Chapter 352: Troll

The business jet rolled to a stop on the private apron. As the flight attendant opened the cabin door, Duke hurried forward to meet them. Mrs. Leah and a blonde girl, nearly sixteen, stepped off the plane.

"Let's get in the car first, Mom."

Duke took his mother's purse and looked at the girl beside her.

"Hi, Scar. You're getting prettier every day."

To be precise, Scarlett Johansson's features already looked fully adult, and her figure was far more developed than those of other girls her age.

Carrying a small duffel bag, she stepped forward and naturally hooked her arm through his.

"It feels so weird," she said as they walked toward the car. "It was snowing in New York when we took off, and we've landed right in the middle of summer."

Duke glanced at Scarlett. The melancholy that used to linger in her eyes seemed to have vanished as she grew older.

"Celebrating Christmas in the summer must be pretty fun."

Scarlett let go of his arm. She grabbed a sun hat and placed it on Mrs. Leah's head to shield her from the bright sunlight flooding the open tarmac, then slipped on a pair of sunglasses and glanced up at the sun.

"New York definitely doesn't have weather this nice right now," she muttered. She stood there for a second before hurrying to catch up with Duke and Mrs. Leah.

An RV and an SUV were parked at the edge of the private tarmac. Duke opened the door, letting his mother and Scarlett into the RV first. After signaling the staff to load their luggage into the SUV, he climbed in and sat across from his mother.

He signaled the driver to start moving.

"The crew is shooting on location," he said. "It's a bit far from Wellington. Mom, Scar, if you're tired, you should get some sleep."

"There's no need," Mrs. Leah said, shaking her head. "We slept plenty on the flight over."

"What part are you filming right now?" Scarlett asked, taking off her sunglasses and hanging them from the collar of her shirt. "I made sure to read the book before coming."

"The Shire scenes."

Duke pointed at her V-neck T-shirt, which had slipped down slightly. Unfazed, Scarlett just tugged the collar up and adjusted it. Duke averted his gaze.

"I built a nearly true-to-life Hobbiton," he continued. "You can see for yourself how it compares to the book."

"Is there a Bag End?" Scarlett's eyes lit up.

"Of course."

That reminded Duke of something else. He turned to his mother.

"Mom, I heard David mention that the stock market has been acting strangely lately..."

"I've already unloaded all my IT-related stocks." Mrs. Leah frowned slightly. "Duke, most of your income over the last few years has been invested in tech stocks. You need to be careful."

"I know what I'm doing," Duke said with a faint nod.

Over the past year, aside from his shares in Apple and the still-unlisted Google, Duke had dumped the vast majority of his tech stocks. He funneled the cashed-out funds straight back into Apple, Google, Warner Brothers, and Victoria's Secret. However, the executives at these companies were only willing to accept so much investment; they had absolutely no desire to see a single individual shareholder hold too large a stake.

"From what I've observed, the stock market is too frenzied right now. It's abnormal."

As an astute businesswoman, Mrs. Leah only needed a slight hint from Duke to see the bigger picture. "A new round of reshuffling shouldn't be too far off."

They weren't the only ones who saw the abnormalities in the market. But human desire and greed were bottomless. Very few people in this world had the self-control to make a profit and walk away. A significant number were relying on pure luck, convinced that even if the market crashed, it wouldn't happen right away—that they still had plenty of time to rake in more capital.

But when had a stock market frenzy ever not been followed by a massive crash? Only those who knew exactly when to walk away would emerge as the real winners.

Scarlett pulled a handheld gaming console from the tight pocket of her jeans and fiddled with it out of boredom.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked, looking up at Duke. "Why can't I understand a word of it?"

Mrs. Leah reached over and gently patted her arm. "Which is exactly why I say there is still so much in this world you don't know, Scar. School is a good place to learn and understand these things. You really should consider..."

Duke shot his mother an inquiring look. Scarlett hugged Mrs. Leah's arm, her tone wheedling.

"Godmother, you always tell me that once you've set a goal, you have to stick to it," Scarlett said. "That success only comes from hard work and persistence. I know for a fact my future is in Hollywood, and I want to focus on learning more about the craft of acting."

"You're dropping out of school?" Duke finally understood.

The vast majority of child stars in Hollywood—easily over ninety percent of them—chose to drop out as soon as they hit sixteen and could legally do so.

"Yeah!" Scarlett nodded. "My mom already agreed..."

Hearing that, neither Duke nor Mrs. Leah pressed the issue any further.

Everyone had the right to choose their own path in life. Duke wasn't the type to interfere in other people's business, and Mrs. Leah was ultimately just Scarlett's godmother, not her mother.

