Chapter 653: An Unusual Smell

At lunch, Amber Heard didn't have her assistant fetch her food. Instead, she walked over to the catering truck herself, picked up her boxed lunch, and specifically sought out the person who had delivered the meal.

"Excuse me, do you have any garlic?" Amber Heard asked.

The man looked at her curiously, seemingly unable to fathom why such a beautiful girl would want something as awful as garlic.

When the man only stared at her, Amber Heard asked again, "Excuse me, do you have any garlic?"

"Of course." The man snapped out of it, grabbed a few cloves of garlic from the catering truck, and handed them to Amber Heard. "Is this enough?"

Amber Heard took them and glanced at the cloves. "Could I get a little more?"

His expression grew even stranger at the request, but he recognized her as the film's lead actress, so he didn't refuse. He simply grabbed a whole head of garlic and handed it to her.

Stowing the garlic away, Amber Heard carried her lunch back to her trailer. After eating, she sat in her chair, slipped off her flats, and gently rubbed her feet, which were marked with bloody blisters from the wardrobe department's high heels. The raw spots didn't bother her much when left alone, but the slightest touch sent a sharp pain shooting through them.

But these were her feet, and she still had an afternoon shoot ahead of her. Avoiding contact was impossible.

Amber Heard gritted her teeth at the thought. Andrew Garfield had definitely done it on purpose—it was obvious retaliation born of jealousy.

She wasn't going to just let this go, but she wouldn't act like he had. Andrew Garfield had been far too obvious, already drawing the attention of the director, Duke Rosenberg. If she retaliated with a similar stunt that afternoon, Andrew would certainly suffer, but she wouldn't come out unscathed either.

Amber Heard knew Charlize Theron, a top actress represented by ICM. The two had even dined together. Before joining the cast, Amber had specifically asked Charlize about the director, learning that even after filming began, Duke Rosenberg never lacked the resolve or courage to replace an actor.

Sure enough, just as work began that afternoon, the director called her and Andrew Garfield over.

"I don't care what kind of conflict you have between you, and I'm not interested in hearing about it."

Looking at the young man and woman, Duke kept his voice flat, but it was impossible to ignore. "If something like this happens again, you can both leave the production."

Amber Heard said nothing, simply putting on an aggrieved expression.

Andrew Garfield remained silent as well. Saying anything right now would be inappropriate.

Duke couldn't be bothered to say anything more to them. He waved a hand dismissively. "Go get ready. Just remember what I said."

Over time, actors born after 1985—and even into the 90s—were becoming active figures in Hollywood. These young people were far harder to deal with than the older, rule-abiding generation.

Of course, he hadn't been joking. If Amber Heard and Andrew Garfield couldn't read the situation, he was fully prepared to replace them.

Duke would only tolerate this sort of thing once.

On his set, competition was fine, and even conflict was acceptable. That was simply the norm in Hollywood. But the moment it affected the shoot, they crossed his bottom line.

After warning Amber Heard and Andrew Garfield, Duke got into his car. He led the crew away from the used car dealership to a filming location on the outskirts of the city, where they would shoot the finale: the kiss between the male and female leads.

While the crew set up the location and adjusted the equipment, Amber Heard finished her makeup and sent everyone else out of her trailer. She pulled the garlic she had saved from noon out of her bag and popped it into her mouth...

Ten minutes later, a production assistant came to notify her. Amber Heard stepped out of the trailer and headed to the set. The scene wasn't difficult; it was just a roll across the hood of a car. Once it was shot, the day's work would be over, and they could rush back to downtown Los Angeles to attend Warner Brothers' celebration party for The Dark Knight.

She walked over to the yellow Camaro Sports Car and sat on the hood. Less than half a minute later, Andrew Garfield walked over in full makeup.

He stepped right up to the car and looked at Amber Heard. Suppressing his disgust, he lowered his voice and said, "There had better not be any more accidents, if you don't want to get kicked out of the production."

Amber Heard gave a soft scoff, turning her gaze elsewhere.

Andrew Garfield shrugged. If it weren't for his future, how could he possibly put up with this?

The director's words had been flat, but he knew they were definitely not an empty threat.

"All departments, take your positions."

An assistant director shouted through a megaphone, "All departments, take your positions. Filming starts in five minutes."

Andrew Garfield stepped up to the Camaro Sports Car, pushing down his stray emotions to quickly get into character.

Amber Heard kept her mouth clamped tight, seeming completely unwilling to speak to him.

However, the moment the clapperboard snapped and "Action" was called, their demeanors instantly changed.

