As Martin spoke, the forces associated with him imdiately sprang into action.
Thomas communicated with the television station to get Martin on a televised interview as soon as possible.
Over at the studio, Jessica and Emily led a team to monitor online public sentint around the clock.
Martin personally called Alan Green.
In Atlanta, Sophia had already set things in motion.
By the ti Martin arrived at the Burbank studio, the video footage and related records had already been sent over through email.
Bruce took part of the video to see Jody.
Martin waited in his office for Alan Green.
A gray car left the Los Angeles office of Empire magazine and headed straight for Burbank.
Alan, who was driving, found out the relevant news and imdiately went to see Martin.
Because of "Limitless," his interests were closely tied with Martin, the leading actor and producer.
Alan would earn a cut from the project; the better the film sold, the higher his inco and the greater his fa would be.
Arriving at Davis Studio in Burbank, he saw Martin and said, "I've found out the article was written by an editor nad Richard Colossus from the newspaper. It's confird that on the evening of the day the article was written, he t with Brad Pitt."
This familiar na did not surprise Martin, "Pitt, eh? We're old friends."
Having seen the gossip about Martin and Pitt, Alan couldn't help but envy Martin—a connection with Jolie and Aniston.
Martin shook hands with Alan, "Buddy, thanks for the info."
Alan smiled, "Glad I could help."
After seeing Alan off, Martin returned to his office to contemplate Brad Pitt.
Although Pitt was no Leonardo, he was still one of Hollywood's superstars with significant influence behind him. If Martin were to use rules beyond the law to deal with Pitt, it would get truly penal.
Martin considered the still-previewing "Tower of Babel," in which Pitt was the leading actor.
Without any surprises, Pitt would try for a Best Actor nomination through this film.
Martin sighed to himself; did even a good guy like himself have to sar others?
Outside Warner Bros. Studios, Jody got out of a car and found her target vehicle, taking the passenger seat.
As usual, Bruce was sitting in the passenger seat.
Jody asked, "Got a big scoop?"
Bruce handed her a copy of Arican Rumors.
"I've seen it," Jody had read the news that morning, "What they wrote is troubleso."
Bruce took out his laptop, pressed play, and the person on the screen talked about Martin's old stories; multiple different faces, multiple different house backgrounds, they described so-called gangsters and drug traffickers attacking Clayton Community, and how Martin ard with a gun, fought back, wounding their leader, and protected his ho and community.
The other was a series of photograph of docunts, showing APD's handling of the events.
Jody instantly recognized their value and said, "I'll take these."
Bruce unplugged the USB drive and handed it straight to her.
For the umpteenth ti, Jody looked Bruce over and said, "I can't let you go without compensation for such big news."
Bruce looked straight ahead, his gaze not straying because Jody's slender figure resembled a roadside lamppost.
Jody was very helpless, "What will it take for you to accept paynt?"
Bruce casually took a hairpin off her head and said, "This will do."
Clutching the USB drive, Jody got out of the car.
Watching Bruce drive away, she could only heave a long sigh. Why couldn't she conquer this man?
Jody missed out once again, she drove back to TMZ, and all the way there, she pondered—conquering Bruce would give her a direct news channel to the heart of Hollywood.
Back at TMZ, Jody quickly reviewed the materials, penned the news, and published it.
At Davis Studio, as soon as TMZ's news was released, Jessica imdiately ordered her team to spread it widely on the internet and contacted familiar dia outlets, urging them to examine the related videos as soon as possible.
The videos were also uploaded to Martin's personal blog and the Cola Cult's official website.
Many people who had seen Arican Rumors began leaving comnts.
"Tabloids just make up rumours, clearly a good deed, but in their selective defamation, it completely distorts the truth."
"I grew up in the slums too, it's really hard to achieve what Martin has done!"
"So Martin was a hero before he beca famous."
These comnts might not be a huge advantage for the award season, but they deepened the good feelings toward Martin.
Thomas reached out to Warner Television Network and several other traditional dia outlets, who would soon begin broadcasting.
In the studio, Jessica knocked on Martin's office door, "Ms. Jolie is here."
Martin nodded.
Soon, Jolie, wearing sunglasses, ca in and sat on the single sofa, looking at Martin with a smile, "I hear you've been sared?"
Martin went over to the visiting area and sat beside her, "It seems you've been keeping an eye on ."
Jolie asked, "Who did it? Have you checked?"
Martin nodded, "Pitt. There might be others behind him, but for now, we can only trace it back to Pitt."
"Do you want to retaliate?" Jolie leaned in close to Martin's ear, "Knowing Pitt as I do, you could take my hand and Aniston's, kiss us both, and show up in front of Pitt in public. With just a little provocation, he'd surely lose control."
