Edward looked at Deck and scratched his head.
When it came to Deck's situation, all he could feel was helplessness. After all, according to current laws, this kind of thing wasn't illegal.
It was immoral, yes—but morality had been constantly twisted and diluted during this period of endless online "brainwashing," to the point that many people had begun to treat such matters as ambiguous and debatable.
Even so, Edward personally still supported Deck. He knew exactly how much effort Deck had put in. In order to protect his position and salary, that guy had worked incredibly hard.
He often worked overtime. He had no bad habits. His favorite pastime was showing off his wife and family in his friend circle, smiling brightly every single day.
But…
Looking at the Deck in front of him now, Edward sighed. Heavy dark circles hung under the man's eyes, and the whites of his eyes were streaked with red. It was obvious his emotions were on the verge of collapse.
At this moment, Deck said nothing. He simply sat there quietly, gripping his hair with both hands, as if deep in thought. Edward had no intention of disturbing him. He knew Deck was trying to make a difficult decision. But once he made that decision, Deck would be completely resolute afterward.
Edward knew that very well—because he himself had once been such a person.
Zoroark silently poured a cup of hot tea and quietly withdrew. It, too, had overheard Deck's crying.
Naturally, she also felt distressed for him. After all, unless someone's worldview was warped or they had some strange fetish, most people would feel sympathy for the party who had been betrayed.
Deck stayed silent for quite a while before finally lifting his head, looking utterly exhausted.
"Boss… thank you. I want the colleagues in the legal department to help me file for divorce."
Deck spoke in a weary voice, heavy and drained, as though he had finally sorted out his thoughts.
Edward didn't speak; he simply nodded.
Naturally, he supported Deck. In fact, in Edward's eyes, Deck's decision was the correct and normal one. If Deck were to face such a situation and still choose to smile and forgive, Edward would honestly find it disgusting.
As for people who fetishize being cheated on? Edward would prefer they never appear in his line of sight to ruin his mood.
"Alright. I'll have the legal department handle it. Don't worry—they'll definitely make you satisfied." Edward smiled confidently. This was his confidence and his backing. After all, the legal department was a division he personally invested heavily in and nurtured.
These days, pursuing litigation was extremely troublesome. All sorts of procedures, wasting tons of time—appeals, communication, court hearings… all were tedious. But Edward had plenty of money. The reason he paid for an entire legal team was so they could focus on fighting lawsuits.
And Deck's wife?
She was just an ordinary person—a beautiful stay-at-home woman who relied on her husband's income. How much could she possibly earn to fund a lawsuit? How much time could she spare for it?
As for the adulterers? Edward had plenty of ways to deal with those people.
Besides, in most cases, these types of men ran away the moment trouble appeared. Very few were willing to pay money to help. So, Edward honestly didn't care about any of them.
"Alright. For now, I'm approving your annual leave. Your salary will continue as normal. I'll give you three months. Use the time to handle this matter and get some rest. When you've stabilized, come back to work." Edward patted Deck on the shoulder. Deck nodded gratefully.
Zoroark glanced at Deck's swollen red eyes and lost expression, and couldn't help but think that its boss might be… cultivating a loyal zealot?
After all, with Deck's current emotional state, if Edward told him to do something, he would probably obey without hesitation.
"The beauty adorns herself for the one who appreciates her; a man is willing to die for the one who understands him." Even now, this old saying still held truth.
Edward remembered that someone once asked curiously why ancient times had "zealots," but modern times did not.
And Edward remembered someone giving such an explanation:
[You are an ordinary college graduate. Your family's economic situation is average. You struggle to find a job that barely supports you. Late at night, you lie in your cramped rental room, eating instant noodles, using a cheap phone, enduring the pain of hard life. Then your mother calls you.]
[Over the phone, your mother hesitantly tells you that your father is seriously ill and needs hospitalization, but they don't have the money. Your mother is old and has bad legs—she also needs painkillers and cannot work, so she can only take care of your father at home.]
[You check your bank account and find only a few hundred pokedollar. You call multiple friends, but no one helps. You try to borrow money, but the loan interest rates are terrifying.]
["Never mind, Mom will try to piece something together," she says, trying to comfort you.]
[Listening to your mother comforting you as you lie helpless, you pound the bed in frustration, furious at your own incompetence—you cannot even help your parents.]
[Then suddenly, a man appears—wealthy and warm-hearted. He takes you out for a good meal, sends your parents to the best hospital, and pays for excellent treatment. Your parents quickly recover thanks to good doctors and money. They smile again. The man then offers you a high-paying job.]
[After some time, that man tells you he has an enemy. What will you do?]
That story left a deep impression on Edward. After thinking it through, he realized that if this had happened to him, he, too, would likely have chosen without hesitation—to become that man's loyal zealot.
But Edward had no intention of cultivating zealots. Devon Corporation was already powerful enough. If they produced a few zealots or fanatics on top of that, the League would probably lose patience and finally crack down on the entire Stone family. Although, in Edward's opinion, their current activities were already somewhat… questionable.
After Deck left, Edward didn't pay too much attention. He already knew what the result would be. With the legal department of Ghost Films taking action, Edward honestly didn't think the opposing side had any chance of winning.