This was the grand reunion scene for the two leads. As Andrew Garfield leaned in, Amber Heard cooperatively opened her mouth—and a highly unusual smell immediately blasted down Andrew's throat.

The stench was overwhelmingly pungent. It was so jarring that Andrew Garfield nearly vomited his lunch on the spot...

But he desperately fought to control himself. The director's warning was still ringing in his ears, and he knew Duke would follow through.

This was certainly Amber Heard's revenge, but what if the director took his anger out on him too? That wasn't just possible; it was highly likely.

Andrew Garfield had heard the Hollywood rumors. Beneath Duke Rosenberg's calm exterior hid a heart of stone!

No one liked that smell, yet Andrew Garfield forced himself to endure it. Compared to his petty tricks, Amber Heard's untraceable method was true brilliance!

"Cut! Moving on."

Duke's voice calling the shot good was pure music to Andrew Garfield's ears. He broke away from Amber Heard with lightning speed and took several deep breaths, but the stench didn't fade. If anything, his deep breathing seemed to drag the smell into every corner of his stomach.

Andrew Garfield couldn't hold it back any longer. He quickly hurried off the set to a deserted spot on the perimeter, opened his mouth wide, and vomited his lunch like a waterfall...

Through the gaps in the crowd, Amber Heard watched the retching Andrew Garfield, a faint smile curling her lips. She had finally vented her pent-up frustration from that morning.

The day's work concluded there. Duke returned to his trailer to review the footage they had shot that day. They had filmed quite a few dialogue-heavy scenes around Los Angeles. Starting next week, the soundstage construction would be finished, and they could transition indoors to shoot the scenes requiring CG effects.

A knock sounded, and Anna Printz walked in. "No issues with today's shots?" she asked.

Duke nodded and pointed toward the door. "How's the cleanup going?"

"Almost done." Anna Printz sat across from Duke, grabbed a cup, and poured herself some water. She took a sip and added, "We should be ready to head out in about half an hour."

"Don't forget, Anna," Duke reminded her. "We have a party tonight."

"Don't worry." Anna Printz drained her cup. "I definitely won't miss this one. My gown is already prepared."

Unlike the others, Anna Printz kept a relatively low profile in her personal life.

After Anna Printz left, Duke did a quick tidy-up, stepped out of the trailer, and watched the rest of the crew packing up the equipment before heading to his own car. The sun had just begun to shift toward the west as the crew left the outskirts of the small city of Valencia and merged onto the highway toward Los Angeles.

Upon returning to Warner Studios in Burbank, Duke quickly handled the remaining tasks for the day. By the time he rode back to his Malibu estate, the sun had sunk to the horizon. When he walked into the villa, Scarlett had already laid out his suit. Even though she strongly disapproved of Duke's conservative fashion sense, she had still prepared a traditional dark navy tuxedo for him.

As people grew older, their mindsets naturally leaned toward the conservative, and Duke had never been a flashy guy to begin with.

"I thought you'd be back earlier."

After helping Duke change into his suit, Scarlett stood in front of the full-length mirror and began changing into her own evening gown.

Duke adjusted his bowtie in the mirror. "I can't help it. I have to leave enough time for post-production, which means we have to rush through the shoot as fast as possible."

A single year was still far too tight a schedule to prep, shoot, and produce a film like Transformers.

To keep pace, Duke had even canceled some of the crew's weekend breaks. Take this weekend, for example. Warner Brothers had originally scheduled the celebration party for the weekend evening specifically to avoid interfering with Duke's work. However, Duke hadn't given the crew the day off; he had merely adjusted the shooting schedule a few days prior, arranging only one relatively simple scene for the afternoon.

A massive production budget of 200 million dollars, alongside a confirmed 130 million dollars for marketing, meant no one could afford to be the slightest bit careless.

Even with his countless past successes, Duke still felt the pressure.

That pressure stemmed partly from his responsibility to the investors, and partly from the expectations and passion of countless Transformers fans.

Even though a live-action film was bound to be seen by some "Transformers fans" as ruining their childhoods, Duke didn't want to disappoint the majority who loved Transformers just as much as he did.

Once Scarlett was dressed and her clutch was packed, Duke finally took her hand and led her out of the villa. They climbed into a Rolls-Royce, leaving Malibu behind as they hurried toward Burbank.

Following The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, another of Duke's films had shattered the one billion dollar mark at the box office. This was the main reason Warner Brothers was throwing a celebration party for the first time in years.

Of course, the other reason was to attract media attention to promote their massively funded endeavor, Transformers.