The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943-Chapter 53 - 55 – The Great Inventor

It turns out, as a life coach, Pierre was... a failure.

At least when it came to Ava Gardner, he had failed.

Despite conquering her body over a passionate night, he couldn’t shake her commitment to her dream.

"Darling," she said, sprawled across his chest like a boneless cat after their final embrace, "I know that if I stay with you, I’ll never have to worry about life again... but I don’t want to be a canary in a gilded cage."

Gently stroking her back, Pierre softly replied,

"If you ever get tired, come find me in New York. I’ll be there for the next few years."

He respected a woman who chased her dream.

Before she left, he even gifted her a pair of diamond earrings — each stone a full two carats.

"Isn’t that a little too extravagant?"

Even if they were synthetic... they were still diamonds!

After seeing her off, Pierre returned once more to the Pentagon, this time to finalize the submachine gun contract—which had come faster than expected.

Inside Colonel Leto John’s office, after signing a deal for 200,000 submachine guns, the colonel asked him bluntly:

"Pierre, do you know Senator Truman?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"You mean... you don’t know?"

Colonel John explained:

"Two days ago, Chief of Staff General Marshall received a phone call from Senator Truman. He gave your company’s ’Avenger Submachine Gun’ a glowing recommendation—said it was affordable, reliable, had excellent performance, and fired 9mm rounds, making it ideal for supporting resistance forces across Europe. He pushed the military to test it."

"Just so happened, your guns had arrived. After 5,000 rounds, the testers reported only one malfunction. General Marshall was very impressed. He immediately redirected the 200,000-unit order originally meant for Canada’s Sten guns... and gave it to you."

The colonel looked at Pierre meaningfully.

"This is the first time General Marshall has ever personally intervened in something like this. If it weren’t for that call from the Senator, I doubt it would’ve happened."

That cleared things up.

No wonder the contract had landed so quickly.

So that dinner from a few days ago... had paid off. Truman had repaid the favor.

But of course, Truman being the clever politician he was, had phrased the recommendation in a very careful way.

He didn’t push the gun as suitable for the U.S. military—he stressed it was for resistance forces.

That way, even if the guns were faulty, no one would care too much. After all, the people dying were just guerrillas—not Americans.

And that made all the difference.

Still, Truman had made his position clear:

He remembered the favor.

This was how politics worked.

A kindness repaid. A favor remembered.

"What a politician," Pierre thought to himself. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

They always found ways to keep their hands clean—to help you without leaving a single fingerprint.

"Dealing with men like that... I’ll need to tread carefully from now on. Life coaching isn’t as easy as it looks."

After some pleasantries with Colonel John, Pierre got up to leave—but not before making mental notes:

The Colonel was about to be promoted to Brigadier General. He’d need a congratulatory gift.

Truman would also need a proper thank-you.

But what to send?

Pierre thought back to how Mrs. Truman’s eyes sparkled when she saw Ava’s necklace.

"Shame..." he murmured.

Such a beautiful necklace would’ve been wasted on someone like Mrs. Truman, given her looks and age.

Then—someone caught his eye.

Wait... she looked familiar.

Running into women at the Pentagon wasn’t strange.

But running into a Hollywood actress definitely was.

She had jet-black hair, was dressed in a sharp suit and hat, and looked absolutely breathtaking—the kind of beauty that made people involuntarily hold their breath.

Hedy Lamarr!

Her name flashed into Pierre’s mind.

In Hollywood, she was considered the most beautiful woman alive—so stunning that people often overlooked her acting ability.

But her looks had obscured her true brilliance.

She was a genius inventor.

The creator of frequency-hopping technology—a foundational invention for radio communication, missiles, and even future WiFi.

That’s why Pierre remembered her.

Right now, Hedy Lamarr was walking toward him, her elegant face twisted in fury.

She had just left a meeting with an officer who’d dismissed her invention.

"Miss," the man had said,

"our soldiers don’t need your gadgets. What they do need is your photo. If you truly love this country, why not put that beautiful face to use selling war bonds?"

