"This is the information about the Latin American child who drew that special thank you letter. She's from Brazil, named Karina Rosa. She's eleven years old now. Unfortunately, she dropped out of school last year. Her family is still struggling financially, so there isn't much news value in the story."
"UNICEF said that if necessary, they can arrange for the official who originally handled the donation to speak with the media."
"I don't think we should release all this information at once. It would be better to leave most of it for other outlets to dig up themselves. Otherwise the public may suspect the story is being deliberately staged."
"And regarding Davis Condi, one of the six men who wants to settle, based on the evidence currently held by the Santa Monica police, even if the people involved refuse to confess, it's already enough to prove their crimes. Still, if we accept a settlement and get them to admit the truth about what happened back then, it would make the case even more secure."
"…"
"…"
Malibu, Doom Point Estate, inside the conference room of the Shell Villa.
The legal and public relations teams handling the assault case from four years ago sat around the wide conference table, each speaking in turn as they discussed strategy.
Janet sat at the center on one side of the table. To her left was George Norman, head of the legal team, and to her right was Pat Kingsley, head of the public relations team.
After patiently listening to everyone's opinions, Janet gave her instructions.
"Arrange for the Los Angeles Times to publish the full story behind the $500,000 tomorrow. But don't completely step back afterward. Continue guiding other outlets to uncover more details. If necessary, provide them with materials yourselves."
Today was Thursday, December 27.
In recent days, both the investigation and the public narrative surrounding the assault case had already swung overwhelmingly in Simon's favor. But Janet, thoroughly angered by the incident, showed no sign of easing her efforts.
To ensure that everything Simon had built would never be linked to the so called dirty money Matthew Broderick had once used for a settlement, Janet had deliberately avoided revealing the truth too early despite intense media speculation. Instead, she had her team carefully collect every detail about the $500,000 donation that had been given to UNICEF, building a chain of evidence that could not be disputed before deciding to make the story public.
Her caution had a reason.
If they relied only on the single "special thank you letter" still preserved in the Shell Villa at Doom Point Estate, releasing it prematurely without stronger proof could easily backfire.
After all, few people would believe that a penniless young man back then would donate half a million dollars without hesitation.
After further discussion about the donation, Janet swept her gaze across the room and added in a cold, decisive tone:
"As for settlement, I don't want to hear that suggestion again. I will not accept a settlement. I want those bastards to lose everything they have and then go to prison."
The chill in Janet's voice left no room for doubt. The room fell silent. The lawyer who had just suggested settlement instinctively shrank back slightly.
Seeing that no one spoke further, Janet glanced at the memo in front of her, confirmed that nothing else had been overlooked, then closed her notebook.
"That's all for today's meeting."
Everyone stood and began leaving the conference room.
George Norman and Pat Kingsley stayed behind for a moment, discussing a few additional details with Janet. Before leaving, George Norman smiled and asked:
"Jenny, you and Simon won't be skipping the Daenerys Studio party tonight, right?"
Since it was the end of the year, Hollywood was full of parties every day even though it was still a workweek. Tonight Daenerys Entertainment was hosting a gathering at Daenerys Studio to thank filmmakers who had collaborated with the company during the year.
Janet, far more relaxed now that the meeting was over, glanced at her watch.
"Simon said he'll be back by seven. We'll definitely stop by."
After returning from the East Coast following Christmas, Simon had spent the past few days in San Francisco discussing development plans for 1991 with executives from several companies, including Igreat.
As Jennifer's uncle, George Norman naturally knew about this. His niece, who had been staying at his house, had traveled to San Francisco with Simon during the past few days.
Both George Norman and Jennifer's parents were fully aware of the relationship between Jennifer and Simon.
Before Simon married Janet, the Reboulds had even hoped their daughter might win Simon over. After the wedding earlier that year, however, Simon's rapidly growing wealth and influence led them to quietly accept the ambiguous relationship between him and their daughter.
George Norman thought about all this but naturally avoided mentioning Jennifer in front of Janet.
"I'll be there tonight too," he said instead. "I'm planning to introduce a few friends to Simon."
"Of course," Janet nodded. "If you need extra invitations, just call Amy."
George Norman shook his head with a smile.
"No need to bother Pascal over something so small."
