Avril's concert started soon.
Amidst the explosive rock music, she appeared on stage wearing a dazzling sequined outfit, holding a microphone as she began to sing.
The audience cheered and then started singing along, shaking their heads to the rhythm. Taylor and Carmela finally stopped chatting and focused on the performance.
The two little ones beside Ethan were excitedly wiggling their hips and shaking their heads as they listened to the music. At home, doing this would get them scolded by their mom, but at the concert, they could let loose without worry.
After the opening song, Avril walked to the edge of the stage and spoke to the audience. As she scanned the crowd, her gaze landed on Ethan's family and Taylor's group.
However, since Carmela was sitting between them, she naturally assumed Ethan and Taylor had no connection. She simply smiled at Ethan before continuing to sing.
The entire concert lasted nearly three hours. Avril sang and danced energetically, putting on a performance that was well worth the ticket price.
When the concert ended, Taylor originally planned to leave with Ethan, but she suddenly realized he was nowhere to be seen next to Carmela.
Puzzled, she asked, "Aunt Carmela, where's Ethan?"
"Oh, I think he left early. He got a call about work," Carmela covered for her son.
"I see." Taylor was a little disappointed. Although she was happy about meeting Carmela, she had hoped to sit next to Ethan during the concert. And now that he had left early, even walking out together was out of the question.
But the next second, she suddenly felt her phone vibrate. She opened it to see a message from Ethan.
"Have fun tonight. I have some filming to take care of."
Taylor pressed her lips together, and her mood instantly improved.
"Ethan took the initiative to message me."
With a cheerful step, she followed her brother Austin and her friends out of the concert.
Meanwhile, Ethan was in the backstage dressing room, where he saw Avril walking in with tired steps.
The moment she spotted him, she ran over without even setting down her guitar, clinging to him like a koala.
"Whoa… You're heavy," Ethan exaggerated.
Avril immediately looked up and glared at him. "Who's heavy?"
"Oh, I meant the guitar," Ethan quickly corrected himself. Avril immediately lowered her head and kissed him.
When a knock came at the door, she finally stopped.
Ethan waved his hand in a silent signal before slipping out through another door.
Twenty minutes later, after removing her makeup and changing clothes, Avril walked to the underground parking lot and saw Ethan's car parked at the entrance.
"Ethan." She got in the car and kissed him again, hugging him tightly as if she wanted to melt into him.
"Alright, let's go home." Ethan was about to drive when he saw Avril lowering her head, trying to unscrew the bottle cap to drink some water.
"Hiss—!" Ethan immediately hit the brakes, leaning his head back against the car seat.
"You're getting better at this," he praised after a moment.
"Really? What about this? With a swirl, does it feel even better?"
"Wow… It really does. Did you take lessons?"
"I watched some videos… Mmm."
"Not so hard… Yeah, just like that… Ugh—"
Fifteen minutes later, Avril finally got the bottle cap open and took a sip of water.
That night, back at Ethan's high-rise apartment, they switched locations seven times before finally collapsing onto the bed at 3 a.m. in exhaustion.
Two days later, the new budget for Inception was approved, and the casino that Emma had contacted showed promise.
"Las Vegas… The Golden California Casino is being renovated?" Ethan looked at Emma. "Can we blow it up?"
Emma spread her hands and shrugged. "We can… but we'd have to pay compensation."
"Then blow it up!" Ethan didn't hesitate. "First, integrate the bank into it, then destroy everything."
"That's going to be a huge project… Ethan, I didn't expect you to be this good at spending money." Emma was a bit helpless. Most directors could accept using CGI, but Ethan and Nolan were different—they insisted on practical effects.
Oh, and Cameron. He believed cutting-edge CGI was the future of filmmaking and spent more money on developing technology than any other director.
Now that the filming location was settled, the props team and workers quickly arrived on set to start construction.
Ethan personally oversaw the process, ensuring that the final set design matched his vision.
A month later, the entire set was completed. Behind the Golden California Casino, a lighthouse structure was built, which housed the bank vault inside.
Leonardo and Downey walked through the casino, marveling at the transformed space.
