At the Coopers' house in Beverly Hills, a party was in full swing. In a city teeming with celebrities, such events were daily occurrences, hardly raising an eyebrow.
The living room was adorned with an assortment of drinks and food, while a grill was set up on the lawn in the backyard. With the end of May ushering in hot weather, nothing could beat cold beer and barbecue.
Everyone gathered around Eric, welcoming him back home and celebrating his recovery.
His brother, Joshua Cooper, joked, "Not bad, right? I told you I'm a pro at organizing parties. It's just a pity there aren't any girls here. Mom's too conservative. Ahh, I miss our cheerleaders."
"Eric, I've been telling you to visit San Francisco. I can introduce you to Billie Whitman; she'll be smitten with you. She's got F-cup breasts!"
Eric raised an eyebrow, "Joshua, if Mom finds out there are two girls lying next to Dad, the first thing she'll do is skin you alive."
Eric had a good reason for saying this. Attractive girls were easy to find around here; young models and actresses were not shy about picking up side gigs.
But some girls didn't come here for a small fee. They knew this was Beverly Hills and who Charlie Cooper was—the CEO of MGM. For many, it was a chance to gain significant advantages.
They only had to pay with their bodies, and in Hollywood, that's the cheapest currency. Many were willing to give up their bodies for opportunities.
"By the way, have the people I asked you to find arrived?"
"Yes, they're here. Some guys even flew in from as far as New Jersey when they heard you had recovered."
"Of course, we're best friends."
After brief greetings, Eric headed to the backyard. Several young men were chatting there, and in the corner, a lone chubby guy was devouring barbecue.
Eric sat down next to him. The guy looked up, quickly swallowed a mouthful of meat, and thumped Eric on the chest. "Eric Cooper, you bastard, I knew you wouldn't die!"
Eric laughed and patted him on the arm. "Warren, it feels like I haven't seen you in ages, and it looks like you've gained weight again?"
Warren felt the meat lose its appeal. "No way, I've been trying to lose weight since graduation. I weighed myself yesterday, and I've lost 50 pounds. If it weren't for your party, I wouldn't touch these high-calorie things."
Note: 50 pounds = 22.6 kg.
"Yeah? Looks like you need to lose at least another 50 pounds."
While they talked, two more guys and a girl approached them. Warren immediately changed his tone, mockingly saying, "Look who decided to show up! You betrayed me for pleasures. I despise you!"
But his words had no effect. The girl, with muscular arms, clenched her fist, and Warren instantly fell silent.
These four were Eric's best friends. They had rented a house together in college.
Besides Eric and Warren, there were brothers Bordeaux and Billy Gies, and a girl named Judy Newhouse.
Warren was from Los Angeles, but his family was ordinary. The Gies brothers were from Texas, where their family owned a large ranch. Judy was from New York, but she had deep-seated disagreements with her family and rarely spoke about them.
As for why one girl lived with four young guys without any misunderstandings arising? It was because Judy was a lesbian and a pure dominant, which was evident from her ripped abs. When it came to fighting, none of the guys could stand up to Judy.
Upstairs, in Eric's room.
"So, tell us, why did you gather us all here?" asked Warren. At this moment, he no longer looked like a glutton; his eyes were sharp and intelligent.
The Gies brothers and Judy looked at Eric. They were smart enough to understand that if this was just about celebrating his recovery, it wouldn't have warranted such an effort to gather all four of them here.
Especially flying from New Jersey to Los Angeles. This was clearly not just for fun.
"I have a plan, and I need your help."
"What plan?" asked Judy, lounging casually on Eric's bed.
"Right now, I have 10 million dollars, and I plan to turn it into a billion in a month."
As soon as he said that, all four of them froze.
Although they had studied finance and seen examples of wealthy entrepreneurs and often dealt with figures in the billions, these were just numbers on paper.
They had never managed such sums. Not even 10 million, let alone 100,000.
"Oh my God! Are you serious?" Warren stepped back, stunned.
"Do you think I called you here for a joke?"
Even though the Gies brothers' parents were wealthy, it was family wealth, and they had to wait decades to inherit it. And it wasn't certain that there would be millions. They were also in shock.
Only Judy remained calm, lying on the bed and sucking on a lollipop.
"Where did you get 10 million?" asked Bordeaux.
Eric pointed to the door, "From my dad. Or do you think I robbed a bank?"
"A strong and generous man. If someone gave me 10 million, no, even 1 million, I'd lick their ass until it shone!" exclaimed Billy Gies.
This was understandable. For ambitious people, there was nothing more torturous than a lack of initial capital. Lick an ass? Many would be willing not only to lick an ass but eat shoes for such an amount.
Judy smirked, "Pathetic guys. Eric, tell us your plan. I can't imagine how you can increase this amount a hundredfold in a month. Even illegal ways wouldn't yield such results."
Judy was right. In large illegal enterprises, such as drug trafficking, one could potentially earn a hundred times more.
But this would require a huge armed base, plantations, production facilities, and a distribution network, without government and police interference. Without intermediaries, otherwise, the profit would drop sharply.
That was impossible.
Eric turned on the TV and switched to the sports channel. An ad for the upcoming World Cup in Japan and Korea was on the screen: "Here's my plan—sports betting!"