King of Hollywood

Chapter 222: Chapter 221: Scandal

Chapter 222: Chapter 221: Scandal

“Damn it, that’s mine, Allen!” Mark Ruffalo glared angrily at his companion, skinny Allen Luther with a pair of little mustaches, who had just seconds ago snatched the fries he hadn’t touched and started munching away happily, even smirking at him with a snicker.

“I know they’re yours, but you weren’t eating them, so I thought you didn’t need them and decided to help myself,” Allen shrugged his shoulders while stuffing fries into his mouth as if Mark was going to snatch them back immediately.

“You thought?” Mark rolled his eyes, “I’m really curious, Allen, how come you eat so much junk food and never get fat? Or maybe I should order some more burgers for you?”

“If you’re willing to do that, that would be amazing,” Allen laughed heartily.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Mark rolled his eyes again, shook his head, and looked out the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling window, then started nagging, “God knows why they paired you with me for months… Who’s the idiot who said this street was full of celebrities? I’ve been walking back and forth here for almost a night now, not a single figure in sight! Obviously, no need for the camera today… Oh, why do I always have such bad luck, not even a bit of a gossip-worthy news event to stumble upon…”

This Mark Ruffalo, about 25 or so, wore his baseball cap backward, his neck adorned with several metal chains, and a big metal ring on his thumb like a rocker, was a tabloid reporter. Of course, saying paparazzi might be more accurate, but Mark preferred to consider himself a reporter.

If not for those shameless traits, a competent paparazzi should at least have a keen observational ability to distinguish celebrities from the crowd. Sadly, Mark was lacking in this skill, and it was quite normal for him to have no news for days on end, otherwise, he would have been kicked out long ago if the standards were higher.

Even so, he was now facing pressure from the editor-in-chief, as the newspaper’s sales were gradually declining, and the editor-in-chief had made it clear that if he didn’t come up with some gossip news, he would have to pack up and leave.

Therefore, Mark had specifically found a well-informed friend to get a tip and came to this street to lie in wait, but unfortunately, after an afternoon and half a night, he hadn’t taken a single photo. As for his partner Allen, the guy’s only talent besides eating and drinking was just that, like him, he was a loser among the paparazzi, and the only reason Mark tolerated him was that he was the only one who would listen to his chatter without much refutation or showing impatience.

“Ah, what a wonderful night, looks like we’re done for,” Mark continued to ramble as he walked out from the restaurant, feeling that today’s hopes were very slim and perhaps he would be fired tomorrow.

“Maybe we’ll come across a big scoop soon,” Allen offered some rare consolation, which Mark didn’t take to heart, “I’ve said that to myself thousands of times, but it does nothing to improve the situation. Maybe I should switch to another kind of reporting… like covering police checks of illegal vehicles or something… Wait a minute!”

Mark suddenly shouted, eyes unblinking, staring across the street—a silver Maserati was parked at the curb, with a policeman questioning something at the window. From their direction, they could clearly see the woman sitting in the passenger seat.

“What happened?” startled by his cry, Allen asked at this moment.

“Wait, wait!” Mark frantically raised the camera around his neck, adjusted the focus, and aimed at the car across the street, his hands starting to tremble.

“Allen, take a look!” After taking a deep breath, Mark shoved the camera into Allen’s arms, “Towards the woman in the passenger seat! Quick, look! Is that Julia Roberts? Is it?!”

“I’m looking, don’t rush,” Allen raised the camera and peered carefully for a few seconds, “Well, I think, probably, yes.”

“Awesome! Come on!” An excited Mark pulled Allen into a nearby alleyway, got the focus right, and began furiously clicking the shutter.

“See that, Allen, he’s kissing her! That man is actually kissing Julia Roberts! This is fantastic! We’ve got a major scoop!” Mark was all excitement, his hands never stopping, “Right, do you recognize that man? He looks kind of familiar.”

“Let me see, let me think,” Allen had also taken binoculars out from his backpack and started observing the car on the street, switching angles, “It seems… it seems…right! The Miracle Director!”

“Which Miracle Director?” Mark had just asked when he suddenly slapped himself on the forehead, “Yes, Adrian Cowell, the guy who won Best Adapted Screenplay in March and was nominated for Best Director at the Oscars for two consecutive years, also holding the record for the youngest Best Director nominee.”

