I'm in Hollywood

"Come with me." Eric plainly said to Ildiko Jaid as he shut the door and walked straight inside the mansion.

Jaid hastily followed behind Eric, her eyes darting all over the place. When she saw the high-end modern-styled mansion, she couldn't help but gasp in envy.

Although Drew was quite popular, she was still young and didn't have that many roles offer. After starring in E.T, she had only played in four or five movies and the pay she got wasn't high, it honestly wasn't enough for Ildiko Jaid to splurge contentedly, let alone for her to buy such a luxurious estate.

To top it all, Drew's self-awareness had grown a lot this year, and their mutual relationship was also getting worse. Jaid knew that at this rate, it would become difficult for her to scrounge off of her daughter in the future, so when she was tempted into prosecuting Eric, she had only considered it for a moment before agreeing.

Someone promised her that just by signing the prosecution file as Drew's guardian she could get a lot of money, and she didn't even need to appear in person as everything would be handled by the attorneys. To someone as greedy as Jaid, this was equivalent to a pie falling from the sky, how could she possibly refuse ?

In the living room, Drew was sitting on the sofa, and when she heard the sound of someone coming in, she turned around. The moment she saw her mother, the blossoming smile on her face melted like snow under the sun. The girl's expression underwent various changes, and she finally couldn't suppress her rage as she stood up, grabbed a pillow and readily threw it at Jaid while screaming: "What are you doing here ?"

Noticing the pillow flying over, Eric deftly intercepted it. He stared at the girl and said: "Drew, behave."

Although Ildiko Jaid didn't dare be arrogant in front of Eric, she didn't have any scruples when it came to her daughter. She shouted: "You little wench, you even dare to throw things at me now ! What do you mean what am I doing here, I'm your mother, of course I came to take you home."

"Well that's ironic." Drew snickered, she pointed at Jaid, "I had so many nights out, one time I was so drunk I was picked up by the cops on the roadside and sent home, where were you then ? Now you're actually claiming to be my mother ? Ha, what a joke."

Ildiko Jaid retorted: "That's because you never listen, if you obediently stayed home, would these kind of things happen ?! Also, what's up with all those bed sheets you ruined, do you think money grows on trees ?! That won't do, come with me, we're going home, we'll talk then."

Ildiko Jaid stepped forward, she was going to fetch Drew back.

When Eric heard her, his forehead couldn't help but crease. Drew's knee was bandaged, it was obvious that she was injured, yet this woman was actually more preoccupied about a few sheets. He couldn't help but feel disgusted.

Drew who was still near the sofa, dodged her mother’s reaching hand and shouted: "Don't even think about it, I'm not going back with you, I already know what you're up to and I've told everything to Eric ! For money you would actually go so far as to falsely accuse him, I'll never forgive you, I want to sever our relationship."

"You….. What nonsense !" At the girl's sudden outburst, Ildiko Jaid froze. She guiltily looked at Eric, at a loss of what to do for a moment.

Seeing her mother so shocked, Drew sneered: "What's wrong, bull's eye, huh ? Leaving aside the fact that Eric and I have never had this kind of relationship, even if we did, as long as I don't acknowledge it, so what ? I dare you to try and falsely accuse Eric, then I'll gladly testify against you and see you off to jail."

Noticing the girl wasn't pulling her punches and had even apparently more to spare, Eric hastily stopped her in a timely manner. "Alright, enough. Drew you go upstairs, I need to talk with your mother alone."

Drew stared at Ildiko Jaid, then she coldly snorted and left.

"Sit down, let’s talk." Eric put back the pillow on the sofa and sat down.

Ildiko Jaid's was slightly down as she sat opposite Eric. The words her daughter had said kept replaying in her head and she suddenly realized that the money wouldn't be so easy to get. She had originally thought that the relationship between Drew and Eric was the same as the one her daughter had with those previous scoundrels. She thought that, as long as she could persuade Drew and entice her with money, the girl would agree to testify against Eric.

But after Drew's intense flare up just now, Ildiko Jaid realized that her daughter had fallen helplessly in love with the man in front of her. The mother and daughter had quarreled a lot in the past, but Drew had never brought out something as radical as wanting the severing of their relationship.

More importantly, even if she had prosecuted Eric and eventually lost the lawsuit, Ildiko Jaid felt she wouldn't be suffering any losses. But now, Drew had actually stated that she would testify against her, and with the youth's wealth and status, would he let her go so easily ?