"This is spectacular," Leonardo said.
Indeed, in the very center of the casino, there was a massive elevator platform. On top of it sat a silver vault filled with stacks of gold bars and cash, visible through reinforced glass, creating a striking visual.
If a crisis occurred, the elevator would immediately rise, transferring the vault into the lighthouse structure.
"This thing must be loud when it moves," Downey said as he looked at the massive construct. "But it definitely aligns with Fischer's subconscious world."
"To him, money is just a tool. What's inside that vault is what truly matters to him."
He was referring to the heavily fortified chamber within the vault—the real key to the dream.
The money outside was just a safeguard for it.
After inspecting the set, the team began filming.
The dialogue-heavy scenes took about a week to complete. As for the explosion sequence, it had to be done in one take, so extensive preparation was necessary.
After ensuring everything was in place, they ran a final test on a small-scale model and simulated the explosion several times using computer software.
Only when Ethan was completely confident did they proceed with the actual shoot.
"Explosives team, ready!"
"Lighthouse detonation point A, OK!"
"Lighthouse detonation point B, OK!"
"Bank vault detonation point A, OK!"
"…"
Ethan, Nolan, and the rest of the crew had already retreated far from the casino.
To minimize the blast's impact, they had set up a safety perimeter within a hundred meters and even coordinated with the police to assist, ensuring no one got hurt or hit by debris.
As time passed, with all the explosives in position, Ethan picked up the radio.
"Alright, commence detonation."
"Lighthouse point A, detonated!"
"Bank point A, detonated!"
"…"
After all the detonation work was completed, Ethan stared intently at the monitoring screen. Before long, he saw sparks emerging from inside the lighthouse.
"Boom!" Flames erupted from various parts of the casino first, followed by thick billowing smoke. Then came a deafening explosion.
The lighthouse split in half before everyone's eyes, collapsing like a mountain, scaring everyone into taking a few steps back.
Fortunately, the lighthouse was made of special lightweight materials, so even though it fell onto the casino, it did not destroy it.
However, such details couldn't be seen on the screen, as the raging flames and explosions covered everything. With the addition of post-production effects, the audience would only witness a breathtaking and intense explosion.
"Very good!" Ethan clenched his fist in excitement. This was his first time filming an explosion of this scale, and the result was a great success.
He remembered that in his past life, the snow fortress explosion scene in Inception had to be shot twice because they had missed some key footage the first time. Learning from that, Ethan mobilized every possible camera for this shoot.
There were even two helicopters in the sky assisting with the filming.
Standing beside him, Nolan was mesmerized by the explosion on the monitor, seemingly fascinated by this form of spectacle.
Men—always love explosions.
With this scene completed, the rest of Inception's shoot became much easier.
In December, Inception officially announced the completion of filming.
"Ethan, you seem to be in a great mood. Is it because Juno's global box office is doing well?"
On the golf course, Anne Hathaway was playing golf with Ethan.
Standing behind her, Ethan spread his legs slightly apart and reached around her back, guiding her hands to find the right swing posture. "Yeah, it's doing pretty well."
"Let me guess…" Anne Hathaway smiled and glanced at the distant hole. "Three hundred million?"
"Not quite, but two hundred and fifty million." Ethan swung her hands firmly.
"Bang!" The golf ball soared into the air.
Ethan held Anne Hathaway in his arms, both of them watching the ball's trajectory. "What do you think? Easy, right?"
"Indeed." Anne Hathaway nodded. "I think I've got it."
"Then how about a little competition?" Ethan smirked.
"Compete in what?" Today, Anne Hathaway wore a short skirt with a gray top, looking both sporty and stylish.
"Let's see who's on top and who's on the bottom tonight?" Ethan whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"You're such a rogue…" Anne Hathaway's smile deepened. "But I'm definitely going to win."
Though she spoke confidently, if Ethan didn't go easy on her, she would undoubtedly lose.
However, when she finally won, she suddenly realized something and rolled her eyes at Ethan. "No matter if I'm on top or bottom, you're the one enjoying it."
