"Dad! You have to save me! Dad!" Cole's tears and snot flowed uncontrollably, crying without any dignity. "I really didn't know she wasn't of age! You know, I'm only interested in mature women!"
Old West slapped him hard, sending him sprawling on the ground. At this point, Old West had no patience to listen to Cole talk about his preferences for women. His thoughts were on his company, and his stocks.
After this incident, the company's stocks were sure to plummet again. Just the thought of the money that was originally in his pocket disappearing without a sound made his chest feel like it was being crushed by a giant rock, making it hard for him to breathe.
"I've said it before, if you want women, go for the easy ones. There are plenty of beautiful women who will come to you with a wave of your check. Yet, you insist on competing with others and using those crooked methods!"
Cole regretted it, but he didn't want to admit it. "Isn't it because of your relationships? I have no abilities in front of you. You only care about your company. When have you ever looked at me seriously? Only when I snatch your women do you glare at me, only then do I feel like I'm in your eyes!"
He roared, looking incredibly aggrieved.
But Old West paid no attention to his cunning defense. He coldly snorted, "So, all of this is because of my relationships?" No matter how foolish he usually appeared, he had a talent for strong arguments at critical moments. But this wasn't the first time such a situation had occurred. Every time he did something wrong in the past, he would present this pitiful appearance in front of the teacher, making the teacher sympathize with him, ultimately shifting the blame.
Listen to him, his words were so pitiful, as if expressing a child's lifelong longing for paternal love. If it were someone unfamiliar with them, they might genuinely think that he was a child neglected by his family.
"Dad, now the only person who can help me is you. You must help me!" Cole pitifully clung to his father's legs. At this moment, he could be the most obedient son or even the most obedient grandson.
After watching the recent program, he knew he was in deep trouble. Perhaps drugging a woman wasn't a big deal, but now this woman had suddenly turned into a minor. Even if he genuinely didn't know the truth at the time, the outside world's scorn would drown him.
It wasn't just chaos in the West family; those who had been criticizing the woman in the video as a schemer and someone framing others since the end of yesterday's program until today were also in panic. Some quickly deleted their comments, while others fell silent completely.
Who could have imagined that things would turn out like this? In less than 24 hours, the entire incident had taken on a completely different appearance.
Could a fourteen-year-old girl run to a bar to seduce a celebrity for a role? Would such a child be willing to do the filthy things they speculated about just for money?
Thinking that they had said so many harsh words, only to find out that they were cursing a minor, many felt so ashamed that they wished to rush to the church for repentance.
The tempest that had lasted less than 24 hours disappeared without a trace.
There were some people advocating theories like "the video is fake" and "Laila is the director, she filmed it," but those who believed in such arguments were few. People weren't fools; from the background to the music, and the appearance of the people in the video, all evidence pointed to the authenticity of the video.
Yes, Laila was the director, and if she wanted to, she could indeed create similar scenes. But that would require too much preparation. Even if she used special effects to correct possible mistakes, it would still take a considerable amount of time to produce.
Those who insisted that the video was fake were just unwilling to admit their mistakes, or they were the last struggles of paid commentators.
Downey, like many others, was shocked from the beginning of the program until the end. He had thought about every word Laila had said, trying to find out what she intended to do from her words. But no matter how much he thought, he couldn't have imagined that the truth of the matter would be like this.
"So, I saved a fourteen-year-old girl?" He stiffly turned to Laila and Roy, not knowing whether to say he was lucky or unlucky.
"That's right, and congratulations, you're about to become a hero." Laila smiled at him, envisioning scenes of him wearing Iron Man's armor and being chased by fans, shouting "hero."
This movie seemed to have no worries about its box office now.
"Hehe." Downey laughed dryly. He had never thought of becoming a hero; at the time, he just couldn't stand that behavior. Who would have thought that God would give him such a fright? "Rather than being a hero, I'd rather be an actor." At least, he wouldn't have to worry about his heart's endurance.
Laila's eyes darkened slightly. "You will be, a dazzling Hollywood star."
The person playing the lead role in the movie—would she need to worry about fading into dust amid ordinariness?
"Phew." Downey exhaled a cool breath. "Finally cleared of the charges. Will the movie be affected?" Who knows how uncomfortable he had felt after learning how much trouble he had caused the company a while ago? At that time, he really wanted to apologize with a belly cut. Fortunately, the goddess of luck still loved him and gave him a chance to start anew after the ordeal.
But then he froze.
According to the way things were developing, not only would the movie not be affected, but there also seemed to be a possibility of it exploding with popularity!
She had invested so much money in promotion before. Perhaps this incident's promotional effect on the movie was more powerful than the sum of all the previous efforts. Think about how many people now knew about him through this incident. And every time he was pulled out to be verbally whipped, he always brought up the movie "Iron Man," either saying he wasn't suitable to play the superhero or accusing him of tarnishing the superhero's name.
Now, upon careful consideration, those who were desperately cursing him had unintentionally provided unparalleled publicity for the movie!
Wasn't the boss too lucky? Saving on the promotion expenses for these effects alone was no small number! And for some reason, looking at Laila and Roy quietly whispering to each other, he had a feeling that everything had been planned by the boss from the beginning of his trouble. Could it be that she had already anticipated the current situation since the trouble started?