War bond posters?

To these men, was that all she was?

Just a body? Just a face?

What a group of shallow pigs.

"My face is my curse..."

She thought bitterly.

And a tear rolled silently down her cheek.

Pierre froze.

Seeing her cry—so quietly, without even expression—he could feel her sorrow all the same.

She looked like a flower weeping in the rain.

And she felt his gaze.

Again.

She’d grown used to men staring at her—but this man stepped in her path.

Her anger surged.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

But the moment her words fell, the man calmly replied:

"Hello, miss. I’m interested in your invention."

What?

Hedy Lamarr froze in place.

Did she hear that right?

"I’m a military supplier," Pierre explained.

"While signing a contract just now, I heard about your invention."

Still stunned, it took her a few seconds to process his words.

"You mean... you’re interested in my invention?"

Not me?

Hedy Lamarr felt like her world had turned sideways.

Almost no one ever saw past her face.

Pierre looked at her seriously and said:

"Miss, I believe your invention has the potential to change the lives of everyone on this planet. It could bring us convenience beyond anything we can imagine."

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Chapter 56 – You Must Be More Confident

Is this real?

For the first time in her life, Hedy Lamarr felt that someone recognized her for her talent, not her looks.

Standing frozen in the hallway of the Pentagon, she looked at the man in front of her in disbelief.

So beautiful.

Pierre finally understood why even actresses like Vivien Leigh had once praised her so highly:

"With a face like hers, you don’t even need to act."

And it was true. Hedy Lamarr didn’t need acting skills. Just standing still was already a perfect performance.

Right now, doing nothing—just standing—she still took your breath away.

But everyone saw only her beauty, and overlooked her genius.

Even after she invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology, the military rejected her submission.

To them, she was just a vase.

And once they discovered her ex-husband was Friedrich Mandl, an Austrian arms tycoon with Nazi ties, they dismissed her completely.

Was she some kind of enemy spy?

Just like that, her act of patriotism was shelved. And Hedy Lamarr’s brilliance was locked away.

In reality, her technology wasn’t implemented until the mid-1950s. The U.S. Navy licensed the patent to Hoffman Radio, which began applying it to sonar buoys and plane communications.

But her name?

Scrubbed from the paperwork.

Everything kept top secret.

Eventually, her invention became the foundation for military communication chips, and inspired the development of cell phones, wireless internet protocols, and shared-band communications.

Her patent even laid the groundwork for drones in the Vietnam War and was used to enable secure naval communication during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But America’s hesitation to trust her had little to do with Mandl. It was really because they didn’t believe that a woman, an actress, and a composer could outthink seasoned weapons experts.

They delayed a world-changing technology for over a decade.

Whether this woman was beautiful or not didn’t matter to Pierre.

What mattered was—he needed her.

He needed her to keep researching frequency-hopping technology.

At the very least, he needed to buy her patent, not let it rot in a military drawer.

Because if he could get this tech—it would be like unlocking the door to the electronic future.

"Is... is it really true?"

A genuine smile of joy lit up Hedy Lamarr’s beautiful face.

"Miss, don’t doubt your talent," Pierre said directly.

"I believe, far more than your looks, what should truly be admired is your genius—if the world gives you the chance."

"I’m planning to enter the radio communications market and am setting up a research lab. If you’d like, you can join and conduct your experiments there. I’ll assign you the best assistants."

"You... you’re serious?"

Her voice still held a bit of doubt.

She even asked frankly:

"Is this just an excuse to get close to me?"

As a woman, she knew her beauty had caused her more problems than benefits.

Men only ever saw one thing—how to get her into bed.

And for that, they’d do anything.

"Miss, you need to believe in yourself."

Whether you believe it or not, I believe in you.

"I only need a hundred dollars a week. No—eighty dollars..."

Hedy Lamarr quickly stated her salary expectations.

"As long as you keep your word and let me work in the lab, even fifty dollars is fine."

Her salary demands were shockingly low.

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