America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

After hanging up the phone and putting down his mobile, Martin picked up his knife and fork, carved a piece of the roast prepared by Lily, and carefully took a bite, only to discover that it actually tasted quite good.

He swallowed and said, "When did you develop these cooking skills?"

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Lily deftly cut the roast into neat little cubes and said with a smile, "I practiced on Holle. At first, I wasn’t very good, but Holle was very supportive. Even if I added too much salt or burned the meat to a crisp, he would eat it all."

Martin observed a moment of silence for Holle, "It’s a miracle he’s grown up so big."

Bruce, who was eating silently, glanced at Martin then at Lily, thinking that the brother probably never had any human rights since he was little.

After finishing his meal, Martin took a set of documents and handed them to Lily, "Take a look at this."

"This..." Lily thought it might be some kind of study material, considering Martin, that heartless guy, once gifted her several large boxes of buffalo horns as a present.

When facing Martin, Lily, though somewhat timidly, said, "I have been trying hard already; you don’t need to give me these anymore."

Martin couldn’t help but laugh, "Just take a look first."

Lily opened the document bag and found that it mainly contained photos, pictures of a mansion that looked quite large, not to mention the courtyard and sports field, there were two villas just by themselves.

Having stayed in Los Angeles for over a year, she had some understanding of the area, and this looked like it could be a mansion worth over 20 million US dollars.

Martin asked, "How is it, not bad, right?"

"Uh, very nice." Lily misunderstood, "This is too precious..."

Martin shattered her illusion, "Don’t worry, it’s not for you. The house has just been listed. You go buy it for me, in your name."

Lily was puzzled, "Why don’t you go yourself? If I go, it will mean an extra step and more trouble."

Martin spoke honestly, "This house belongs to a friend of mine who is in a bit of trouble right now and needs cash flow. He wants to liquidate his property to raise money. We are good friends, and it wouldn’t look nice to take advantage of his predicament by buying his house at a low price directly."

Lily thought to herself, which unfortunate soul had such a great friend, cursed by Satan from birth, probably.

But she dared only think such thoughts, never daring to voice them.

Martin asked, "If you don’t want to go, I can find someone else."

Lily quickly agreed, "I have no problem." She decided to stand up for herself a bit, after all, she was a little rich lady with some wealth, and that gave her a bit of courage, "After buying it, leave me a room to decorate as I wish."

"Can do," Martin replied. He wasn’t like Elena, who often responded with the iron fist of love, but he was more nefarious in some ways, "The mansion’s cleaning will be your job."

Lily looked at the photo of the villa, then at her artist’s hands, and nearly cried without tears.

Martin teased, "Go on then, Miss Millionaire, go and buy that mansion."

Lily stood up, tidied up her clothes, took the documents Martin had passed to her, made contact with the real estate broker, then got into her red Cadillac and headed straight for Beverly Hills.

In over half a year with "The Dark Knight" crew, Lily had seen quite a lot and wasn’t the slightest bit timid.

Martin and Bruce got into a Volkswagen sedan and followed after her.

......

In Beverly Hills, in the prime location north of Sunset Boulevard.

Pitt walked past the outdoor swimming pool from the backyard and entered through the back door of the main house, picking up his bag and surveying the somewhat empty home, feeling extremely reluctant to part with it.

He had spent over 12 million US dollars just a few years ago to buy it when it was almost derelict, the price reflecting the land value more than the actual building.

Subsequently, he spent another 25 million US dollars or so on demolition and reconstruction before it became what it was today.

"I think it’s worth 30 million dollars," Pitt said to his investment advisor, "But it’s only listed for 13 million dollars."

The investment advisor replied, "Times have changed from a few years ago. We’re in the midst of an economic crisis; the real estate market is down, and property prices across the US are falling. Furthermore, we’re in a hurry to sell, which means lowering the price to sell quickly. There aren’t many buyers who can pay ten million dollars in cash for a house all at once.

You’ve seen the conditions around Beverly Hills, how many houses have been left empty because they can’t sell due to the price."

Of course, Pitt had noticed, otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to sell at such a price.

He used to think that having too much cash at hand was a waste of assets, but when push came to shove, he realized liquidity was truly vital for survival.

The investment advisor continued, "If you don’t sell this house, you’ll have to sell the one in New York or the estate..."

Pitt didn’t want to stay in Los Angeles anymore; the city made him feel insecure, "No, the New York property can’t be sold. What about the stocks in the market?"

The investment advisor looked troubled, "No one will take the Fannie Mae stocks off your hands."

He put it mildly. A few years ago, when the real estate market was booming, and Washington treated it as an economic focal point, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the stars. Anyone with clear sight could see that such a boom was unsustainable, and he had advised Pitt against investing in Fannie Mae, but Pitt didn’t listen. As a result, he had most of his liquidity tied up in Fannie Mae.

Now the shares of Fannie Mae were hardly distinguishable from waste paper.

Pitt was filled with desolation, "I hope the next owner takes good care of this house."

