Chapter 140 |
“Thank you, thank you for your help.” Renly patted Elliot on the shoulder, flashing a brilliant smile. “Honestly, you’re a kind guy.”With that, Renly opened the car door, stepped out, and walked toward the nearby mansion.Elliot sat frozen in his seat, his mind unable to process what had just happened: Kind? Kind, my ass! He was not a kind guy! He was… he was here for the scoop, for the after-party—yes, he was only tagging along with Renly to get into the after-party! He needed to get out of the car now, ride Renly’s coattails, and sneak into the party!As long as he got inside, then tonight, Pandora’s Box would be wide open to him, with nothing hidden.Elliot sprang into action. He was just about to get out of the car when his movements froze—someone had come out to greet Renly. That was… Andy Rogers? Harrison Ford’s agent?The entrance to the private villa was heavily guarded—just in plain sight, there were at least a dozen men in black suits. To get inside, one would have to go through layer after layer of security. Andy, with Renly, nodded at the guards in greeting, and the two of them, flanked on both sides, walked up the steps and soon disappeared through a dark brown door.Elliot slumped back in his seat, frustrated and irritated.“Hey buddy, you getting out or heading somewhere else?” the driver’s voice interrupted Elliot’s train of thought.
“Getting out, getting out,” Elliot replied instinctively, pushing the door open and quickly stepping out. But the taxi didn’t drive off. He walked to the passenger side, peeked in, and saw the driver roll his eyes.
“Fare—you’re not planning to pay?”
To make things worse, his car was parked all the way back at the underground garage next to the Nokia Theatre, and to add insult to injury, his phone was dead. Both of them.So, Elliot relied on his own two feet, walking for a whole hour and ten minutes before finally making it back to the foot of Beverly Hills, where he luckily flagged down a cab, officially bringing this disaster of a night to an end.Still, the night wasn’t a complete loss—he did get an exclusive scoop: Renly performing on the street. That thought gave Elliot some comfort. Renly might not be a big name yet, but a piece of exclusive news was still worth a good price.Three hours later, the official website of Us Weekly published a fresh exclusive headline:“The New Emmy King’s Unique Celebration—Street Performance.”“As tonight’s brightest breakout star, Renly Hall undoubtedly made an astonishing impression, triumphing over Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges to claim his first Emmy for Best Actor. At just twenty years old, this actor’s future in Hollywood looks dazzlingly bright.However, just as everyone was basking in the glow of the flashbulbs, showered with flowers and applause, Hall chose a completely different way to celebrate his stunning breakout.In a neighbourhood far from the spotlight, Hall joined a street performer and delivered a brilliant performance.”Us Weekly’s contributing journalist promptly posted a video and offered a brief review of the performance, showering praise on the eye-catching song Ophelia. The enthusiastic reactions of the live audience were the best proof of its impact. The journalist expressed amazement at Renly’s talent—while everyone was still marvelling at this newcomer actor’s triumph tonight, he had already showcased his musical gifts.If Elliot hadn’t triple-checked the footage, and if there hadn’t been a total silence in the industry about it—in fact, no one even knew if Renly had signed with an agent—Us Weekly might’ve assumed the whole thing was a staged PR stunt.“Reportedly, this wasn’t Hall’s first time showing off his musical talents. Back in March, his self-written and self-performed debut single Cleopatra officially launched on iTunes. Without any representation from a record label or talent agency, the indie track gained surprising popularity. Four months after release, it managed to break into the Billboard singles chart during the first week of July, becoming the only song on the entire chart that had zero backing from either a record label or agency.And even now, the song remains on the charts.Last night, Hall debuted a brand-new song, Ophelia, once again making us wonder—just how many hidden talents does this newly crowned Emmy king have left to reveal?”The article was published at 2:00 AM—Us Weekly was clearly going all-out to get the exclusive. Since the Emmys were held on Saturday night, plenty of young people were still awake. In just two hours, the article racked up 160,000 views, which was a staggering number for that time of night.In a city like Hollywood, where glamour and excess reign supreme, every actor fresh off an Emmy win is typically swarmed by lights and praise, draped in designer threads, soaking up the glory. But this new Emmy’s Best Actor winner chose to perform on the street—something nearly unthinkable.Even if The Pacific War didn’t exist, even without the Emmy win, even without all the buzz—or heck, even if it were just a publicity stunt—people’s curiosity was inevitably piqued. They wondered what exactly was going on, whether it was a clever PR move, what this actor was up to, and above all, what kind of performance it really was.Compared to Jim’s