America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

The New York Museum of Modern Art, the Basel Sculpture Exhibition opens.

In the public exhibition area, the Trio of Scoundrels, along with Mene, Chad, Marina, and Spravina, and other main crew members, came to support Lily.@@novelbin@@

About a dozen reporters followed over, continuously taking photos of the group.

Martin whispered to Leonardo, "You're Hollywood's most famous art collector. Pick one, it's on me."

"No need," Leonardo walked towards a display case, continuing, "I really like Lily's work."

Without any hesitation, Martin spoke softly, "This year, all my votes go to you."

Leonardo asked, "You're congratulating me on winning the Oscar in advance?"

Martin seriously said, "Of course not, celebrating too early with champagne often leads to painful lessons."

Because the Trio of Scoundrels was present, more and more reporters and onlookers came over.

Once the crowd reached a certain size, Leonardo pointed at the marble sculpture in front of him and said to the staff, "How much for this piece? I'll take it."

It was common for exhibitions to encounter generous clients, and the staff immediately contacted the creator and the exhibition organizers to handle the transaction.

Leonardo then took a joint interview with the reporters.

"I've been collecting art for over a decade now, and all my pieces are exquisite, including several by Lily Carter," he praised openly: "Take this marble sculpture, for example, a mere block of stone, but through Lily's careful polishing and sculpture, it presents a unique beauty and artistic charm that has me completely captivated, willingly opening my wallet..."

Martin and Nicholson stood on the outskirts, enjoying Leonardo's performance, and said, "Such a Leo, deserving of a Best Actor, right?"

Nicholson said, "If there aren't better options, many naturally choose him." He added, "Isn't your 'Gone Girl' also being released during the holiday season?"

Martin said, "I may get a nomination for this role, but winning the award is still a bit off; our trio now has four Oscar performance awards, yet Leo is the one with none, embarrassingly so."

Nicholson expressed his dismay, "As the leader, it's a shame on my face too."

Ever since they talked about Leonardo's pursuit of an award a few days ago, Martin had been thinking carefully and gradually remembered a few of the last glorious films of Harvey related to the Oscars. Apart from the two where Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep won Best Actress, there were two Best Pictures.

One seemed to be a black and white silent film, nostalgic in its approach. He had no interest in it, not even watching the trailer, let alone the film itself, and he couldn't quite recall the title.

The other was about the speech of the King of England, probably titled "The King's Speech" or something similar.

Martin had someone check, and among all the films released in theaters this year, neither of these was listed.

If the film was produced by Weinstein Films, the project might have been lost after Harvey's early incarceration.

If it was an overseas purchase repackaged, the film rights might not have been sold to America.

Before long, Lily came over and said, "Could you entertain your friends for me? My mentor brought some friends over to support, and I need to go greet them."

Martin waved his hand, "You do your thing; we're fine here."

Nicholson commented, "She's grown up."

The exhibition hall was crowded and a bit chaotic. Martin was somewhat worried, so he called over Bruce, "Have the bodyguards stick close to Lily."

Bruce nodded, picked up his phone, and made a call, "They've been following."

On the second floor of the exhibition hall, Allison-Mack and Catherine Oxenberg, along with their daughter India, were flanking Keith Raniere by the railing.

From this vantage point, the gallery below was in full view.

After watching for a while, Raniere asked, "The person talking to Lily Carter, is that Martin Davis?"

Allison-Mack replied, "Yes, that's Martin Davis, next to him is Jack Nicholson, and approaching is Leonardo DiCaprio, they are collectively known as Hollywood's Trio of Scoundrels in Hollywood."

Raniere nodded, "I've heard of them." He asked, "Is this why you haven't made any progress?"

Allison-Mack quickly denied, "No, Lily Carter has been very busy preparing for this exhibition, and she's become somewhat wary of me..."

Raniere stepped forward, hands grasping the railing, eyes intently fixed on Lily in the hall below, her swaying graceful figure stirring in him an urgent desire to turn her into his slave.

Allison-Mack reminded her sect hierarch, "I did a recent check; Lily Carter has a complicated relationship with Martin Davis. From what I've heard in the circle, Brad Pitt's and Ben Affleck's current plight is related to Davis."

Raniere smiled elegantly, overly confident, "Do you think these hurdles can stop your sect hierarch?"

Allison-Mack bowed her head in devotion.

"How do you think Martin Davis compares to Seagram's Liquor Group?" Raniere asked indifferently, "He made many social elite connections through the Cola Cult. Does Nxivm lack social elites, government officials, or billionaires?"

