Chapter 663: Two-Face

"What a great show. Do you think they'll fight over Duke?"

Leaning back in his high-backed chair, Leonardo said to the blonde companion beside him, "Charlize Theron is no simple woman."

The blonde model prompted him, "You're just going to watch?"

"Of course I'm not just going to watch." Leonardo picked up his paddle. "I need to save our mad bomber from an impending explosion."

He raised his paddle. "One million dollars!"

"Mr. DiCaprio bids one million dollars!" the auctioneer on stage called out.

Seeing that the bidder was Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson lowered the paddle she had instinctively started to raise.

Sofia Coppola looked at Charlize Theron. Everyone in the industry knew the woman wasn't easy to deal with, and rumors had long circulated that her relationship with Duke was rather complicated.

Of course, Sofia knew those rumors were false, but others might not.

A very smart move, wasn't it?

Seemingly oblivious to Sofia Coppola's gaze, Charlize Theron considered it for a moment and did not raise her paddle again.

The reel of experimental film was ultimately sold to Leonardo for one million dollars.

Following that, items provided by George Lucas, Spielberg, and others also sold for hefty prices.

The auction lasted for over an hour. Not a single one of the hundred-plus items went unsold, and the entire charity dinner raised over 40 million dollars.

It was a highly successful charity dinner.

As the charity auction concluded, guests took their leave one after another. Those who stayed behind were mostly people with close ties to Duke.

Like Sofia Coppola.

However, just as she saw that Duke was alone and started to walk over, Charlize Theron followed right behind her.

"It's been a while, Duke."

Seeing Charlize Theron extend her hand, Duke gave it a light shake. "Hi, Sally."

Sofia deliberately winked at Duke, then looked toward the group gathered around George Lucas across the banquet hall. "I'm going to head over and say hi to Scar and Aunt Leah."

Watching her walk away, Duke gestured toward the chairs by the round table. "Have a seat, Sally."

"Thank you."

Lifting the hem of her skirt slightly, Charlize Theron sat in a high-backed chair and asked, "What have you been busy with lately? Will you have time around the New Year? You can bring your new girlfriend, and we can all go on vacation together."

"The shoot for Transformers hasn't wrapped up yet," Duke politely declined. "I won't be able to find the time anytime soon."

"Is your schedule fully booked again?" Charlize Theron asked naturally.

Duke shrugged slightly. "Darling, you know this is my profession. More than that, it's my greatest interest and passion. To be precise, if I weren't making movies, I wouldn't know what else to do with myself."

Not everyone wanted a life of simply idling their time away.

Knowing Duke's working style, Charlize Theron didn't beat around the bush. She smiled and asked, "I wonder if there's a place for me in your future work plans?"

Duke wasn't surprised at all that Charlize Theron would ask this. Though they hadn't kept in touch much in recent years, he was somewhat aware of her situation.

Like the vast majority of Best Actress winners, Charlize Theron had not escaped the Oscar curse. The box office and critical reception of her films in recent years had been less than satisfactory. Although she still maintained her status as a top-tier actress through fashion and luxury brand endorsements, her commercial quote had inevitably slipped out of the twenty million club.

"A new film I have planned..." Duke recalled the sci-fi movie he had mentioned to Tom Cruise. "It requires an actress with a very powerful presence."

Charlize Theron glanced at the other group still chatting nearby and said directly, "Duke, I've never refused any request of yours."

"What if your quote is cut in half?" Duke brought up an entirely different matter.

"Cut in half?" Charlize Theron looked very surprised. She knew she offered no novelty to Duke anymore, but she couldn't have zero appeal left, right? She frowned slightly. "I can't give you an answer right now."

Just as a film's greenlighting wasn't something a single studio executive or CEO could decide alone, an actor's quote wasn't entirely up to them either.

That wasn't the end of it. Duke pointed at her beautiful evening gown. "And I'll need you to destroy your image again."

"Like in Monster?" Charlize Theron hesitated.

Duke nodded. "More or less."

Hearing him say this, Charlize Theron's hesitation turned to real indecision. She was no longer the Charlize Theron of the past, after all. Now that the Oscar Best Actress award was in her hands, even without any massive blockbusters in recent years, her status in Hollywood had not slipped. She would inevitably have reservations about ruining the fashionable, powerful, and uniquely queen-like image she had painstakingly crafted over the years.

In truth, Duke had another female role that suited Theron perfectly, but he didn't plan on casting her for it. Those scripts were already registered with the Writers Guild, and some related details had been leaked by Warner Brothers. There was no need to worry about any other issues; they could take their time filming them in the future.