heartfelt speech, Bryan’s Emmy three-peat, or the five-time losses of Hugh and Steven, and even Renly’s shocking win over Al and Jeff—this gossip story was far juicier and more compelling. It was a subversive move that cracked Hollywood’s perfect façade. How could people not be excited?160,000 views in two hours was just the beginning. As time passed, the clicks didn’t slow down—they surged.Meanwhile, the buzz had a ripple effect. It sparked fresh discussions about The Pacific, the Emmy winners list, and similar topics. But the most direct impact? Renly’s Cleopatra video on YouTube blew up again.Recently, Cleopatra has been getting around 100,000 daily views on YouTube—not top-tier viral, and definitely down from its peak in June and July. But for a channel with no updates, such a steady and high-volume growth rate was remarkable.After the Us Weekly’s article went live, Cleopatra‘s real-time views shot past 30,000, and the 24-hour view count soared to 500,000—matching its original peak during its hottest period, and still rising. But when people searched “Renly Hall” on YouTube, they were shocked to find… not just Cleopatra, but also a new song: Ophelia!At that point, the whole Internet exploded.In the video posted by the Us Weekly, the performance by Renly and Ed was less than 60 seconds long, and much of it was obscured by dancing crowds—hard to see, and definitely unsatisfying. But now, on YouTube was the full version, and people were ecstatic.The newly uploaded video came from a personal account, a totally regular person. The footage ran for a full three minutes, capturing the entire performance. It not only included the complete version of Ophelia, but also an extra 20 seconds of Cleopatra.The video quality actually wasn’t very good—worse than the one posted by the Us Weekly. It was clearly shot on a smartphone, and due to the nighttime setting, the image was grainy, the lighting was poor, and the focus was off. Still, the entire performance was captured clearly and completely, and presented in full to every viewer online.In less than eight hours, the video of Ophelia had reached an astonishing 800,000 views, with over 50,000 likes, and the numbers were still climbing. The comment section was a whirlwind of reactions, but nearly every comment echoed the same sentiment:“This song is amazing—why isn’t it available on iTunes?”“Why can’t I find it on Spotify?”It wasn’t until someone pointed out the truth that the confusion was cleared up:“The Us Weekly stated in their article: the song was improvised live by Renly Hall—of course, there’s no recorded version.”Cue the collective wailing from fans across the internet.
“Getting out, getting out,” Elliot replied instinctively, pushing the door open and quickly stepping out. But the taxi didn’t drive off. He walked to the passenger side, peeked in, and saw the driver roll his eyes.
“Fare—you’re not planning to pay?”
Elliot almost cursed out loud—Renly hadn’t paid the fare! He quickly pulled out his wallet, handed over the money along with a tip, and the cab finally made a clean U-turn and drove off.
Elliot looked up at the mansion in front of him. Every single guard’s gaze landed squarely on him, making the pressure unbearable. He cleared his throat awkwardly. It was clear—there was no way he could get in through the front. He had to find another way.He straightened up, turned around. Without hurrying, he walked away from the gate. After a dozen steps, he glanced back sneakily, only to find that every guard was still watching him. He even locked eyes with one of them—that startled him so much he quickly looked away and broke into a jog down the slope. Spotting a fork in the road, he turned without hesitation and ran off. Only then did he feel the burning stares fade away.Leaning against a wall, breathing heavily, Elliot still couldn’t make sense of it all: How the hell did he end up like this?Unfortunately, he never got an answer that night. Because of the tight security, he couldn’t get into the after-party. He wandered around for two hours, had four close calls where he was nearly caught, but never found an opening. In the end, he had to give up, dejected and ready to call it a night—To make things worse, his car was parked all the way back at the underground garage next to the Nokia Theatre, and to add insult to injury, his phone was dead. Both of them.So, Elliot relied on his own two feet, walking for a whole hour and ten minutes before finally making it back to the foot of Beverly Hills, where he luckily flagged down a cab, officially bringing this disaster of a night to an end.Still, the night wasn’t a complete loss—he did get an exclusive scoop: Renly performing on the street. That thought gave Elliot some comfort. Renly might not be a big name yet, but a piece of exclusive news was still worth a good price.Three hours later, the official website of Us Weekly published a fresh exclusive headline:“The New Emmy King’s Unique Celebration—Street Performance.”