Chapter 388: Litigation Bombardment

The couple chatted leisurely together as the sun gradually sank below the horizon, darkening the sky without them noticing.

The clatter of high heels echoed crisply in the empty hall.

Ever since learning that wearing high heels frequently could deform the toes, and knowing Simon Westeros preferred naturally beautiful feet, Janet rarely wore high heels except at formal social occasions, often opting for white flat sneakers even at work.

However, Simon Westeros actually enjoyed the crisp sound of high heels tapping on the ground.

Turning his head, the approaching figure was the housekeeper, Alice Ferguson.

Since they were moving, the ABCD four ladies and the housekeeper-led team of seven had been staying here the past few days, responsible for cleaning the interior of the Shell Villa and arranging all the room items.

Normally, a 120-square-meter apartment could be divided into seven or eight rooms, but the Shell Villa's three floors totaled 12,000 square meters of interior space, equivalent to 100 times that of a standard apartment.

Excluding about 2,000 square meters for the main hall and 3,000 square meters on the basement level partitioned into a wine cellar, garage, vault, and workshop, there was still 7,000 square meters left.

Beyond the first floor's main hall, the remaining 3,000 square meters were divided into a kitchen, bar, study, bathroom, conference room, living room, reception room, gym, library, storage room, and private cinema, among other areas, with more than one location for kitchens, bars, and bathrooms.

The second floor of the villa also spanned 3,000 square meters, but included six suites each with their own living room, study, bedroom, and bathroom, each over 200 square meters. Additional separate bedrooms, studies, living rooms, dressing rooms, storage rooms, and home theaters were fully equipped.

The streamlined third floor primarily featured a flying saucer-shaped master bedroom, alone exceeding 300 square meters.

Located on the east side of the third floor, the master bedroom was adjacent to additional supporting rooms like studies, bathrooms, and dressing rooms. Janet had even specially arranged two baby rooms these days.

Due to rooms nested within rooms and many open half-partitions, it was hard to calculate the exact number of rooms in the villa. However, by Western residential standards, the villa alone contained 11 bedrooms and even more bathrooms, totaling 19.

One could imagine, the ABCD four ladies and the housekeeper's team of seven, though 11 people in total, managing just this one villa was definitely not an easy physical task. Managing Simon Westeros's properties across North America was even more challenging.

Simon Westeros did not allow just anyone to manage his properties, so recently, the housekeeper had been discussing hiring more people with Janet.

By the glass curtain wall, as Simon Westeros turned his head, Janet also twisted around and lazily leaned on the back of the sofa.

Observed by both, Alice's expression remained unchanged, and she softly asked, "Sir, Madam, should I prepare dinner?"

Janet's chin rested on the back of the sofa, her eyes gleaming and silent.

Simon Westeros replied, "Yes, also, call everyone over and turn on all the lights in the villa."

Alice nodded and left again, heels clicking.

Janet's upper body remained still, but her small feet in white flat shoes rhythmically kicked against Simon Westeros's legs, teasingly saying, "Maybe I should add a hard sole to my shoes to make a sound too."

Simon Westeros held the woman's restless calf and laughed, "Maybe nail a horseshoe on it; it'd make an even louder sound."

Janet rolled her eyes at him and kicked him again with her leg.

Minutes later, all the lights in the Shell Villa lit up simultaneously. Perched high on the Cape, nearly half of Malibu could see the dreamlike brilliance of the city's skyline from there.

Inside the villa, 11 tall, blonde, and fair-skinned ladies soon appeared before Simon Westeros, their uniform black office attire pleasing to the eye.

To an outsider, these ladies would certainly appear as corporate elites, with no one guessing they were merely servants of the Westeros family.

In reality, the 11 ladies, each earning a corporate vice president-level salary, were indeed career elites.

Not just their annual salary of $200,000 and a bonus after a five-year contract, but also their daily expenses for food, accommodation, clothing, fitness, medical care, and more, all covered by Simon Westeros, amounted to no less than their salaries. To facilitate the housekeeper leading the team in managing properties across locations, Simon Westeros had also specially equipped them with a Gulfstream IV private jet.

