America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

"What happened yesterday?"

At the beverage pickup area of the film and television base, Shelmer grabbed a bottle of ice-cold Coke, took a big gulp, and asked, "Didn't you invite him out?"

Pratt felt helpless: "He was busy, had something last night, and I couldn't just drag him out."

Shelmer gripped the Coke bottle tighter, "Find another opportunity to invite him, and be careful with your words, don't cause him any displeasure or suspicion."

Pratt patted his solid chest: "I'm an actor."

After finishing the Coke, Shelmer left.

Pratt wiped the sweat from his forehead and also grabbed a bottle of Coke to drink.

In Atlanta, if nothing else, there is always enough Coke.

Before he had finished his bottle, a whitewashed hand reached out and, as usual, draped over Pratt's shoulder.

Mene came from behind and said, "Buddy, under too much pressure, tired?"

Seeing it was Martin's underling, Pratt mustered some energy and forced a smile: "I saw Martin was busy over there, just stepped out for some fresh air."

Mene clapped him on the shoulder and went to get a Coke himself. Glancing at the retreating figure of the black man, he asked casually, "You've been whispering with people from the group next door recently, what are you plotting?"

Pratt's heart skipped a beat, his smile stiffened momentarily but then returned to normal: "You mean Shelmer, he's from Atlanta, I was asking where the fun night spots are."

Mene said, "Remember to call me if you find something fun."

Pratt replied, "I'll definitely call you."

In fact, ever since Pratt started cozying up to Martin, Mene had been watching him closely.

When someone jumps out trying to take over the big brother's spot, the underlings are the most anxious.

At noon, the crew gradually left the studio and headed to the canteen for lunch.

Mene walked with Bruce: "That brown-noser, always felt there was something off about him."

Bruce asked, "Worried he'll take your spot? Haven't I told you, the bond between us, he can't compare."

Mene responded, "Not that, just this morning, I chatted with him casually and felt like he was acting when he was speaking."

Having spent a lot of time with Martin and Bruce, he had their cunning awareness: "Old Cloth, he wouldn't conspire with others to secretly sell Martin's news to the media, would he?"

Bruce couldn't help thinking about the shoddy things Martin had done, playing both sides many times, he said, "Just keep an eye on him from now on."

Such things were inevitable, recently gossip newspapers reported Martin had gotten together with Jolie.

But the crew denied the rumor on a higher level, neither Martin nor Jolie admitted to it, so it was just gossip.

Many lead actors and actresses from various sets have been rumored to have similar scandals.

After lunch, Bruce also mentioned it to Martin, who initially didn't care, but at the end of the afternoon's work, Pratt approached him again, wanting to treat him that evening.

"There's no need for that," Martin blocked the road straightaway: "I also started as a small actor and worked my way up, I know each step is not easy, you don't have to treat me specially."

Pratt wanted to say something but suddenly didn't know how to begin.

Martin deliberately said, "I'll give you a lift when I can."

Hearing this, words nearly burst from Pratt's lips, but thinking about the recordings, he held back.

Martin nodded at him: "Let's leave it at that."

Pratt felt resigned, and could only say, "Thank you, Martin."

Watching Martin get into the car and leave, he could only walk alone out of the film center, crossing half a street to get into Shelmer's car.

Pratt quickly recapped the situation and explained, "I did my best, but he doesn't go out to nightclubs, there's nothing I can do."

He didn't want to continue, "With Martin putting it that way, if I invite him again, it'll probably raise his suspicions."

"We'll have to use another method then," Shelmer pulled out his phone and called Fred.

Fred told him to wait.

A few minutes later, the call came back: "Boss said to initiate Plan B."

Shelmer hung up the phone and said to Pratt, "You go back, try to follow or find out about Martin's whereabouts, and provide timely updates on where he might appear."

Pratt felt a bit relieved; it was better than personally taking Martin to that nightclub.

Shelmer gave him a few more instructions and drove him back to the hotel.

Not far away, Mene exited a roadside café and called Bruce: "Seems like nothing special, the fatso got into his black friend's car." Read the full story at m-vl-em,pyr

Inside the Hyatt Hotel where the crew stayed, Martin went back to his room to shower and changed into casual clothes, glanced at the time, and invited Bruce to head to Peachtree Hotel.

Both places were on Peachtree Street, not too far apart.

Martin called Elena on the way, who had gone house hunting that day and had just returned to the hotel.

Elena said, "Lily and Hol are excited, they're being so noisy. There's a quiet bar downstairs; you go there and wait for me, I'll take a shower first."

Martin replied, "Okay."

Less than ten minutes later, Bruce drove into the hotel parking lot.

Both entered the lobby, and Old Cloth picked up a phone call, saying in a hurry to Martin, "Duke and Murphy found a car that has been following us here from the Hyatt."