Think of this, Jaid couldn't help but shudder.

Eyeying the woman who seemed to be struggling internally, Eric's lips curved into a sneer. He asked: "Well, you heard Drew, so what are you gonna do ?"

Jaid stayed silent.

"Perhaps the other party has given you money to do this, but I am no pushover. As Drew said, what you are planning on doing is nothing short of false accusation, and I can sue you for it. Once you're in jail, those who instigated you to do this, I guarantee they won't lift a single finger for you. The next thing that happens is Drew growing up and, out of hatred, severing your mother-daughter relationship. Do you know what comes after that ?"

Opposite him, Jaid subconsciously nodded, then she hastily shook her head.

Eric continued: "What comes after that is you losing your most important source of income. You're then likely to spend the rest of your life in poverty, you might even end up in the slums of L.A."

Thinking of that horrible possibility, Jaid was emboldened enough to retort: "No, impossible, she wouldn't do that to me, I raised her !"

"So what, you've lived off of her for so many years, Drew doesn't owe you anything. Even if you tried to appeal to the media with your story, no one would sympathize with you."

Having said this, Eric let the woman ponder on his words for a moment before asking: "Did those people pay you yet ?"

Ildiko Jaid feebly shook her head: "They said that they would give the money to me once I signed the papers."

Eric nodded with satisfaction: "That's good, it means it's still not too late now, so I'll give you another option. Go back and reject those people, I will give you money instead, but you have to promise not to interfere with Drew's life anymore. I will assign her a manager who will take care of her daily life, and once Drew has reached adulthood, I will convince her to pay you a yearly alimony, enough for you to live a decent middle-class life."

Eric finished, took out his checkbook, filled a check in and pushed it in front of the woman.

Ildiko Jaid glanced at the sum inscribed on it, and her eyes flashed. She slightly stretched her hand, but quickly drew back, as she greedily stated: "Mr. Williams, one million dollars, is it not too little ?"

Eric snorted coldly: "You're right, maybe I should change it to half a million."

Ildiko Jaid hastily grabbed the check and hugged it as if her life depended on it.

"Well, since you’ve made your choice, then I have a few things to say. First of all, you can't make money using Drew's name anymore, that includes disclosing her private life to reporters, appearing on TV stations or writing a book about her…. I'll have my lawyer draw up a private contract and enforce it, once you break our agreement, then everything I have mentioned today no longer stands, and you'll have to spit out as much money as you got."

Jaid weighed the pros and cons, and realizing Eric's deal would bring her more benefits, she quickly nodded.

"Very well, Ms. Barrymore, you can take your leave, I'll have the lawyers prepare the contract as soon as possible."

Ildiko Jaid chatted with Eric for a bit, then left, no longer caring about Drew as she hurried away.

Once the woman was out, Drew went back downstairs. Her face was flushed with excitement as she rushed towards Eric and rubbed her petite body against his: "One million, Eric you're so generous, this one is yours now."

Eric rubbed Drew's head and smiled: "What do you mean 'you're mine', girl you're not a doll. By the way, you owe me one million dollars, you'll have to pay me back in the future."

Drew shamelessly said: "No way, I'll take responsibility, I'll repay you with my body— Ouch !"

Eric flicked her forehead: "Stop talking nonsense, did you order the food yet ?"

"Yup, I did." Drew said. "Eric, why did you tell her that I'll give her money every year in the future…. I don't want to support her, I'd rather she became dead poor."

Eric sighed as he rubbed the little girl's head. Drew was still only a child after all, it was inevitable for her thoughts to grow extreme, she still had a lot to learn. His past's Drew had even given alimony to the father that had abandoned her, so he reckoned things would probably not be that much different this time around.

"You'll understand in the future Drew..… There's such a thing as fate, and people are just unable to extricate themselves from it."

Drew seemed to understand as she nodded, but soon changed the subject: "So Eric, can I live in your house ?"

Eric shook his head: "You should go back to studying, I’m going to send you to a good boarding school, how long has it been since you've attended a class ?"

"Ah, Eric, don't ! I get a headache every time I see a book, can't I just keep making movies ?"

"No." Eric categorically refused and said: "Like it or not, you at least have to finish high school, this can also be counted as gaining experience. Besides, you're still young, there's not that many movies for you to star in."

"Alright, I'll listen to you." Drew obediently agreed to Eric's arrangements, while already calculating ways to do what she loved most: skip class.

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