Capítulo 939: Chapter 344: Black and Blue
Adrian had never held much regard for the limits of those won who yearned for fa and were willing to sacrifice everything for it, but this ti he was truly shocked. He never imagined such words would co from a young girl like Dakota Fanning. To think that Elle Fanning was her sister, her biological sister; she was actually willing to betray her own sister just to regain his support!
Even Adrian, who had long been accustod to the exchanges of interest in the entertainnt industry and even personally lured a woman into betraying her best friend, couldn’t help but be surprised. He had initially thought Dakota was just another Kirsten, decisive in trading herself for tomorrow’s prospects, but he didn’t expect she could go this far, ready to exchange anything for her own benefit.
Since that was the case, Adrian reluctantly accepted it. He had ntioned before that he liked ambitious won who could throw caution to the wind; the more ambition, the less sha, the easier to control. What’s more, it was like buying one and getting one free. He wasn’t worried at all about the possibility of Dakota making a false promise. Although her desire seed a bit too strong—otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken on the film “Hound Dog” after his warning—her decisive actions showed she didn’t dare to breach the contract. Of course, they’d have to wait a few more years, as Elle Fanning was still too young.
Moreover, even if she did breach the contract, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Anne, Natalie, and Keira were in need of companions anyway.
However, Dakota was clearly still a bit inexperienced. Generally speaking, gradually opening up her body would be more beneficial to her in capturing a man’s heart. But from another perspective, giving everything wholeheartedly also demonstrated her loyalty, leaving a deep impression at the sa ti.
That’s it then. Adrian finally decided, then sighed. Although this could temporarily rid him of his irritation, it was still a lousy situation if it couldn’t be resolved fundantally. Besides… right! Maybe that would be an opportunity, a very good opportunity.
—————-
“We are fearless, we are invincible, moving forward until we reach our promised land…” In one corner of the gathering, a group of people stood under the lights singing their own song. Though they were all around forty years old, they sang with great joy. Adrian and Claude were among them.
“I must say, I haven’t sung this song in years, but it’s still so charming.”
“If you attended every year, Ronald, you wouldn’t feel this way.”
“May I take it that you don’t actually like our song, Sean?”
“Shut up, Schlein. I only ant Ronald didn’t need to be so sentintal, nothing more. Don’t try to attack with that!”
After the song ended, the seven or eight middle-aged n started laughing and joking, quickly targeting Adrian: “By the way, Ed, I heard you have so musical ideas nowadays. Why don’t you… what’s the word? Ah, optimize our song.”
“Better not. I’m only soone with ideas, not a professional musician. It’s not easy to optimize,” Adrian laughed, “Besides, if we optimize it, it wouldn’t be our song anymore. This roughness represents our past experiences, sothing we won’t have again. It should hang on the wall and turn yellow slowly, not be refurbished constantly to keep its original look, right, Crow?”
He directed the last question to Claude, who was standing with him.
Unfortunately, before Claude could speak, soone else chid in, “True, many things are in the past and many things have changed. Maybe it’s better to keep so things unchanged.”
“Indeed, look, Ed attended the alumni party without bringing a woman, and reportedly, he seldom brought anyone before. That’s quite a miracle. Did becoming a big director change his personality?”
“That’s not acceptable, Ed. Why not introduce us to so movie queens? Soone here really liked the ‘Moulin Rouge’ you directed and its lead actress, Nicole Kidman.”
Everyone started chatting again in full swing, leaving Adrian to deal with them with a smile while sighing inwardly. He was currently at a party held by Stanford University. Aricans put a lot of emphasis on various gatherings held by their alma maters, as they’re great opportunities to expand networks. Among classmates, who knows, there might erge a tycoon or a senator.
And the school could use these occasions to win over many people, securing more donations and enhancing the school’s reputation. A simple example would be that there are many princes from Arab countries studying at Harvard University. Even if many of them are just biding their ti, who knows if one might beco a king in the future? At that point, Harvard University could proudly announce, “Look, a certain king once studied here,” thereby attracting more students.
Thus, school parties, hocoming events, graduation balls, and so on have never been lacking. When Stanford University sent an invitation in early June, Adrian readily agreed and even dragged Claude along, threatening to call The Godfather if he didn’t co.
