"Still mad?" After a risky and sneaky journey back to Natalie’s dorm at Harvard, Adrian wrapped her in his arms once he saw she hadn’t spoken all along and asked.
Natalie’s shoulders twitched, seemingly trying to break free from his embrace, but then she stopped and only turned her head away. "No, it just feels... weird."
"Alright then, there won’t be a next ti," Adrian said with a slight smile, consolingly kissing her cheek, deliberately not ntioning it was she who had made the initial suggestion.
Of course, Natalie was rather thin-skinned about this matter, so she spoke quite ambiguously. Nevertheless, her hint about "going to the library" was fairly obvious. She probably harbored a faint hope that Adrian might decline or pretend not to understand out of consideration for her, which was naively optimistic.
She was truly intelligent, capable of thoroughly contemplating issues to arrive at the correct answers. But precisely for this reason, she could overthink and make wrong judgnts when deliberately led astray. Psychology wasn’t a cure-all, and it required a lot of practice—more so since she had only studied clinical psychology for one year.
So after Adrian first struck her with "Whale Rider," then had a heartfelt confession-style talk at the Oscar Night party, and hinted slightly, the seed of hope began to sprout in her heart. She would then automatically amplify and concrete that hope, while what he was doing now was rely reinforcing her feelings of anticipation.
Natalie believed that if she wanted to get away after obtaining what she desired, there would be a steep price. As long as that price was within an acceptable range, she wouldn’t be unwilling. Hence, after Adrian’s arrival at Harvard, recalling what he had said before, Natalie finally gritted her teeth and dropped her hint.
For this reason, even though she resisted most of the ti, she wasn’t very strong about it. Her main concern was being discovered, which could ruin her painstakingly cultivated reputation. However, because the price was essential and Adrian was relentlessly pressing her, coupled with his adept seductive skills, she naturally felt a twisted pleasure. She entertained self-destructive thoughts like "Better to be seen and be done with it." This led her to a mix of resistance and proactive engagent.
Perhaps Natalie wasn’t subjectively aware of this, but her body didn’t lie. The pleasure Adrian felt at her last mont of tension was proof enough, which is why he never took her resistance seriously, as he could clearly sense her body’s changes.
All his efforts had not been in vain. Adrian had never been concerned about being seen. It’s no secret what sort of things happen in Brotherhoods in Arican colleges. Sure, there are elites among them, but they are definitely not the majority. Adrian had caused his fair share of trouble in the Stanford Brotherhood back in the 90s.
Although he had attended Stanford, it wasn’t that he’d never been to Harvard. Victor had graduated from Harvard, so he was well acquainted with the Brotherhood there, including their secret spots and codes, which were generally only known internally and seldom changed. Plus, he had indirectly inquired through Victor before arriving, making it easy to fool the guy outside.
For the ti being, that was it. Adrian then returned to Los Angeles. There were a lot of things to deal with, and he wasn’t planning to push her too far, although he would’ve liked to try sothing under the so-called Mr. Harvard’s statue—okay, that was a joke. Doing sothing like that in such a place was nearly impossible, and only fools would engage in such excessive acts. Besides, this was just the beginning, and his ideas could be implented slowly. If Natalie ca to her senses and could see her place during this ti, he would be pleased. But if not...
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"If I really had to choose one, David, I’d pick Penny Green. She’s sharp-tongued and cold to everyone; I don’t want anything to do with her," said one of two male employees during a break in the ABC planning departnt office, as they critiqued their female colleagues.
"Really?" David, stroking his chin, seed perplexed. "But Sol, it sounds to like you’re describing our departnt head."
The man about to sip his coffee nearly spat it out, his eyes widening as he looked at his friend. "Why would you think that, David?"
"Sarcastic, icy, and sowhat aloof. Isn’t that exactly the Iceberg Queen?" David said with a chuckle. "You better be careful, Sol, not to badmouth the Ice Queen while at work. Last ti Paul and the others were discussing her by the water cooler, she passed by like a ghost and scared the daylights out of them."
"Ms. Charlize, although sharp and distant, is not unreasonable. Plus, she’s quite capable and has secured quite a few benefits for our departnt, hasn’t she?" Sol imdiately rebutted his friend. "Just look at those reality shows she’s planned. If ’How to Marry a Millionaire’ hadn’t been delayed due to 9/11, I bet it wouldn’t have been much worse off than ’Arican Idol’. It seems she is even planning a new reality show based on this..."
"Okay, Sol, we all know who’s got her back," David gestured, "so it’s not surprising she can go that far. Of course, I’m not saying she has no ability. She indeed manages the whole departnt quite well, but you have to see the essence of things—wait, don’t tell you’ve fallen for her?"