“And titles like workaholic, genius director, and Miracle Director were also associated with him. This year at the Oscars, he led Al Pacino and Emma Thompson to win Best Actor and Actress with two different movies, and he himself received six nominations. I also heard he was supposed to have three Best Director nominations,” Allen listed off with ease.

Mark realized his partner did have some redeeming qualities, but now was not the time to acknowledge that.

“Alright, so we have our headline now. What do you think about ‘Julia Roberts Hooks Up with Miracle Director’? Or ‘Pretty Woman Gets Intimate with Miracle Director in Car’? Oh God, I’m so excited—I can almost see the bonus check from the chief editor! I think this has something to do with my praying in church yesterday. Maybe I should go to church every week… Damn! They’re leaving.” Mark, who had been unwittingly rambling, suddenly yelled and grabbed Allen, rushing towards their car.

Unfortunately, by the time they opened the car door, the silver-white Maserati had vanished without a trace.

“Oh! Hell! Damn it!” Mark shouted in frustration, “If only we could have captured that man entering Julia’s house, how much would that have been worth!”

“It’s okay, Mark, we got plenty of photos today,” Allen said, trying to console him, quite philosophical about the situation.

“Plenty? How could it be plenty?!” Mark still discontentedly shrieked, “If we could have gotten a shot like that, I bet! The digit on the bonus check would have at least doubled!”

“The problem is we can’t catch up now,” Allen said, spreading his hands, his little mustache trembling, “So instead of complaining, we better rush back and develop the photos, picking out the most valuable ones.”

Mark glared at his partner for a long while before gesturing to get into the car, “You’re right, let’s head back now!”

When the news “‘Pretty Woman’ Julia and ‘Miracle Director’ Adrian Continue to Get Intimate in Car After Being Questioned by Police” was published in the Mattville Weekly, this small publication with a circulation of just a few thousand saw its sales skyrocket!

“…From the photos, we can clearly see Adrian and Julia having a great time inside the car, and when the police arrived, Julia intentionally ducked her head as if she didn’t want to be recognized. However, a few minutes later, she started talking to the police. While it is unclear why, what can be confirmed is that the female star, who rose to fame with ‘Pretty Woman,’ is indeed dating the Miracle Director, known for being a workaholic among other titles. They must have enjoyed a pleasant evening together. After being questioned by the police, they heated things up again and then hurriedly drove away, probably not wanting to attract the police again…”

This report, like most tabloids, freely exaggerated, concocted facts, twisted the truth, fooled its readers, and stirred up trouble, such as the above-mentioned implication of how the couple managed to attract the police.

But if it were just a text report, it would typically only attract those with a strong curiosity for gossip. Even so, it is just something to be glanced over and forgotten, sales might rise or they might continue to slide.

However, this time was different, this time there were also several fairly clear photos published in the newspaper. Although they couldn’t compare with photos taken with high-magnification lenses, they were considerably good compared to some paparazzi shots.

There were five photos in total. The first showed Julia bowing her head while Adrian spoke with the police; the second showed Julia talking to the police; the third showed the police leaving as Adrian and Julia smiled and said something; the fourth, and most crucial photo, was taken at an angle so that although Adrian was clearly kissing Julia’s cheek, it appeared as though they were passionately kissing; as for the fifth, naturally, it was them laughing and driving away after the kiss.

A picture has much more persuasive power than text, especially in this era without Photoshop, so as soon as the report came out, it immediately attracted a bunch of eyeballs, mainstream media too started to republish it and began to pay attention to this scandal.

After all, although Adrian had kept a low profile after the Oscars for a while, news such as starting to shoot a new movie about a hitman in New York or getting a minor injury on set never ceased. While Julia’s title as a “box office poison” was no longer mentioned, it hadn’t been that long since, and the character “Vivian” was still a favorite for many. Therefore, they were people of great news value, so how could the entertainment media let this go?

They quickly took action, calling the agents of both people, inquiring with well-informed sources, analyzing the news in newspapers to draw attention, and even sending journalists to stake out outside the houses of the two—it was all inevitable. When the entire entertainment media industry started to hustle for this piece of news, the efficiency in obtaining information was much higher than that of a single small publication. It was just unfortunate that they were doomed not to get what they wanted. (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. There are more chapters available. Support the author, support genuine reading!)