"Didn't you always say, 'don't let outsiders benefit from your own fortune'?" Roy teased with a grin while they waited at a red light. "You can't blame him for chasing you down for interview rights. If I were a reporter, I'd be chasing you, too. Avengers hasn't even fully left theaters yet, and the box office is already close to 2.8 billion. You're basically last year's Cameron—how could the media possibly let go of such a hot topic?"
Seeing that she still looked troubled, he gave her hand a gentle pat. "Don't overthink it. It's fine to share a little info with him. They don't even know the wedding location, so it's not like it'll cause much trouble."
That was true.
In fact, she didn't even know the wedding location.
Laila gave a thoughtful nod. "Alright, I know what to do now."
Sure enough, the next day, she saw Anthony already waiting outside her office. She immediately felt that familiar mix of amusement and frustration.
"Why am I not even a little surprised to see you here?"
If someone could shamelessly haul over their toiletries and spare clothes, it meant they were fully prepared to throw away their pride for the cause.
The moment he saw her arrive, Anthony immediately fell in step beside her and followed her into the office.
"Thank you for the compliment," he said smoothly. "Here's the list of questions I've prepared—could you take a look and see if anything needs to be changed?"
"…I haven't even agreed to do the interview yet," Laila muttered.
And here he was already handing over a complete question set?
This was the first time she genuinely found his work efficiency annoying.
After setting down her things, she finally opened the document he handed her. Ten full A4 pages, densely packed with tiny text. Her lips twitched as she flipped through them.
"You're sure all of these are for me?"
Anthony, thick-skinned as ever, looked slightly embarrassed for once.
"Ahem… these were gathered from the whole team."
In other words: not just my fault. If you want to deduct bonuses, make it a group punishment.
He hadn't expected the team to be so enthusiastic. As soon as word got out that they were collecting interview questions for Laila, everyone jumped in like their lives depended on it.
As Laila skimmed through page after page, she had to admit—no wonder her media group was so successful.
Her staff's instincts were razor-sharp. Over half of the questions were direct, high-interest, and guaranteed to appeal to the public and drive readership.
The rest weren't lacking in quality either—just a bit less impactful by comparison. But still enough to spark online discussions.
She sighed and set the papers down on her desk. "You really don't let any opportunity go to waste."
Anthony gave her a sheepish smile—the kind someone shows after being praised.
Laila's fingers itched. This man? Shy? If he were really bashful, he wouldn't have walked in here with a full interrogation list. He was clearly a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"Too bad I can't answer most of these questions," she said, spreading her hands.
"Why not?" Anthony instantly dropped the pretense and switched to professional mode.
He'd already pre-filtered the list before bringing it to her. Otherwise, she'd be looking at double the number of questions.
The ones he picked were specifically chosen because he thought they could be answered and would stir public interest. So why couldn't she answer?
"Roy's taken over everything related to the wedding," Laila replied honestly. "I don't know a single detail, so I can't give you any answers. If your team digs up anything, I'd be willing to pay to read it myself."
Anthony's expression froze.
…Okay, he hadn't seen that one coming.
"…How about this?" he tried, regrouping. "You answer whatever you can, and we leave the rest out?"
Laila nodded. "Sure."
Aside from knowing she was getting married in October, she really didn't know anything else. Not like saying that would cause any harm—no one could stake out every potential wedding venue for the entire month of October, right?
But when the interview was published in The Entertainer later that week, Laila realized she had once again underestimated Anthony's tactical brilliance.
Despite preparing a mountain of questions, Anthony had—of course—chosen the path of maximum impact.
He split the interview into multiple installments. And for the first release? He deliberately held back all the juicy wedding content.
Instead, Issue 1 only covered questions related to the Avengers.
People rushed to buy the paper after hearing Laila's exclusive interview would be featured, but were mildly disappointed when the first issue only talked about the movie.
Fortunately, Anthony wasn't foolish—he still included several headline-worthy points, so once the initial letdown passed, readers found themselves absorbed by what Laila did share.
For example:
– Was she satisfied with the film surpassing $2.8 billion globally?
– Did she believe it had a shot at dethroning Avatar?
– Was she planning a sequel or spin-off?
Laila's answers were polished and diplomatic.
She first thanked fans from around the world for their support and love.
She said she was already pleasantly surprised by the film's performance. As for breaking records? That was up to fate.
What mattered to her was that she'd made a film that people genuinely enjoyed—and that the experience had only inspired her to make even more great films in the future.
At this point, it had been two months since the premiere. In many countries, the film had already stopped screening. In the remaining markets, it was in its final stages. With less than $200 million to go, most insiders believed breaking the $3 billion mark was highly unlikely.
Still, the interview reminded many readers that the film was still in theaters.
Subscribers of The Entertainer had access to daily box office updates, so they were well informed.
Other casual readers? Not so much. Some were only now realizing the film hadn't finished its run.
The result? A surprising number of people decided to go watch it again.
Some wanted to help push the film to box office history.
Some simply enjoyed the movie and wanted another viewing.
Others felt it would be a shame not to see it at least once before it left theaters.
Whatever their reasons, the outcome was clear:
After the article was published, the film's declining box office suddenly spiked upward again.
It wasn't a massive surge—but even a few million more in late-stage sales was almost unheard of.
The entire film industry couldn't help but be amazed at Laila's sheer influence.
All she did was give one interview—didn't even show her face—and yet it resulted in millions of dollars in new ticket sales.