America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

At Los Angeles International Airport, Elizabeth Olsen emerged from the gate to see a throng of reporters swarming around a person being photographed, a tall figure holding a large bunch of roses, none other than Martin.

She tossed her luggage to her twin brother James and slung her backpack towards her two older sisters, then Elizabeth made her way through the crowd and ran towards Martin.

The reporters had already spotted the two sets of Olsen twins, and instantly some turned their cameras to snap photos.

Elizabeth's smile was pure and sweet, lifting the spirits of the photographers.

Their fingers pressed on the camera shutters with even more vigor.

Martin quickly stepped forward to meet Elizabeth, and she ran up to him and embraced him tightly without a second thought.

"You didn't even come to see me in London!" she feigned complaint.

Without much explanation, Martin handed her the flowers, then landed a deep kiss.

When the long kiss ended, Elizabeth stopped saying anything; she just wanted to go home with Martin.

But Martin couldn't just leave like that, he greeted the other Olsen siblings, took Elizabeth's luggage, and then they boarded the Escalade driven by Old Cloth.

In the car, Elizabeth asked with concern, "Is the house fully staffed with a butler, servants, and a chef?"

Martin said, "Don't worry, everything's in place."

Elizabeth continued, "Guess where I went this time in London?"

Martin thought and asked, "Buckingham Palace?"

"Yes, Buckingham Palace!" Elizabeth, in some ways very much like most Americans, was visibly excited: "I got to meet The Queen and the Prince of Wales thanks to my sisters."

Martin said, "The 50-year-old Prince of Wales."

But Elizabeth commented, "He kinda reminded me of Thomas."

Martin was puzzled, "How does he resemble Thomas?"

Elizabeth said seriously, "The forehead."

Both Martin and Bruce, the driver, laughed at that comment.

Back at the Beverly Hills home, Elizabeth opened her backpack first, taking out a box and handing it to Bruce: "A gift for you."

Bruce gratefully accepted it: "I get a gift too? You're way better than Martin, that jerk... um, he never gives me anything."

Martin responded with a middle finger: "Because you're an ugly dude."

Elizabeth just laughed; she knew how important Old Cloth and Martin were to each other.

Back in Burbank Middle School, one had dared to stay and fight at great risk, while the other had dared to save him at the cost of his own life.

Elizabeth even had the feeling that if Martin had to choose between her and Old Cloth, Martin would definitely pick Old Cloth.

Of course, she wasn't stupid enough to ask such a dumb question.

Martin inquired, "Don't I get a gift?"

Elizabeth sprung up and clung to him: "Here's your gift!"

Martin, with arms wrapped around her, carried her into the bedroom on the first floor.

Elizabeth giggled sweetly, "I brought you facial cleanser."

Before long, the facial cleanser was spread across Martin's face. After washing his face, Martin looked refreshed, and then he reshaped Elizabeth to look just like him.

After quite some time, Elizabeth donned Martin's long shirt and returned to the living room to grab a bag.

She pulled out a set of bath products and handed them to Martin: "Here's your gift."

Martin took a glance and said, "You really brought back a set of facial cleanser."

Elizabeth burst into uncontrollable laughter: "I did it on purpose."

Martin put it away.

Elizabeth leaned in and said, "Next time you want to wash your face, come see me."

"Actually, washing up and all that is not important," Martin said with sincerity: "It's more about having fun together, having a special way of communicating."

Elizabeth didn't insist: "If members of the Face Gang don't wash faces together, what kind of Face Gang would that be?"

Martin couldn't help but laugh, recalling something about Ben, and reminded, "The Face Gang has a bunch of potential enemies called the Foot Clan."

Elizabeth inquired, "Does the Foot Clan like washing feet?"

Martin shook his head: "They like licking feet."

Elizabeth paused, "You mean the Affleck brothers and people like that?"

"Led by Harvey Weinstein..." Martin explained briefly about the Foot Clan.

Only then did Elizabeth realize how much Martin had been doing behind the scenes.

After thinking for a while, she asked, "Have you been holding off on throwing a housewarming party?"

Now that Elizabeth had moved in, Martin frankly said, "How could we throw it without the lady of the house at home?"

Elizabeth's smile grew even brighter: "I'm back now, why not invite your friends and their relatives to come over and visit us?"

Martin remembered, "Right, the neighbors, we should pay them a visit when we have time, and extend an invitation."

Eliza quickly got dressed and sought out the butler Martin had recently hired to discuss planning the party.

In this regard, Hollywood has professional companies that can take care of everything provided one is willing to pay; the host only needs to prepare the guest list.

In the afternoon, Martin and Eliza went together to visit the neighbors.

The houses on both sides, one was currently listed for sale, with people coming to view it from time to time.