David paused, flashing a mischievous grin and narrowing his eyes. Sol imdiately looked flustered but soon regained his composure. "So what if I have? Ms. Charlize is indeed a very... pretty, sexy, and attractive woman. Don’t tell , David, that you haven’t had out-of-the-ordinary thoughts about her."
His colleague and friend suddenly looked choked up, staring at him for a while before bursting into laughter. "Alright, I admit that the Iceberg Queen is very appealing. Not just , many guys in the departnt and even the whole company fantasize about her. Honestly, she ought to be in movies, not an office. But, Sol, we all know who her guy is, right?"
"Oh, sure," Sol sighed, "the great Miracle Director, the Sect Leader of the world’s number one dia conglorate... I hear he has a close relationship with many won. Damn, if all this is true, why can he, I an, why can rich guys have so many won?"
"Just as you said, Sol, rich guys." David shrugged his shoulders, and the two n started gossiping about the Miracle Director until the phone rang.
"Hello, this is ABC’s Planning Departnt, Sol Campbell speaking." Sol pressed the speakerphone button, and then a clear female voice ca through: "Sol Campbell, responsible for sorting out ’How to Marry a Millionaire’ files?"
He recognized the voice instantly, sprang up to sit upright, and replied respectfully, "Yes, ma’am. How may I assist you?"
David was stunned by the quick reaction, but he quickly caught on and promptly seated himself properly.
"The sa David Scott who is also responsible for it, is he by your side?" asked the crisp voice on the phone.
"Yes, ma’am," Sol answered without hesitation.
"Compile all the materials for ’How to Marry a Millionaire’, from planning to the feedback collected and all the derivative ideas that followed. I want to see them on my desk when I return to the office at 3 PM." The voice finished and hung up the phone as if issuing an order.
Sol and David exchanged glances and, without uttering a word, began to bustle about. A direct order from their departnt head was not sothing they could just slapdash through. However, due to the long-standing authority of the Iceberg Queen, neither of them noticed that the voice through the phone sounded sowhat unusual in tone compared to usual.
After hanging up the phone, Charlize’s lips were sealed once more. At that mont, she lay on Adrian’s spacious office desk, just like before, with everything on it swept to the floor, along with her coat, skirt, and one high heel, the other heel still on one foot wrapped around Adrian’s waist. Her underwear hung around her ankles, swaying up and down with the rhythm of their closeness.
Ever since Charlize had gone to ABC, Ivanka had taken over that desk. Although she would occasionally co to discuss work with Adrian, the instances were far too few. So whenever they had a chance, the two would not stop their vigorous love-making. Thus, after hanging up the phone, they continued their battle for over ten minutes until they cald down with intense and shrill moans.
"After our intimate ti, I’ve been thinking," Charlize, sitting on the desk while dressing, spoke, "that it would be such a pity if the show could only go on for one season. Watching n and won engage in different ways on-screen and try to please one another, they would unknowingly project themselves into the show, chasing it. So, I was thinking maybe we could continue the program in a different way."
Then, she glanced at Adrian and opened his hand on her thigh with a snap, "Where’s your focus, Ed? My words or my thigh?"
"Of course your thigh," Adrian said as he lowered his head and kissed the inside of her thigh, continuing to caress it lovingly, to which Charlize could only roll her eyes.
"Alright, dear Charli, have confidence in yourself, just like ’How to Marry a Millionaire,’ since it’s your concept, just boldly go for it," Adrian shrugged.
"I just want to do my best," Charlize sighed.
"As long as you’ve done your best, failure doesn’t matter," Adrian laughed, "Isn’t that what Hollywood always promotes?"
Charlize shrugged without saying anything, and the sound of knocking ca at that mont. Considering the forr secretary was still in the room, it couldn’t be anyone else, so Adrian directly said, "Co in."
"Here’s the information you wanted. Stanford has recomnded three programrs, all of them pretty good," Ivanka handed the folder to Adrian and then greeted Charlize, who was sitting on top of the desk in just a shirt and underwear, quite indifferently.
"Thank you, Innie," Adrian smiled as he took it, then patted the desk on his right-hand side.
Ivanka gave him a look but sat down as he said, then Adrian’s other hand landed on her thigh, lifting the skirt to make direct contact, sliding up as he showed a look of bliss, "This is just great."
So, with two slaps, the forr and current secretaries both took a docunt and slapped it on his head, such tacit understanding worthy of their successive roles.
"If that’s all you wanted to say, then I’ll take my leave," Ivanka said, making a motion to leave.