“It’s really nostalgic, scenes from the past keep flashing in my mind, as if it happened yesterday, yet it also feels so far away,” Adrian said nostalgically under the soft streetlights, looking at the already starry Stanford campus that was completely shrouded in darkness.
After the gathering ca to an end and bidding farewell to their once-close classmates, Adrian dragged Claude along for a stroll around the Stanford campus.
“It’s been 20 years now,” Claude echoed, his expression unchanged but carrying a tone of nostalgia.
Adrian fell silent for a while, even though he could clearly recall everything that happened here, there was always a sense of distance. But now wasn’t the ti for that. He brought Claude here not just to reminisce about the past.
Unfortunately, before he could start steering the conversation forward, Claude spoke bluntly, “Just say what you want to.”
His tone was indifferent, seemingly unconcerned about anything, just staring off into the distance with a faintly furrowed brow, giving an impression of impatience under the dim lighting. Adrian couldn’t help but frown; everything had been fine before, and when chatting with old friends and classmates, Claude had been relatively normal, but now it seed like he had reverted to his forr self.
“Alright, Crow, tell , what exactly are you thinking about?” Adrian asked bluntly.
“What else?” Claude spread his hands, as if with so resentnt, “Of course, it’s about work. I must figure out how to reassure everyone and explain why we changed our minds to raise capital in the primary market after planning to go public.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow, feeling a hint of anger but also quickly realizing sothing.
“What do you want to do then, change my decision to support you?” His tone turned aggressive, “If you had more clearly communicated your thoughts before—it was just a phone call—we could’ve had a more detailed discussion, and it wouldn’t have turned out like this. You know I’ve always trusted you!”
“Trust ?” Claude sneered, “Yeah, trust , so you ignore everything and cut it off rcilessly when it doesn’t suit you, pushing all the issues onto . That’s so real trust. This past month, you’ve had to scrutinize every docunt—ha! Were you so worried I’d overthrow you?”
“Oh? Should I go back to not bothering with anything and wait for problems to arise so we can argue?” Adrian’s tone turned sarcastic. He jabbed a finger into his chest forcefully, “All these years, how many tis have I opposed you? You should know, apart from the projects I was insistent on, when haven’t I backed you up?!”
“Because without , you never intended to make your fantasies or even daydreams a reality, Adrian!” Claude, angered by his actions, raised his voice.
“Oh, really? You really think that’s the case?” Adrian was incensed but laughed, “Let tell you, Claude, even without you, I would still have the achievents I have today! Don’t forget, it was I who suggested shorting oil during the Gulf War to earn the first pot of gold, I who suggested seizing the opportunity presented by the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and I who suggested acquiring television stations! It was also I who suggested raising money during the IT bubble! Let’s not even ntion that the high-rating programs on ABC were all my discoveries! Without , you’d still be working at The Godfather’s company!”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, there was a thud, and Adrian stepped back a few steps, clutching his nose, seeing stars, and coming back to his senses only after a good while. Then he looked at Claude in disbelief. Claude seed a bit bewildered, standing there at a loss for several seconds before saying, “You asked for it…”
Before he could finish, Adrian’s fist had already landed on his face. The punch was hard, though not very accurate, so much so that he had to keep gasping in air and shaking his hand. Claude, also seeing stars, took several steps back, his eyes imdiately reddened, and he charged forward without saying a word.
The two n then started trading blows on the path of Stanford’s campus, using elbow strikes, knee hits, and neck holds, employing all sorts of moves. In the end, they ended up locked together in a scuffle and fell into a bush.
———-
“Thanks, John.” Taking the ice pack from the bodyguard and hissing from the cold, Adrian said, then waved his hand, and the bodyguard quietly left, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.
He threw one of the ice packs to Claude, who was sitting on the ground, and pressed his own against the bruised spot on his face before sitting down. Claude across from him was doing the sa, occasionally making eye contact, then quickly looking away.
After a long while, Adrian continued, hissing from the cold, “Alright, we’ve vented, now speak up, what exactly are you thinking? Do we really have to let it co to this?”
Claude muttered sothing, turning his head towards him, then turned away again, looking embarrassed.
