Thousands of Brilliant Stars: You Deserve the Best!-Chapter 108: The Highest Place Is No Pedestal
Upon hearing Patrick Pierce say this, Iris Crawford was slightly surprised. She looked blankly at Patrick Pierce’s delicate face for a moment, then said, "Alright, I’ll drive. After all, I’m your personal chauffeur."
Patrick Pierce’s eyes flashed momentarily, and then Iris Crawford drove him away from the film set at high speed, not realizing that everything was caught on camera by hidden paparazzi outside.
Arriving at Patrick Pierce’s house, Iris Crawford’s mouth dropped open.
She stepped out of the car and pointed at the large villa in front of her, almost dislocating her jaw, "You, you, you, you, you, you live here?"
Patrick Pierce’s eyebrows were cold as he stepped forward and unlocked the door with his fingerprint, "Is there something wrong with that?"
Iris Crawford pinched Patrick Pierce’s arm with force, "I wanted to buy this place back then! I didn’t get a quota! I’m so upset!"
Patrick Pierce chuckled, "Maybe you weren’t qualified at that time."
"How could that be! I’m the Crawford family heiress! Why not!" Iris Crawford imitated Lachlan Wyatt’s tone, "Even a celebrity from showbiz like you can buy it, why can’t a legitimate rich girl like me!"
Patrick Pierce was initially indifferent, but Iris Crawford’s tone amused him, "Your condescending tone is exactly like Lachlan Wyatt."
Iris Crawford cursed under her breath as she walked inside, her angry silhouette looking particularly lively and spirited. She went in to see Patrick Pierce’s place, then came down sourly and said, "You need to move out, I want this house."
Patrick Pierce took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet, "Change your shoes!"
As Iris Crawford changed her shoes, she said, "Oh, you have a cleanliness obsession. You invited me over, yet there are so many rules... Wait, why are these slippers big?"
Patrick Pierce couldn’t hold back, "Because no woman has ever come to my house! Why would I prepare ladies’ slippers? These are all my size!"
Iris Crawford was startled, "Really? Are you a virgin? Doesn’t a big star have ambiguous relationships with female artists?"
Patrick Pierce thought his idea of confiding in Iris Crawford was foolish; this woman could just talk him to death!
So Patrick Pierce said expressionlessly, "I keep myself clean; I’ve never had an ambiguous relationship!"
"Wow." Iris Crawford followed him inside, babbling behind him, "But don’t they say that when filming there are ’crew couples’, and things like ’hyped CP’? You’ve been in the industry for so many years, have you ever had that?"
Patrick Pierce stood in the kitchen preparing red tea for Iris Crawford, with a bottle of pure milk beside him. When he heard this, he paused his tea-making motion, and after a moment said, "No."
Iris Crawford’s eerie voice arose, "Could it be... you don’t like women? Then you could process internally with Martin Hawthorne; he doesn’t like women either... Is this what you wanted to tell me?"
Right now, Patrick Pierce felt like splashing the red tea on Iris Crawford’s face, "I like women!"
"Oh..." Iris Crawford touched her chin, standing behind Patrick Pierce. His face was the epitome of a classic film face, and watching him make tea was truly pleasing, like watching some foreign art film. No wonder Patrick Pierce had so many fans; his face played no small part.
It’s said no one can escape the allure of Patrick Pierce staring at you for five seconds.
Five seconds is enough for you to fall and become his fan, regardless of gender.
Thinking of this, Iris Crawford said to Patrick Pierce, "Mr. Pierce, look at me for a moment."
Patrick Pierce made a sound of acknowledgment, looked up, "Do you need something?"
Iris Crawford’s eyes met Patrick Pierce’s, and they silently stared at each other for five seconds.
During these five seconds, Iris Crawford carefully examined Patrick Pierce’s features, eventually settling on his eyes. Such beautiful eyes—she felt she was admiring some peerless jewel and then rubbed her own eyes.
Patrick Pierce was amused, "What are you doing?"
Muttering, Iris Crawford said, "Where’s the feeling of falling? Where’s the feeling of falling?" How come it’s not here?
Halfway through saying this, she even patted her chest. Oh no, could her heart be broken? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Why did she feel only pure appreciation for Patrick Pierce and not the captivating, heart-stirring feeling others talked about?
Iris Crawford said to Patrick Pierce, "Didn’t the entertainment industry praise you before? Saying that if you look at you for five seconds, you will fall. I just tried it..."
Patrick Pierce finished making tea and carried it out, glancing back at Iris Crawford, "How did your trial go?"
Affecting seriousness, Iris Crawford rubbed her chin, "Not very effective."
But worried about hurting Patrick Pierce’s pride, she quickly added, "But I admit you’re good-looking! You’re the kind of beauty that’s androgynous, so you appeal to both men and women!"
For some reason, the mention of appealing to both genders seemed to hit a nerve for Patrick Pierce; he almost lost his grip on the cup, which Iris Crawford noticed, a complex look flashing in her eyes, "What’s up with you? You’ve been acting strange lately."
"There’s some trouble with the new film’s investors, one of them is my former agency." Patrick Pierce sat next to Iris Crawford, "I had a very unpleasant fallout with them..."
"Oh, I get it. It’s like having a ’rival’ in the entertainment industry, right?"