Frankly, Simon Westeros was just nurturing decorative vases.

It was another hobby of his besides acquiring properties.

Not seeking any return, nor having much physical demand, just for pleasure.

 Having earned so much money, of course, he wanted to do what he liked. Raising a group of exquisite vases to a standard that made many men and women feel inferior was quite an interesting thing.

Openly admiring the pleasing scene before him, Simon Westeros finally turned to Lady C, Claire, and asked, "C, have you thought about what you'll do in the future?"

Claire, feeling many other gazes on her, just stared back at her boss and said, "Start a company, be my own boss. Exactly what, I haven't decided yet."

Simon Westeros nodded and turned to the other ladies, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Looking them over, Simon Westeros said, "Here's the thing, I plan to set up a startup fund, um, let's call it 'Vase Fund.' What do you think?"

The name was quite self-explanatory. Lady A, Alison, quickly asked, "Boss, is it for us?"

"Of course," Simon Westeros nodded and continued, "Each of you gets $10 million, to do whatever you like—fashion, technology, real estate, finance, or even if you want to make a movie, I can certainly give you some advice. If you find it hard to do it alone, you can also collaborate with each other. Um, I recommend you work together; two people, that's $20 million, 11 people, that's $110 million. However, each of you only gets a $10 million share; if you lose it, there won't be a second chance."

The ladies, confirming Simon Westeros wasn't joking, couldn't help but look at each other, faces filled with eagerness.

$10 million—although it wasn't much for Simon Westeros now, it was enough to satisfy many people's ambitions to climb higher.

Moments later, one of the ladies bravely asked for advice, still a bit lacking in confidence, "Could you give us some suggestions?"

Simon Westeros looked over, recognizing her as Zoe Parks, nodded, and smiled, "Of course, besides working together, I suggest you invest in emerging technologies, like the internet. I believe we are in an era akin to the electrical revolution a century ago, a period that saw the rise of figures like Morgan, Rockefeller, and Carnegie. Similarly, in this rapidly emerging information age, there will surely be a new group of such figures, and perhaps you will be among them."

Another lady then timidly said, "How could we, we're women."

Feeling almost a coquettish tone, Simon Westeros looked over, this was Isabel Dunn, and joked, "Then should we just forget about your $10 million?"

The lady hurriedly shook her head, then nodded again, realizing it was not quite right, only to pout pitifully at Simon Westeros.

"Alright, just joking," Simon Westeros said. "For now, that's it, I'll leave the specifics to you; I'll just be in charge of the money. Now, go back to what you were doing, ABCD, you're in charge of dinner."

The ladies whispered among themselves and dispersed.

Alice, however, stayed, waiting until the others left, then looked at Simon Westeros and asked, "Boss, do I also have $10 million?"

Simon Westeros replied, "Of course, but that doesn't interfere with your original plans; what you do in the future is up to you."

Alice slightly shook her head, saying, "I mean, $10 million is a bit less for me."

Simon Westeros looked intrigued, asking, "You already have an idea?"

The housekeeper nodded, "I've seen the information you gave me, e-commerce, I think it's a very promising venture."

Simon Westeros's expression became a bit odd.

In his original plans, he had hoped Jeff Bezos, currently in charge of Igritte Network's business, would later shift towards e-commerce, and if the housekeeper proved outstanding, he hoped she would become Bezos's successor.

Now, it seemed plans would never keep up with changes.

These days, according to the initial agreement, Simon Westeros had opened up a lot of data related to new technology industries to the housekeeper, not expecting her to spot the prospects of e-commerce so quickly.

After thinking, Simon Westeros said, "The 'Vase Fund' only has $10 million for you, but, as long as you do well enough, money is certainly not a problem."

Sitting quietly beside Simon Westeros, Janet also smiled and said, "Cersei Capital can also invest in you, as much as you want."

"Actually, it's a bit early to start e-commerce now, wait another year or two until the number of internet users reaches several hundred million or even tens of millions, that would be the best time to enter. Since you have ideas, you can start on a small scale attached to the I

gritte portal, like focusing on selling books or electronics online in California or New York." After finishing these words, Simon Westeros resumed his expression, saying, "Of course, your most important task now is to do your current job well."

