Bab 35: **Chapter 35: Determined to Climb the Mountain Yourself?**
"What's wrong, Sally? What are you looking at?" Toby noticed Theron's reaction and curiously asked.
At this point, he hadn't yet skyrocketed to fame for his role in *Spider-Man* and was still just a regular second-tier Hollywood actor, similar in status to Theron.
Moreover, since they had previously starred together in the drama *The Yards*, he harbored some feelings for the South African beauty.
On the other side, Matt Damon, who didn't talk much and looked a bit cool, was similar, though he was clearly a step behind Toby Maguire.
"Nothing, I just saw an interesting friend."
Charlize Theron withdrew her gaze, smiling as she explained, then paused and apologized, "I suddenly have something to attend to, excuse me for a moment."
Toby Maguire and Matt Damon could only offer gentlemanly smiles, tinged with a bit of regret.
They watched as Charlize Theron, holding her wine glass, swayed her charming, slender waist and firm, rounded hips as she walked towards the agent in the corner.
"Well, at least she isn't going after another man," Matt Damon suddenly remarked.
Across from him, Toby Maguire was visibly taken aback, clearly not expecting Matt Damon to say something like that. However, he quickly caught on and responded with a like-minded grin, whispering, "You're right."
The two then clinked glasses and separated to find new targets.
However, what they didn't know was that the South African beauty they both longed to get close to had only gone to the agent to retrieve her phone.
Afterward, she made a call to a certain man.
"Hey, darling, are you busy?"
"No, just watching TV with my girlfriend." Wayne glanced at Jessica and Mia, who were snuggled up against him on either side, and casually replied.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said, perhaps just that he had one too many girlfriends.
" . . . "
On the other end, Charlize Theron's breath caught, and her eyelid twitched slightly. Still, she kept her tone light and asked with a smile, "Which girlfriend? Is it that new one, Anne Hathaway?"
Wayne raised an eyebrow and was about to say no.
But then he realized something was off. Charlize Theron calling him so late at night, specifically asking about Anne, clearly indicated something was up.
"What are you trying to say?" Wayne asked flatly.
"Nothing," Charlize Theron's smile grew more enchanting as she cheerfully said, "I just saw your new girlfriend at Whitney's party tonight. My agent told me she's auditioning for the lead role in a new film directed by Garry Marshall in a few days. I guess she's here to meet the director and producer in advance."
Wayne was momentarily stunned.
He knew Anne was attending a party tonight, which had even postponed the move to their new house.
But according to Anne, she was attending a friend's birthday party, not Whitney's.
The key issue was, why did she lie to him?
A bad memory surfaced from the depths of his mind, causing him to furrow his brows involuntarily.
However, he quickly pushed the memory back down, his tone unchanged as he calmly said, "Alright, thanks for the heads-up. I'll be sure to properly 'thank' you next time."
He then hung up the phone.
But women do have a keen sense of intuition.
It was as if Mia and Jessica sensed something was off. In unison, they withdrew their gaze from the TV and turned to look at him.
"What's wrong, darling?"
"Is something the matter?"
"No," Wayne first kissed each of them on the cheek, then smiled and explained, "It's just that a friend of mine is auditioning for the lead in a big production, so she'll likely miss out on being in my next movie."
Mia and Jessica were both smart. They immediately grasped the deeper meaning behind his words.
"Then that friend of yours must be quite foolish."
"I bet she'll regret it someday."
The two spoke one after the other, bluntly.
And it was exactly what they truly thought.
Take Jessica, for instance. She turned down the lead role in a James Cameron TV series, only to then star in a movie with a production budget of over ten million dollars.
Moreover, she had big-name stars like Liv Tyler, Charlize Theron, Anthony Hopkins, and Willem Dafoe supporting her.
This was something she couldn't have experienced, even in a James Cameron TV series.
And Cameron's TV show was just one series. Whether she'd continue to be cast in his future movies or TV shows was still an unknown.
In fact, in the parallel world, after *Dark Angel*, she never collaborated with Cameron again.
The films that truly made her a global sensation, *Sin City* and *Fantastic Four*, weren't Cameron's works either.
But as long as she stayed by Wayne's side, she would have a continuous stream of resources.
In the long run, it was clearly more beneficial to stay with Wayne.
In fact, it wasn't just them who thought so.
Even Charlize Theron believed that Anne's decision was shortsighted and foolish.
Wayne might seem weak now, but he was on a fast rise.
The most important thing was that Wayne was capital! And he held the reins of a small, but highly mature, production company.
On the other hand, Marshall and Whitney were just a director and producer!
Despite being a renowned director of classic romance films, Marshall, while seemingly impressive, couldn't personally invest ten million dollars in a film.
After *Pretty Woman*, his salary for directing a movie was around three million dollars, which only increased to four million after last year's successful *Runaway Bride*.
It might seem like a lot, but after deducting agency fees, taxes, and daily expenses, he couldn't come close to putting up ten million dollars, let alone half that amount.
Whitney had money, but it would be tough for her to invest ten million dollars in a movie because she had to consider the risks.
Take this situation, for example: Marshall directing, Disney distributing—it all seemed like a high chance of success, right?
But in reality, she only invested four million, and with her role as producer, she would only get a 15% share of the box office.
This was a typical risk-spreading tactic in Hollywood.
With such a production model, the casting of the film's main actors would be the result of negotiations and compromises among the director, producer, investors, and agencies.
So even if Anne managed to win over everyone involved—director, producer, investors—and secured the lead role in this movie, she would still have to go through the same process again for Marshall or Whitney's next project.
But if she stayed with Wayne, she would only need to win over one person: Wayne himself.
On one side were a bunch of older men whose heights, weights, and appearances were uncertain, and on the other side was Wayne, who was more handsome than Leonardo DiCaprio and had a superhuman ability in certain aspects. Unless someone had a particular fetish, only a fool wouldn't choose Wayne.
But Anne, for the sake of short-term gains, gave up on Wayne.
It was like choosing to climb a steep cliff when there was a smooth, paved mountain road under construction right at her feet, just waiting to be completed, which she could easily take to the top.
If Hollywood were a mountain of fame and fortune, it would be far more treacherous and steep than Mount Hua.
How many people worldwide aspire to reach the summit, and how many have actually succeeded?
As for Wayne, perhaps due to his past life's memories, he understood Anne's decision better than Jessica and Charlize Theron.
After all, Hollywood ultimately judges people by their success or failure.
The path Anne chose might be difficult, but she did eventually succeed.
With *The Princess Diaries*, she quickly became famous across North America and even worldwide, staying in the spotlight for over a decade until multiple box office flops in 2016 led to her fall from grace, abandoned by big capital.
For most actors, being in the limelight for over a decade is a tremendous blessing.
So from Wayne's perspective, Anne was simply walking the path she was always meant to.
Of course, while he understood, his attitude towards Anne would inevitably change.
He initially intended to treat Anne as a girlfriend too, but now, to him, Anne was merely a collaborator exchanging her body for resources.
That's right, he didn't plan to part ways with Anne just yet.
Joking aside, some resources that were readily available to him were worth it in exchange for Anne's various forms of flattery!
So after hanging up the phone, he put the matter entirely out of his mind, focusing on watching TV with Mia and Jessica.
Even when Charlize Theron later texted him to say that Anne had left the party with a Disney executive, he merely glanced at it and didn't give it a second thought.
**[End of Chapter]**
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