Chapter 275: Share Exchange Cooperation

"So your share exchange is finished?"

Sitting at the dining table, Mrs. Leah handed the sliced turkey to Duke. "That's good. Cooperation is the only way to facilitate future growth."

"I'm now the largest individual shareholder in Warner Brothers." Duke tasted the roast turkey. "Mom, your cooking is as amazing as ever."

He steered the conversation back to business. "I'm still looking for ways to increase my stake in Warner to secure more of a say in the future."

Mrs. Leah nodded. "That's a good thing. What about funding?"

"It's not an issue for now." Thinking of his incoming revenue, Duke added, "If I need help, I'll definitely ask, Mom."

As usual, Mrs. Leah ate little for dinner. She soon set down her knife and fork. "Are you still increasing your shares in Victoria's Secret?"

"Yeah..." Duke swallowed a mouthful of juice. "I think their market share will keep growing. However, I only managed to get a very small slice of this round of equity financing. David said a lot of people on Wall Street are looking for a piece of the pie now."

"They only care about returns. They rarely get involved in actual operations."

Duke smiled. "Me too. As long as the stock price keeps rising and there are dividends to collect, I'm happy. I'm a complete amateur at running a business."

Duke didn't eat much either. After dinner, they left the dining room for the maids to clean and stepped out of the villa for a stroll in the garden.

His mother had purchased the villa over the summer. While not particularly large, finding a house with a garden on the Upper East Side was no easy feat, a testament to her steadily rising net worth and status.

The garden wasn't large, barely half an acre. The New York weather was turning cold; aside from a few evergreens, the grounds looked a bit desolate.

"It's fine," Mrs. Leah said, shaking her head. "I'm used to taking a walk after dinner."

"Is your project in New Zealand going smoothly?" she asked.

"Overall, it's fine." Duke offered his mother his arm and walked with her. "After Warner bought into Duke Studio, they sent some capable people over there, so I can take it a little easier."

"Pressure is everywhere in life."

Stopping in front of a tree that had lost almost all its leaves, Mrs. Leah squeezed his shoulder. "Three hundred and fifty million dollars is not a small number, but I believe your shoulders are strong enough to carry it."

Duke smiled but said nothing. If he messed up The Lord of the Rings trilogy, even with Warner Brothers footing part of the bill, he would suffer a massive blow.

With work out of the way, the topic gradually shifted to his personal life.

"I visited George's Star Wars set last month."

A withered yellow leaf drifted down in the wind. As it passed in front of Mrs. Leah, she plucked it out of the air. "I heard some rumors."

"About me?" Duke caught on quickly.

"That's right."

Passing a trash can, Mrs. Leah tossed the leaf inside. "Are you pursuing the Hershlag girl?"

"Hershlag?" Duke was taken aback.

Mrs. Leah offered a reminder. "The female lead of George's new film. I heard you've gotten quite close."

"Mom, I have absolutely nothing going on with her." Duke sighed. Sets were full of gossips, so it wasn't surprising that rumors had reached his mother's ears. "I only chatted with her a few times, and she's only sixteen!"

"Is age a problem for you?" Mrs. Leah shot him a cool look. "I don't know what you're thinking, and I don't want to interfere in your private life. But, Duke, if you really want to find a girlfriend within the industry, I think someone of Jewish descent would be a more suitable choice."

"Don't worry, Mom."

Duke knew what his mother was worried about, and he wasn't some clueless, rebellious youth. "I'll settle down with a steady partner eventually, and I'll get married. I promise it won't be anyone with a notorious reputation."

Although the Rosenberg Family only had two members left, since he bore the surname, he had to consider the family's interests.

After strolling in the garden for half an hour, Duke accompanied his mother back into the villa, then put on his coat to head out.

Before leaving, he called out, "Mom, I'm grabbing a drink with Aerin. I'll be back before eleven."

Seeing his mother wave from the sofa, Duke left the villa. Instead of driving, he walked directly toward the upscale bar where they had agreed to meet.

It wasn't too far from Aerin Lauder's residence, and the bar was located right between their homes. After walking for less than ten minutes, Duke arrived. By the glow of the streetlamps, he checked the sign to make sure he was in the right place, then pushed the door open and walked in.

Because of Thanksgiving, the bar wasn't crowded. Soothing piano music drifted through the air. Duke found a window seat, ordered a glass of soda water, and waited patiently.

Before long, Aerin Lauder, sporting long, curly brown hair, walked into the bar. Duke stood up and waved. She broke into a radiant smile and strode over.

"You look like you've lost weight," she said.