Alice listened seriously to Simon Westeros finish speaking, nodded, and said, "Then, I'll also help prepare dinner."

"Go ahead, and you can choose a bedroom in the villa to stay tonight," Simon Westeros added.

Just as Alice was about to turn around, she paused but still gently nodded.

After the housekeeper walked away, Janet pretended to be upset and said, "Keeping her, are you planning a night raid tonight?"

Simon Westeros pecked at the woman's pouting lips, jokingly saying, "It's for you."

Janet's eyelashes fluttered, understanding the implication, and said, "I'm not into women, but maybe we can do it together."

"That's too bullying, isn't it?"

"Aren't maids meant to be bullied?"

Simon Westeros showed a look of disgust, "I never knew you were such a woman, stay away from me, evil capitalist."

Janet, not backing down, pounced on Simon Westeros, entwined around him laughing for a moment, then curiously asked, "Why set up a 'Vase Fund'? Isn't it better to keep them as real vases?"

Simon Westeros, holding Janet's waist, replied, "They're still vases, but I want even the Westeros family's vases to reach a level that many people look up to. Imagine, in the future, a bunch of billionaire women coming from the ranks of Westeros family maids, even reaching the level of entering the Forbes list, wouldn't that be interesting?"

"You think they can really achieve that?"

"I'm giving them the best startup conditions; it's actually quite easy to achieve some success with a little effort. They were all chosen by you, and there's not a single one among them who's just a simple vase, right?"

"Yeah, they're all quite ambitious, some even want to take my place," Janet nodded with a laugh, then teased, "But aren't you afraid that in the end, other men will benefit?"

"Not afraid, this money is all an investment; if they do well, I also get a return," Simon Westeros shook his head, saying, "Besides, there aren't many men in this world that I care about."

"That's true," Janet raised her tone playfully, teasing, "It seems someone also likes other men's women."

"Eh, that's slander."

"Hmph."

"What does 'hmph' mean?"

"You know."

As expected, the first lighting scene of the Shell Villa at Cape Dumé appeared in many newspapers the next day, naturally followed by a wave of criticism, accusing Simon Westeros of living extravagantly as the electricity used by one villa was equivalent to hundreds of ordinary homes.

Simon Westeros naturally didn't mind these, he just wanted to let the world gradually get used to his increasingly prominent edge.

Regarding the 'Vase Fund' matter, Janet eventually took over with great enthusiasm, planning to associate this fund with Cersei Capital, to which Simon Westeros naturally had no objections; doing so would actually make the fund appear more legitimate.

After a brief weekend rest, the workweek arrived, and the first thing Simon Westeros faced was a lawsuit.

Hollywood's three major unions, the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guild of America, and the Directors Guild of America, simultaneously filed a lawsuit in the federal court of Delaware, where Daenerys Entertainment, the company registering MCA, was located. They claimed that Daenerys Entertainment's merger with MCA would lead to monopolization and worsen the working environment for media industry workers, requesting a halt to Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA.

The three unions were clearly well-prepared, not only hiring America's most renowned anti-merger legal team but also gathering a lot of testimonial and physical evidence.

Among these, the severe overtime phenomenon within Daenerys Entertainment became one of the key bases of the unions' lawsuit, with members from all three unions testifying about being forced to endure long hours of overtime while working for Daenerys Entertainment.

Moreover, the unions believed that once Daenerys Entertainment and MCA merged, the company's films would directly or indirectly hold about 40% of the domestic box office share, reaching $2 billion, which already constituted a monopoly suspicion. Daenerys Entertainment would also use its industry advantage to further compress the salary and treatment of industry workers.

This accusation was also well-supported by testimonial and physical evidence.

At the same time, many media outlets also launched a public opinion offensive against Daenerys Entertainment.

Many anticipated that to stop Daenerys Entertainment's expansion, Simon Westeros would likely face a litigation bombardment. This sort of event had many precedents in the West,

 where many corporate mergers often failed due to lawsuits and public opinion pressure.

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