Chapter 553 Fabricated Charges Become Reality
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Los Angeles, in a very ordinary hotel.
Jody checked into the room and brought a woman upstairs. As soon as he opened the door to his room, a woman came out of the room opposite.
"Who is this?" the woman asked with slight surprise.
"Emma O'Connor," Jody introduced the two women. "Angie, Emma is just like you, also a victim."
Angela Oye approached proactively and hugged Emma. Seeing her head lowered, her spirit seemingly deflated, she said, "Sister, this is not our shame, but his!"
Emma didn't speak, but she nodded vigorously.
Jody intentionally arranged for these two to stay together to stimulate a sense of shared enmity. He said to Angela, "I'm entrusting Emma to your care for now. I'm going back to rush the draft. We aim to take action a day earlier."
Angela replied, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Emma."
The two women then entered the room that Jody had just checked into.
After Jody gave a few more instructions, he went downstairs, left the hotel, and got into a parked Ford sedan by the roadside.
Bruce was sitting in the driver's seat and asked, "Is everyone arranged?"
Jody pulled down the sun visor, opened the mirror to touch up her makeup, and said, "With Angela Oye's personality, these two as neighbors will certainly further arouse Emma O'Connor's fighting spirit. She has a bit of a soft character, so it wasn't easy to persuade her."
Bruce said, "How could you win the Pulitzer Prize if it were easy?"
"The Pulitzer Prize is indeed very tempting," Jody said, eying Bruce. "But Old Cloth, you're more tempting."
Bruce was quite helpless. "I'm talking about serious matters."
Jody stressed, "What I'm saying is serious too. For this report, I've staked my future and even my entire career. Isn't it only right that you give something in return?"
Bruce turned his head to look at Jody, whose face was quite pretty, even more outstanding than Kim and Khloe, but that was of no importance to him.
Because Jody was flat both in front and behind.
Bruce remembered the pain of bone hitting bone and really couldn't stand it, so he couldn't help saying, "Can you eat a bit more, put on some weight okay?"
Jody still didn't understand, "Many women envy my figure."
"Good figure?" Bruce almost banged his head on the steering wheel.
Jody, with an odd grip on the gearstick, moved it around and said, "Let's go. Tonight, you come to my place. Soon, I'll become your cannon fodder, and you should at least let the cannon fodder have one last enjoyment before the end."
Bruce didn't say much, started the car, and left the place.
Soon, the car was parked in front of a standalone house, and Jody, like a tyrant, dragged Bruce inside the house.
Bruce entered Jody's room with the fearless spirit of a warrior about to face extreme punishment.
......
Beverly Hills, Hilton Hotel.
Stuart Townsend, who had moved out of Charlize's place, was temporarily staying here, keeping his luggage in a rented storage unit.
With not much money in hand and the supplementary credit card he'd used from Charlize Theron now stopped, he couldn't afford to stay in an executive suite and only booked a regular room.
The cramped space and average decor made Stuart quite uncomfortable, accustomed as he was to a life of luxury.
"This woman is too heartless!" Stuart cursed in his mind. "She had an affair with Martin Davis, but she's putting all the blame on me, just so she won't have to pay me alimony."
He deliberated what to do now that a reconciliation was impossible. How could he get a large sum of money from Charlize?
And there was Martin Davis. Martin had messed around with his fiancée. How could he not pay up?
Martin was not someone easy to deal with, and Stuart couldn't think of a solution right away. For now, he could only start with Charlize.
He thought about the conditions Charlize had set. For the sake of his financial future, he even considered whether to go for a paternity test with that woman. If the child wasn't his, he was certain to get a sum of money from Charlize.
Just as he was contemplating this, his phone suddenly rang.
Stuart answered, "This is Stuart Townsend. Who may I ask is calling?"
The voice on the other end replied, "I am the representative lawyer for Toni Fellman. Mr. Townsend, Toni would like to contact you for a paternity test. If you agree, we can arrange a time. If you don't agree, we will file a lawsuit with the court..."
Toni's case was already represented by a renowned law firm, not for the amount of money at stake, but because it could lead to a precedent in the nation's judicial system.
Stuart said, "Hold on, this matter has nothing to do with me. Why should I go through a paternity test with you all?"
"Please tell me your address. I've asked Mrs. Theron, and she said you two have broken up." The lawyer was very direct, valuing time. "I will send you the lawyer's letter later."
Stuart hung up the phone right away.
Somehow, the lawyer managed to send a lawyer's letter, which was delivered to his room in the hotel the next morning.
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Stuart, holding the lawyer's letter, carefully recalled Oscar night and checked related news online, his head full of question marks, "Did I mysteriously become a dad?"