Martin knew what she was thinking, "You would be the one going crazy first."
Jolie giggled, "Pitt has a history of dostic violence, but not against Aniston, it was the nanny." After coming back from the Middle East, certain ideas began to stir in her mind again: "One day, invite Aniston out, and I'll have a good chat with her. Both of us hate Pitt, and we could find so common topics."
"I'll think about it after I get through these next few days." Martin was a man of principles: "I won't force Jen."
Jolie stood up, ready to leave, "I'll give you a call."
Martin said, "Do a favor and talk up in your next interview."
Jolie's gaze wandered, "How should I praise you?"
Martin waved his hand, "We'll discuss it another day."
Jolie left quickly.
At that mont, Thomas ca in and said, "I just got a call. Ellen Degeneres wants to have you on her talk show again."
Martin had had a very unpleasant experience with her last ti and said, "Decline her. Stick to the plan and go on 'The Helen Show' at Warner."
Due to the Burbank High School incident, Helen, the relentless reporter from Warner Television Network, beca famous overnight. Last year, she started her own talk show at Warner Television Network, and the ratings were very high, not at all inferior to "The Ellen Show."
Thomas imdiately responded, "I'll go and coordinate the process and the script with Helen right now."
The plan solidified quickly, and the talk show would revolve around Martin's poor upbringing and his journey of hard work.
Youth and lack of experience were his weaknesses, which couldn't be changed, so Martin had to work from other angles.
Elsewhere, Jolie, who was running errands at Warner, purposefully lingered at the entrance of the studios.
She easily attracted the attention of reporters.
A reporter asked about gossip and her new film "Changeling," and with Jolie's guidance, asked, "You've worked with many male actors. Who made the deepest impression?"
"Martin Davis!" Jolie praised Martin forcefully, as she had said she would: "At Martin's age, to find an actor with his exceptional talent is a first for in my years in the industry. He always imrses himself completely in a role, pondering over it in his spare ti to make it believable."
She knew that Martin needed praise now: "I don't know what others look for in a great actor, but in my eyes, Martin is a superbly talented actor."
Almost simultaneously, WMA arranged for Aniston to have an exclusive interview in Century City, where she also ntioned Martin.
Aniston said, "While filming 'Limitless,' not only did Martin perform exceptionally, but he also helped get into character. Even though I've been in the industry longer, in terms of acting, I feel that Martin is more like a teacher to . He taught many new techniques and knowledge."
…
California Institute of the Arts, Sculpture Gallery.
The afternoon class was wrapping up, and the students were packing up their tools, getting ready to leave.
A group of girls ca over, and one sturdy-looking girl asked, "Lily, are we heading to the apartnt or the restaurant first?"
Lily flashed a bright smile, "Let's go to the restaurant first. I'll treat you to sothing nice."
The bulky girl bead, "Great! Great…"
The group prepared to depart.
Two girls nearby muttered to each other.
One of them, a blonde, said, "She just knows how to buy people off and form cliques. What's so great about knowing Martin Davis?"
The other, a redhead, raised her voice suddenly: "Didn't you read today's newspaper? That Martin Davis is no good, involved with gangs and drug dealers. He'll be ruined soon!"
"What did you say?" Lily, frowning, approached them.
She didn't care if they talked about her forming cliques or bullying others, but ntioning Martin was off-limits.
The sisterhood she had ford in Los Angeles fell into formation behind her.
"I..." The redhead tried to retaliate but stopped when she saw Lily's hand and promptly shut her mouth.
A carving knife twirled rapidly between Lily's fingers, dancing like a butterfly.
She spoke lightly, "You see, I once wanted to apply to dical school, so I practiced using a knife a lot. Self-taught dical knowledge in high school taught sothing: how to stab soone 50 tis avoiding vital spots, causing lasting pain without inflicting a severe wound."
The blonde hastily said, "Don't ss around, we were just speaking off the cuff."
She tugged at the redhead, who quickly said, "Don't get wrong, I ant no harm. I'm sorry."
"Which newspaper did you read that in?" The carving knife continued to spin between Lily's fingers.
"Arican Rumors."
Lily nodded and, slinging her backpack, walked out.
Leaving the Sculpture Gallery, she sent soone to grab a copy of Arican Rumors.
Lily read the article and was furious. She wanted to help but didn't know where to start.
Being unfamiliar with Hollywood and the entertainnt industry, she pondered for a mont before phoning Louise to quickly explain the situation: "I want to do sothing for Martin, but I don't know how."
Louise laughed and replied, "Let co over and pick you up, and we can discuss this together."
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