A top-tier lawyer could absolutely influence a case. Not to the extent of turning "jail time" into "death penalty," of course, but pushing for the highest legal punishment? That was entirely possible.
And considering the situation, Deck's wife would hardly be able to afford a big-name lawyer. The facts were already set; the only question was the length of the sentence.
After all, that day when Deck came home to surprise his wife, he had recorded everything and even brought relatives along.
When Edward heard this part, he wondered whether Deck had known beforehand. But remembering all the silly "romantic gestures" Deck often performed, Edward realized it wasn't premeditated.
Deck simply wanted to give his wife a sweet surprise… which instead became a horrifying shock.
"Zoroark, make an announcement. Everyone can get off work early today." Edward said casually.
Zoroark's expression turned a bit strange but still complied. After the announcement, the employees of Ghost Films all had subtle expressions. After all, many of them had heard bits and pieces of Deck's story.
Their emotions toward getting off work early today were… complicated.
But ultimately, they were still very happy—getting off work early was always good.
After resolving Deck's situation, Edward returned to preparing for the Harry Potter film project. During this preparation stage, he felt some headaches—too many child actors had applied. Far too many. And many of them were complete newcomers, not professional child actors.
There were also child actors who had performed in stage plays and theater, all coming for auditions. The company email was exploding again.
The burden of filtering candidates fell on Edward, because he had insisted on choosing the trio himself. He had a specific "feeling" he wanted—someone who matched his mental image of Hermione and Ron.
So naturally, this was going to be tedious.
"Hermione…" Edward scratched his head. Choosing Hermione made him hesitate. In the movies, Hermione was played beautifully by Emma Stone, who did an outstanding job. But later, Rowling herself had some complaints, because Hermione eventually grew up beautifully—far prettier than the original character.
In the novels, Hermione was described as having thick, bushy hair, brown eyes, and prominent front teeth—a plain girl, not attractive. What mattered was her intelligence, sharp mind, clear logic, and loyalty to friends—her inner qualities.
From these details, it was clear Hermione was meant to be an ordinary girl, even slightly awkward in appearance—especially with those teeth.
Only later did she straighten her teeth for the Yule Ball, changing her image.
Hermione was the type of girl whose charm came from intellect—not outward beauty. Average-looking, yet captivating once you got to know her.
With that in mind, Edward knew he had to be careful when choosing Hermione this time. Ideally, he wanted a relatively ordinary-looking girl, but one who had the aura of quiet intelligence. The problem was—children were hard to read. You never knew what they would grow into.
Hermione herself grew up pretty, which affected how people imagined the original character.
As Edward flipped through documents, he quickly found a suitable Ron. The child had bright red hair—perfect for the wizarding family tradition. He also found a Harry, a kid who hadn't acted in anything yet but had a look Edward liked.
As for acting skills, Edward wasn't worried. Worst case, he could literally summon Harry Potter himself to act. He just didn't know whether the summoned Harry would be the grown Auror Harry, or young Harry.
Hermione was the only tricky one. Fortunately, after thinking through it, Edward found a promising girl from a theater family—good diction, strong vocal projection—perfect for Hermione's dialogue-heavy role.
"Alright. These three will be the main trio. As for the other actors, choose whoever fits. For Malfoy, make sure the kid has an arrogant aura." Edward handed more files to Zoroark. He only insisted on personally selecting the main trio. As for Snape and Dumbledore, he left those to the team. Snape was easy to cast—the difficult one was Dumbledore.
Anyone who watched the movies knew: after the first film, Dumbledore's actor passed away and was replaced by Gandalf's actor.
Edward found that unfortunate. So, for this version, he specifically requested they choose someone younger and healthier for Dumbledore, so they could film the full series without issues.
"Yes, boss." Zoroark recorded everything.
A month later, Ghost Films became busier. The actors gradually arrived, with the trio being the first. Their parents were ecstatic.
After all, becoming an actor under Edward Stone meant guaranteed fame. He was incredibly skilled at making stars, having already launched many careers. As long as the kids grew up, they would have a place in the entertainment world. No parent would want to miss such an opportunity.
"Have they worked on their acting yet?" Edward looked at the three kids, satisfied overall. This would be his Harry Potter team.
"They've practiced, Director Edward." The parents all responded respectfully. Edward was already used to this level of admiration.
He was satisfied. Much better than the bizarre adaptations he had heard about.
He remembered hearing that Harry Potter was getting a TV adaptation that would heavily emphasize diversity and LGBT themes. They even intended to cast a Black actor as Snape. When Edward heard that, he nearly burst out laughing.
Did these people have any idea what era Harry Potter was set in?
Did they know the social climate of Britain at the time?
It wasn't like "stepping ashore gives you 100 free pulls," but the pride and elitism of that era absolutely existed. Such changes felt absurd.
"Good thing I don't have to watch it. Or the Black Mermaid. Or the Black Snow White." Edward sighed.
Before transmigrating, he remembered clearly—Snow White was about to premiere. Her new origin story was: "She was named Snow White because it happened to snow on the day she was born," not because her skin was fair.
Edward nearly laughed to death.
"Damn it! I have early classes at 8 a.m. Why don't they just call her Blizzard Princess instead?!" Edward recalled one furious commenter's rant. And honestly? He felt the guy made perfect sense.
(End of Chapter)