"How do you know so much about this?"
"I learned it from my Weibo comments section. They curse me under my posts, and I’ve picked up a lot of words, like ’boiled’, ’flop’, ’suppressed’..."
Hearing these words was like The Monkey King hearing the tightening spell; Patrick Pierce shook his head in agony, "Stop, my empathy is kicking in—all these people are brainless!"
"You spare no effort when cursing your fans, huh."
Iris Crawford chuckled, "There are many fans who genuinely love you."
Patrick Pierce remained silent for a moment before speaking, "If you fell out with your former agency and they held something against you, would you negotiate?"
"Something against me?"
Iris Crawford heard this and something dawned in her mind. She said, "Then you should sue them. Are they threatening you with it?"
She could naturally guess that Patrick Pierce, having been in the entertainment industry for so long, must have had some dirt on him when he wasn’t famous.
After all, he didn’t have any family support behind him, relying solely on acting and commercials to rise to fame, unlike Iris Crawford, who was backed by the Crawford Family and thus untouchable.
"Can you ask specifically what kind of dirt it is?"
Iris Crawford lowered her voice and leaned in a bit, "Is it something involving a female fan that can’t be seen in public? Or are you already married with children?"
Neither.
Patrick Pierce clenched his fingers, "Actually, I just terminated my contract with my previous agency not long ago. I came to the firm because of Lachlan Wyatt’s invitation. But unexpectedly, when I went to the set today, people from the former agency came to find me again."
No wonder he called her proactively. He must have been threatened.
The firm had previously helped others solve threats like these, and now Patrick Pierce needed help.
Before Iris Crawford could speak, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, followed by Patrick Pierce’s face changing dramatically, "Hide away first!"
What? Could it be that the wealthy woman who keeps Patrick Pierce came to catch him in the act?
Various guesses mixed in her head, but before she could hide, someone pressed to the door, "Young Master Pierce, our master invites you!"
"Get out!"
Iris Crawford sat on the sofa, hearing Patrick Pierce beside her burst out in anger, "I have nothing to do with your company anymore!"
"The master said that if you don’t listen, those things will be exposed!"
Patrick Pierce’s body suddenly stiffened, he was a high-ranking movie emperor, how could he be subjugated by others? Iris Crawford looked incredulously at the lackey who came in, her gaze already carrying some pressure, "Who is your master?"
"Vincent Paxton!" The name was mentioned loudly, "Are you the woman the paparazzi just photographed?"
"Paparazzi, sneak shots?"
Iris Crawford stood up on the spot, "Do you guys have any decency, do you know that sneak shots violate portrait privacy rights?"
"Ha, privacy!" As soon as the words fell, a tall and imposing figure walked in, speaking loudly and with full confidence, you could sense that although middle-aged, he remained ruthless.
As expected, when this person appeared, Patrick Pierce’s face changed.
Vincent Paxton walked in, as if he had been in this house so many times that he found it familiar, the middle-aged man walked forward, glanced at Iris Crawford, then used a venomous gaze to fix on Patrick Pierce, "Getting bold, dared to bring a woman back?"
"I’ve long since had no contractual constraints with your agency!"
Patrick Pierce spoke through gritted teeth.
"Ha-ha, a movie emperor indeed, fought a lawsuit to escape from our agency, you think having someone help you can truly let you sit back and relax?"
A lawsuit? Could it be a dispute over interests?
Iris Crawford stood by Patrick Pierce’s side, "Since you’ve terminated the contract, then to him you’re outsiders, no need to visit and cause trouble, right?"
"And who are you?"
Vincent Paxton glared angrily at Iris Crawford, "Just another prostitute in the entertainment industry! Really think he brought you home for something? Let me tell you, Patrick Pierce will be our agency’s dog for life, the company made him famous, he dared to rebel once his wings were strong, and this is the consequence!"
Can personal power compete with capital? A joke!
After he finished speaking, someone behind Vincent Paxton took out a file bag, and as soon as Patrick Pierce saw the file bag, his eyes turned red, "What do you want to do!"
The next moment, the files were harshly thrown into the air, and color-printed images suddenly appeared before Iris Crawford’s eyes.
In those short few seconds under the paper falling like a whirlwind, Iris Crawford felt as if a century had passed.
The images above seemed frozen, pulling her harshly into a deep abyss of despair.
In her mind, echoes of her conversation with Patrick Pierce lingered.
Doesn’t a big star have ambiguous female artists around him?
You wouldn’t... not like women, would you?
You are that kind of attractive androgyny, male and female alike!
Every time the entertainment circle praised Patrick Pierce as androgynous, it was like stabbing fresh blood onto his chest.
No wonder he was so averse to the entertainment industry.
No wonder he was so against the paparazzi.
No wonder he bore resentment towards the clueless public and fans—they pushed him onto the altar, thinking they created a god, but unbeknownst to them, his flesh and blood had long turned to ashes.
Others applauded, elevating him higher and higher.
But is the highest point a shrine? A guillotine.
Iris Crawford took several steps back, having spent a long century in her mind, while in the real world it was just a fleeting moment, those papers fell on the ground, colorful as if carrying poison—
Each one, was Patrick Pierce’s screams, Patrick Pierce’s tears, Patrick Pierce’s blood, the images of Patrick Pierce being coerced by men.
