"We have basically completed the investigation into Clooney Capital Company."
In the quiet office, Ethan rested his feet on the desk, gazing at the golden hues of the sunset outside the window while listening to the detective's voice on the phone.
"Go ahead."
"They are connected to Ronald Tuttle, forming an interest group."
"Ronald Tuttle? You mean the billionaire from Los Angeles?"
"Yes, exactly him."
Ethan remained silent for a moment before speaking, "So they have their eyes on Norton's Eye?"
The detective sounded surprised. "Your instincts are sharp. Based on our investigation, after Victor announced his intent to take you to court, Norton's Eye's stock experienced a slight dip, during which they acquired a significant amount of shares."
"But what does this have to do with Miramax?"
"Because Disney is about to announce that they are selling Miramax to Ronald Tuttle and his investment group."
Ethan nodded. With this information, everything became clear.
Ronald Tuttle and his group must have started negotiations with Disney for Miramax last year. However, apparently unsatisfied with just acquiring a film company, they set their sights on Norton's Eye as well.
Whether they merely wanted to become shareholders or gain control, they had been secretly assisting Victor, allowing him to defame Norton's Eye in an attempt to drive down the stock price.
Fortunately, Ethan and his team had handled the situation well, limiting the stock's fluctuations and leaving little room for manipulation.
But they certainly wouldn't give up so easily. Who knew how many Norton's Eye shares they had already acquired during this period?
However, if they thought they could control Norton's Eye that easily, they were gravely mistaken. Ethan had long since prepared for such scenarios by cross-holding Norton's Eye shares through a company he established in the Cayman Islands. This strategy prevented anyone from taking over the board through stock accumulation.
Not to mention conventional anti-takeover measures like poison pills and white knight strategies.
Moreover, other shareholders weren't naive. They all knew Norton's Eye was on an upward trajectory—why would they easily sell off their shares?
So no matter how aggressively Ronald Tuttle and his group bought shares, gaining full control was impossible.
At best, they could become minor shareholders, posing little threat to Ethan.
It was just their underhanded tactics that disgusted him.
"Have we found any dirt on Victor?"
"We've captured footage of his meetings with Clooney Capital, but I don't think the evidence is solid enough."
"That's right. It's best if we can get a recording. I'm giving you permission to alert them a little."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Ethan pressed the button on his desk, and Yuffie soon walked in, standing beside him.
"Boss." She observed Ethan's face, partially shrouded in shadows, his expression unreadable. The sunset cast eerie silhouettes behind him, making him look like a devil incarnate.
"Contact the company's shareholders—I want to hold a meeting. Also, reach out to Disney and tell them we're interested in acquiring Miramax."
Ethan couldn't remember the exact amount Ronald Tuttle had paid for Miramax, but judging by its current scale, it shouldn't exceed $800 million.
He certainly didn't have that kind of money, but the investment groups backing his shareholders had plenty of liquidity.
If he could convince them to support Norton's Eye's acquisition, he could snatch Miramax right from under Ronald Tuttle's nose.
In the world of business, money was the only thing that mattered.
No matter how long Ronald Tuttle had been negotiating with Disney, it wouldn't make a difference.
Since he used Victor to mess with Ethan, Ethan would make sure his plans fell apart.
Besides, acquiring Miramax wouldn't be a loss. It wasn't even his own money being spent, and Miramax's film library was valuable. Once the digital era fully arrived, those films would generate massive profits.
"Got it." Yuffie nodded, then turned to switch on the vinyl record player in the office, letting music flow through the room.
Ethan closed his eyes, gently moving his fingers like a conductor, immersing himself in the melody.
The next day, after the board meeting, Norton's Eye officially submitted an acquisition request to Disney.
Disney responded quickly. They had long lost interest in reviving Miramax, but after more than a year of negotiations, only a handful of companies had shown interest.
Now that Norton's Eye was in the picture, all the better.
If they could drive up the price, even better.
However, while Disney had set an asking price of $700 million, Norton's Eye initially offered only $660 million. Though this was higher than Ronald Tuttle's bid, it still fell short of Disney's expectations.
Soon, Clooney Capital caught wind of the situation and raised their bid to $662 million.
Norton's Eye countered with $663 million.
This put Ronald Tuttle and his team in a tough spot—their budget was already stretched. They couldn't justify spending the full $700 million on Miramax.
But they were also unwilling to give up so easily, so they grudgingly raised their bid to $665 million.
Norton's Eye responded with $666 million.
At this point, the frustration in Clooney Capital's office was palpable. It felt as if Norton's Eye was watching their every move, always raising the bid by exactly $1 million, as if mocking them.
Though the amount wasn't huge, the humiliation was unbearable.
They could only match the tactic, increasing their bid to $667 million.
Thinking they were being clever, they also raised it by just $1 million.
But Norton's Eye seemed to have grown bored of the game. They suddenly jumped to $670 million.
Before Clooney Capital could even respond with a new bid, Disney made an unexpected move—they abruptly announced that Miramax had been sold to Norton's Eye!
"WTF!"
In his office, Ronald Tuttle, his curly hair in disarray, slammed a stack of documents onto the desk, furious.
"How the hell did this happen!" He glared at his investment partner, Tracy.
Dressed in a sharp suit with a patterned tie, Tracy shrugged. "I have no idea. I was about to raise our bid, and then Disney suddenly went ahead with the sale. Damn it, are they playing us?"
"The real question is—what did Ethan say to Disney? What kind of deal did they strike to make Disney agree so suddenly?" Ronald Tuttle pounded his desk. "Doesn't Disney realize they're helping create a new competitor?"
Tracy rubbed his temples. "Shouting at me won't help. The real issue is—what's our next move? We planned to break into Hollywood, but now that Miramax is off the table, do we go after MGM instead?"
