America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Leaving the dressing room, Lily arrived at the backstage waiting area with her nervous hands finding nowhere to rest, her heart pounding so fiercely that it felt like it could jump out of her mouth at any moment and turn into a frog on the floor.

A female producer of the show offered comfort, "Take a deep breath, relax, it's not a big deal. Helen talked with you for a while, she was nice, wasn't she? She won't make things difficult for you, and Martin grew up with you..."

Lily took several deep breaths, but was still unable to calm down.

After all, she was only 17 years old.

Lily asked, "Am I really lame? Unworldly?"

The female producer, now certain to encourage, said, "You're doing fine, much better than most people on their first time on camera. Be brave, be confident."

Lily's heart was still pounding fiercely, and she couldn't help but revert to her old habit, cursing under her breath, "Fuck! Fuck..."

As soon as the curse words left her lips, she suddenly felt a bit more composed.

When the female producer heard a voice through the earpiece, she gently patted Lily on the back, "Go on stage now."

Lily was not lacking in courage; she clenched her fists tightly and strode onto the stage.

As she turned the corner, she saw Martin and couldn't help but remember something.

In her life of over a decade, Martin had raised his fist to her just as Elena had.

Raised under a strict hand, the young girl suddenly wanted to punch herself: I'm so stupid!

For a moment, Lily froze in place.

Martin saw Lily's nervousness, awkwardness, and unease and could guess why she was there. He stood up, walked towards her, and signaled the audience to applaud, giving Lily encouragement.

As the encouraging applause started, Lily came back to her senses, and Martin was already nearby.

She stuttered, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come without saying hello. I..."

Martin gently hugged her, saying, "We are family."

Lily's smile bloomed naturally on her tense face, forgetting all the nervousness, awkwardness, and unease in that moment.

Why she had chosen to step forward, why she had listened to Louise's advice to join the show, it was because she and Martin were family.

The audience was still applauding.

Helen came over and asked, "What did you two talk about?"

When Martin came over, he had taken off his microphone and turned off Lily's too.

Lily didn't answer.

Martin said, "Secrets among family."

Helen invited them to come and sit down, then handed Lily a bottle of mineral water.

Martin twisted open the bottle, and Lily took a sip, her nerves easing once again.

The audience in the studio and watching on TV could clearly see that this girl was a camera newbie, with no experience at all, her nervousness so profound she could dig a bomb shelter with her feet.

But her beauty made the awkwardness work in her favor, adding credibility to her words.

Lily did not need to lie; all she had to do was recount the events of that evening.

At this point, Helen's friendliness was in full effect as she asked, "Lily, can you tell us what happened that night?"

Lily was feeling much better, able at least to speak coherently, "I remember it clearly. There were frequent shootings in the community. To protect us, Martin moved in to sleep in our living room. He even collected some soda cans, filled them with pebbles, and hung them on the fence in the yard..."

Helen interjected, "Were they Coca-Cola cans?"

Lily nodded forcefully, "Yes."

Helen picked up a Coca-Cola can from the low table between her and Martin, opened it and handed it to Lily, then grabbed another one and said, "Time for a live advertisement! Cola Cult FOREVER!"

The audience erupted in laughter and applause.

This helped Lily to gradually calm down, "My brother Holle had even dug holes on the inside of the fence. That night, I heard the cans rattling, and right when I got up, there were gunshots."

Regaining her composure, she started to jest, "I hurried out of the bedroom to see what was happening, and as soon as I got out, Martin scolded me."

The camera and the audience's gaze fixated on Lily.

Helen appropriately asked, "Why?"

Lily, looking aggrieved, replied, "Martin told me to roll back into the bedroom, hide behind the brick wall and not to show my head."

Everyone understood.

Helen was smiling, but inside she was pondering how quickly the girl had adapted.

Lily continued with the rest of the story, no need to exaggerate, the deep affection among family members clear to see.

Seeing that the girl was pretty, charming, and had a good personality, Helen decided to give her a bit more time.

Helen asked, "You mentioned earlier that you study sculpture at the California Institute of the Arts?"

"Yes, I'm good with hands-on work, I have a real talent in this area." Lily looked towards Martin, with a thousand 'fucks' in her heart she wanted to blurt out, yet what she said was completely the opposite, "After Martin arrived in Los Angeles, he sent back lots of raw materials to Atlanta for me to practice with. Every so often he'd send a load, and the more I practiced, the better I got."

Helen asked Martin, "Did you send a lot?"

Martin couldn't tell her his goal was to make the Bay Crocodile and wild buffalo protected animals in Australia; he just smiled and nodded, "Sent quite a bit."

He added, "Will send even more in the future."

