Model to Holywood

The event organizers were truly shameless, hosting a function without even putting up restroom signs.

Luca ended up wandering a long way, holding his pants, before finally finding a restroom around a corner.

Once inside, he rushed to relieve himself.

*Whoosh~*

Was it a leak?

The person next to him looked up at the pipes but found nothing wrong. Following the sound, he turned around and was dumbfounded.

"Oh my god!"

Luca glanced at the man and thought he was overreacting. It reminded him to avoid using public restrooms in the future—it could make others feel insecure.

After taking care of business, he went to the sink and used a handkerchief to wipe his pants.

His dark trousers didn't show any signs of the "flood" unless you looked closely.

Feeling content, he dried them under the hand dryer for a bit.

*Ring ring ring~*

"Luca, where are you? Hurry back!"

On the phone, Ed spoke quickly and sounded anxious.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Luca was puzzled.

"Come back, there's something we need to talk about."

*Click~* 

Ed hung up.

About ten minutes later, Luca returned to the party.

The crowd in the hall had thinned out, with most people gathering near the front desk. David Gandy, Eric, Noah, Ben Hill, and others were all there, listening to someone speak.

Curious, Luca walked over and heard someone say loudly, "We're honored to announce that we've invited Ms. Jennifer Aniston and Mr. Luca Kelly to be the new faces of our suit collection."

"Wow~ It's Luca!"

"Wait, it's not Ben Hill? How is it that jerk Luca?!"

"Ugh, that sneaky Luca! He drew attention by deliberately using that makeup. What a shameless move!"

"No, Luca's injury is real. I personally checked."

"I see. He must have punched himself a few times to fake it. That's how he caught their attention. Ms. Aniston must've been drawn to his wounds."

"That makes sense. Otherwise, why would he come to a formal event injured? Does he have no shame?"

"Exactly! Luca is always so crafty. He'll do anything for a contract. Last time, he used self-sacrifice; this time, he played the pity card. The annoying thing is, he always wins."

"Hey, where's that jerk Luca? He's not here?"

"He wouldn't miss such an important event, would he?"

"If he's not here, could the brand switch to someone else?"

"Haha~ Maybe!"

A group of models stopped talking and glanced around, hoping he wouldn't show up.

David Gandy, Noah Mills, and Eric turned around—and there was Luca, standing right behind them, his handsome face dark and visibly displeased.

"Uh~ Luca, you're here!"

"Haha, Luca, we were just kidding. Congrats!"

"Yeah, congrats, Luca!"

The models awkwardly offered their congratulations, forcing smiles.

"Luca, what are you doing here? Come, meet Mr. and Mrs. Conrost."

Ed Dominic pushed through the crowd, pulling Luca along quickly. Ed's usually dark face was flushed, and he seemed to be floating as he walked.

"Ed, how did I become the spokesperson?" Luca asked, confused.

"You don't know?" Ed blinked, surprised, then continued to pull him forward. "Now's not the time to talk about it. We'll discuss it later."

"See that? See that? What a sneaky guy. He's got the contract in his hands and still pretends not to know how he got it. We're way out of our league compared to that shameless jerk."

Eric Rutherford shook his head in exasperation.

"Yeah, super sneaky. That shameless guy pretends to be indifferent most of the time, but when he spots an opportunity, he strikes with precision. Such a devious guy," Noah Mills sighed.

"Last time, he used self-sacrifice. I wonder how he got the contract this time," David Gandy mused.

"He must've used the same trick. Didn't you notice how close he was with Ms. Aniston?" 

"Yes, yes, I saw it too. Luca and Ms. Aniston were chatting so well earlier that Ben Hill got nervous and spilled champagne on his pants on purpose."

"Too bad for Ben Hill. His plan backfired, and Ms. Aniston still gave the contract to Luca."

"Wait, where's Ben Hill?"

The group of models looked around and finally spotted Ben Hill at the front, in the middle of the crowd.

Ben Hill stared blankly at the big shots in the room, his gaze hollow, as if he had lost his soul.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Conrost, for trusting me. It's an honor to be the face of Helmut Lang's new suit collection," Luca said in his speech.