"But at least you get to choose—top or bottom?"
"Top, of course. I need to drain you dry to keep you from going after other women."
"What are you talking about?" Ethan looked puzzled.
Anne Hathaway shook her head. "Nothing…"
After spending time with Anne Hathaway, Ethan went to Jessica's place.
Since filming Inception, he hadn't had much time to be with his women. Fortunately, they had gone on a trip together before, or they would surely be complaining now.
Now that he had some free time, he made sure to visit each one of them.
This included Cindy and Kayden—whom Ethan accompanied together. The three of them spent several days on a Hawaiian island, losing track of day and night.
If not for his good physical condition, Ethan might not have survived such intensity.
However, when he arrived at Jessica's home, he found her still asleep.
"My angel, why have you turned into Sleeping Beauty?" Ethan looked at the sleepy-eyed Jessica, closed the curtains, and lay down beside her, gently touching her shoulder.
"I don't know… I just really love sleeping lately." Jessica snuggled into Ethan's embrace, resting her head against his chest.
That familiar citrus scent made her feel calm.
Yet, her heart was far from peaceful.
"Ethan, when do you think we can go public?"
"Why do you ask?" Ethan held her close. "You know I hate the media."
"Yeah… but even if we don't go public, does that mean the media will stop existing?" Jessica seemed a little down. "I've been resting these past few days, but I just feel exhausted… Ethan, I also had a nightmare. In the dream, you had other women and didn't love me anymore."
Ethan kissed Jessica's forehead. "Don't worry, my angel, I won't leave you."
"Really?" Among Ethan's women, Jessica was the most fragile.
"Of course… But why are you feeling so low all of a sudden? Did something happen?"
"No… nothing happened." Jessica shook her head and buried herself deeper into Ethan's chest.
"Then you…" Ethan suddenly realized something. "Did you take a test?"
"Test for what?" Jessica was confused at first, but when she saw Ethan's expression, she understood. "You mean… I might be pregnant?"
"That's right."
Ethan placed his hand on Jessica's stomach. "Could there already be a little life inside you?"
Jessica lowered her head, surprised. "I never thought about it… Could it be true?"
"I'll have Tom buy a pregnancy test kit right now."
Jessica nodded.
At the pharmacy, Tom expressionlessly picked up several pregnancy test kits and handed them to the cashier.
"Sir, one is enough for testing. Why are you buying so many?" The cashier looked at Tom with a puzzled expression.
Tom remained silent for a moment before saying, "Might need to test multiple times."
"Alright, alright. But if you're so unsure, why not go to a hospital? Or do you have multiple girlfriends who need testing?" The cashier teased, making Tom's mouth twitch.
He wasn't like Ethan, having so many girlfriends.
When Tom handed the test kits to Ethan, he immediately gave one to Jessica and sent her to the bathroom.
Ethan sat nervously on the couch. Having lived two lives, this was the first time he had experienced such a moment.
Though he was mentally prepared, now that the moment had come, he still felt anxious.
"Am I really about to become a father?" Ethan couldn't help but pick up an orange and peel it slowly, carefully removing the white fibers.
As he paced the room, Jessica finally came out of the bathroom.
"How is it?" Ethan looked at her.
Jessica shook her head.
"No?" Ethan was slightly disappointed.
Jessica shook her head again. "We have to wait fifteen minutes."
"Alright, you should've said that earlier." Ethan let out a deep breath and leaned back on the couch.
"Haha, this is rare—I've never seen you like this before." Jessica found it amusing. Normally, Ethan was calm, rational, and romantic, but never this nervous.
"Yeah…" Ethan admitted he wasn't his usual self. But to him, a child was the most tangible connection between him and this world. Having a child meant proving he truly existed here.
So, it was natural for him to be different now.
Fifteen minutes passed. When Jessica re-entered the bathroom, Ethan's heart tensed up.
Not long after, Jessica came out, hands behind her back.
"Well?" Ethan stepped forward.
Jessica, both shy and expectant, looked at him before revealing the test stick in her hand.
Two bright red lines.
Striking and unmistakable.