Chapter 429: Business as Usual

In the evening, Charles went to Kate Beckinsale's villa in Westino.

"What's up? You don't look very happy," said Kate Beckinsale, having just returned to Los Angeles after finishing the shoot for Everybody's Fine.

"It's nothing. I just attended Sumner Redstone's birthday party, and the old guy really pissed me off," Charles said, leaning on the sofa and holding Kate Beckinsale in his arms, looking relaxed.

Kate Beckinsale looked up in surprise at Charles, "Did Mr. Sumner Redstone make you upset?"

"Yeah, he did. He proposed merging Capet Pictures with Viacom and wanted me to be his subordinate. He even tried to threaten me with my intentions of acquiring NBC Universal," Charles explained without much reservation.

Unlike most Hollywood stars who hadn't even finished high school, she had some brains, even though she dropped out of Oxford.

Kate Beckinsale paused, then understood and said, "But it seems Viacom isn't doing well right now. Their big layoff plans are causing quite a stir!"

"Heh, some people still treat me like a small fry and have no clue about my current capabilities," Charles shook his head. Sumner Redstone was already old. The succession battle within Viacom was the real focus, yet he wanted to drag Capet Pictures onto this sinking ship!

"You should take a bath first. You'll probably need to keep a low profile for a few days to avoid the reporters," Kate Beckinsale reminded.

Charles nodded. Although the incident at the party wouldn't become universally known, the upper echelons would definitely get wind of it.

After all, a conflict between Sumner Redstone and Charles Capet would be juicy news.

"Kate, let's take a bath together. I haven't seen you for so long," Charles stood up and pulled the lady into his arms.

Kate Beckinsale laughed, "You have so many women around you; I thought you had forgotten about me!"

"Mm," Charles didn't respond with words but instead kissed her to show his affection.

...

Charles's hunch was correct. By the night of Sumner Redstone's birthday party, the news of the conflict between Charles Capet and Sumner Redstone had spread among many Hollywood power players.

However, many major forces didn't take it too seriously. After all, many companies had always wanted to acquire Capet Pictures. But everyone knew Charles Capet had already formed a stronghold, and Capet Pictures wasn't going to be a target for acquisition.

The real intrigue lay in how General Electric planned to handle NBC Universal. Jeff Immelt, GE's Chairman and CEO, had indicated that the board was discussing selling NBC Universal Entertainment Group.

GE would be thrilled if Sumner Redstone got involved; it would drive higher bidding competition. However, anyone with some sense would understand that Sumner Redstone wasn't in any position to seriously consider acquiring NBC Universal.

In New York, on the Upper East Side, Evelyn was living in the four-story townhouse that Charles had previously purchased. She was having breakfast while listening to her assistant's report on work.

"So you're saying that Charles had a fallout with Sumner Redstone at his manor last night?" Evelyn put down her knife and fork, wiped her mouth, looking somewhat speechless.

"Sumner's daughter Shari can't stand up to her father at all. Even if Charles wants to deepen the infighting within Viacom, he should've approached Shari Redstone secretly!"

Evelyn felt she had no control over Charles anymore, given his astounding achievements.

Looking at the clock, she saw it was only seven in the morning. Evelyn decided against calling Los Angeles right away, as it was not even five AM over there.

"What's today's schedule?" Evelyn asked.

"There's a small internal company meeting at nine in the morning;

At eleven, you'll hear work reports from several supervisors;

At noon, you're having lunch with Arianna Huffington;

At three in the afternoon, you need to attend a Sotheby's auction in Midtown Manhattan;

At five, you and Arianna Huffington will attend a political charity gala."

"Arrange for us to head back to Los Angeles on Monday," Evelyn instructed. She had no idea how many weekends she hadn't had off, while her son seemed to like disappearing on weekends.

...

The early morning in Los Angeles was more than two hours behind New York. In Westino, in the bedroom of Kate Beckinsale's villa, Charles was satisfying his morning desires with the lady lying on top of him.

After a high-pitched moment, Kate Beckinsale weakly clung to Charles, laughing: "Guess if there will be news about Sumner Redstone's party in the papers today?"

"Phew," Charles rubbed his hand over the smooth back of Kate and chuckled, "There were too many reporters outside Redstone's villa last night. Someone will definitely get the scoop."

"No news will surprise me today," he added. "But the company folks will probably call me soon to ask about it."

Charles wasn't too concerned, but as the owner of Capet Pictures, a large company with over three thousand employees, he had many responsibilities.

Within half an hour, Charles, still in bed, received a call from Donna Langley.

*****

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