Behind The Spotlight Chapter 158
Three weeks ago, Lawrence received a letter which arrived unexpectedly early in the morning, catching him slightly off guard. He had just bought a nice house in Beverly Hills worth $5 million. This was one of his biggest purchases since becoming a successful actor, his other major purchase was fully paying his parents' mortgage and buying them a bigger house in their neighborhood, something he had always dreamed of doing since earning his first paycheck.
He said that being a landlord would be great and told them to rent the properties, he didn't want his parents to work again.
Anyway, back to the stalking issue. When Lawrence received the letter, he thought it was just a simple letter, a water bill, or something routine. Only a few people knew the address of his new house.
But he grew confused when he opened it. The letter only had one sentence: "I Love You To Death." Aside from the letter, there was a long strand of black hair. Lawrence thought nothing of it. It was an anonymous letter with no information about the sender, so he assumed it was nonsense.
But when another letter arrived, Lawrence started to grow skeptical. That letter also had a single sentence: "Let's Get Married." He treated it as a harmless prank, although a tiny part of him knew it wasn't normal.
Then the third day arrived. This time, a box came with a letter attached to it. He curiously opened the box and found used underwear… He frowned and decided not to read the letter anymore.
Since then, the letters kept arriving, and Lawrence contacted the postal service that supposedly delivered them.
"I want to know the person who sent me these letters." He went to the postal service personally with his assistant and showed them the letters.
"Um, I'm sorry, sir, but these letters didn't come from us."
"But the postal tracking number said they came from you. Your company's name is even written on it."
"That's the problem, sir. We never had any letter delivered to your address. And this tracking number… it's not in our system."
"What the hell does that mean?" Lawrence asked, feeling a chill crawl up his spine.
"It means they didn't use our service."
"Then how did these letters arrive in front of my house?"
"Perhaps they delivered them personally?"
"..."
Lawrence was speechless because that possibility was far worse than anything he initially imagined.
'You mean the sender visited my house every fucking day?'
That idea made him tremble. He immediately contacted Collin to look for security personnel to guard his house. In the meantime, he rented an apartment in a secure hotel.
He thought the problem would end because the letters stopped arriving and he finally slept peacefully for the first time in days.
But while he was working on his new project in the studio, a comedy film, someone from the production crew told him that a bouquet of flowers had arrived with his full name written in elegant cursive. Lawrence was confused but went along as the cast watched him with jealousy, none of them had ever received a bouquet before.
The bouquet had a letter attached. Lawrence's hand slightly trembled as he opened it, and sure enough…
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU STOP LIVING IN YOUR HOUSE!?"
There were pictures inside the envelope, all taken that same day. Photos of Lawrence leaving his hotel. Lawrence swallowed hard and tried to rehearse his script, keeping his composure while hiding the panic tightening in his chest. He remained pale the whole time, worrying the people around him.
And now, as of August 2, 1999, Lawrence couldn't help but watch his surroundings.
"Mr. Terrence, you have nothing to worry about. I'm here to protect you."
A huge, buff guy with a thick Russian accent assured him. His name was Smirnoff.
Collin had introduced Smirnoff to Lawrence, and the actor hired him. So far, Smirnoff had the aura of a professional bodyguard. Collin had chosen him because he had Yellow Talent in his profession.
"Thank you."
Lawrence was confident in his bodyguard considering the man's demeanor, but he couldn't help worrying. Today was the premiere of The Boss Proposal, and he had to show himself to the public with hundreds of cameras pointed at him, leaving him completely exposed. He didn't want to mess up.
When Lawrence stepped onto the red carpet, the worry on his face disappeared as he smiled and waved at the fans who were screaming his name with excitement, their energy giving him temporary courage.
He posed for the cameras and answered a few lighthearted questions from reporters. 20th Centaur wanted this movie to succeed. They had hired the second director who created a film that grossed over $1 billion, Director Summerbelt, and they cast the actor who earned the title Romance Box Office King, hoping the combination would guarantee massive profit.
When Lawrence entered the theater with his bodyguard behind him, he genuinely smiled upon seeing his parents waiting for him. Collin was also there.
"Lawrence, I'm so proud of you!" His mother hugged him while his father patted his back.
'They didn't know about the stalking, right?' Lawrence communicated with Collin through a meaningful look, and the talent agent nodded.
'Don't worry, I didn't tell them a single thing. They asked why you hired a professional bodyguard and I said it's a standard procedure now that you're famous.' Collin replied with his eyes.
'Thank you, Collin.'
'No problem.'
It was unclear if they truly understood each other through eye contact, but their silent exchange was enough for now.
Lawrence didn't want his parents to worry about his situation and kept quiet about it. The last thing he wanted was to make them sad and anxious.
That night, the premiere of The Boss Proposal went smoothly.
The movie was about a female boss (Zandra Bolluck) whose work visa had expired, and she might get deported. To prevent that, she convinced her employee (Lawrence Terrence) to marry her so she could obtain a green card, become a citizen, and keep her position in the company.
The female boss had to go to her new fiancé's hometown to meet his family. She and her employee did their best to convince the family that they were genuinely in love, even though both struggled to maintain the act at first. While there, she slowly fell in love with her employee until their fake relationship became real.
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