Chapter 160: Active Exposure

[Chapter 161: Active Exposure]

Ocean Park Avenue, Twitter Headquarters.

In the conference room, Hawke was watching Jada Smith and Nate Dogg engage in a backyard brawl when both of his phones buzzed consecutively.

He pulled them out to take a look and found that both had received the same text message.

"Whoever retrieves my belongings at Barber's Lake Park tonight, please contact CAA, and there's a reward of $1 million!"

At the end of the message, it was signed by Will Smith, along with several contact numbers for CAA.

Hawke put his phones away and noticed that Caroline, Edward, and Frank were all looking at their phones too.

He asked, "Did you all get that too?"

Edward wondered, "Did they find us out this quickly?"

"Your dumb head isn't even fit for picking cotton!" Frank scoffed, continuing, "A situation this simple, and you can't figure it out? Just go find a building to jump off."

Caroline licked her slightly dry lips and said, "They sure think they can just throw money around, hiring a communications company to send out mass texts."

Hawke suggested, "Let's check it out."

Caroline instinctively picked up her phone and started calling friends in different areas.

Edward also reached out to Deborah.

Moments later, Caroline reported, "I asked seven people living from the San Fernando Valley to Malibu to East Los Angeles and Long Beach, and they all received the message."

Edward added, "Deborah got it too."

Hawke concluded, "Will Smith's people must have sent out mass texts across all of Los Angeles."

"That's not the key point," Frank emphasized, knowing human nature all too well. "You should focus on that $1 million!"

He raised his voice, stressing, "This is $1 million! Don't just think about selling someone out; you might even consider pulling the trigger."

Hawke had been considering it.

At that moment, his phone buzzed again. The four of them pulled out their phones to check the text, discovering it was still the same message.

Hawke knew that a substantial number of people had been mobilized by Campos to capture videos of the Smiths.

Normally, these individuals were quite reliable.

But in front of $1 million, reliability was an extremely rare quality.

Will Smith had undoubtedly presented him with a dilemma.

Who conducts a test of loyalty like this?

Frank, being the oldest, seemed to guess Hawke's thoughts. "Few can withstand this kind of test; the moment we expose ourselves to Will Smith, it's just a matter of time."

Suddenly, he turned his gaze to Edward. "You, cotton-picker, can you handle it?"

Edward dismissively replied, "It's just $1 million. Who do you think you're looking down on?"

Hawke raised his hand to stop their squabbling.

Will Smith's agency was CAA, and those jerks at CAA had thrown him a tough challenge.

If they didn't handle this correctly, Campos' people would scatter.

Frank was right -- facing such a substantial sum of money, exposing Twitter before Will Smith, was only a matter of time.

However, that didn't concern Hawke too much; he intended to release those videos on Twitter anyway.

It merely meant the exposure time would be moved up.

Hawke quickly made a decision, turning the situation from passive to active. "Since exposure is inevitable, let's expose ourselves first."

Caroline, understanding her boss's thoughts well, immediately chimed in, "I'll make the call! Let me take care of it!"

Frank glanced at her and asked, "You want the $1 million reward?"

Caroline tilted her chin slightly. "I'm earning this money for the company."

Hawke remarked, "Will Smith comes from a rap and hip-hop background. Although he hasn't been in the news much lately, he might have ties to gang organizations. Are you sure about this?"

"Uh..." Caroline's chin dropped back down. "Let's let the Savior handle it."

Hawke hadn't considered them, as he picked up his phone to call Campos. "Did you see the text?"

Campos replied, "I saw it. As soon as I received the text, I gathered everyone in the know for a meeting. People are... a bit unsettled. As of now, there's no problem, but once they leave this place, who knows?"

Hawke had thought it through and stated directly, "Find someone you can trust to call CAA, tell them the video was sold to Twitter through normal channels, and let them come here to contact Twitter."

He added, "How to ensure safety, how to get the money, and how to distribute it -- those matters you will handle."

Most of the people on Campos' side had escaped from being hunted by Mexican drug lords; they were not ordinary people. He said, "If they dare to resort to underhanded tactics, Los Angeles will have another hot news story."

Hawke said, "Stay safe."

...

Meanwhile, at the Butterfly Company.

In addition to Campos, there were eight other people seated in the conference room.

Carlos and Garcia guarded the entrance left and right.

Campos looked at the youngest member, Juan. "In five minutes, you'll call CAA, report the situation accurately, and tell them we've sold the video for a high price. If they want to know which company it was sold to, they can fulfill their promise first."