"No!!"

Suddenly, a voice shouted from the crowd, "Why him?! I was Prada's recommended candidate. You can't do this! Ms. Aniston, you promised me!"

"It's Ben Hill!"

"Has he lost it?"

Everyone turned to look at Ben Hill, who was being dragged out of the event by his agent, his mouth covered.

"Ben Hill was so close to getting the contract. He must be losing his mind now."

"Yeah, first it was the CK deal that Luca took from him, and now this."

"They've clashed before, not just over CK. There was also that Armani ad. Ben Hill argued with Luca and got kicked out. This makes three times now."

"Ben Hill's lost three major contracts in a row. Poor guy."

"Oh~ Poor Ben Hill. Luca's such a jerk!"

"No, no, no!"

Outside the party, in the hallway, Ben Hill waved his arms and shouted loudly.

"I got Prada's recommendation and Ms. Aniston's approval! Why did they give the contract to that scumbag Luca? This can't be happening. It's not real!"

"Ben, you lost," James sighed softly.

"No, no, no, I didn't lose! They must have made a mistake. I'm going back to ask. There's no way they meant to give it to him."

"Stop!"

James took a step forward and said calmly, "You've already lost. Accept it with grace, or you'll lose all your dignity."

"No, no, it's not like that. Ms. Aniston had a great impression of me. I helped expose Luca's disgusting behavior to her, and she thanked me. With Prada's recommendation and her approval, the designer would never oppose it. They must've made a mistake!"

"What did you say?" James frowned. "You said you exposed Luca's behavior to Ms. Aniston? What exactly happened?"

"I saw that scumbag Luca flirting with Ms. Aniston. I couldn't let her fall for his tricks, so I spilled champagne on his pants."

"What? How could you do that?"

James furrowed his brow. That was incredibly foolish.

"Hmph! What do you know? You don't understand anything!" Ben Hill glared at him coldly. "After I spilled champagne on that scumbag, he reacted right then and there. I don't know what he was thinking, but it was disgusting. It was even worse than at fashion week. He was wearing dress pants this time—there was no hiding it. Ms. Aniston was horrified."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ms. Aniston even called him shameless and thanked me for exposing him."

Ben Hill's face lit up with a smile, and he hurried to head back inside.

"Stop!" James grabbed his shoulder. "Ben, do you realize that you just ruined your own chances?"

"What? What are you talking about? Let go of me!"

Ben Hill turned around, shaking off James's hand.

James sighed. "Ben, do you know? Ed and Luca didn't even plan to compete for the contract."

"Bullshit!"

"It's true. I asked Ed. Before the party, they hadn't even submitted an application or model profile. Their goal wasn't the contract."

"You're lying! You're lying! You're lying!"

Ben Hill shook his head, retreating as he spoke.

"It's the truth. Even though I hate Ed and his ridiculous luck, I respect his honesty. He wouldn't lie about this. I even bragged to him that you'd already secured the deal, and he congratulated me."

"You're lying, you're lying, you're lying! Ed's a liar, just like Luca! You've been fooled, you idiot!"

Ben Hill mocked him.

"No, I wasn't fooled. You know, when the brand called Ed in to fill out his profile, I was right there. I found it odd they invited him to submit his information. Now I understand—they were already planning to replace you."

"That's impossible, impossible!"

Ben Hill couldn't believe his ears.

"But it's true," James sighed softly. "I think Ms. Aniston had a lot to do with it."

"No way! Ms. Aniston approved of me!"

Ben Hill insisted.

"Haha, you've forgotten, haven't you? Women can be so fickle. I think before you interrupted their conversation, Ms. Aniston didn't plan on replacing you. But you did something incredibly foolish. Why did you have to go over with that champagne and interrupt them?"

"What do you know?!"

Ben Hill said with frustration, "That jerk Luca is trying to seduce Ms. Aniston. I have to stop him, or we'll lose the contract. You don't know anything! All you do is trust Ed. You're a useless, foolish guy."