Lily's intended words stopped short, she leaned back on the sofa, at a loss for what to say.

Helen, sensing something was off, spoke up, "How about a live demonstration?"

Lily nodded lightly, "Is there colored clay for sculpture?"

Soon, a staff member brought some over.

Without a carving knife, Lily began to shape a Joker sculpture with her hands, using a knife provided by the crew to make quick refinements.

The red mouth, white face, and purple suit, while a bit rough in the close-up shot, were unmistakably based on Martin.

In a mansion on Sunset Boulevard, Nicholson put down his wine glass, strode over to the shelf, where there were gifts from Martin.

Among them was a Joker sculpture modeled after Martin.

Nicholson shook his head with a laugh, "That guy, he's interesting."

In a villa in Beverly Hills, Angelina Jolie was also watching the show.

In her hand was a 30-centimeter Joker sculpture, its straight legs serving as perfect handles, and its large head and distinct patterns were quite functional.

It turned out, all these sculptures were the handiwork of this young girl.

Jolie nodded slightly, the sculpting skills of this Lily Carter were pretty good.

Her focus wasn't on that, though.

What Jolie wondered was whether Martin would really reconcile her conflict with Aniston?

Meanwhile, hundreds of Hollywood insiders turned their attention from the TV to the crew's commemorative gifts.

Few people complained; after all, they were just souvenirs given by the crew.

Instead, most found them nice, the hand-crafted sculptures by the familiar little sculptor were more meaningful than industrial assembly line products.

The material was good, the workmanship exquisite, and they were personally given by Martin.

The Helen Show ended, and as the live cameras turned off, Lily quickly stood up and said, "I'm going to the restroom."

An assistant immediately took her there.

Helen said to Martin, "It's normal to feel nervous."

Martin deliberately said, "You didn't give me a heads up."

Helen laughed, "That's what makes it a surprise, right? How do you like it, was it unexpected?"

As they walked out together, Martin said, "I thought you were going to invite Jolie and Aniston over."

Hearing this, Helen's eyes seemed to spark with fire, "Let's make a deal, you put them to bed, get them to come on my show and make amends."

She spoke in a hushed tone, "There's nothing I wouldn't give."

Martin, with principles, flatly refused, "You should go directly to Jolie and Aniston instead."

Helen couldn't hide her disappointment and shrugged, "It seems my charm is not enough."

Martin spoke seriously, "Because we're friends, you know."

Helen couldn't help but laugh.

At this time, Lily came from the restroom.

Martin said to her, "Come with me."

Lily followed Martin into the makeup room and, getting ahead of them, raised her fist, "You don't need to do anything, I'll handle it myself."

Martin grabbed her fist and pushed it down, "Stop fooling around, I'm not blaming you."

Lily's courage soared, "Those idiots slandered you, and I just wanted to do something for you. You've always been protecting us. If this were in Atlanta, I'd have taken my carving knife and gone to their doors already. For the women, I'd carve a 'Bay Crocodile' on their chests, and for the men..."

"I understand," Martin interrupted her and asked, "Who helped you arrange this? It wasn't Thomas, was it?"

Lily confessed, "It was Louise. I called her, and she suggested it. I thought it could help you."

Martin said, "Indeed, those words coming from you are more persuasive." He reminded her, "When you go back to school, don't come out for a while, and don't deal with any media reporters."

Lily nodded repeatedly, "I know, those entertainment reporters can make up anything."

Martin suddenly realized that in this regard, the reporters from World News Report actually showed a lot of professionalism.

Afterward, they left the studio and got into the car Bruce had driven over.

Martin said, "I'll take you back to school first."

Lily, aware of Martin's busy schedule, said, "I won't come out once I'm in, and I'll focus on studying and attending classes."

The car hadn't left Burbank when Lily received a call from Elena, the usual deep sisterly affection.

It wasn't until Martin took the phone and spoke for a while that Elena hung up.

After dropping Lily off at school, Martin had Bruce head back to Sherman Oaks, straight to Louise's place.

As he entered the living room, he saw Louise sitting at the bar, sipping on a drink while watching a replay of The Helen Show.

Louise poured a drink for Martin, "Lily wanted to help you, and I couldn't dampen her enthusiasm. Besides, it did help, so I gave her a hand. It worked out well."

She smiled, "I called a few old friends; they saw the show and said their impression of you improved a lot. A man who can protect his family naturally attracts the favor of women."

Martin pulled up a barstool and sat next to her, "Next time, give me a heads up."

Louise laughed flirtatiously, "Do you like the surprise?"

Martin drank his glass of wine, deciding it was time to give her a proper education.

As for how to educate, of course, it was a lesson with a stick.