The RV stopped first in Blenheim Town, where Duke had rented a detached house for his mother. After dropping off their luggage, they hurried over to the film crew's base camp.

"The air here is amazing!"

The moment Scarlett stepped out of the car, she stretched her arms out wide, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Way better than New York."

She opened her eyes, slipped her sunglasses and sun hat back on, and linked arms with Mrs. Leah. With Duke leading the way, they walked into Hobbiton.

The Hobbiton built by the crew was much smaller than the one described in the book, but the scenery was absolutely stunning. The various cultivated plants were at the peak of their midsummer bloom. To someone like Scarlett, who had grown up in the concrete jungle of the city, this lush, vibrant landscape held a unique charm.

"I don't even want to go back to New York anymore," she said.

As they crossed the small bridge over the Brandywine River, Scarlett bent down in curiosity and touched the Polystyrene arch.

"I've been on a lot of sets," she said, "but this is easily the most beautiful shooting location I've ever seen. If I hadn't touched it myself, I never would have guessed this bridge wasn't made of stone."

"A lot of the things here are fake, aren't they?" Mrs. Leah asked, coming to a stop.

Duke nodded, pointing toward the distant trees and bushes. "Real plants could never grow this perfectly without a single withered leaf. A lot of these are props made by the crew."

He specifically pointed to the crooked tree looming over Bag End. "There are 250,000 fake leaves hanging on that one alone."

"How many?" Scarlett asked in surprise, standing up straight. "You mean all the leaves on that gorgeous tree are fake?!"

"Just over half of them," Duke said.

Duke motioned for the two of them to keep walking. They rounded a corner and arrived at a flat stretch of lawn. It was set up with tables, chairs, and tableware, all sporting a distinct hobbit flair. Banners and signs were strung up in various places, painted with messages wishing Bilbo Baggins a happy birthday.

"Are you filming the scene for Bilbo Baggins's birthday party?"

Standing at the edge of the set, Scarlett watched the crew bustling around inside. "When does this scene shoot?"

"Tonight." Duke pointed to a massive cake. "Didn't you notice? The cake is already set up."

"What's it made of?" Scarlett tilted her head. "Don't tell me that's real frosting."

"Polystyrene..." Duke turned and pointed back toward the small arch bridge over the Brandywine River. "The exact same material we used for the bridge."

As they spoke, Duke suddenly turned to Mrs. Leah. "Mom, Scar, do you have any interest in making a cameo?"

"A cameo?" Mrs. Leah didn't quite catch his meaning.

"Here's the situation." Duke pointed at the massive party venue. "Bilbo Baggins's birthday party requires a massive number of actors, and the crew is a bit short-handed right now. To make up the numbers, aside from the professional extras, I've had to draft staff from props, set design, and other departments, along with some of the people visiting the set, to fill out the crowd."

The scene required hundreds of actors, but with Christmas right around the corner, it was incredibly difficult to find enough extras. They had no choice but to grab anyone available just to flesh out the background.

"I think I'll pass." Mrs. Leah clearly had no interest in making a cameo.

Scarlett, however, was visibly excited by the idea. "Can I be a female hobbit?"

"Of course."

It was just acting as a human prop, after all.

"I'm actually a bit more interested in the elves," Scarlett muttered.

Duke looked at her and shook his head. "Sweetheart, your figure is perfect for a female hobbit. But a female elf..."

Scarlett looked down at her chest, looking slightly conflicted. "I think I developed a little too fast."

"You should consider going on a diet, Scar," Mrs. Leah chimed in.

"Yeah." Scarlett nodded. She leaned in close to Duke and lowered her voice. "Will I get a close-up?"

Duke reached out and lightly tapped her on the forehead, a hint of sternness in his voice. "Don't be greedy, Scar."

"Oh..." The girl ducked her head, pulling her blonde ponytail over her shoulder. "I get it."

After taking them on a full tour of Hobbiton and the Shire, Duke led the two of them into the base camp. The area was a hive of activity as everyone scrambled to prepare for the night shoot. Duke flagged down an assistant and had him take Scarlett over to the makeup department to check in. Then, he and his mother continued strolling around the camp.

The sun sank lower and lower until it finally dipped below the horizon, and the dusky sky gradually faded to black. Once night had fully fallen, massive groups of actors set out from the base camp. Guided by their respective team leaders, they marched toward the set in an orderly fashion, exactly according to plan.

Out on the party lawn, countless lanterns had already been lit, waiting only for the cameras to start rolling.