Point Dume Estate.
The car had just stopped when Janet, who was already waiting outside the villa, came forward to greet her.
Veronica Johnston stepped out of the car, still dressed in her usual formal black women's suit and black high heels.
Her gaze subconsciously landed on Janet's bulging belly. The habitual coolness on Veronica's face softened a little, and the corners of her mouth lifted in what was almost a smile.
"Alright, alright, Iceberg. If you can't smile, don't force it. It looks so strange." Janet walked up to Veronica, affectionately wrapped her arms around her aunt in a careful hug, and couldn't resist teasing her. She added, "Also, you finally decided to come see me."
Veronica gently patted Janet on the back and whispered as if explaining, "I've been very busy."
Janet only teased her once and didn't continue the topic. She took Veronica's arm and turned toward the Shell Villa. "Look, this is the house Simon and I live in. Beautiful, right?"
Veronica looked up at the building, which she had actually seen photos of in many magazines.
Because this villa had a very distinctive design style and location, it had sparked a similar design trend in recent years. Veronica also knew that the Manhattan Westeros Tower currently under construction would definitely be even more dazzling than the Shell Villa once completed.
After admiring it with Janet for a moment, Veronica nodded. "It's very beautiful."
Janet giggled with a bit of pride and continued holding Veronica's arm. "Let's go inside. I'll show you around first. Also, I've already prepared a room for you. You'll stay here for the next couple of days."
Veronica shook her head. "I've already booked a room at the Hilton. My luggage has been sent over."
"Then cancel it. You came all the way to Los Angeles and are staying at a hotel instead of home. The media will definitely start guessing wildly, and things are annoying enough these days."
As Janet spoke, she turned and instructed Neil Bennett, who had picked up Veronica, to go to the Hilton to retrieve the luggage.
Veronica hesitated for a moment. Thinking that Simon was not in Los Angeles these days, she didn't insist.
If it weren't for... she wouldn't have come this time either.
Today was September 25, Wednesday.
Veronica had come to Los Angeles not only to visit Janet but also to handle some MGM matters.
The two took a simple tour inside the Shell Villa, chatting about various recent trivial matters as they walked around. Of course, Janet did most of the talking.
Finally, they sat down on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling glass wall facing the sea. It was still a little past ten in the morning.
In late September in Los Angeles, the morning sunlight was perfect, and the scenery of blue sky, white clouds, and sea outside the glass wall was breathtakingly beautiful.
Clinging to Veronica rather affectionately, Janet said, "Put work aside for now. Lunch is already being prepared. If you're tired, you can rest after eating. What time is it in Australia right now? Um, it should be..."
Veronica took the water glass handed over by the D-girl, thanked her, and replied to Janet, "It should be a little past five in the morning. I slept on the plane, so I don't need to rest."
"Our 767 is pretty great, right? Too bad Simon is coming back the day after tomorrow. The plane has to go to Europe to pick someone up. Otherwise, it could have sent you back."
Veronica had rushed over today. After handling things here tomorrow and the day after, she had to fly back to Australia on the afternoon of the 27th, roughly the same time Simon would return to Los Angeles from Europe.
Of course, adjusting the schedule slightly would not be a problem.
However, neither Veronica nor Janet mentioned this issue.
The two were chatting casually when the housekeeper Alice Ferguson walked over with a folder. After greeting Veronica, she handed the folder to Janet and said, "Mr. Norman has drafted the statement. Madam, if there are no issues, it can be published in the Los Angeles Times tomorrow."
Janet opened the folder.
With the release of the new Forbes America's 400 Richest list, more and more people had recently been claiming to be Simon's parents and hoping to claim kinship. The response strategy that Simon and Janet had discussed earlier had developed a small flaw. A couple who had been paid off to deliberately steer things toward a farce suddenly publicly admitted in the media that they had received money, causing a wave of public opinion.
The media's imagination was always very rich.
The exposure of this paid couple made the whole matter seem even more like a farce.
However, some people questioned whether there were other unspeakable inside stories behind the incident.
Although no one had traced who exactly had paid the couple, Simon himself had become a target of suspicion for some media outlets.
After several phone discussions, Simon and Janet decided to put a complete end to it.
The basic content of the current statement was this: Simon Westeros had already learned about his background and had properly handled the matter privately. In view of this, anyone attempting to claim kinship could only be impostors. Simon Westeros would not respond to any related matters in the future.
This statement was of course factual for Simon.
However, Janet definitely did not know certain things.
Because Janet was right beside her, Veronica also looked at the statement document in her hands. Her expression inevitably showed some abnormality, and she glanced at Janet with a trace of unease.
He had asked her back then to keep this secret forever.
And she had kept it tightly, even when Janet had misunderstood some things. She had never explained.
Now.
Had he told Janet?
Janet read through the statement in her hands carefully twice before handing it to the housekeeper beside her. "No problem. Have George release it."
After the housekeeper left, Janet turned back to her aunt and noticed the flicker in Veronica's eyes. She asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Veronica tried her best to calm herself and said casually, "Simon... he found his parents?"
Janet shook her head, then nodded. "Recently, well, you should know. Every time the Forbes list comes out in recent years, a lot of people jump out claiming to be Simon's parents. So we wanted to use this statement to end similar farces. Actually, I think Simon probably knows who his parents are. But he refuses to tell me, and he must have had a very hard time when he was young. He has no intention of acknowledging them at all."
Veronica actually didn't want her family to know certain things either.
However, hearing that Simon had not told Janet, she suddenly felt some worry again and asked, "Janet, is he... good to you?"
Janet picked up the small fruit plate that the D-girl had just brought over from the coffee table in front of her and ate the fruit with a fork. Hearing this, she blinked a few times and smiled. "Of course."
"Then," Veronica pointed at Janet's belly, "he still went to Europe this time?"