"MGM? That's not something you can get for just 600 million!" Ronald Tuttle immediately rejected the idea.
"Then what do we do? Norton Eye's stock is rising again, and the people who were initially willing to sell their shares have changed their minds. I heard Ethan held a shareholder meeting and promised that Norton Eye would become a major Hollywood studio like Universal within five years!"
"Ethan. FXXK! It's him again!" Ronald Tuttle sighed in frustration. "Is there nothing new from Victor?"
"He's gathered a few people Ethan crushed in the past, and they're publicly opposing his movies in the media. But I don't think it's having much impact."
"Of course not. They're just a bunch of nobodies. Even if you tied them together, they wouldn't have half of Scarlett's influence."
With Lucy wrapped up, Scarlett had been publicly praising Ethan's work, almost hyping the film to the skies.
Seeing the lead actress's confidence, movie fans naturally grew even more excited, paying no attention to a bunch of losers barking in the media.
After all, those critics couldn't make movies themselves.
"So what now?" Tracy was equally frustrated. Even if they had money, they needed a way to spend it. Otherwise, it was just worthless paper.
And their constraints were far greater than Ethan's. The investment groups behind them were extremely shrewd—until they proved their superior investment acumen, they wouldn't be granted too much leeway.
If their budget exceeded what the financial analysts deemed acceptable, their acquisition could be halted at any time.
At the end of the day, these investors weren't looking to revolutionize Hollywood. They were simply trying to hedge against the financial crisis and secure stable returns.
"If we can't gain an advantage in the open, we'll have to resort to the shadows." Ronald Tuttle thought for a moment. "Can we bribe someone to destroy Lucy's film reels?"
"I think that would be quite difficult." Tracy didn't question the rationale behind it; instead, he immediately began considering feasibility.
"But it's not impossible. Let's go for it. As long as Lucy encounters an accident and can't release on time, Norton Eye's stock will definitely drop. I also happen to have some dirt on Ethan. If we release it at the same time, we can crash the stock price."
"That would be perfect." Seeing that they still had a chance, Tracy's expression returned to normal.
"Leave it to Victor. It'll look better coming from him."
"Alright, I'll talk to him."
Tracy walked out of the office, heading downstairs to a public phone booth. After scanning his surroundings to make sure no one suspicious was nearby, he dialed a number.
"Victor… Get in touch with some journalists. Let them know that some explosive news about Ethan will be coming out soon."
"So keep a low profile for now. Got it?"
"That's it. Hanging up."
After finishing the call, Tracy stepped out of the phone booth, straightened his clothes, scanned his surroundings again, and then went back upstairs.
However, just as he walked into the lobby, a young woman in professional attire entered the phone booth. Pretending to make a call, she reached under the phone and retrieved a small recording device.
She slipped it into her bag, replaced it with a new one, then hung up and walked out of the booth.
Shortly after, Ethan received a report from his detective.
"Interesting… They claim to have 'explosive' news about me."
Ethan's lips curled into a slight smirk, his eyes narrowing as if contemplating what kind of scandal could be considered "explosive."
"We'll keep investigating."
"No need. I think I already know what it is." Ethan snapped out of his thoughts. "I'm more curious about why they're still so persistent."
"What do you mean?" The detective on the phone sounded confused.
"Logically speaking, if they failed to acquire Miramax, wouldn't they just move on to the next target? Or, why didn't they approach me earlier, use this so-called dirt to pressure me into giving up Miramax?"
Ethan's thinking was razor-sharp. "If I were them, I wouldn't care what methods I used. But they didn't do that. That means whatever dirt they have is only about me personally, not the company. Even if the shareholders find out, they won't care."
"And now they're releasing it? You think this isn't just about revenge?"
"I'm certain of it. Their goal is still Norton Eye."
"They want the stock price to drop. Leaking a scandal about me is one way, but it's not enough. They must have something else planned."
Ethan tapped his fingers on the desk. "What could it be?"
"Are you saying we should investigate all of Tracy's movements?"
"Not just that," Ethan added. "You also need to monitor everything happening inside Norton Eye."
"Whoa, that's a huge operation."
"Don't worry, I'll pay you overtime." Ethan chuckled. "They're way too confident, which means they might have people inside the company capable of causing serious damage."
"Alright, I'll pull in all my resources."
"Good. From now on, report to me daily."
"Understood."
Beep… beep… beep…
Ethan listened to the dial tone for a moment, then made another call—to Jessica.
"Hello?"
"Baby, I'm coming home tonight."
"Really? That's great! Elena has been calling for Daddy for days."
"Haha, I've been looking forward to seeing my little princess too."
"Are you having dinner at home?"
"Of course."
After hanging up, Ethan dialed Anne Hathaway.
"Honey, are you busy?"
"Super busy. This movie requires me to wear heavy costumes every day. But thankfully, it's almost done."
"That's great. By the way, are you alone right now?"
"Yeah, why?"
"It's like this…"
Ten minutes later, Ethan called Avril.
"Avril, how's the concert going?"
"Amazing! I finally feel alive on stage again—feels awesome!"
"Nothing beats performing live. Are you alone?"
"Yeah, Ethan, what's up?"
"There's something I need to discuss with you…"
After calling a few women, Ethan finally dialed Scarlett.
"What are you up to?"
"Practicing yoga. Haven't had time to work out with all the filming lately, and my flexibility is getting worse."
"Are you free tonight? I want to take you out for dinner."
"Really? Just dinner?" Scarlett clearly sensed something else in Ethan's tone.
"Maybe not just dinner. I need to introduce you to someone…"
"Who?"
"A cute little angel."
....
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