Unfortunately, it was too late to say anything now. After Mr. Dawud went bankrupt, he lost all contact with him. Even without guessing, Faaris knew that Dawud had surely met his end somewhere. His enemies would never give him a chance to rise from the ashes.
"Those bastards!"
In a fit of rage, Faaris swept everything off the table onto the floor.
If only he had been by Dawud's side, he would never have let those people hurt him! His life had been given to him by Dawud—his wealth, and more importantly, the trust and attention that an orphan like him could hardly ever obtain.
When he had escaped from the orphanage covered in wounds, starving, and was hit by Dawud's car, Dawud had taken him to the hospital and saved his life. From that moment on, he had sworn to dedicate his entire life to becoming a pillar of support Dawud could rely on.
He had indeed gained Dawud's trust, starting from the very bottom—learning and working at the same time—until he eventually rose to become Dawud's most trusted right-hand man, the position he was most proud of.
When Cooper walked into the office, he immediately saw documents scattered all over the floor and Faaris sitting on the edge of the desk with his back to the window. Having followed him for several years, Cooper knew at a glance that something must have happened.
"Mr. Faaris, what's wrong?"
Faaris wasn't in the mood to talk. He waved his hand dismissively. "What do you want?"
"I wanted to ask if we still have the funds to keep investing in films." Cooper looked at him nervously, but Faaris's face was hidden in shadow, making it impossible to read his expression.
In the past two years, the company has made quite a profit from investing in movies. Although they couldn't compare to the big studios, they had carved out a name for themselves in Hollywood. Many promising projects came to them actively seeking investment, and they had made good money from that.
Back then, they could spend however much they wanted and invest in whichever film they pleased. It was the proudest time of Cooper's life. Even though Faaris kept him on a tight leash, to be honest, as long as he acted obediently, the boss wouldn't do anything excessive. On the contrary, he had given enormous support to the projects Cooper selected.
There was even a period when he almost stopped hating Faaris. But things didn't go as smoothly as he had imagined. The profits they made from film investments should have been reinvested into more films. However, the money suddenly disappeared from the company, and when some highly promising projects came to ask for funding, he found himself empty-handed.
Later, he found out that Faaris had taken all that money and sent it elsewhere. This left him deeply disappointed and furious. He had spent so much time studying scripts and gathering information, meticulously picking out works worth investing in from the piles of submissions. And in the end, the profits they earned were all taken away without a single word, almost crippling the company due to lack of funds.
Fortunately, at that critical moment, Faaris mortgaged the office building to the bank to get emergency cash and keep the company afloat. Otherwise, all their hard work would have been for nothing!
Cooper never knew that the so-called "boss" he thought he worked for was merely someone Faaris had planted. Faaris never discussed these matters with him. In Faaris's eyes, Cooper was just a dog he fed—who would bother explaining to a dog where the money had gone?
"You've read all the scripts?"
Cooper nodded. "Yes, I've gone through them all. I've already sent the promising ones to your email."
"All right, I know. I'll look at them later," Faaris said impatiently, waving him away again.
Cooper looked at him once more but finally turned to leave the office.
He didn't know that as he turned away, Faaris's cobra-like eyes were fixed on his back, following him until he disappeared through the door.
Over the past few years, thanks to Cooper's decades of connections and insight in Hollywood, they had indeed made quite a bit of money in the beginning.
Back then, to carry out Dawud's orders to sabotage Laila Moran in any way possible, he followed Cooper's suggestion and tried to use awards as a weapon.
But as his time in Hollywood dragged on, he finally realized that bringing Laila down was not such an easy task.
At most, they only managed to disrupt her a few times before ultimately failing. In the end, she still managed to win the most prestigious awards a director could receive.
Later, when trouble arose on Dawud's side, Faaris pulled every penny he could back to the home country, hoping to lend Dawud a hand. He hated his sluggishness. Dawud was such a formidable figure—just the fact that he accepted his help was already an unusual sign. If he had thought about it more at the time, he would have realized that Dawud was already in deep trouble.
By the time he discovered he could no longer contact Dawud, he immediately asked people back home to investigate. That was when he learned that Dawud's company had been taken over and Dawud himself had vanished.
Even though he knew that a man who had lost everything had almost no chance of survival, he still ordered people to keep searching, at least… if alive, to see the person; if dead, to see the corpse.
Yet days had passed, and there was still no news of Mr. Dawud.
Thinking of this, he stood up and poured himself a glass of vodka. He needed the burning alcohol to numb himself and collect his thoughts.
When the glass was empty, he lifted his head again, reverting to the old Faaris.
With Dawud gone, this company in his hands had now become his private property. When he first came to Hollywood, almost no one knew his true purpose—they just thought he had fallen out of Dawud's favor and had been "exiled" to Hollywood to fend for himself.
So now, he would use this company as a starting point to rebuild his capital, until the day he could return home and avenge Dawud. But before that, he still had one important thing to do—Laila Moran!
According to the information he had gathered, the betrayals and attacks Dawud suffered were closely tied to the Moran family. Even though he had no evidence, evidence was for the police—he only needed to believe it himself!
He might not have the power to take on the entire Moran Group yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't destroy Laila Moran! Having lived in Hollywood for so long, he knew better than anyone how crucial reputation was in this circle. Didn't all those successful stars rack their brains and go to extreme lengths to do charity work just to build a good public image?
Laila Moran had a high status in Hollywood. Destroying her would surely bring an immense sense of satisfaction!
Faaris slammed the empty glass to the ground, a dark, sinister smile slowly spreading across his face.