiate before the movie release."

"Also, they get 80 to 100% of all profits for the first weekend, more if your studio is a new studio. Let's say the movie makes $250 million on opening weekend. The studio will only get a small profit from that."

Haley blanked out and looked at me suspiciously. "You're lying," she accused.

"I wish I were lying," I said with a scornful look, not at her but at the system. "Then we have $1.1 billion left. Still a nice profit, right?"

"I'm not answering that if you're just going to say I'm wrong again," Haley said sternly.

I chuckled. "It is a nice profit. But you'll have to cover the budget for the film. Let's say another $250 million. Plus $100 million for marketing. So you have $800 million—not too shabby."

"I sense you'll have to share it again," Haley added.

I nodded. "Yeah. The directors, the actors, the movie staff, the investors. So you're left with around $500 million for profit. You'll need to set aside some money for the next film—around $250 million more—and you're left with $250 million that you can actually use to pay off the loans."

"From $2.5 billion?" Haley asked, frustrated.

"Yup. If that was actually used to pay it off, they could split it and only pay $125 million. Back to your original question: the reason billionaires don't often want to buy out studios is that it's not really worth it."

I continued, "It takes over a year to make a movie, which means they have to cover the loan payments themselves during that time. If they don't have money to burn, they won't really care about it."

Then, I thought of something else, "There are a few more revenue streams, like DVD sales and broadcasting rights, but that's not really important here. Buying a movie studio is a huge risk; not many sane people would do it. It will be much cheaper if they just start a studio themselves and create new stories."

"So, it's the established characters that are expensive?" Haley asked.

I grinned and replied, "Yeah, that's accurate. They are the biggest factor in determining how well the movie will perform at the box office. No one wants to see a Spider-Man movie without Spider-Man in it."

"You must be thirsty from all that talking," Haley said suddenly. I laughed slightly and said, "Sorry, I must've been boring you."

"No! Not at all. I enjoy listening to you talk. I could do that for hours," Haley said affectionately as she poured a glass of water for me. "We can continue talking in your bedroom if you want," she added suggestively.

"Yes, we should definitely do that," I played along mischievously. Later that afternoon, I received a text message from my dad, telling me that George was open to my first suggestion. Instead of me buying out the studio completely for 4 billion dollars, we would do a 50-50 ownership for 2 billion dollars instead.

Suddenly, Robin chimed in with an emergency notification. Both Haley and I were dumbfounded when we heard it. "Sir, I need to notify you of an urgent matter," Robin said.

"What is it?" I asked calmly.

"The black ops teams moved the extraction date up by a day, and they've already taken Britney away from her compound," Robin said urgently. I was confused at first before I asked, "So? What does that have to do with me?"

Robin was speechless for a while before she replied meekly, "Just thought that you would be interested in it." She went silent after that. Haley rebuked me immediately, "Ed! You made Robin sulk! Apologize right now!"

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

"Robin! I'm sorry! Please tell me more about it!" I shouted hurriedly.

...

[General POV]

"Hah!" Taylor exclaimed in disbelief as she saw Haley's Instagram feed. "He didn't even give me one gift, but he gave her a necklace worth 300 grand?!" She muttered irritably.

"HAHA!" She laughed in a deranged manner.

Selena made a prayer gesture as she stood beside Taylor. "Please don't do anything stupid. Please don't do anything stupid." She prayed for Taylor.

"You know what I should do? I should tell him his cat is actually dead!" Taylor said with an evil grin.

Selena immediately scolded her, "You don't mean that."Taylor dropped her head and said, "Sure. I don't mean that."

At the New Years Eve party, Taylor greeted Vader in excitement while Max was carrying Vader around. Then, she noticed something wrong.

"That cat has claws. The real Vader was declawed. That's actually an identical cat, not Vader." Taylor muttered sadly.

As there was no precedent of a cat regrowing its claw, she assumed it was a different one. Edward's usage of the bone regeneration spell was great for Vader, but it was impossible for him to explain the situation for anyone else.

Taylor pressed her head as she moaned loudly, "HOW DO I TELL HIM THAT HIS CAT IS DEAD~~"