Martin turned into the bar and found a quiet spot to sit down, asking, "Who is it?"

Bruce's cell phone rang again and he received a multimedia message, which he opened and showed to Martin, "A fat man."

The picture was of a man who had just gotten out of a car, fairly blurry, but you could tell it was Chris Pratt.

"Following me for what? Someone put him up to it?" Martin thought hard about his recent encounters, "Tayler Perry? Or could it be related to the Russians?"

Bruce asked, "Did you bring your gun?"

Martin, with a Georgia carry permit, nodded, "I did."

"Let's sit separately. Be alert, Duke and Murphy are tailing him in here." Bruce moved to near the bar entrance, forming an angle with Martin.

Martin observed his surroundings carefully while also taking out his cellphone and calling Elena, telling her not to come down for now.

Soon after, a tall and sexy blonde girl entered the bar.

She sat at the counter and ordered a drink.

Martin glanced at her from behind and felt that her figure and profile somewhat resembled Lily's.

After taking a sip of her drink, the girl looked around the bar and when she caught sight of Martin, her gaze lingered for a few seconds before turning to surprise, and she walked quickly towards him, the heels of her high-heeled shoes clattering.

One of Martin's hands slipped into his coat.

There was a slight bulge under Bruce's clothes.

Before the girl could reach Martin's table, she was already exuberantly waving her hands and feet, pulling out her phone and shaking it at Martin, "Hello, Martin! I... I am... a fan of yours!"

"Hello," Martin kept his composure.

He didn't believe a word of it, since he had said it countless times himself and was well versed in the inflections, mood, and associated actions.

"My name is Lina, and I really love 'The Hills Have Eyes' and 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'!" Lina lifted her head and flipped her gold hair, her figure utterly undeniable, "Martin, can I take a photo with you?"

"I'm waiting for a friend, it's not really convenient." Martin, who had been on the go for days, spoke with confidence, more forthright than usual.

All that attractiveness and charm were just skeletons painted red.

Lina, not expecting this response, paused and then cheerfully said, "No problem, no problem."

She looked around, took out a tissue from the tissue box, "Can you sign an autograph for me? I didn't bring an autograph book..."

Martin still didn't go by the book, "Sorry, I don't have a pen."

Lina forced a pretty smile, "No problem." She promptly pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him, "To meet you here is such a lucky thing for me, can I buy you..."

The wrong scent was all too evident; Martin had personally witnessed how Adrian had been trapped by Paris's seduction scheme.

If it wasn't seduction, it was for some other scheming purpose.

Martin tapped his forehead.

On the other side, Bruce dialed with one touch.

Before Lina could finish her sentence, Martin's phone started to ring, which he answered, "What's up? Lily tripped? Wait for me, I'll be right there."

He hung up, "Sorry, but there's been an emergency on my end."

This script was all wrong, Lina had not prepared for this scenario, so she could only say with a smile, "No problem."

Martin hurried out of the bar.

On the other side, Bruce had already called, "Duke, keep an eye on that blonde woman in the bar. Murphy, watch that fat man."

On seeing Martin, both discreetly moved to an unoccupied emergency passage.

Martin said, "It's probably not the Russians, but they're trouble." He asked Bruce, "Calling the police won't help, will it?"

"No use calling the police, as they haven't actually done anything; APD will at most make a record," Bruce, adept at handling such situations, "I'll call Vincent and Sophia, have their people take care of it, everything from here on is on me, you go, what happens next has nothing to do with you."

Going through official channels, these sorts of messy issues could take forever to sort out, so Bruce decided to handle it quickly.

Martin said, "Let me know if anything comes up." He remembered someone Mene had mentioned, a black man from the next set, warning, "Don't forget about Pratt's friend."

Bruce nodded, pulled out his phone, and directly dialed Sophia's number, his legs trembling as soon as she answered, he forced his voice steady, "Someone's trying to go after the project you've invested in, intending to make your investments go belly-up."

With the Wanted Order involving tens of millions of US dollars in investments, Sophia couldn't afford to flirt with Bruce, asking, "Which bastard dares?"

Bruce quickly and concisely explained the situation.

Sophia, not one to waste words, "Keep an eye on them, don't let them escape."

Bruce stepped out of the emergency passage and entered a coffee shop connected to the hotel. From the front door of the coffee shop, he circled around to the side street where he found the car Pratt had arrived in, with a black man sitting in the driver's seat.

Duke's car drove up; Bruce, more familiar with Atlanta, took the driver's seat.

Pratt and the woman hadn't come out yet, clearly not giving up.

Meanwhile, at the House of Beast Club on West Strip.

Ivan and Goldie led three men each out, shouting, "Hurry! Hurry! Go back up Old Cloth, we'll be too late, and he's going to get his ass blown off!"

Armed, they got into two cars and headed for Peachtree Street.