A Dangerous Alliance

"You're Charlize Theron?" Cruella de Vil asked, while simultaneously pinching and kneading Charlize's face. "Have you had plastic surgery?"

She didn't slap the other person's hand away in annoyance, but Charlize Theron didn't give her a friendly look either, simply replying, "No money, never had plastic surgery."

"Hollywood, hmm." Cruella de Vil even took off her gloves and started touching Charlize directly. She said, "I do need a clothes hanger that can express the theme, for shooting some gay and print photos."

"What If...? you cooperate, providing you with a formal dress is no problem. As for how long it will take, that depends on your performance."

At this moment, JJ Harris quietly interrupted Charlize, jumping in to say, "What If...? my clients need to take photos of their private parts and create portraits, how would you calculate the payment?"

"And who are you?" Cruella de Vil asked, looking at the old woman with disdain.

"JJ Harris, Charlize Theron's agent. Don't tell me you're doing this for free. If you damage her commercial value, I'm sure it won't be good for your brand either."

Unlike the film industry, film producers and directors focus on achieving great things with limited funds. As for the shady dealings involved in big-budget productions, that's another matter entirely.

But the fashion industry never considers the issue of "saving money." They care more about how to spend money, and they want to spend a lot of money!

How is the value of high-end products inflated? Simply put, it's created by spending money.

When it comes to the costs surrounding a product, such as raw material costs, labor costs, and processing costs, if these factors are cheap, wouldn't it make the product seem to be of a similar level and not high-end?

Therefore, if Cruella de Vil were to ask Charlize Theron for help for free, it would damage the value of her own brand, and consequently drag Charlize's commercial value down as well. Neither side wants to see this lose-lose situation.

Cruella de Vil, of course, couldn't possibly misunderstand such a thing, but she couldn't refute it. She could only complain, "What a shrewd agent."

When it came down to the agent's involvement, it was no longer Givenchy and the others' place to interfere. For him, his task was complete. As for supporting Cruella de Vil's succession to the title, simply stating his position was enough; no written agreement or anything like that was required.

He let the women argue amongst themselves while he led the other men to a small table in the conference room.

At banquets like these, people often go into small meeting rooms to discuss serious matters. Therefore, the organizers will prepare a temporary table or small bar in these areas, with clean glasses upside down and filled with spirits such as whiskey or brandy.

Besides her husband, Givenchy also brought along Henry and Cruella de Vil's two henchmen. They each poured themselves a glass of whiskey and introduced themselves.

The two bigwigs didn't need to be explicitly introduced, but Henry still acted as the introducer, carefully stating their identities before introducing himself. "I am Henry Brown, the current CEO of Hollywood Stark Studios. It's a pleasure to meet you both. And you are?"

The tall, thin man picked up his hat, gave a very polite bow, and said, "Jasper Baden."

The short, stout man was the same, but he took off his hat, waving his hands in front of his chest, and tried to bend his obese back. "Horace Baden."

Henry asked curiously, "Oh, are you two brothers?"

The two looked at each other, shook their heads, and said, "No, we're orphans. The nun who took us in simply gave us the same surname. But since we were taken in at a very young age, we don't actually know if we're brothers."

"Oh, okay. No disrespect intended, but actually my background is quite similar to yours, the kind where the father and mother are unknown. So we have to work even harder, right?" Henry raised his glass to the two of them.

The three of them briefly clinked their glasses and took a small sip of wine.

Henry then asked, "May I ask what your roles are with Ms. Deevy?"

The tall, thin Jasper Baden glanced at his partner and said, "Although we're officially assistants, we're responsible for everything except the costumes."

"Cruella de Vil is very capable. However, as you can probably tell, she often offends people with her mouth. If it weren't for us two thugs, she would have been beaten to death by now."

Henry looked dumbfounded and said, "You guys are really... more frank than I expected."

"You can say these things to Cruella de Vil without her noticing," said the short, stout Horace Baden. "She won't change her mind anyway. But normally, she'll just pretend she didn't hear them. They're like a mosquito buzzing around."

Jasper Baden nodded, looking somewhat sympathetic.

Givenchy raised his glass and said, "As a designer, it's a good thing to have principles. Otherwise, if you panic after listening to just a few comments from critics and forget the theme you want to express, you'll end up losing yourself."

Several people raised their glasses and drank together.

Henry glanced at the three women arguing fiercely; the intensity of their battle made him a little worried that they might start tearing each other apart on the spot.

Although Charlize Theron is JJ Harris's client, generally speaking, in such business negotiations, it's sufficient for the agent to handle the details.

However, Cruella de Vil's aura and rhetoric are too aggressive; it takes two people working together to keep up with this sharp-tongued fashion icon.

Moreover, Cruella de Vil's words were so infuriating that Charlize Theron was repeatedly provoked into retaliating and unable to remain silent.

"Are they alright?" Henry asked worriedly, though he didn't expect an answer.

Jasper Baden reassured her, "Don't worry. Cruella de Vil won't hit anyone in this kind of argument unless the other person strikes first."

Henry couldn't help but ask, "Was Ms. Deevy always this... assertive when collaborating with others?"

Horace honestly replied, "No, nobody can stand Cruella de Vil. So, aside from the runway shows at Fashion Week where she has a contracted relationship with the models, Cruella de Vil wears her own designs and does her own photoshoots."

Hearing this answer, it's not surprising at all.

Henry turned to Givenchy, who quickly shook his head and said, "I didn't know it was like this either. It was Cruella de Vil recently announced she was looking for a model. That's why I thought of recommending her."

Horace Baden remained completely unrestrained, and Jasper couldn't stop him no matter what he tried.

The short, stout man said, "Cruella de Vil is over forty years old. Even if she tries her best to maintain her appearance, she can't look like a young girl. I've long advised her to find a brand ambassador and stop doing everything herself."

"Oh, they're fighting! They're fighting!" Philip Vine hurriedly patted Henry on the shoulder.

Cruella de Vil was already waving her little fists, while Charlize Theron was also brandishing her claws, baring her teeth, looking like she wanted to scratch the other's face. Fortunately, JJ Harris risked his life to stand between them, desperately separating the two.

Henry quickly went over, hoisted the girl onto his shoulder, and walked away. The two Baden men, supporting their boss, also took several steps back, preventing the two women from starting a fight.

Even creating distance didn't appease the two women. Unable to physically assault them, they became even more verbally abusive.