The other side was occupied by Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron. During the renovation on Martin's side, she was out filming, and before they had moved in, she was away for filming again, having only recently returned.

Seeing Martin and Eliza come to visit, Charlize seemed a bit surprised.

"Pardon the intrusion," Martin said with a smile, "My sister came to visit once before, right before you went out for work last time."

Charlize accepted the bottle of red wine that Eliza handed her, saying, "I remember her, Lily, she's a pretty and fun girl."

Eliza said, "We've just officially moved in and are planning to host a housewarming party this weekend. We'd like to invite our friends and neighbors to join us."

Charlize responded with a smile, "As long as nothing special comes up, I'll be there."

Compared to other American Oscar-winning actresses, her career didn't progress smoothly after winning the Oscar. Ambitiously trying to break into the 20 million club after "Young Adult," but her first movie had cut short that path.

Charlize Theron also wanted to expand her network of contacts.

At this moment, a man came down the stairs, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the railing, and asked, "Sally, do we have guests?"

"Our neighbor, Martin," Charlize introduced, and then to Martin, "Stuart Townsend, my fiancé."

Martin extended the invitation to him as well and took his leave at the right moment.

Following Martin out of Charlize's house, Eliza said, "She's an actress I really like. There was a time when I thought she was so beautiful that I would have been happy to grow up to be half as pretty as her."

Martin, holding Eliza's hand, said, "You are more beautiful than her now."

"You sure know how to talk," Eliza laughed. "Charlize is Hawking-certified. Even in an infinite number of parallel universes, you wouldn't stand a chance of dating Charlize Theron."

Returning home on foot, as the houses weren't far apart, they asked around about the house next door, which was still unsold.

The overall American economy wasn't doing well, and Hollywood was broadly short on cash. There were far fewer crews starting production compared to previous years, and the luxury housing market in Los Angeles was also sluggish.

Martin's original plan was to invite close friends and family, but Nick had suggested he invite a few old-timers, especially old white males like Warren Beatty.

The purpose was simple: the awards season had already begun, and it wouldn't hurt to get cozy with the old white males.

Martin, being decisive, not only invited a bunch of old white males but also cinema critics led by Kenneth Turan and Todd McCarthy.

Additionally, he made a special trip to WMA and handed out invitations to the likes of Ari Emanuel and Jim Whit.

Of course, the crew from The Dark Knight and others were not forgotten.

He even personally called David Fincher.

It was expected that the guests would bring small gifts, so Martin asked Eliza to prepare suitable return gifts, with Cartier sponsoring some small accessories for Martin.

This was a housewarming party, not a lobbying session; no one could say anything about it.

As for what to discuss at the party, that was up to the guests' discretion.

"The expenses are a bit frightening,"

In the living room, Eliza did the budget and said, "The alcohol and beverages have to be of good quality. Even though few people eat lots at such parties, we still need to prepare a lavish buffet, hire a band, decorate the yard appropriately, and there's the labor cost..."

As she spoke and calculated, "Less than three hundred thousand dollars, and we can't have the party."

Martin said, "I don't know much about party planning, just go ahead with it. I'll sign the bills."

Eliza looked at Martin and then at Bruce, "Do you really not understand how to prepare parties?"

Bruce kept quiet, thinking it's not suitable for Martin to organize a party for an occasion like this.

He still remembered how Martin had impressed Wes Craven with an unconventional party.

Martin was humble, "My parties are simple and rough drinking parties. Some old fellows can't hold their liquor well, and I'm afraid they'd embarrass themselves if they got drunk."

Eliza said, "When we used to have parties at home, it was all up to my sisters to worry about. I never knew it was so expensive."

Lily, coming inside and overhearing their conversation, blurted out an idea, "You could sell the invitations, I often see some people at school selling party invites from famous artists or big stars, with prices ranging from a hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on their fame and status."

She approached Martin, "With your standing, party invites at 5000 dollars each will definitely sell really well."

Eliza shook her head and covered her face, unable to comprehend Lily's thought process.

She often felt that Lily was deliberately provoking Martin.

As expected, Martin stood up, clenched his fist, and said, "I'm holding back, don't cry out in pain!"

"Hey, can't you be reasonable? I'm trying to help with ideas," Lily said with a face full of grievance. "If my idea is bad, just say it. Don't always resort to hitting people."

Martin sat back down and said, "Although Labor Day has passed more than a month ago, I've decided to give you a belated gift, and for next month's Thanksgiving too, your gift will come early. Forget it, I'll lump together your Christmas and New Year's gifts as well."

Lily, quite understandingly, asked, "How many tons of antlers?"

Martin directly said, "Old Cloth, all the stock from your import-export company, give it all to Lily!"