"I've only found five people so far. But don't forget—this might've started a long time ago. I can't say for sure how many were actually bribed. And if the transactions were made in cash, then it's pretty much impossible for me to track them all down."
In such a short window of time, the only real tool available was the internet. Xiao Ye had some contacts who could hack into several banks to check whether any of Laila's employees had recently shown drastic changes in spending behavior.
And, as luck would have it, after going through the people on Laila's side, a thought crossed his mind—and he "casually" decided to check some folks under the Moran Group as well. The results shocked him: there were indeed people on that side involved, too.
With so many employees under the Moran Group, there was no way to check every single one of them in such a short time. So he only looked at those who had performed poorly or were in dire financial straits. The result? He uncovered three more individuals!
What worried him most was the issue of cash. Americans typically use credit cards, making their spending easier to trace. But if someone was paid in cash? That made things exponentially harder to track.
It wasn't that he couldn't find them—it would just take a lot more time. And time was exactly what he didn't have. After all, tomorrow was the premiere of Avengers. If this wasn't dealt with before the media began their "exposé," it'd be too late.
"You keep digging. Get as much as you can. I'll make some other preparations on my end."
Laila had initially considered reporting it to the police and leaking the story herself to catch the enemy off guard. But after thinking it over all night, she abandoned the idea. This kind of situation wasn't easy to explain, and it was even harder to control.
She was judging by her own standards. If one of her competitors found themselves in a similar situation—even if they exposed it themselves—she could think of a hundred ways to drag them down into the muck, making it impossible for them to claw their way out.
The same logic applies in reverse. If the person behind this was capable of using similar tactics, they could manipulate public opinion and turn Laila into a liar, a fraud, a box office cheat.
So she had to keep this buried. Not even a speck of that filth could be allowed to stain her reputation.
The biggest problem now was the lack of time. They had no way of knowing just how many people had been bribed, or how many theaters had actually agreed to participate in this plot for money. If it really was just those five people, then even without her taking action, her grandfather could come up with a hundred ways to make them talk and then work to clean up the fallout.
Unfortunately, that was the biggest unknown—they had no idea how many hands were reaching up from the abyss to drag Dragon Soul Studios into hell.
While Laila was racing against the clock to handle the crisis, on the other side, someone was already celebrating what they saw as a certain victory.
"Well done, Cooper. You've finally done something that actually pleased me." Faaris broke tradition by pouring Cooper a drink himself. Then, as Cooper received the glass with trembling hands, Faaris patted him on the shoulder. "Why didn't you bring out such a brilliant plan sooner? If not for that hundred-million-dollar debt hanging over your head, were you just going to sit on it forever?"
"No, Mr. Faaris. I only came up with it recently. You have to believe me—if I'd thought of this earlier, I would've told you right away."
Faaris actually believed him—at least to a degree. He knew very well how much Cooper hated Laila and how badly he wanted to see her fail. If he had come up with such a perfect plan to wipe out Laila and her company from Hollywood, he would've used it immediately. No way he'd have waited this long.
What he didn't know, though, was that Cooper was lying.
It wasn't that Cooper hadn't thought of such a plan before—he had. Initially, he didn't have the money to pull it off. Later, when Faaris started backing him, he became afraid. Because he knew this was the kind of scandal that could never be taken back. Once exposed, it wouldn't just destroy Laila—it could drag half of Hollywood down with her.
Cooper could watch Laila burn, but he couldn't bear to see Hollywood collapse because of him. To filmmakers, Hollywood wasn't just a place—it was a belief, a sacred ideal. How could he destroy his own faith with his own hands?
But things were different now. A hundred million dollars in debt had stripped him of all humanity, all shame—and had ripped that so-called belief clean out of his heart. If he wanted to survive and not live like some dignity-less beggar, he had to take Laila down.
And deep inside, there was also a festering sense of resentment. Why should he be treated like this by Faaris? Why was she, Laila, able to rise without hindrance and become a legend?
He was already halfway in hell. If he could drag someone down with him, then it wouldn't be a total loss.
With that mindset, he shared the plan with Faaris. And the only one who could actually carry it out was Faisal himself. He had the money, the connections, the experience. If it were left to Cooper, he'd probably botch it—either by going too soft or being too sloppy and getting caught.
To be fair, Faaris really had executed it well. If not for Louise and her extensive network throughout Hollywood, they might've actually succeeded.
Even now, after the plot had been uncovered, it would be extremely difficult for Laila's side to quietly sweep the damage under the rug. Not even Faaris knew how many people had actually been pulled into this. His approach was simple: distribute the money to his underlings and let them use it however they saw fit to bribe anyone connected to Laila.
And by "connected," he didn't mean just her personally—even her family, her acquaintances, or anyone remotely linked to her. All that mattered was that the public could see a connection and immediately associate the scandal with her. There was no point in targeting someone completely unrelated—if the media caught that, it'd be too easy to twist the narrative into Laila being framed.
When Cooper had first pitched the idea to him, Faaris hadn't realized just how much chaos it could cause. He'd only been in Hollywood for two or three years and mainly moved in investor circles—he didn't have deep ties to the industry itself.
But after consulting with his advisors, he understood the magnitude. This could very well bring down both Laila and Dragon Soul Studios.
And that delighted him.
Like Cooper, his hatred for Laila had only grown with every defeat. He kept running into obstacles, while she moved forward without a hitch. Worse, every scheme he had aimed at her ended in embarrassing failure. Even if she never knew he was the one behind them, he still felt utterly humiliated.