“As tonight’s brightest breakout star, Renly Hall undoubtedly made an astonishing impression, triumphing over Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges to claim his first Emmy for Best Actor. At just twenty years old, this actor’s future in Hollywood looks dazzlingly bright.However, just as everyone was basking in the glow of the flashbulbs, showered with flowers and applause, Hall chose a completely different way to celebrate his stunning breakout.In a neighbourhood far from the spotlight, Hall joined a street performer and delivered a brilliant performance.”Us Weekly’s contributing journalist promptly posted a video and offered a brief review of the performance, showering praise on the eye-catching song Ophelia. The enthusiastic reactions of the live audience were the best proof of its impact. The journalist expressed amazement at Renly’s talent—while everyone was still marvelling at this newcomer actor’s triumph tonight, he had already showcased his musical gifts.If Elliot hadn’t triple-checked the footage, and if there hadn’t been a total silence in the industry about it—in fact, no one even knew if Renly had signed with an agent—Us Weekly might’ve assumed the whole thing was a staged PR stunt.“Reportedly, this wasn’t Hall’s first time showing off his musical talents. Back in March, his self-written and self-performed debut single Cleopatra officially launched on iTunes. Without any representation from a record label or talent agency, the indie track gained surprising popularity. Four months after release, it managed to break into the Billboard singles chart during the first week of July, becoming the only song on the entire chart that had zero backing from either a record label or agency.And even now, the song remains on the charts.Last night, Hall debuted a brand-new song, Ophelia, once again making us wonder—just how many hidden talents does this newly crowned Emmy king have left to reveal?”The article was published at 2:00 AM—Us Weekly was clearly going all-out to get the exclusive. Since the Emmys were held on Saturday night, plenty of young people were still awake. In just two hours, the article racked up 160,000 views, which was a staggering number for that time of night.In a city like Hollywood, where glamour and excess reign supreme, every actor fresh off an Emmy win is typically swarmed by lights and praise, draped in designer threads, soaking up the glory. But this new Emmy’s Best Actor winner chose to perform on the street—something nearly unthinkable.Even if The Pacific War didn’t exist, even without the Emmy win, even without all the buzz—or heck, even if it were just a publicity stunt—people’s curiosity was inevitably piqued. They wondered what exactly was going on, whether it was a clever PR move, what this actor was up to, and above all, what kind of performance it really was.Compared to Jim’s heartfelt speech, Bryan’s Emmy three-peat, or the five-time losses of Hugh and Steven, and even Renly’s shocking win over Al and Jeff—this gossip story was far juicier and more compelling. It was a subversive move that cracked Hollywood’s perfect façade. How could people not be excited?160,000 views in two hours was just the beginning. As time passed, the clicks didn’t slow down—they surged.Meanwhile, the buzz had a ripple effect. It sparked fresh discussions about The Pacific, the Emmy winners list, and similar topics. But the most direct impact? Renly’s Cleopatra video on YouTube blew up again.Recently, Cleopatra has been getting around 100,000 daily views on YouTube—not top-tier viral, and definitely down from its peak in June and July. But for a channel with no updates, such a steady and high-volume growth rate was remarkable.After the Us Weekly’s article went live, Cleopatra‘s real-time views shot past 30,000, and the 24-hour view count soared to 500,000—matching its original peak during its hottest period, and still rising. But when people searched “Renly Hall” on YouTube, they were shocked to find… not just Cleopatra, but also a new song: Ophelia!At that point, the whole Internet exploded.In the video posted by the Us Weekly, the performance by Renly and Ed was less than 60 seconds long, and much of it was obscured by dancing crowds—hard to see, and definitely unsatisfying. But now, on YouTube was the full version, and people were ecstatic.The newly uploaded video came from a personal account, a totally regular person. The footage ran for a full three minutes, capturing the entire performance. It not only included the complete version of Ophelia, but also an extra 20 seconds of Cleopatra.The video quality actually wasn’t very good—worse than the one posted by the Us Weekly. It was clearly shot on a smartphone, and due to the nighttime setting, the image was grainy, the lighting was poor, and the focus was off. Still, the entire performance was captured clearly and completely, and presented in full to every viewer online.In less than eight hours, the video of Ophelia had reached an astonishing 800,000 views, with over 50,000 likes, and the numbers were still climbing. The comment section was a whirlwind of reactions, but nearly every comment echoed the same sentiment:“This song is amazing—why isn’t it available on iTunes?”“Why can’t I find it on Spotify?”It wasn’t until someone pointed out the truth that the confusion was cleared up:“The Us Weekly stated in their article: the song was improvised live by Renly Hall—of course, there’s no recorded version.”Cue the collective wailing from fans across the internet.
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