The investment advisor received a call, "Good news, a real estate agent is bringing someone over to view the house shortly."

Pitt urgently needed a large sum of liquid cash to resolve the difficulties he was facing, which even included the threat of jail time. He immediately headed out, "Let’s go."

When the two of them drove out of the gate, they saw two cars coming toward them.

The one in front was familiar, the real estate agent’s Mercedes, but the one behind was an unfamiliar red Cadillac.

Pitt peered through the windshield of the Cadillac and saw that it was being driven by a young and pretty girl.

The real estate agent Susan’s Mercedes parked beside the fountain in front of the villa, and as Lily got out of the car, said, "This house was built only six years ago, the previous owner lived here for just three years, everything is almost like brand new..."

Lily stepped onto the porch, looked out, and saw the spacious and flat front court with its flowers and palm trees, and an independent outdoor barbecue area that could easily host a party for over a hundred people without feeling crowded.

Next to her, two two-story mansions with lofts were L-shaped and interconnected, yet independent from each other.

Behind the house, on one side there was a garden and an outdoor swimming pool, and on the other side a tennis court and a helipad.

Compared to this mansion, Martin’s current house was far inferior.

Lily had the feeling that under normal circumstances, the 13 million US Dollars the real estate agent mentioned definitely wouldn’t be enough to buy it, even acquiring the land would be good.

Curious, she asked, "Susan, who is the owner of this house?"

Susan couldn’t hide it and straightforwardly revealed, "It’s Brad Pitt. You must have heard about his situation. He wouldn’t be selling at this price if he didn’t need to raise money quickly."

Hearing the name Pitt, Lily immediately understood why Martin hadn’t shown up in person.

Pitt was Martin’s "good friend" after all!

Lily followed Susan around for a tour and then said, "I don’t want any of the furniture; if you lower the price a bit more from your end, I can sign a contract and make a payment today."

Susan couldn’t decide on her own, so she called to communicate with others, and eventually, the price was set at 12 million US Dollars.

The whole world was experiencing an economic crisis, and it wasn’t every day that a client ready to immediately fork out such a large sum of cash came along.

The next day, Lily, along with her lawyer, followed Susan to finish all the necessary procedures, and then, without even getting to warm up to it, was forced to pass it on to Martin.

The money Pitt got from selling the house only stayed in his hands for two days before a substantial amount was paid out as part of a settlement agreement with the group of victims led by Caroline.

In these special times, Pitt took swift action to resolve the chaos, fully learning from the Trio of Scoundrels’ leader Nicholson’s method of dealing with illegitimate children, giving a sum of money to send people away, and signing related agreements to have them leave far behind, avoiding entering legal proceedings.

He was mainly feeling guilty; once entering the legal process, if the paternity test matched up, it wouldn’t just cost a small amount of money, but rather a much larger financial cut.

Having resolved these worries, Pitt and his lawyer could then concentrate their efforts on facing the breach of contract lawsuits from Breitling and Cadillac.

Compared to those, these were the most frightening opponents.

If he couldn’t settle out of court or lost the lawsuit, Pitt might even go bankrupt due to the compensation.

To assemble a luxurious legal team, Pitt had to raise funds again and disposed of a luxury apartment near New York’s Central Park at a low price.

He never lived in it after renovating.

New York was hit hardest by the economic crisis, real estate prices were already low, and in his urgency to convert assets into cash, the price had to be lowered further.

Martin had been keeping an eye on Pitt, and the tool Lily immediately went online, flying to New York to purchase a Central Park view apartment over 300 square meters.

The main pitch was that a good friend needed to step in to help resolve financial difficulties right away.

Pitt didn’t know about all this yet; he certainly would shout his thanks loudly once he found out.

In Beverly Hills, Martin didn’t bother with Lily, busy hustling in New York, and instead called up his beloved little witch to ride with him in his Porsche to the luxurious villa in Sunset Boulevard North District.

When they drove up to the gate, Martin pressed the wireless key in his hand, and the wrought-iron gate automatically opened.

Elizabeth drove along the curved main road to the villa’s fountain plaza, parked, and then commented, "This house is big, way better than my sisters’ places."

Martin made a point to say, "It has an indoor swimming pool, but we haven’t bought any furniture yet."

Elizabeth hopped out of the car, "Let’s go in and take a look."

The six-year-old mansion, extremely well-maintained, looked hardly any different from a new one. Martin didn’t plan to change the outside but wanted to make appropriate interior renovations and buy new furniture.

The more Elizabeth looked, the more satisfied she became. The courtyard was big enough, the built area was considerable, it had a comprehensive indoor swimming pool and gym, and a private cinema that could accommodate a dozen people watching at the same time, as well as a huge dining room that could seat over 30 people.

"Two years ago, this house could have sold for at least 28 million US Dollars," Elizabeth, knowledgeable about mansions, said: "You got it for a steal."

Martin just smiled and said nothing more about it.

He had snatched a woman, endorsements, movie roles, and now, a mansion.