Chapter 222: The Girl with Big Ambitions

[Chapter 222: The Girl with Big Ambitions]

Drew could tell that when Julia referred to Eric as her 'little daddy,' it was just out of envy for how he spoiled her. But suddenly, some wicked thoughts flashed through her mind.

Maybe I could use this in some way, and see if he would lose control at all.

Thinking this, Drew asked, "What do you need the script from Eric for?"

Julia brushed it off and mentioned Elisabeth's plans.

This piqued the girl's interest, and she sat up a little straighter. "Why not ask me?"

Julia looked skeptically at Drew. "Ask you? Seriously?"

The girl replied proudly, "Of course! Let me tell you, Eric loves to write and doodle in his study, so he has a few script outlines that he thinks are pretty good."

Julia gasped in surprise. "You're not suggesting stealing... are you?"

"Of course not," the girl instinctively retorted, and then chuckled a bit. "Honestly, if I were to casually take an outline, Eric wouldn't even notice."

But Julia immediately shook her head. "No way. Even if Eric didn't know at first, once he sees the movie production later, he's bound to find out."

"Well then forget it," Drew shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, not believing for a second that Julia wouldn't be tempted. She leaned back in her chair, pretending to be bored as she used a small file to groom her nails, waiting for Julia to speak again.

Sure enough, after a few moments of the car driving along the highway, Julia finally couldn't hold back and said, "Drew, are you saying Eric has a lot of spare... script outlines?"

The girl nodded slightly, trying to mask her triumph with a smile.

"Eric spoils you so much. Why don't you just talk to him? Can't he just sell one to us? I mean, he has so many..."

Since Elisabeth had focused more on Eric's strong kiss during their recent conversation, she hadn't explained in detail why he had refused, so Julia thought maybe she could give it another shot through the girl.

But Drew immediately shattered Julia's fantasy. "Since Eric already rejected Miss Murdoch, he must have his reasons, so even if I ask, he won't change his mind."

Julia fell silent again.

She didn't want to stop Drew from stealing Eric's scripts, but the thought of what Eric would do if he found out terrified her. She couldn't imagine the reaction he would have, but she was sure it wouldn't be just a laugh.

"Actually, there's more than just Eric in this world who can write scripts, right?" After a moment, Drew chimed in again.

Julia stopped at a red light and turned to ask, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we can look for scripts ourselves! Then I can show them to Eric and see if they have potential." Drew quickly said, with some of her ideas actually aligning with Elisabeth's.

But this time, Julia picked up on something else in the girl's words. Confused, she asked, "Did you just say... 'we'?"

"Yes," Drew didn't hide her intentions anymore. "Julia, look, since Elisabeth is planning to start a film company, why don't we invest in it? Then the three of us can be producers together -- I'll handle the scripts, you can be the star, and Elisabeth can take care of distribution. How does that sound?"

Upon hearing this suggestion, Julia felt intrigued yet surprised. She looked again at the girl, who appeared seventeen or eighteen but was actually just fourteen. Among the few women who were somewhat close to Eric, Julia had connected the least with Drew, so she didn't know much about her.

Hearing the honking of the car behind, Julia realized the light had turned green. She quickly pressed down on the accelerator while asking, "Do you really think Eric would agree to this?"

"We just won't tell him," Drew replied matter-of-factly.

"Then... what about money? Where are you getting the money to invest in the film company?"

Drew immediately fished a VIP card from her bag and waved it in front of Julia. "This card has over ten million on it!"

Julia felt a wave of disbelief wash over her as she realized Drew's comments about Eric funding her, and she thought it was beyond comprehension that Eric could give such a large sum to this girl. Even though she had become a top star in Hollywood thanks to Pretty Woman, her assets were still under ten million because she had achieved fame so recently.

This shocked Julia greatly, and the girl had achieved her aim.

Once the credit card was safely back in her possession, Drew continued, "For my share, I won't ask for too much -- just 30%. The rest you two can discuss between yourselves. Don't think it's a lot, though. Just think -- I can get Eric to help us pick the right scripts, which is worth at least 30%. If you choose the wrong script, it's like starting off on the wrong foot; no matter how hard you try later, you'll never succeed. Plus, Elisabeth's family has ties with 20th Century Fox, so distribution won't be a problem. But during production, we'll definitely run into issues, and if Eric knows I own a stake in this by then, he'll feel obligated to help out, right?"

Seeing Julia nodding one moment, shaking her head the next, and then looking contemplative, Drew quickly realized that this was probably entirely driven by Elisabeth. Julia was likely just going with the flow. Realizing this, the girl decided not to waste more breath, proposing, "Julia, how about we call Elisabeth Murdoch and discuss this together?"

Julia lifted her hand to check her watch. "Isn't it too late?"

"Hey, girl, time is money!" Drew said, taking Julia's phone from the dashboard without waiting for permission. "Just give me her number, and I'll call her."

With a sigh, Julia pointed ahead, "The phone book is over there."

Drew grabbed the phone book from the front and started flipping through the pages.

...

An hour later, Elisabeth indeed arrived at Julia's apartment.

