Chapter 278: The messenger
Eric had finished telling Jeffrey on the phone all that had happened and his guesses. Jeffrey, on the other side in New York, realized the severity of the situation, and said he would be back in Los Angeles the next morning.
After hanging up the phone, Eric stayed in front of the window, continuing his deep thoughts. As the sun sank into the sea, the living room without lights became dark. Little Nie did not know where she had gone, without orders, the servants of the estate would not enter here on their own, so there was only Eric in the whole mansion, seeming quiet and desolate.
After a while, the intercom in the living room made a sound. When Eric got up and pressed the call b.u.t.ton, the voice of the estate security came: "Mr. Williams, there is a person named Aron Campbell visiting."
Eric asked curiously, "I don"t recognize this person, did he say what he wanted?"
The security guard replied, "No, but he said he was a "messenger"."
"Messenger," Eric repeated in a low voice, quickly understanding what it meant and said to the security guard, "Let him in."
"Yes, Mr. Williams," the voice on the other end replied, ending the call.
Eric turned on all the lights in the living room, quickly transforming the once dim room into a bright one. Then, he headed for the study.
A few minutes later, a well-mannered white man with gla.s.ses, carrying a black leather bag, walked into the room and looked around the luxurious decoration of the mansion in the bright light, making a few low exclamations. Although he knew he would never be able to own such a luxurious mansion in his life, he still couldn"t help but feel a little complacent in his heart when he thought of the thing he had to do today.
The man saw that there was no figure of Eric in the living room, and with no politeness, he walked to the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window and sat down, looking at the shimmering sea outside, patiently waiting for the owner to appear.
After a while, Eric came out of the study and saw the stranger sitting on the sofa. He frowned slightly. But soon he regained his composure and walked towards the stranger.
Hearing footsteps, the man stood up but didn"t move, standing in place and waiting for Eric to approach him, he then extended his hand and introduced himself, "h.e.l.lo, Mr. Williams, my name is Aron Campbell."
Eric extended his hand and shook it but didn"t say anything. Seeing Aron Campbell"s indifference to his cold att.i.tude, he was about to sit back down in his spot when Eric finally spoke, "I apologize, Mr. Campbell, this is my favorite spot, please take a seat over there."
Aron Campbell"s expression changed but a mocking smile quickly spread across his face as he stood up and said, "As you wish, Mr. Williams."
Eric sat down in the seat Aron had vacated and stared across at Aron. "So," said Aron, "I hear you"re the "go-between". What brings you here?"
Aron didn"t answer right away. Instead, he opened the leather satchel he was carrying and pulled out a stack of photographs, pushing them across the table to Eric. "Mr. Williams. You can take a look at these first."
Eric picked up the thick stack of photographs, and the first one he saw was of a little girl curled up like a kitten in William"s arms, taken outside the gates of the Maribelle estate a few weeks ago, when the little girl had been complaining about sc.r.a.ping her knee.
Eric felt a sudden realization. His instincts had been right after all - someone had been following him and taking pictures. Maybe his other instincts over the last few days had been right too.
Eric was shocked, but he still silently flipped through the next photos, in addition to his and Drew"s "intimate photos". He had not spared any of the women he had interacted with, and the time span was a full year. Even many of the photos Eric did not immediately think of, he had to remember carefully to remember approximately when and where it happened. And these photos were taken quite cleverly, so that people could tell the relationship between the man and woman in the photo was ambiguous.
After looking at the photos, Eric immediately determined that Fox was involved in this matter, because Murdoch had admitted that a reporter from the Post under the News Corporation had stalked him for several months. And even his and Nicole"s joint photos were in this stack of photos, but there were no photos of him and Elizabeth. If these were the work of other forces, then wouldn"t the relationship between the daughter of the newly emerging famous director and media mogul be even more sensational if it were exposed?
Eric could be sure that things were not going to be so easy, even though Fox could be seen in the photos. If only News Corporation wanted to use these tactics to pressure him, the result would only push him towards other forces, neither Murdoch nor Barry Diller would be so foolish.
Eric threw the photos carelessly onto the coffee table in front of him and looked up at Aron Campbell across from him coldly: "What does this mean?"
Aron Campbell slightly dodged Eric"s cold and intimidating gaze and said: "Mr. Williams, this is what you asked for."
Eric said without any emotion: "Do you think you can have an effect on me with these little tactics?"
Aron Campbell said, "It depends on whether my boss is willing or not. Mr. Williams, you should understand that many famous people like you in the history of Hollywood, may just disappear like a meteor because of a small scandal. Do you need me to list a few?"
Eric said solemnly, "I was willing with the women in the photos. If they were exposed, I would only be regarded as a playboy in Hollywood, which is not uncommon."
Aron Campbell sat up straight and laughed coldly, "Mr. Williams, the "public" you mentioned is the most foolish group. What kind of person they think you are depends on the media controlling the public opinion. And the people who let me pa.s.s the message just control a large part of the North American public opinion. Therefore, these photos are enough to make your reputation muddled. Moreover, this is only the beginning. After a few small troubles, there will be bigger ones waiting for you."
Eric"s eyes flashed with a hint of something when he heard Aron Campbell"s words, but he quickly covered up the emotion with a slightly angry tone. "Mr. Campbell, can you tell me who your bosses are behind you?"
Seeing that Eric had finally been provoked, Aron Campbell said proudly, "Mr. Williams, you"re so smart, how can you not guess?"
"Alright," Eric continued, "what are the conditions for them?"
"Forty percent of Firefly shares," Aron Campbell said smoothly, like an endors.e.m.e.nt, "You see, Mr. Williams, my boss is not greedy at all and leaves 40% of Firefly shares so you will still be the largest shareholder. But if you don"t agree, once everything is set in motion, the cost of getting my boss to stop will be much more than this."
Eric snorted. Forty percent of shares did seem like a generous offer, but if he lost forty percent plus the three percent he had just transferred to Jeffrey, he would only have forty two percent remaining, which was still the largest shareholder, but not absolute control.
Robert Shea, although mediocre, had always been a strong believer in power*. If those people got forty percent of the shares and promised Robert what he wanted, Eric could be sure that Robert would turn to the other side, and Eric would lose control of Firefly at that time.
After merging with the new line, Firefly, which had gained a movie distribution channel, was still far from being one of the seven major giants, but it had already begun to have the shape of a giant movie company. Once the control of Firefly was lost, Eric could be sure that it would be difficult for him to develop a movie company with a complete distribution channel under the joint suppression of the seven major movie companies. In addition, with the arrival of the 1990s, the movie companies and media groups will usher in a wave of integration. At that time, facing the movie giants that merged with the media groups, Eric would only be thrown farther and farther away. Even if he could still shoot blockbusters, he would no longer have the strength to bargain with those movie companies, and he would eventually become a p.a.w.n of the big group, instead of a player who can control the game.
Thinking of all this, Eric had no intention of flattering the strange man in front of him. He immediately issued an ultimatum: "Mr. Campbell, go back and tell your boss that if he wants to get Firefly, he can come and try it."
Aron Campbell looked even more pleased and continued, "Mr. Williams, my boss had already guessed that you would reject this suggestion directly and so he asked me to tell you to take one more day to think about it and calm down. You see, this villa is so luxurious and extravagant, the annual expenditure must be at least one million dollars to maintain all of this."
Eric seemed not to have heard Aron Campbell"s words and pointed to the door, "Mr. Campbell, I am very uncomfortable with a stranger like you here, so please leave immediately. I"m afraid I may not be able to control myself and have the security throw you into the sea. You should know that this is private property and I have the right to do so."
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