Where on earth did this mess come from? Stuart then thought of Martin, "Ever since becoming neighbors with Martin, it seems like misfortune keeps coming my way, and I even lost my job."
Looking at the ceiling, he always had the feeling that Martin and Charlize Theron were messing around together.
......
Upon receiving a call from Charlize Theron, who had invited him because of a prior agreement to have drinks over the weekend, Martin entered Charlize's home again after being away for many days.
The house was the same as before, the garden's flowers and bushes unchanged, the only difference being the absence of the male host.
Charlize was casually dressed in a black sweater, waiting at the villa's entrance.
Seeing Martin carrying a bottle of wine, she turned and walked inside, "You brought wine, afraid that I wouldn't have enough to drink here?"
"It's not good manners to come empty-handed," said Martin as he followed her in, his gaze sliding over the long legs that were complemented by her sky-blue jeans.
She was tall with long legs, trained specifically for her figure during her modeling days, so even the simplest outfit looked stunning on her.
Charlize led Martin to a small lounge at the back of the villa, where several bottles of liquor were prepared, including tequila, whiskey, and brandy.
The fruit platter on the table was also loaded with nuts to accompany the drinks.
Charlize asked, "What would you like to drink?"
Martin picked up the wine bottle, "How about we try what I brought?"
"Sure," Charlize took two glasses and set them on the table.
Martin opened the wine, they poured themselves a share, and he sat in a single-seater sofa opposite Charlize.
Kicking off her wedge slippers, Charlize curled up on the sofa, her beautiful curves on full display, and raised her glass, specifically toasting, "To my return to singlehood."
Martin clinked his glass with hers, "Congratulations."
Charlize asked, "Some things about Townsend, you've noticed them for a while, haven't you?"
"Some things, yeah," Martin appeared quite honest, "But you know, it's not really something that should come from me."
He's a shameless bastard, "The press conference for the paternity test wasn't really necessary, and to escalate it to this point, on one hand, I wanted to clear my name on the spot, to warn others not to mess around in the future, on the other hand, it was also a reminder for you."
Charlize was half-doubtful, half-believing, but deep down she understood that the man opposite her, like many others, had fallen for her charm.
"Thank you," Charlize said, once more lifting her glass and draining it in one go.
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Martin also finished the remaining wine in his cup.
Charlize took the initiative to grab the bottle and pour more, saying, "We've been neighbors for almost a year, and I've never invited you over, yet you've invited me many times, and Lily often sends me little gifts."
Martin said, "It's not that I didn't want to come. It just wasn't very convenient, I didn't want to give the wrong impression."
Charlize smiled, "That bastard's gone now; you can come over more often."
"Wow, wouldn't that make me more impressive than Hawking?" Martin deliberately put on a look of delight, "He couldn't even get a date with Charlize Theron in any of the parallel universes."
Charlize had been immersed in the modeling and entertainment circles since the early nineties, she had seen it all, "That's because I wasn't interested in him."
Both being extremely confident about their appearances, they looked up at each other, then burst out laughing.
After another drink with Martin, it was evident Charlize could hold her liquor well; her face didn't change color after several drinks, and she said, "Martin, this time you spurred me to make up my mind and ditch that bastard."
Martin could tell Charlize had a lot to say, and simply nodded slightly.
As she poured more wine, Charlize said, "I'd suspected his infidelity for some time, always hoping he'd come back around for the sake of our years together, but what I got was even greater hurt. I persisted in this relationship for nine years, a whole nine years, the best time of my life. I didn't enjoy it, no glitz or glam, no high-quality…"
She shook her head, "What I encountered was baseless and irrational accusations just because I'm friends with you, because we're neighbors, because we're slightly closer. That bastard slandered me for infidelity!"
Martin faintly grasped Charlize's feelings and said, "He really is a bastard!"
Charlize continued, "I stood by him for nine years, kept compromising for him, maintained his dignity as a man in public, only to be met with slander and defamation! The main reason I broke up with him was because of his slandering me."
Martin took out his phone, asked, "What's his number? I'll go clarify, you shouldn't have to suffer these false accusations."
"No need," Charlize shook her head, "Really, there's no need."
Martin didn't have Stuart Townsend's contact information.
Charlize's gaze rested on Martin's face, "I will clear these accusations in my own way, but I need your help with that."
Martin nodded, "I'm at your service."
A smile blossomed on Charlize's face, "These past years have been too tiresome and suffocating. I've missed out on too much; starting today, I want to live differently."
Once she freed herself from her previous constraints, she discovered there was so much to enjoy in Hollywood, life could be colorful and varied.