One was focused on surpassing Eric, while the other aimed to surprise him. After a round of discussion, Elisabeth and Drew struck a chord. The ambitious young woman and the not-so-young girl gathered around a small coffee table in Julia's living room, plotting their plans to establish a film company. As for Julia, she had completely downgraded to the role of making tea and pouring drinks.

...

Eric, of course, was unaware of any of this. After the security guards brought him a first-aid kit, he treated his wounds and rested for a while before carefully returning to the party.

The pain in his legs made him not want to stay any longer, and with Friends still in production, many people started leaving to avoid delaying tomorrow's work. Eric found Aniston and planned to head back to Beverly Hills together.

"I'm going to Nicole's," the girl said, staying close to the tall woman next to her. "Plus, I don't want to keep bothering my dad, so I'm planning to move out tomorrow. Nicole has agreed to roommate with me."

Eric was momentarily stunned, making sure he hadn't heard incorrectly as he looked at Nicole standing innocently beside Aniston. He thought to himself about whether this was what they called being caught in one's own trap?

Since Friends had become a huge hit, Aniston had once again become a target for paparazzi, so she couldn't live in her small apartment in Burbank anymore. She didn't want to move in with Eric and Drew either, so until she found a new, safer place to stay, she planned to temporarily stay with her father.

"What am I supposed to do?" Eric asked, raising his hands helplessly.

The girl paused for a moment, seemingly feeling a bit 'conscientious,' but she quickly raised her chin and said, "I don't care about you. I have shooting tomorrow, so I'm going back with Nicole. You can go back to Beverly Hills yourself."

Even after Aniston and Nicole disappeared, Eric was still a bit confused. He had just asked Nicole to calm the girl down to prevent her from clashing with Drew, and he hadn't expected it to end this way.

He couldn't believe this was Nicole's doing, as it seemed to benefit her nothing.

But he also firmly didn't believe Aniston was some simple-minded little girl.

After a while, he finally understood the cause of the unexpected friendship between the two women. It can only be said that this happened because the status of Jennifer and Nicole are too far apart. Nicole was wholeheartedly trying to please Aniston to secure her role, which ultimately broke down the girl's defenses and made her start to open up.

However, Eric was sure that Nicole wouldn't do anything to harm the girl, so he decided to let it pass.

After experiencing so much that night, Eric felt tired and didn't even have the energy to drive home. Instead, he went right to Virginia's villa to rest for the night.

...

The next morning, Julia groggily got up, grabbed her hair, and stumbled into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. But as she filled her mouth with foam, she suddenly remembered that there should be two other people in the house, right?

After quickly tidying herself up, Julia walked into the living room.

At that moment, the living room was a complete mess. The A4 papers she had bought to print scripts were scattered all over, covered in all sorts of scribbles and drawings. Elisabeth and Drew were still huddled together, excitedly discussing something.

Julia picked up an A4 paper and looked at it but couldn't understand the jumbled drawings. She casually asked, "Did you two stay up all night?"

The voice finally made the two slightly dazed girls look up. Drew shook her head and exclaimed, "Oh wow, it's already bright outside!"

Julia rolled her eyes -- it was pretty obvious.

The girl let out a huge yawn and said to Elisabeth, "Liz, this is enough for now; I'm going to sleep."

After saying that, she unceremoniously dove into Julia's bedroom, clearly heading for Julia's big bed. Julia didn't have any cleanliness issues and just asked, "Drew, Eric said I should take you to school."

From the bedroom came a few muffled sounds, and it seemed the girl had covered her head with something.

Julia turned to Elisabeth in bewilderment. "What did she... say?"

Elisabeth, holding a pen, quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper. She casually replied, "She said it's not needed; she has already taken a leave of absence."

Julia glanced towards the bedroom, then looked back at Elisabeth, surprised. "Wow, how did you understand that?"

"I couldn't understand either; I just guessed."

"..."

Just when Julia felt a bit speechless, Elisabeth held up a paper, gesturing to her. "Julia, look, how do you like the name of our film company?"

"This is... what?" Julia stared at the two ambiguous letters on the paper: "TG Film Company?"

"TG stands for Three Girls," Elisabeth answered.

"You two stayed up all night and came up with just that name?"

"Of course not, we discussed a lot of things. By the way, Drew proposed 30% of the shares for herself, and the rest give you 30%, and I'll take 40%. What do you think?"

Though in her past life, Julia had been among the first Hollywood stars to establish personal production companies, she had only become famous for a little over half a year now, and her thoughts were still largely focused on film. So as soon as Elisabeth mentioned it, Julia agreed by nodding. "Alright, you all decide. Do you want breakfast? I'll make some?"

"No thanks, I'm going to sleep as well." Elisabeth said, standing up and swaying slightly as she floated back into the bedroom. Seeing this scene, Julia felt a bit uneasy and followed her into the bedroom, finding Elisabeth and Drew occupying either side of the big bed, already fast asleep.

After pulling the curtains and kindly covering the two with a blanket, Julia began tidying the messy living room.

Amidst the chaotic morning, in a half-awake state, the now-famous TG Film Company was born.

*****

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