"What's going on?" Laila snapped out of her thoughts, her icy blue eyes locking onto Demi.
Demi couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation on her scalp when she met her boss's gaze. Laila's eyes were so cold that even when you knew she was smiling, you couldn't sense any warmth in her eyes.
"Take a look at these," Demi said, placing the highlighted newspapers in front of her.
Laila picked up one of the newspapers and saw a bold headline that read, "Her Limit: $300 Million." She looked at a few more newspapers, all with similar headlines like "$300 Million Director" or "Guess if she can surpass $300 Million in this lifetime?"
"What is this nonsense?" She furrowed her brow as she read through the articles, finding them to be tedious and pointless.
The newspaper articles were quite straightforward, summarizing several of her films and pointing out that, regardless of the critical acclaim her movies received, their global box office earnings consistently hovered around the $300 Million mark. None of her films fell below $300 Million, but none could surpass $400 Million. Consequently, the newspapers bestowed upon her the title of "300 Million Director" and published an article poking fun at her.
After reading through them, Laila had only one thought: "Boring." Hollywood released numerous films each year, but how many of them earned over $100 Million, let alone 300 Million? Her films secured a spot on the annual box office charts every year. If such achievements were going to be ridiculed, she wondered how many directors should feel ashamed.
"Don't pay them any mind; they're just some bored individuals looking for something to talk about. Ignore them, and it will blow over in a few days," she said. This wasn't the first time she had encountered such a situation. Due to the captivating nature of her public persona, unscrupulous media outlets often found ways to sensationalize her.
This time, they were poking fun at her box office earnings, but in the past, they had focused on her fashion and hairstyles. They even managed to boost Janet's company's exposure and sales in the process.
"Alright," Demi hesitated for a moment, then glanced at her. She felt that something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. It was like a gut feeling, trying to convey something to her, but she couldn't possibly explain it to her boss with such a vague intuition.
What Demi didn't know was that after she left the office, Laila's expression had turned serious. She picked up the newspapers again and carefully examined each one.
Laila was well aware of Demi's expression, and she had a feeling that something was amiss. However, her experience was more extensive, and she could identify where that unsettling feeling was coming from.
Upon closer inspection, it became evident that these newspapers, despite belonging to different publications, had remarkably similar articles. They all used various tones—mocking, ridiculing, or satirical—to discuss her 300 Million-dollar box office earnings.
The possibility that all these newspapers were merely following a trend could be ruled out. This was because, apart from these few, neither the media nor the internet had paid much attention to the notion of a "300 Million Director."
The more likely scenario was that someone had bought off the journalists behind these articles, instructing them to write in this manner.
Laila believed that the latter was highly probable. Ever since the incident involving Roy, Jia Xiaoming had informed her that a sinister force was manipulating things behind the scenes. Although there was no concrete evidence, Keira, who had died in a taxi, was also likely a victim of the puppeteer behind the scenes.
Laila couldn't simply ignore the presence of this ruthless puppeteer, who frequently hatched conspiracies and schemes to annoy people. Even if she wanted to downplay it, she couldn't pretend not to know about it.
With this in mind, she dialed a phone number. "Jia Xiaoming, I need you to investigate something for me."
Jia Xiaoming's voice came through the line, tinged with helplessness. "Boss, I'm not a private investigator. You can't keep asking me to do things like this; it might get me into trouble with the higher-ups."
Laila squinted her eyes for a moment, as his last comment reminded her of Roy. He used to tease her with similar remarks, but since that confession, he had joined other production teams and hadn't returned. After so long without seeing him, she couldn't help but feel a faint... loneliness?
"Boss? Are you still there?" Jia Xiaoming asked when he received no response, thinking that his words had deterred her. If it was true, it would be quite terrible! It was not easy to get someone to donate funds to their department, and if the higher-ups found out it was because of him, they might just assign him to work as a makeup artist on set until retirement.
Laila shook her head, shaking off the thought of Roy, and then said, "I'm not someone who easily jumps to conclusions. There's something fishy going on this time, and I suspect that someone is orchestrating it behind the scenes. You once mentioned that there was a puppeteer behind Keira's case. I want to know if there's any connection between these incidents."
"Alright, I'll look into it," Jia Xiaoming agreed reluctantly. He wanted to refuse because the two matters were clearly on different levels. What Laila was asking was merely about some news articles, and even if they were orchestrated, they wouldn't cause her much harm—just a bit of annoyance. However, Keira's case was entirely different. If it were successful, it would mean the downfall of Hollywood's rising star, Roy.
But what could he do? Laila was a generous benefactor, and if she was willing to donate funds to their department, he couldn't refuse. Once he accepted this task, he knew she would continue to rely on him in the future. Well, having someone like her as a patron was much more efficient than hiring a private investigator.