Miller took a step closer to Matthew, his earlier silence replaced by a venomous hiss. "I'm not just going to make you gay, I'm going to make sure all of Arica knows you're gay. I'm going to record your humiliation and broadcast it to every corner of this country!"
"A recording!" The word sparked an idea in Matthew's mind, and he quickly shot back, "Miller! I have a copy of the tape!"
Miller froze. "What tape?"
Seeing he'd struck a nerve, Matthew pressed on. "The tape that got you divorced from Angelina Jolie, of course."
Miller shot Matthew a look brimming with hatred, then countered, "No, there's only one copy."
Tom, utterly lost, glanced from Matthew to Miller, his own advance slowing to a halt just as Miller's had.
Matthew's mind was racing. "It's true, there was only one copy of the tape I gave Jolie. But I went back and made another one! It's the one where you..."
He deliberately trailed off, letting the unspoken suggestion hang in the air. After all, he had no idea what Miller had been up to after he'd delivered the tape to Jolie.
"I can't believe you fild that too!" Miller roared, taking the bait.
Matthew imdiately seized the advantage. "I didn't want to say anything, but you're forcing my hand."
He declared with feigned confidence, "The tape is stashed in a safe place. You'd better back off now unless you want everyone to see your little adventures."
As if by magic, Miller instantly clenched his teeth, shouting, "Tom, wait!"
Tom obediently stopped in his tracks.
"Rachel, Venus, Jennifer, Bellas," Matthew rattled off, listing the nas of the models who had been at Miller's estate. "I'm still in touch with so of them. I can find them anyti."
Miller's face turned pale.
Matthew breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Jon," Tom frowned. "Are we just going to stop?"
Matthew interjected, "That's right, don't stop. Miller is a big star, and I'm just a nobody. Let's both go down in flas and see who loses more."
He projected an air of complete control. "The press will eat Miller alive. The video I have isn't just so ordinary sex scene. Even if the public is open-minded, it's not exactly acceptable for a star to be involved in sothing like that, is it?"
Tom scowled and snapped, "Shut your mouth, you—"
Before he could finish, a sudden knock echoed from the door, followed by what sounded like soone shouting.
"Matthew!" Jas yelled. "Matthew! Are you in there?"
"Yeah, I'm in here!" Matthew called back. "I'm just talking with Miller and Tom!"
Matthew gestured to the stun guns in their hands. "You'd better put those away. It wouldn't look good if soone ca in and got the wrong idea."
Miller imdiately hid his stun gun and took several steps back, stuffing the "weapon" into his bag.
Tom held his stun gun, hesitating for a mont, seemingly at a loss for what to do.
The knocking continued from outside, followed by Jas's voice again. "I'll get soone to open the door, just wait."
Matthew watched Miller and Tom, silent for now, his gaze unusually sharp.
"Tom," Miller said, gathering his things. "Let's go."
After a reluctant glance at Matthew, Tom started toward the door to retrieve the cara.
"You're just going to leave like that?" Matthew asked, tightening the bath towel around his waist. "I want to have a word with you two."
Tom turned his head and looked at Matthew with disgust. "We have nothing to talk about."
Matthew ignored him and spoke directly to Miller. "We need to talk about what to do with the tape."
As if he truly had the recording, Matthew spoke with conviction. "I could just call my girlfriend and have her sell the tape to a certain company in the San Fernando Valley."
With Jas's arrival outside and the combination of the imaginary tape, the situation was gradually, unexpectedly, turning in his favor.
Miller had his bag slung over his shoulder, but he didn't leave.
There was no way he could let a video like that get out, especially considering the scandal it would cause on the heels of his divorce from Jolie.
"Miller," Matthew smiled. "Let's talk."
Miller was silent for a second before asking bluntly, "What do you want?"
Tom looked at Miller, a flicker of familiarity in his eyes. He then rembered—hadn't Matthew asked them the very sa question when they had him cornered?
In less than two minutes, the tables had completely turned.
Matthew glanced at the cara set up in the doorway of the shower. "I want the cara."
"Fine," Miller answered without hesitation.
"Bring it here."
Miller gestured to Tom, who picked up the cara and tossed it over.
Matthew caught it, pulled the cassette out, placed it under the showerhead, and then smashed it to pieces.
And he made sure to keep the cara body.
Matthew looked at Miller again. "Now for the second item."
Miller fought back his impatience. "What else?"
Matthew deliberately proposed a condition Miller could accept. "You will not bother
again during filming. From this day on, we don't know each other."
Miller had no desire to get near Matthew anyway, so the demand suited him perfectly. "No problem," he said imdiately. "I won't say another word to you unless our characters have lines together."
"That would be best," Matthew paused briefly, then suddenly turned to Tom. "There's just one more simple condition. It'll be easy for you to fulfill."
Before Miller could say anything, he added, "If you agree, I'll have my girlfriend give you the tape imdiately. If you don't agree... well, I'm a little short on cash lately. I think I could get a good price for it."
"Tell
what you want," Miller said, staring intently at Matthew. "But don't push it."
Matthew smiled. "Not at all. This won't hurt you in the slightest."
Hearing that, Miller felt a sense of relief; he didn't want to pay a high price if he could avoid it.
Matthew stopped beating around the bush and said plainly, "I want you to find a way to make Tom voluntarily leave the show."
"What?" Tom couldn't believe his ears.
"No!" Miller's first reaction was to refuse.
"Then we have nothing more to talk about."
The sound of determined footsteps approached from outside as a locksmith arrived. Matthew spread his hands. "The door's opening. I'm leaving."
He let out a long, deliberate sigh. "Pretty soon, every single Arican will be talking about you, Miller."
There was a crisp click as the door swung open and footsteps entered. Matthew shook his head, picked up the video cara, and slowly walked toward the door, not sparing Miller or Tom another glance.
It took Miller less than three seconds to make his decision. "Yes!"
Tom was instantly frantic, shouting, "Jon, are you out of your mind?!"
He pointed at Matthew and yelled, "Because of this bastard, you're—"
"Shut up!" Miller cut him off harshly, keenly aware that soone had just entered the room. "Don't forget, you only got on this show because of my connections!"
Though they were represented by the sa agent, Miller was the dominant one. Tom was just a minor actor with so potential.
Tom pointed a trembling finger at Miller, speechless, as if he'd been dealt a fatal blow.
Miller ignored Tom, looked past Jas who was now approaching them, and said to Matthew, "Don't forget your promise."
Matthew stated with conviction, "I won't."
"What's going on in here?" Jas asked, stopping in the doorway. "I heard Ben say—"
"It's nothing," Matthew interrupted him. "Let's head back to the barracks."
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