The three women said in unison, "The master is the sun in the sky, and all others are but dust under the sunlight."

Raniere stood with his hands behind his back, his confident demeanor and genteel grace suited for a charming middle-aged man.

His confidence stemmed from successive successes and the social elite among his many followers.

The heiresses of Seagram's Liquor Group, sisters Claire Brownfeld and Sasha Brownfeld, were Raniere's most devoted followers. After joining Nxivm, they contributed over 150 million US dollars in wealth to Raniere, not to mention their formidable social influence.

Nxivm was not like the Cola Cult, a loosely organized pan-belief system; it only had 17,000 loyal followers, but the exorbitant membership fees ensured that not a single one of them was average—every one of them was a societal elite.

Among them were the daughters of former Mexican presidents, rich second-generations, as well as the wealthy first-generations; not to mention officials from Washington and various states—ordinary middle-class people couldn't even reach the threshold for membership.

These followers fervently devoted their money and time, but more importantly, they used their social influence to speak for Nxivm, creating a protective shell for Raniere.

Raniere's acts of kidnapping and keeping female slaves had happened several times, yet he always escaped easily.

Those who reported him, on the other hand, ended up in great trouble.

Raniere looked at Catherine and India, the mother and daughter, and said, "Come down with me in a bit."

He then instructed Allison, "You observe carefully here and inform me immediately if anything happens."

Allison replied, "Yes."

Raniere went downstairs with Catherine and India, and the three of them together looked very much like a family.

Any onlooker would find it difficult to imagine that this elegant middle-aged man housed a monster inside him, and the mother and daughter were merely his stars of wrath.

The three, looking like normal visitors at an exhibition, went down to the first floor of the gallery and carefully admired Lily's works. Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

Lily's works were more on the abstract side this time, and to Raniere, they appeared to be no different from Martin's: just some shaped stones, plaster, and wood.

The Sect Hierarch claimed among his followers that he was self-taught and could communicate normally at the age of one, could read and write by two, and by the age of less than ten, he had learned the entire high school curriculum in 19 hours.

In reality, he was a university dropout who failed to graduate due to poor grades.

Catherine came over quietly and pointed out, "They're over there."

Raniere followed the direction she was pointing and saw Lily talking to several people.

Looking closer, he realized that the girl was indeed beautiful, not just because of a delicate face, but also her tall and slim figure—the curves were exquisitely perfect.

Having seen many women, Raniere was not blind to the wildness that Lily's seemingly gentle appearance concealed.

If such a girl could be tamed into a slave, the sense of achievement would be...

Raniere knew he had to take it step by step, first leaving a deep impression, so he instructed Catherine, "Go, tell the organizers here that I want to buy all of Lily Carter's works."

Catherine hurried to find people wearing utility vests.

As her mother walked away, India stood shivering next to Raniere, like a chick alone facing an eagle.

Raniere said, "When we get back to Los Angeles, I will grant you your branding."

India grew even more afraid; she had seen the mark below her mother's waist, branded on the flesh.

......

Martin was shooting the breeze with Leonardo and Nicholson when Bruce came over quickly and said in a low voice, "Someone wants to buy all of Lily's exhibits."

Leonardo expressed mild surprise, "Who's this generous visitor that came out of nowhere?"

Martin asked, "Where is he?"

Bruce said, "Lily, her agent, and her bodyguard are getting ready to meet him in the VIP room next to the exhibition hall."

As Nicholson turned his head, the light reflected off his sunglasses, causing the lenses to glint.

He stroked his chin and said, "Using my years of experience, I judge that this person has ill intentions."

Leonardo gave him a disdainful look, "Alright, great detective, I don't need years of experience to figure that out."

Martin said, "Let's go over and take a look."

The four of them left the exhibition hall and entered the office area of the art gallery, just in time to meet Lily and her agent coming over.

Lily hurried to Martin's side and said, "I have over a dozen pieces here, and someone wants to buy them all at the marked price, amounting to over three hundred thousand US dollars. Could my luck be this good, running into another Casey Affleck?"

Leonardo said, "Mainly because I got you off to a good start."

Lily said, "Thank you, Leo."

Nicholson reminded her, "Be careful to test the real purpose of the buyer."

"I will," Lily nodded and asked Martin, "Should I sell them all?"

Martin started laughing, "Why not sell? Remember what I told you about the sugar-coated bullets?"

Back in Atlanta, Lily had heard Martin say, "Eat all the sugar, then fire the bullets back, right?"

Martin nodded slightly.

Nicholson bluntly said, "What's there to fear, with the three of us here, not to mention bullets, even missiles we could send back his way!"