"Okay, okay," Adrian raised his hands, "It’s like this, Charli has a reality show concept and she wanted to ask for my opinion, but I’m not planning to give her any advice, so why don’t you share your thoughts?"
"Is it about that guy pretending to have inherited a huge fortune and then seeking a marriage on TV?" Ivanka, who frequently handled his docunts, quickly rembered.
"Not entirely, it’s another one. I derived this idea based on that show," Charlize said as she continued to dress. By the ti she finished, she had more or less explained everything.
"Frankly, Charli, I haven’t worked on shows, so I can’t give you valuable advice," Ivanka said after thinking for a bit, but then she quickly added, "However, your program is about n choosing won to date, right? So why not make another show where won choose n?"
Before Charlize could speak, Adrian started applauding.
"Brilliant, Innie," he said with a big smile, then turned to Charlize, "You see, Charli, there’s never a shortage of worthwhile concepts to work with, so what are you worried about?"
"Well, I got it," Charlize shrugged. "Then it’s ti for to head back. I had them prepare so materials earlier, and I need to review them myself."
Charlize’s idea, derived from "How to Marry a Millionaire," was a sort of dating show—an actual millionaire dating show. There are quite a few single millionaires in the United States. When Adrian first woke up, he was just a millionaire himself so there was no lack of "actors." After the hype of "How to Marry a Millionaire," viewers would inevitably want to know what millionaires are really like. Perhaps the ratings would not match "How to Marry a Millionaire," but they would definitely not be low. It’s just not suitable to air it on ABC right after they had "tricked" the audience, so it was perfectly tid to hand it over to NBC.
Moreover, this had been proven. Adrian rembered that in his previous life, there indeed was a similar male-selecting-female dating show called "The Bachelor," whose basic setting was almost identical to Charlize’s idea. It had to be said, her talent was fully exhibited. And now, Ivanka’s intelligence was also becoming apparent. Although it was just a single sentence, she pinpointed another show of the sa type—the one from his previous life that had been imported to the mainland, "IF YOU ARE THE ONE"!
So, Adrian revealed an ambiguous smile, "Let’s have dinner together tonight, Charli, and Innie."
"Oh?" Charlize raised an eyebrow, then looked towards Ivanka, "Are you free tonight, Innie?"
"Of course, I’d be delighted to have dinner with you, Charli," Ivanka responded with a smile, "Just the two of us, right?"
"Yes," Charlize stood tall, regaining her cool allure as she walked up to Ivanka, wrapped her arms around her waist, and kissed her on the lips. "There won’t be any annoying flies buzzing around."
Adrian couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head, ignoring their pretentious gestures, he picked up the materials Ivanka had brought in and flipped through them. No matter how surprising their ideas were, they did not need too much attention for the ti being. That "The Bachelor"-like concept might wait until after "How to Marry a Millionaire" was greenlit, but there was no need to bring out "Take Out" right now. With so many shows in the pipeline, wouldn’t it be better to bring them out after their value had been fully developed? So right now, what he was mainly concerned about was the matter at hand.
"Innie, ask all three of them to co over," Adrian said to Ivanka after glancing through the docunts.
In the spacious conference room, three casually dressed young n all in their twenties sat in their seats with so apprehension, flipping through the docunts in their hands. Adrian stood at the head of the room, his back to them, waiting patiently.
Soon, the three young n finished reviewing the materials in their hands, exchanged opinions, and then the one with glasses spoke up, "Um, we’ve finished reading, Mr. Cowell. It seems like you want to create a social networking site, but the information appears to be incomplete."
"Of course, this is just an idea that ca to quite by accident," Adrian turned around and smiled at them. "After all, I’m not a professional website developer, and this is just a trial attitude. So, it’s very normal for the information to be incomplete. You can use your own skills to fill in the gaps. If I like it, we can keep it."
He paused there, letting the three young n digest the information before he continued, "You’ve all signed contracts before. If the website is good and has value in operation, you will all beco founding shareholders. Even if it’s not valuable, you could still get a handso remuneration. So you can definitely try to refine it with effort."
The three young n began to discuss in low voices again and eventually, the glasses-wearing youth spoke up, "We’ve discussed preliminarily and, without affecting our graduation thesis, from coding to establishnt to testing, it will take about one to two months. If we need to also enhance the appearance and other details, it would take around three months to go live."
"No problem," Adrian agreed crisply and then glanced surreptitiously at the young man with glasses. Relatively speaking, he was more active than the other two—maybe a real talent.
"So, what do you plan to na this website, Mr. Cowell?" the youth with glasses asked at this point.
"Facebook," replied Adrian nonchalantly. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welco to vote for it on Qidian with recomndation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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