After seeing George Norman and Pat Kingsley out, Janet returned to the villa and called Simon. He told her he would board his flight in about an hour. After chatting briefly, Janet summoned the two AB girls who were staying at the house and headed to the third floor dressing room to prepare for the party.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, Simon had remained at Ygritte headquarters until six in the evening before finally heading to the airport to return to Los Angeles.
Traveling with him this time were his assistant, his housekeeper Alice Ferguson, and Peter Butler, a Los Angeles Times journalist Simon had known for many years.
After the New Year, Peter Butler would officially leave the Los Angeles Times and join Ygritte, where he would oversee the news and financial information sections of the Ygritte portal.
After America Online signed exclusive agreements with the three major telecom operators, the number of World Wide Web users accelerated again during the final quarter of 1990. Including new connections in other regions, the global number of internet users relying on the web had now officially surpassed one million.
The growth was even faster than Simon had predicted.
As a result, Simon adjusted his plans and decided to begin aggressively expanding his internet strategy early next year.
Ygritte, America Online, and Cisco, the three core companies in Simon's internet portfolio, had already begun planning their 1991 strategies last month. Also last month, Ygritte started constructing two additional data centers on the East and West Coasts, each capable of serving two million users. Both were expected to begin operation in mid January.
Mid January 1991 also happened to be when the Gulf War would begin.
The cloud computing project was still progressing quietly. Because it involved numerous technical challenges, it required time. However, many other plans could not wait.
Once the two new data centers were completed, Ygritte's total capacity would reach five million users. That far exceeded current demand, so the company would launch Carol Bartz's one stop website solution plan earlier than expected, providing server space and full website development services for businesses interested in establishing an online presence.
This would not only generate revenue but also greatly expand the amount of content available on the internet.
But this was only one of several initiatives finalized in recent days.
Beginning early next year, Ygritte would also push into both the media and social networking sectors simultaneously. Peter Butler's recruitment was part of that strategy. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos had spent the past few months recruiting talented media professionals across various fields to join Ygritte.
After Simon's earlier attempt to collaborate with the Hearst Corporation failed, Ygritte abandoned the idea of relying on traditional media partners and decided to build its own newsroom.
In early January, just days away, the new version of the Ygritte portal would officially launch.
The portal would introduce a first generation search engine developed quietly over the past year. Its media section would expand to eleven channels, including news, finance, sports, entertainment, fashion, and technology. Some channels, such as news, would also contain subcategories like domestic news, international news, and photo journalism.
In the social sector, after a year of technical development, Ygritte personal pages would split into two features: blog columns and micro blogs, allowing for more specialized user communities.
To encourage participation, Ygritte would host monthly online events throughout the coming year, offering cash prizes or gifts.
In addition, the portal's email, forums, and online gaming sections would all receive upgrades. Simon's housekeeper was also preparing to test an e commerce platform during the next year.
With more than one million users, the platform still could not generate profits comparable to traditional newspapers of similar reach. Even so, it had already become a media presence that could not be ignored.
Simon hoped that through aggressive expansion in the coming year, the number of global web users could surpass five million in 1991.
Once that milestone was reached, Ygritte could begin building a truly profitable internet ecosystem.
To achieve that goal, Simon had not imposed any budget limit on Ygritte this year.
As long as results followed, even if Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz spent five hundred million or even one billion dollars over the next year, Simon was willing to fund it.
In the original timeline, many internet unicorns had burned tens of billions of dollars over several years and still failed. Compared with that, Simon believed his current investments were highly worthwhile. Once the internet industry exploded, the accumulated technology and content could quickly translate into enormous market value through IPOs. [1]
If he wished, Simon could easily recover all early investments simply by selling a portion of his shares.
America Online would follow the same approach.
Simon had promised that after completing the Bell Atlantic acquisition there would be no layoffs. Besides expanding into mobile communications, the decision was also intended to support America Online's growth.
Although Bell Atlantic would not immediately enter internet access services, the company would deepen its cooperation with America Online. The East Coast states within Bell Atlantic's territory would become AOL's primary expansion targets next year.
Also starting next month, America Online would launch a large scale free trial program.