He surveyed the room. "If they can deliver on their promised payment, half will go to the company's development fund, and the other half will be distributed among all participants."

The others exchanged glances, and someone quickly said, "Boss, we'll follow your lead."

Everyone in the room had made it from Mexico to Los Angeles, and they weren't fools; they understood the limits of individual power.

Based on their experiences in Mexico, it could cost them their lives.

Campos' expression turned serious. "I'll say this upfront; if anyone wants to back out, now is the time."

Nobody moved.

"Juan, prepare to make the call." Campos made other preparations: "You all get ready with weapons."

...

That night, attendees at the Oscars and those in Los Angeles watching the ceremony suddenly found their attention diverted by the two successive text messages.

What had happened with Will Smith became the hot topic of discussion.

Harvey Weinstein was quite unhappy; tonight, he was supposed to be the center of attention.

His film, which he had maneuvered, took home the Oscars for Best Actress and Best Picture, two of the most significant awards.

But suddenly, all the limelight was snatched away by Will.

...

Century City, CAA's phones rang off the hook.

The $1 million reward had people trying their luck, but no one had the correct answer.

In the conference room, Will Smith paced back and forth anxiously, glancing at his watch from time to time.

James Locke and Maha Dakhil continued making calls to their contacts.

Most media outlets were still on good terms with CAA.

Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang.

James rushed over, answered it, exchanged a few words, then had someone transfer the call to him directly, asking several questions. On the other end, they hung up proactively.

Before the agent could hang up, Will urgently asked, "Any news?"

James replied, "Just got a call. Someone claims to have recorded video of you at Barber's Lake Park. They said it was filmed from the park's water tower and featured two male Black individuals."

Will slammed the table, interjecting, "That's definitely those punks!"

James continued, "They've sold the video, but we need to pay the promised reward before they'll tell us which media company they sold it to."

Maha snorted, "They're just feeding off the last guy to feed off this one. They have some serious delusions."

There wasn't a hint of comedic flair on Will's face as he said, "Give me their number; I'll take care of them!"

Compared to the two, James, a senior partner at CAA, remained calmer: "Will, you just escaped from that mess, and you want to get involved with gangs? Once you get entangled, it'll be endless trouble."

The number used was a public phone and couldn't be traced.

James knew exactly what needed to be prioritized right now: "Anything that can be resolved with a little money isn't the real issue!"

He emphasized, "Will, let's resolve the video matter first, then we can discuss everything else."

Will, achieving his current success as a Black man, understood that luck was vital, but his own intelligence wasn't lacking either; he cooled down a bit and agreed, "I'll follow your lead."

Their lines of communication connected again, and soon, Bilaal and two CAA assistants set off with cash checks.

In less than twenty minutes, Bilaal called back with a name -- Twitter.

Forget Will Smith; neither James nor Maha had heard of this company.

But with the company name, finding other information became much easier.

...

Not long after, the public information about Twitter was sent over, laid out before Will, James, and the others.

"This company was registered less than two months ago," James stated simply. "The primary shareholder is an investment company from the Cayman Islands, the second shareholder is West Coast Media Entertainment Studio, and the third is Pacific Investment Group."

Maha, well-informed, remarked, "The Pacific Investment Group belonging to the Ferguson family?"

James glanced at the information. "That should be right."

Maha frowned. "This is getting complicated." She then asked, "Did the Pacific Group only make investments?"

"I know a bit about this investment company; CAA executive Richard Lovett is an old acquaintance of Mary Ferguson." James, being a senior partner, had heard some details: "Back when Mary Ferguson won the beauty pageant, Richard was one of the actual organizers."

He set that aside for now. "Let's see this: the actual controller of Twitter is Hawke Osment, the founder of West Coast Media Entertainment Studio, and Mary Ferguson's daughter, who happens to be the famous Los Angeles detective Erica Ferguson's boyfriend."

Upon hearing this, Maha drew a conclusion. "We should approach them through legitimate channels and resolve this."

Will Smith suddenly recalled someone and said, "My friend, Steve Nutt, has worked with Hawke Osment. He says they have a great relationship."

Saint Steve Nutt was well-known; he was a leader in the Black empowerment movement.

Maha pondered. "Hawke Osment also collaborates with the LAPD. I helped out Suzy from the LAPD; I can try to get in touch with her."

CAA was well-established as Hollywood's top agency, and its strength was undeniable.

James declared, "Alright, let's contact them right away."

*****

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