Chapter 1203: Tremendous Progress, and Blood and Sweat
It was said that Sheerah and Batman had a little “secret” thing. The tyc.o.o.n who was Iron Man had been fond of fooling around with cover girls in the past, and that naturally included the main supermodel for Victoria’s Secret every year.
Although the tyc.o.o.n no longer did that, letting people make the connection wasn’t a bad thing.
Victoria’s Secret had already sent out the invitations; Tony not going was understandable.
If he did go, the news reports wouldn’t necessarily be logical about it.
The Bat/Iron CP matched with a singer + supermodel duo would be too perfect.
But for Luke, Sheerah’s appearance wasn’t important. What was important was that his sister Claire was here as well.
Looking at Claire, who had now become a college student, Luke caught her up with a smile and spun her around before they headed for the parking lot.
It had been a long time since the siblings met, and Claire was very excited. She asked a lot of questions on the way, and also told him a lot about herself.
Luke, Robert and Catherine didn’t tell her the details about the family’s current financial situation.
Claire only knew that her family wasn’t short of money, but she didn’t really care how much.
That was because she had money herself now.
It had been half a year since she debuted. She didn’t make much money at the beginning, and just learned the basics of performing.
If she were back in high school, this would’ve been a long process.
But last summer, she suddenly obtained a mysterious old man. Her physique improved significantly, and she was full of energy. Coupled with her brains and above average musical talent, she improved rapidly.
Even under these conditions, it was still very difficult to become a super diva.
But it wouldn’t be a problem becoming a second- or third-tier singer.
After releasing as singles the two songs which Luke had written for her under a stage name, Claire now considered herself the biggest moneymaker in the family.
That was right. On the surface, she was indeed the biggest moneymaker right now.
She could earn thousands of dollars from singing her two songs, “Call Me Maybe” and “Good Time,” in one gig.
Thanks to Luke and the two bigshots at home, she wasn’t obsessed with making money, but she made more than 100,000 dollars in just three months.
Compared with making money, however, she preferred the other life that the mysterious old man talked about.
Being a celebrity was a way for her to expand her horizons and understand society; it wasn’t purely about the money.
Besides, n.o.body in her family was short of money, so she wasn’t desperate for it.
Naturally, Luke was the reason why Claire could be so relaxed.
The CMA agency she signed with was awesome, but capital was even more awesome.
Luke had bought shares from several minor shareholders of CMA.
Then… Catherine became one of the board members of the agency.
She wasn’t in a position to tell the company what to do, but it was just enough for her to be able to protect a “connection” with her own capital.
Sheerah and Jennifer Perry had also told the company executives not to mess with the girl.
n.o.body in CMA said anything.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, buying over ten million shares just to protect one girl was a very fierce move.
Not to mention that the girl brought along her own works. CMA wasn’t losing out.
Of course, this was still the entertainment industry.
After speaking to Luke on the phone, Claire heeded his suggestion to watch and listen more, and to speak and meddle less. She saw a lot of the dark side of the entertainment circle.
Sheerah and Jennifer had talked to her in private a few times. Sheerah, in particular, told her about the things to pay attention to in the circle.
Claire gradually settled down.
The only thing was how fond she was of pus.h.i.+ng her limits.
Luke left that to Gold Nugget No. 2.
Since this guy had chosen to become an “old man,” it had to do this potential part-time job well.
Claire wasn’t in New York on holiday; she had come with Sheerah for a show, and to do a few solo gigs. Visiting family was a bonus.
Thankfully, Sheerah’s show was just a small fanmeet, and Claire just needed to sing one song to get the crowd warmed up.
Thus, Claire was very relaxed.
“You’re not going to watch me sing?” Claire attacked him with her sparkling eyes.
Luke chuckled like a benevolent father. “But I’m not a fan.”
Claire said, “You’re family. Who’s asking you to pretend to be a fan?”
Luke teased her for a while before he agreed, and promised he and Selina would go to support her.
Claire was satisfied.
It couldn’t be helped. If she had something worth flaunting, she had to parade it in front of Luke, this “old man,” before she was truly satisfied.
Robert, Catherine and Joseph had already watched her perform.
Even her grandfather Drax had secretly gone, but the stubborn old man denied it.
Luke was the only “heretic” in the family, and Claire was determined to “convert” him.
When they got home, it wasn’t long before Claire challenged Selina to a match.
Looking at his sister, who was pus.h.i.+ng Selina into the training room, Luke could only shake his head helplessly.
She had probably lost her head thanks to the “cheat” that was old man Gold Nugget.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know that what she had was Gold Nugget No. 2, while Gold Nugget No. 1 was always with Selina.
Selina knew Claire’s training progress better than Luke did.
After all, she and Gold Nugget had to adapt to the symbiotic relations.h.i.+p every day. There was no way to hide what Claire was doing from Gold Nugget No. 2, so naturally, there was no way to hide it from Selina.
Compared with Claire, who focused on her studies and the entertainment industry, Selina had been diligently beating up many New York City gangsters in the last few months, and was famous as the Devil Bone Breaker.
Claire had only beaten up a few hooligans who tried to rob her; she couldn’t compare with the boss at all.
Sure enough, an hour after pus.h.i.+ng Selina into the training room with a smug expression, she was scowling when they came out with Selina supporting her.
Selina even praised her. “Not bad, you’ve improved a lot. Keep it up.”
Claire despaired. Will you keep beating me up then?
Selina hadn’t gone easy on her.
Luke, who knew that this little monkey had become a little c.o.c.ky recently, didn’t want her to rush into danger just because she thought she had Gold Nugget to protect her, and thus had deliberately hinted with his expression for Selina to deal with her.
Most of the things Gold Nugget taught her were life-saving trump cards. It was best not to show them off.
Unless Claire was determined to step into the superhero circle, and was prepared to pay the price, Luke wouldn’t let her act as a hero.
Unlike parents in TV dramas who cared about everything, he didn’t want to interfere with Claire’s future plans.
The condition was that she had to be clear about the dangers and difficulties involved. This wasn’t about beating up a few people when she was in the mood, and then withdrawing from the scene after she was done.
If she messed around half-heartedly as a vigilante, she would get herself and their family into trouble sooner or later.
The best would be to wait for the superhero era to arrive and let Claire see for herself what this world truly was like before she made a decision.
Being a vigilante wasn’t a walk in the park, but something you paid for in blood and sweat.
Of course, Luke chose to pay for it with his own sweat but with the blood of others.