"After I got pregnant, as long as he's in Los Angeles, he comes home on time at five o'clock every day to accompany me. He used to rarely get off work before six. This trip to Europe couldn't be helped. The Wonder Woman project is very important to Daenerys Entertainment."
Janet explained, then leaned over and rubbed against her aunt. "That little rascal may have some improper thoughts, but he's really good to me. Iceberg, you... um... you just need to stay away from him. Whatever you do, don't let him succeed. Otherwise it would be too terrible."
Because she didn't know the real reason, Janet was convinced that Simon had improper designs on her aunt.
At other times she still habitually called Veronica "Iceberg," a habit from childhood that could not be easily changed in a short time. However, to remind a certain someone, in front of him she now deliberately called Veronica "Aunt."
It seemed to have no effect though.
Janet occasionally wondered what she would do if that guy actually succeeded.
Have a big fight?
She didn't have that trait in her bones and wouldn't make a huge scene with anyone.
Beat him up?
Too light.
Moreover, thinking about her man's physique, even if he didn't fight back, her hits probably wouldn't have much effect unless she used a tool.
Kill him?
Well, she couldn't bear to.
Divorce him?
Never thought about it.
Cold war?
That would have too little lethality.
In fact, she even felt that if something like that really happened, it didn't seem... that serious?
Veronica had already explained herself that night last time. Seeing Janet starting to talk nonsense again, she could only helplessly glare at her and say nothing more, pretending she hadn't heard.
At eleven o'clock, the D-girl came to remind them that lunch was ready.
After lunch, although she said she had rested on the plane, Veronica was still sent by Janet to take a nap in the prepared room.
She only slept for a little over an hour. When she woke up, it was not even two o'clock in the afternoon yet.
Coming downstairs, Janet was in a seaside living room on the east side of the villa hall, having a long phone conversation with Simon who was far away in Italy.
She quietly sat to the side listening to Janet and Simon talk. It seemed to already be past ten at night in Italy, and the other side was obviously very patient, so she felt relieved.
The Wonder Woman crew was recently stationed in Naples, southern Italy.
Naples was also a major Italian city with a long history. The famous ancient city of Pompeii was located on the outskirts of Naples. There were also many architectural ruins from ancient Greek and Roman times nearby, which happened to be perfect as filming locations for Themyscira.
Simon had stayed one night in Venice before rushing to Naples the next day.
He had spent the following week personally overseeing the filming of Wonder Woman.
To accommodate Simon's schedule, the crew had specially arranged an important battle scene for this week, the one where German forces followed Steve to Themyscira and encountered the Amazons.
After the tempering from consecutive films like Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight, and The Flash, the behind-the-scenes team cultivated by Daenerys Entertainment showed their strength to the fullest in this scene.
One of the important reasons why the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the original timeline could still produce very outstanding series films without big-name directors in control was the powerful behind-the-scenes action and effects team.
Simon had attached great importance to this from the very beginning.
Moreover, the director Simon had chosen for Wonder Woman, Martin Campbell, was also more capable than the rookie directors promoted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his memory.
Although to Hollywood, the three people Simon had chosen back then, Jan de Bont for the Batman series, Martin Campbell for the Wonder Woman series, and Roland Emmerich for the Superman series, could only be considered rookies or second-tier directors.
However, only Simon himself knew that these people's potential far exceeded those real rookie directors in his memory.
Having considered personal style and other elements in advance, the several directors all cherished the opportunity greatly and none dared to act willfully.
Therefore, from The Dark Knight to this Wonder Woman, or including Warner's The Flash which would be released at the end of the year, for the three films, the success of The Dark Knight had already been proven, and the filming results of the other two had also reached Simon's expectations.
It happened to coincide with the time when Forbes announced the new annual America's 400 Richest list. Besides work during the day, Simon kept receiving various party invitations from Italian local powers.
Since he had decided to expand into Europe, Simon had not refused the hospitality of the Italian local snakes.
Moreover, these people were sincere enough, specially choosing the gathering location in Naples.
Tonight's event was a party hosted by the famous Agnelli family of Italy, held on a yacht off the coast of Naples.
As the founder of the Fiat Group, the Agnelli family was known as Italy's true "royal family." With a century-long family heritage, they controlled Italy's largest industrial group and held a status in Italy even higher than the Ford family in America.
Of course, the Agnelli family's wealth that could rival a nation was only relative to Italy.
The family's overall wealth, when converted, was less than five billion dollars.
However, the Agnelli family's influence in Italy was something that an emerging rich man like Simon could not compare to at all.
Although he had accepted the Agnelli family's invitation, Simon had no intention of entering the traditional automobile industry.
It was well known that after entering the new century, the traditional automobile industry would rapidly decline.
However, Simon's participation in the Agnelli family gathering was of course not without purpose.
In addition to building good relations with Italy's biggest local powerhouse, there were actually many areas where the two sides could cooperate, such as car product placement in films produced by Daenerys Entertainment.
Automotive placement had always been a major advertising revenue source in Hollywood. The most famous example was probably the James Bond series and Aston Martin.
In addition, establishing this connection would definitely bring many benefits to the Westeros System's development in Italy. The Agnelli family also had ideas of expanding out of Italy into North America. It was a perfect match for both sides.
By the time he returned to his residence in downtown Naples, it was already ten o'clock at night.
Considering some details from tonight's gathering, Simon called Los Angeles as usual to have a long phone chat with Janet. They discussed some matters regarding the statement. In the end, he was teased by Janet, who claimed that her aunt was sitting right beside her and asked if Simon wanted to come back early.
Coming back early was definitely not possible.
Tomorrow was the opening of Milan Fashion Week.
Gucci's big show for this autumn was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Simon had to attend the show the day after tomorrow before he could return.67