Customers who scheduled an internet installation would pay nothing. AOL would send technicians to set up the service and provide up to three hours of free internet use per day for an entire month. The first phase of the promotion would last at least three months.
The timing was perfect.
Because next month, the Gulf War would begin.
Inside the cabin of the returning flight to Los Angeles, Simon spent much of the trip discussing the issue with Peter Butler.
"The internet media platform has only just been born, but compared with newspapers and television, its advantages are obvious," Simon said.
"Take a major event like the coming war in the Gulf. A daily newspaper cannot deliver real time updates. A twenty four hour channel like CNN can report instantly, but it cannot preserve information effectively. People can't sit in front of a television all day."
"A portal website solves both problems. We can deliver information instantly and store it permanently. Users can log in at any time to see current news or review earlier developments. And the amount of content a portal can provide far exceeds what newspapers or television can offer."
"If we seize the opportunity next month, the Ygritte portal's media business will leave a lasting impression."
Many major media outlets throughout history had risen during pivotal events.
William Randolph Hearst's newspaper empire expanded dramatically during the Spanish American War, which his publications helped stir up. In later years, Fox News gained prominence through extensive coverage of the September 11 attacks.
The coming Gulf War presented a similar opportunity for Ygritte.
Peter Butler was still occasionally teased about the article he wrote about Simon years earlier, which some colleagues had called excessive praise for the Westeros empire. Even so, his promotions within the Los Angeles Times had been steady and noticeable.
Yet in a newspaper with more than a century of history, reaching the top required far more than talent.
So when Simon personally invited him to join Igreat and oversee the news and finance sections of the portal, Butler quickly decided to resign from his newly promoted deputy editor position.
As a journalist, Butler understood the importance of those two sections. Although he did not receive control over additional channels, he recognized the sincerity of Simon's offer.
And he never believed his job was simply a reward for that flattering article.
The young man sitting beside him had already created enough miracles to justify every word in that piece.
After Simon finished speaking, Butler said, "Simon, I've been thinking about something. Around mid January next month, I plan to travel to Saudi Arabia myself to cover the situation."
Simon's eyes showed clear approval.
"No problem. Just make sure things are properly arranged here in North America."
Their discussion continued as the plane soon landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
Outside the window, the sky had already darkened.
After parting ways with Peter Butler, Simon hurried back to the Doom Point estate. After changing clothes, he and Janet headed to the Daenerys Studio party, arriving a little after seven thirty.
The moment the couple entered the main hall of the studio's event center, they naturally became the center of attention.
After exchanging greetings with various guests, they joined a small circle of studio executives. No sooner had Simon finished greeting them than Columbia Pictures CEO Peter Cooper spoke up.
"Simon, the box office for Home Alone is truly unexpected."
Everyone around them turned toward Simon with varying expressions.
During the past week, the biggest box office surprise in Hollywood had undoubtedly been Home Alone, which premiered on December 21.
This children's comedy, perfectly suited for the holiday season, had earned $26.15 million during its opening weekend from December 21 to December 23. That alone was impressive, but what followed surprised the industry even more.
After entering the weekday period, both audience interest and daily box office revenue continued rising.
There was a brief slowdown on Christmas Eve Monday, but on Tuesday and Wednesday the film's daily earnings greatly exceeded expectations. While Thursday's numbers would not be finalized until after midnight, industry analysts already predicted that Home Alone's first week total would certainly surpass $40 million.
If that happened, it would become only the second film of 1990 to exceed $40 million in a single week, following Die Hard 2.
However, Die Hard 2 had suffered a steep drop of more than 50 percent in its second week. That trajectory was clearly very different from Home Alone, whose momentum was still increasing.
Before the release, based on John Hughes's previous box office record, some analysts had predicted Home Alone might only reach $40 million in total domestic revenue.
Now it had earned that much in its first week alone.
Until now, Hollywood widely believed that the summer hit Ghost, which finished its run with $217 million in North America, would remain the box office champion of 1990 and the only film of the year to surpass $200 million domestically.
But with Home Alone suddenly exploding in popularity, the film now had a strong chance of surpassing Ghost's total and claiming the top spot at the 1990 box office.
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[1: An estimated 24,000 firms had raised $256 billion in venture capital and IPO funding, much of which was quickly burned.]