"Yes, I am useless and foolish."

James sighed, "My failure was not stopping you sooner. My stupidity was forgetting your issues with Luca, not keeping an eye on you, and not advising you not to do something foolish at such a critical moment. But you did it. You interrupted their conversation, offended Ms. Aniston, and made her hate you. She doesn't like you. It would be easy for her to replace you."

"No, Ms. Aniston approves of me," Ben Hill insisted.

"No, Ben, you don't understand people. You think you embarrassed Luca, but to a woman, it wasn't embarrassing. Maybe, at that moment, Ms. Aniston was actually attracted to him. That's Mr. Big. Just like you wouldn't mind if a woman exposed a body as perfect as art in front of you, right?"

"…"

Ben Hill had nothing to say. He slumped to the ground, shaking his head repeatedly, "Impossible, impossible."

"Sigh."

Seeing him like this, James sighed softly, raising his hand as if to pat him on the shoulder but withdrew it at the last moment.

"Ben, do you know why I'm telling you all this?"

Ben Hill remained silent.

"Because you've made this mistake twice already. I don't want you to make it again with the same person. Ed told me Luca's target is Hollywood. He's already done three movies this year, all as supporting roles.

This time, they're just here to secure a couple of endorsement deals to keep Luca in the top ten rankings as a legitimate supermodel. Next year, they'll leave the fashion world entirely and focus fully on Hollywood. So, Luca isn't your competitor. Why are you going after him?"

"Ha! Leave the fashion world? Only a fool like you would believe that crap. Luca's a supermodel now, making hundreds of thousands to millions with a single contract. He's going to give that up to make $500 on a film set? Is he crazy, or are you?"

Ben Hill sneered.

James shook his head, "Fine, let's not argue whether he'll leave the fashion world. Let me just ask you this: you're just a model, what do you have to compete with Luca? He's a former Brazilian national soccer player, a celebrity. He's saved lives and has a good reputation.

His sister is a supermodel and writer, making millions this year alone. His girlfriend's a supermodel. He's friends with Britney, a superstar. And now, he's friends with Ms. Aniston, a big-time celebrity. He's flying high. What do you have against him?"

"…"

Ben Hill hung his head, silent.

"Ben, give it up. Luca's not a petty guy. He didn't expose you last time, and he hasn't caused you trouble since. If you could apologize to him and befriend him..."

"Shut up!"

Ben Hill suddenly lifted his head, shoving James hard, knocking him to the floor.

"You useless fool! What do you know? All you care about is money! Do you even know what I've gone through to get those contracts?"

Ben Hill stood up, eyes red with rage, yelling, "I've sacrificed so much, more than you can imagine, more than I even want to think about. Those memories are too painful.

Do you know why I've suffered so much? It's all because of Luca! That bastard Luca is the reason for everything! And now you're telling me to apologize to him? Screw you!"

Ben Hill waved his fists, cursing loudly.

James sat on the floor, sighing softly.

"Ben, I was wrong. I take back what I said. But I still don't want you to fight Luca. He's a smart... no, a cunning guy. He acts innocent and unambitious, but his goals are crystal clear.

Every move he makes is planned ahead. Like this time, we don't know how he managed to connect with Ms. Aniston, but he did. He even got the endorsement deal. This time it's like that, what about next time? Do you know how many people he knows?"

James shook his head. "Ben, you can fight him if you want, but be careful. Investigate before you act, can you do that? Please don't make another stupid mistake like today."

"Hmph. I get it. I was careless this time, but next time, I won't make the same mistake. Never again!"

Ben Hill shouted and stormed toward the elevator.

Ding~

The elevator door happened to open.

A man in his forties stepped out, holding a pipe. He was tall, wearing glasses and a gray suit, followed by two bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses.

The three of them strode down the hallway like a scene from a mafia movie.

"Brad Pitt?"

Ben Hill froze for a moment. Then his eyes lit up, and he shouted, "Mr. Pitt, I have something to report. Someone's trying to seduce your wife!"