Chapter 248: Weinstein's Little Tricks

"Sorry, sir, the event has already started. You can't go in now."

Delayed by a minor incident on the road, Duke arrived at the Palace of Westminster venue a little late. The Victoria's Secret staff stationed outside stopped him out of habit, but immediately recognized who he was and changed their tune.

"Director Rosenberg, could you please go around through the corridor on the left side of the venue?"

None of the receptionists stationed outside the show were fools. Recognizing one of the company's major shareholders, they let him right through.

Duke nodded. Rather than entering through the main doors, he took the outer corridor toward the side entrance.

"Tina, remember to notify Nancy later." He turned to Tina Fey. "Don't work with that car rental agency anymore."

His rented car had broken down on the road.

"I've already made a note of it." Tina Fey knew her boss fairly well. "I'll look for a better agency later."

"Also..." Duke remembered something he had thought about on the way over, only to forget when the car broke down. "Tell Nancy and Penny to inform Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vivien Leigh to move out of Malibu as soon as possible."

This kind of work was best handled by agents. He could tell Zeta-Jones still harbored unrealistic ideas, but a standard utilitarian like Nancy would never give her the chance to act on them.

"Nancy and Penny were already handling it when we left for London," Tina Fey reminded him before they reached the side entrance. "The lease is almost up anyway. It should be taken care of by the time we get back."

"That's for the best." Duke nodded.

The staff at the side entrance opened the door. Duke and Tina Fey slipped down the outermost aisle, walking quietly toward the front of the runway. A quick glance revealed his mother, Mrs. Leah. He hurried over and took one of the two empty seats beside her.

"Mom," Duke greeted her.

Mrs. Leah nodded. "You're late."

"There was a slight problem with the car on the way."

Seeing his mother look over in concern, Duke quickly whispered, "Just an engine failure."

Mrs. Leah's expression immediately relaxed. She returned Tina Fey's greeting with a nod, then turned her gaze back to the stage.

Duke's eyes flicked past his mother and landed on the person sitting beside her. It was Scarlett Johansson. The childishness in the blonde girl's face had largely faded. Acting as if she hadn't seen him at all, she kept her head down, absorbed in a book, clearly having lost all interest in the supermodels she used to be so curious about.

Shaking his head, Duke turned his attention to the runway. The Victoria's Secret angels were in the middle of their show.

After several years of trial and error, the annual Victoria's Secret show had grown increasingly luxurious, featuring more and more faces that frequently appeared online.

Barely ten minutes in, Duke spotted two somewhat familiar faces among the new models. If he wasn't mistaken, they were Adriana Lima and Gisele Bundchen. However, judging from their outfits, he could tell they were just peripheral models for Victoria's Secret and hadn't been officially signed yet.

Over the past few years, fueled by continuous hype, the fame of the Victoria's Secret angels had steadily grown, to the point of becoming synonymous with supermodels. Signing on as an official angel meant not only overnight fame but also a massive annual paycheck in the millions.

The angel wings in particular were something models dreamed of. By now, the wings had become a true status symbol among the Victoria's Secret angels.

At Victoria's Secret, the wings were not only an aesthetic choice but a mark of hierarchy. In their recent shows, not every model got to wear them. Only a select few did—like Heidi Klum, who was steadily becoming the top Victoria's Secret angel. They were the officially contracted models for the company, the true angels.

Most models worked with the company prior to signing an angel contract, but only on a temporary basis. Their status and income couldn't even be compared to that of the angels.

Every Victoria's Secret show featured performances by heavyweight musical guests. Over the years, inviting popular singers to perform on the runway had gradually become a tradition.

With this year's annual show being held in London, the organizers naturally invited the hottest act in Britain. And in 1997, who was the hottest act in Britain? A girl group, of course—the Spice Girls.

Thus, five gaudily dressed young women stepped onto the stage in pink Victoria's Secret pajamas, belting out their breakout hit, Wannabe.

Although the group was incredibly famous, Duke only recognized one of them. Frankly speaking, Victoria Adams's status among the five was relatively low, which was obvious from the number of lyrics she sang and her placement during the performance. She had very few solo lines, typically standing in the fourth or fifth position and rarely making it to the front.

Always standing at the front were the lead singer, a Black girl, and a blonde bombshell. But just like with Chicago and Star Trek, an early lead does not guarantee victory. Who was the smartest among these five? In a few years, the whole world would know.

In fact, a few years from now, who would even remember the names of the other Spice Girls members? The group would practically become synonymous with one person.