“Can’t you speak up, damn it, Crow?” Adrian’s temper flared up again, “I’ve already apologized, I’ve already humbled myself, can’t you at least give so kind of helpful response?!”
“Alright, alright, I admit it,” Claude finally raised his voice a bit in self-abandonnt, “I’m jealous, I’m jealous of you, is that what you want to hear!”
“…What?” Adrian’s jaw dropped as he blinked, seemingly completely unable to understand.
“I said I’m jealous, jealous that you can always make the right predictions about the future,” Claude said dejectedly, “I’ve tried to observe, analyze, and predict possible outcos as well and have made so achievents, but you aren’t like that. You always seem to know the answers beforehand. Initially, that was fine, but over ti, I started to feel uncomfortable. I can make such judgnts too, but they’re both right and wrong, yet you’re always correct… So when I spent a lot of effort preparing for the company’s IPO, but you insisted it wasn’t the right ti, naturally…”
Before he could finish, Adrian already punched him in the face, “Are you still a damn sixteen-year-old kid?! This isn’t like I hooked up with the head cheerleader and her two friends! Where’s your mind?”
This ti he was truly furious. Before, he had said all that mainly to provoke Claude into venting his anger even if it ant shouting—of course, he hadn’t expected Claude to fight back with fists—but he hadn’t expected this guy to really be bothered by such things. God, is he not an adult man anymore? Isn’t he still the CEO of AC dia? How could he have such childish thoughts and hold onto them for so long! How could Adrian not be angry!
So, unable to hold back, he punched him directly, and of course, Claude didn’t hesitate to punch back. The two of them imdiately started fighting again. The result was that each had another ice pack in their hands, and their bruised and swollen faces were even more evident.
The two n sat on the ground, gasping for air, hissing from the pain, glaring at each other defiantly. They did so for quite a while until one of them began twitching the corner of his mouth. They both turned their heads away, then after a mont, spoke simultaneously, “I’m sorry.”
They froze, their mouths twitching again before speaking in unison, “Sorry for what?”
They both rolled their eyes, then smiled wryly before Claude took the lead, “Alright, I’ll go first.”
He paused, seemingly hesitant, but quickly began, “Ed, I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have had such childish thoughts, but I couldn’t control my jealousy, and it dragged on for so long. I sincerely apologize to you. I hope this doesn’t affect our relationship. You’re my best friend and my best brother.”
“You admit those were childish thoughts.” Adrian snorted coldly.
“Adults have childish thoughts too.” Claude replied, unfazed.
“Alright, Crow, I accept your apology, but I also need to apologize again,” Adrian sighed, “Even though I reflected after our argunt, like noticing your plans earlier if I had been more careful, allowing us to communicate fully as we did before, I still missed sothing. As you said, my predictions have always been right, and I’ve been proud of that until I hit a wall with Jobs. Though I kept saying it’s okay, not everything can be smooth, I hadn’t truly let it go because I kept thinking I could convince him. But in the end, I failed, and I couldn’t accept that. So when the sa thing happened… it was my arrogance that led to it. If I had been more tactful or delayed a bit, maybe things wouldn’t have reached this point, so I owe you an apology too.”
Claude didn’t speak, but after a mont, looked at him, “So you admit you were the one who ignited the fuse.”
“Alright, if that’s how you see it, then fine.” Adrian rolled his eyes.
Then the two, making eye contact, suddenly burst into hearty laughter, so strong it seed to shake the entire Stanford campus, clearing away the previous gloomy atmosphere.
“Damn, you really pack a punch, how am I going to show up in the company eting tomorrow?”
“You too, hitting in the eye, I still have to promote the film.”
“Oh, please, since when do you participate in film promotions? The folks below complain about it all the ti.”
“You should be grateful my energy hasn’t fully recovered, or I’d give you another round.”
“You can try, I haven’t enjoyed pumling you this much in a long ti.”
Supporting each other, they bickered as they slowly walked away, stopping again after a few steps.
“You know, there’s a mole in the group, and he’s in a decent position.”
“Of course I know.”
“Oh?”
“You ntioned it, and I’ve read the reports lately—I’m not a fool.” (To be continued. If you enjoy the work, please visit Qidian (qidian) to vote with recomndations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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