People always had their favorites. For a movie driven entirely by female characters, Duke's first choice was Scarlett. He couldn't let Scarlett get typecast by the Black Widow image forever.

"You still have more than half a year to think about it."

Compared to other actresses, Duke still leaned toward Charlize Theron. After all, during the time they maintained their relationship, she had left an excellent impression on him. "After the Oscars, I'll have someone deliver the character script to you. Give me an answer before July next year."

Charlize Theron didn't doubt Duke's words at all. Just like in the past, he simply had no reason to deceive her.

"Hi, Duke."

Scarlett Johansson's voice suddenly rang out from the side. She sat down next to Duke, looked at Charlize Theron's strange expression, and asked, "Did something happen?"

Charlize Theron stood up and made a "call me" gesture. "Let's keep in touch. I'll treat you to dinner some other time."

She waved to Scarlett as well. "Goodbye, Scar."

"Goodbye." Scarlett politely waved back.

Then, she looked at Duke and asked curiously, "Have you two gotten back in touch?"

"Gotten back in touch?" Duke didn't quite catch her meaning.

Scarlett hooked her arm through his. "You know, like before. Don't worry, I won't mind. Monogamy is..."

Duke shot her a glare, too lazy to entertain her nonsense, and stood up. "Darling, you're overthinking things."

With that, Duke walked over to George Lucas.

Scarlett stood up and followed, though her blue eyes would occasionally drift toward the banquet hall exit, where a tall figure was walking out at an unhurried pace.

After leaving Duke Manor, her car didn't head toward Charlize's mansion in Malibu, but instead drove all the way east, arriving at a detached little villa. This was Charlize Theron's old residence.

She pushed the car door open, lifted the hem of her skirt, and slowly walked into the villa. It had always been maintained by a specialized housekeeping company, and under the bright lights, it looked remarkably neat and tidy.

Charlize Theron remembered very clearly that around the turn of the century, Duke would often drive over here to rendezvous with her. Their relationship had lasted until he got a girlfriend.

Passing through the living room, she stepped onto the terrace leading to the small garden. Charlize Theron sat down in a wicker chair. It was right here back then that she learned Duke was going to cast her as the female lead in The Matrix. That franchise had successfully propelled her to the A-list in Hollywood, forging the South African Diamond she was today.

Later, before acting in Monster, she had also consulted Duke. Although he hadn't stated it explicitly, his words were full of encouragement and support. Perhaps it was the confidence he gave her that made her resolve to deglamorize herself and ultimately win the first Oscar Golden Statuette of her life.

As memories flashed through her mind one after another, Charlize Theron rested her arms on the armrests of the wicker chair, propping up her pale chin. All the past events told her that while Duke was indeed a bit of a bastard when it came to relationships with women, he was absolutely the most reliable and trustworthy out of all the countless bastards in Hollywood. From the moment they met until their relationship ended, Duke had never done anything to truly harm her. Compared to what she had put in, what she had gotten back was by no means little.

If it weren't for the fact that their previous relationship had no chance of progressing any further, Duke would be even more reassuring to her than her own mother.

Although his mind was unpredictable, and after The Dark Knight premiered, many in Hollywood privately called him Two-Face, Charlize Theron knew very well that as long as she didn't stand against him, Duke would never go out of his way to hurt her.

She believed that the image-destroying performance Duke mentioned might just be a great opportunity to rise to prominence again.

This was Hollywood, where countless people scrambled to push ahead. Standing still meant falling behind, and falling behind meant being eliminated by the fierce competition.

For her next film, she was going to collaborate with Sofia Coppola. Coppola certainly had her unique strengths in the realm of art-house films, but starring solely in art-house films wouldn't restore her to the level of box-office draw she had during The Matrix, nor could it guarantee any further advancement.

If she wanted to truly step into the ranks of the Super A-list elite, she needed to use commercial success to prove her box-office appeal and show that she hadn't become obsolete.

But cutting her quote in half...

That condition was indeed somewhat difficult. It involved more than just issues with her agent; it also affected her quote for her next film. If this movie failed, the act of accepting half her usual quote would be tantamount to destroying her own future.

After sitting in the wicker chair and pondering for a few minutes, Charlize Theron suddenly began to laugh. She muttered to herself, "So I can be stupid too, and let myself be blinded by short-term gains. How could Duke's movies ever fail?"

She stood up, walked back into the room, picked up the phone, and dialed her agent's number.