After enduring the grueling, drawn-out shoot for Chicago, Duke had managed to learn a little something from Lily Fred. While his understanding of song and dance was still limited, it had improved somewhat—at least enough to appreciate it from a bystander's perspective.

Compared to the female singers currently blowing up in North America—like Madonna, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Shania Twain—the Spice Girls' style could simply be summed up as gaudy. Whether in their look, their vocals, or their music, there was nothing remotely elegant or refined about them.

The five girls had average looks, average dance moves, and average vocal skills. Even comparing the members to each other, the stronger singers weren't that much better than the weaker ones. Their only real strength was that their performances were full of passion and youthful vitality. They took an extremely relatable, down-to-earth approach and sang the simplest pop tunes, much like the catchy earworms of the future. This was perhaps one of the reasons why they became extremely popular so quickly, only to fade away just as fast.

After Wannabe, the Spice Girls performed Who Do You Think You Are, putting an incredible amount of effort into it.

In fact, with a little thought, it was easy to see why they were trying so hard. This program was being broadcast live across the United States via ABC Television. The Spice Girls clearly wanted to break into the North American music market.

Compared to the almost completely insular television and film markets, the pop scene was fairly open to foreign music.

'I wonder if David Beckham is here?' Duke thought idly. The annual Victoria's Secret show always invited a huge crowd of celebrities and A-listers. If he remembered correctly, David Beckham should already be famous by now. After all, he was going to get sent off with a red card in next year's World Cup.

This golden couple was the classic example of both parties playing the homewrecker at the same time.

Shaking his head, Duke tossed those pointless thoughts aside. He was hardly any better himself. In any circle tied to the entertainment industry, these things were entirely normal.

After the Spice Girls' performance, the runway show went into a brief intermission, giving guests a chance to use the restroom. On the other side of Mrs. Leah, Scarlett Johansson stuffed the book in her hands into her satchel and stood up.

"Hi, Duke," she greeted him very politely.

"Darling..." Duke smiled. "I can't believe you only just noticed me."

"Sorry, I was a little absorbed in my book." She forced a smile and turned to Mrs. Leah. "Godmother, I need to use the restroom."

"I'll go with you." Tina Fey also stood up.

The two women, one older and one younger, walked off. Duke asked, a little puzzled, "Mom, did something happen?"

Mrs. Leah knew Duke was asking about Scarlett Johansson. She sighed and said, "The Johanssons are getting a divorce. The two of them have completely turned on each other, fighting bitterly over their assets. Scar called me crying a few times, so I brought her out with me. This kind of situation hurts children her age the most. I can already tell that her personality seems to have changed a bit."

Outsiders couldn't meddle in other people's family affairs. Duke simply comforted his mother with a few words and didn't say anything else.

It was true that the children caught in the middle suffered the most from a broken home. Not everyone had bizarre experiences like his, rendering them completely immune to a family split. Besides, a child barely in their teens usually took the damage especially hard.

Younger children didn't fully understand what was happening, so they didn't feel it as deeply, and older teenagers were a bit more mature, making them better equipped to handle it.

"Duke..."

Perhaps thinking back on the past, Mrs. Leah suddenly asked in a soft voice, "What were you thinking back then?"

"Come on, Mom, I was just a little kid who didn't know anything back then."

Duke couldn't exactly tell her that his mind had already been perfectly mature at the time, could he? He could only say, "I was only three years old. What could I have been thinking? Once I grew up a bit and actually understood things, I just felt lucky enough to have the best mom in the whole world."

Although Mrs. Leah didn't say anything, a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Not long after Tina Fey and Scarlett Johansson returned, the show resumed. The enthusiastic angel models constantly interacted with the audience, flashing winks and blowing kisses, pushing the atmosphere in the venue to a climax.

The grand finale featured the astronomical Fantasy Bra, crafted from diamonds, rubies, and platinum. Heidi Klum, now the top angel of Victoria's Secret, modeled it as the closing act. Just like in previous years, this $3.5 million piece of lingerie was snatched up by some mega-billionaire for $5 million before the show even concluded.

The venue emptied out, followed by a massive afterparty. Heading to the hotel, Duke got into his mother's RV. After the vehicle started moving, Scarlett Johansson, sitting across from him, was still clutching a book and reading with intense focus.

"Hey, kiddo," Duke asked out of curiosity. "What are you reading that has you so hooked?"

Scarlett didn't even lift her head. "I just bought it after arriving in London. My magical bible, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."