Duke pulled out a chair for her and shrugged. "Maybe my new clothes are just a little too big."

Work had been incredibly busy lately, and coupled with the inevitable stress, it would have been strange if he hadn't lost weight.

Once Aerin sat down, Duke remarked, "You look like you've changed."

"Gotten older?" she asked, tilting her head.

"More beautiful, wiser, and sharper."

She wasn't a Hollywood starlet, so Duke had always spoken to her plainly. "More like a powerful businesswoman."

"The marketplace is a battlefield." Aerin Lauder sighed with deep emotion. "If I wasn't strong enough, you wouldn't be seeing the current me—you'd be looking at a loser."

Duke asked, "How is your plan to create your own brand going?"

"It's still in the preparation stage." Aerin Lauder frowned slightly. "I estimate it'll take a few years before it can be launched. Building a cosmetics brand isn't easy, and it requires plenty of promotion."

"I can introduce you to a few suitable spokesmodels," Duke joked.

Aerin Lauder offered a playful shrug. "If I need them, I'll give you a call."

"Alright, enough about work." Changing the subject, she asked with a touch of gossip, "You seem to have far fewer scandals lately."

"Because I've been quite busy."

Duke didn't mind the question, answering casually, "Plus, no one I've met recently has really caught my interest."

"How is Anna doing on your end?"

Time and distance were truly the greatest killers; from Aerin's tone, it wasn't hard to tell the two of them rarely kept in touch anymore.

"The person I recommended didn't disappoint you, did she?"

"She's doing alright."

When it came down to capability, Anna Printz was perfectly adequate as an assistant director, but there was still a gap between her and the likes of Zack Snyder and Sofia Coppola.

"Have you seen any movies lately?" Duke asked.

Aerin picked up her glass and took a sip of water. "Last night, I went with Jane to see Titanic. Jane is my younger sister. I'll introduce you two some other day."

"Sure," Duke nodded.

"I didn't expect the final cut to be so outstanding," Aerin Lauder continued. "I originally thought your fifty-million-dollar investment was doomed to be a loss."

"You had that little faith in me?"

Aerin shook her head. "My faith in you doesn't mean anything. Didn't I tell you when we talked on the phone last month? Everyone around me was pessimistic about your investment. I'm just a normal person, so I was influenced by them."

Duke raised a hand and pointed at her from across the table. "Just wait, Aerin. Judging by the film's current contrarian growth that defies all market rules, Titanic is going to create a commercial miracle."

"A miracle?" Aerin Lauder blinked. "Like Independence Day or Jurassic Park? Three hundred million or four hundred million in North America?"

"How does at least five hundred million in North America, and at least 1.5 billion worldwide sound to you?" Duke said in a joking tone.

"That would be great!" Aerin Lauder deliberately adopted a very serious posture. "You'll be getting a huge cut of the profits, and I happen to be short on funds to launch my brand. Can I hit you up for an investment then?"

"I'd be honored." Duke laughed.

Aerin Lauder hadn't taken it seriously at all, returning to the film itself. "When we watched the movie yesterday, Jane cried until her eyes were red. James Cameron was too sensational; even I felt a bit sorry for Jack..."

"Tragedies often leave people with a deeper impression." Duke thought for a moment before adding, "Jack's death will not only earn countless tears, but it will also bring in some very beautiful box office numbers."

"That is true," Aerin Lauder agreed. "I'd met Leonardo before at one of your parties, and I never really thought he was all that handsome, but..."

She shook her head. "Many of the girls in the Lauder Company are completely smitten with him. Just to see him, some people have gone back to watch it several times."

"Of course, even more people are captivated by this poignant romance," Aerin added.

"Because reality lacks such pure and beautiful love," Duke sighed. "Therefore, audiences love to seek out this feeling of loving and being loved on the silver screen."

"I can tell." Aerin Lauder revealed a knowing smile. "The women who approach you often have ulterior motives."

"What about you?" Duke asked in return.

"Much the same as you." She sighed. "The people who approach me do it either because my surname is Lauder, or because I hold partial inheritance rights to the Lauder Group. And as for the rest, even I can't say how complex their motives are."

"Perhaps this is the sorrow of people like us."

Seeing Aerin Lauder check her watch, Duke stood up and said, "Yet there are countless people who envy and thirst for this kind of sorrow."

"It's getting late. Let's head back," he said.

Leaving the bar, Duke first escorted Aerin Lauder home, then slowly walked along the streets of the Upper East Side toward his own house. Thanksgiving was drawing to a close, and Titanic's trajectory was about to become even clearer!