Hollywood Zenith



Glenn was petrified for a moment, his biggest hopes were lost, and he felt utterly abandoned. It also cemented his belief that Samuel was someone who he should never have messed with.

For the first time, he felt genuine fear, a dreadful feeling, while looking at Samuel with a lens of horror. He could only think about his father at this moment; he always helped him, which might have enabled him.

With his trembling hands, he dialled the familiar number; for the first few times, he accidentally dialled the wrong number, but in the end, the call went through.

Those first few seconds were like a millennium for him; he could hardly wait for him to pick up the phone as a million thoughts peered through his mind. It was a torture he didn't even know existed.

" Son, I am in a meeting. Can I call you back?" The voice said on the other side of the call. He would always think his father to be annoying, but it was music to his ears.

" Dad, I got into trouble." He was on the verge of crying, and his father instantly felt it.

" What's wrong? Aren't you going out tonight?" Ben knew his son's debaucherous nature. But what could he do? It was his son; he always thought he would grow out of it. But hearing him crying, he knew there must be some serious trouble on his end.

" No, Dad, it's not about that. I.." Glenn paused, not knowing how to tell him.

" Tell me, what did you do?!" Ben asked with a stern voice.

" I offended someone named Samuel."

" Who? What did you say his name was?" Ben was not as ignorant as his son. He was a connected person, especially in the Hollywood scene. He learned many rumours over the years, and one was widely circulated in the inner circles of the industry.

" Samuel, I don't know his last name." Ben was speechless; he was still in denial. How could it have happened? But hearing it a second time confirmed his strangest nightmares.

" Where are you?" He immediately asked calmly; his heart was beating fast, but he had to save him.

"The lobby of Ritz-Carlton."

" Wait a while; I will be there soon." Ben left everything behind and hurried out the door; his mind rushed as he started to find someone who could put up good words for him.

...

...

...

Meanwhile, Mason was at the scene with local police and a few of his subordinates. 

The police at the scene immediately saluted him as he took his people inside with a depressed look. He was still angry about Glenn practically thrashing his plans.

As soon as he entered the door, he looked at the people retrained on the ground with several bruises on their faces.

He could see Arthur and beside him a pair of handsome couple; he had never met him personally, but it was not hard to recognize Samuel.

He also examined Samuel from far for injuries; thankfully, there were none which at least eased some of his worries.

He steadily walked in his direction and, giving Arthur a light nod, started talking with Samuel.

"Mr Samuel, I am really sorry for this incident. I didn't expect such a thing to happen in LA." He expressed his sentiments and took full responsibility without even greeting him.

" It's not your fault. There are always a few scums loitering around every part of the world. I am speaking with experience." Samuel was cordial with him. He didn't want to start something in front of many people, and the incident was entirely unrelated to Mason too.

In hindsight, he should have known people were coming after Liliana and Rosaline, but they didn't mention anything, too, maybe out of concern for him.

Mason didn't expect Samuel to be this humble; from the reports he had read, he never looked like someone capable of such carnage.

He had dealt with many second generations in his career, and most of them were unnecessarily haughty, the kind he wanted to drag back to the station to teach them a lesson, unlike Samuel, who was someone easy to talk to.

This put him in a strange dilemma, was he doing the right thing when the other party showed this much respect? In a way, he was forced to do it, but was it justified too?

" Chief?" His subordinate said seeing his boss was lost in deep thought.

" Don't worry, Mr. Samuel. Our department will handle this case seriously; we will conduct a severe investigation of these people's motives and give our full support on this matter with Miss Liliana." Mason still had some respect in these regards.

He was known to hate crimes against innocent people, especially women. That's where he drew the line; his stance was immediately apparent. Whether Glenn and his people were guilty, he would give it his all to get to the truth.

As for being beaten by Samuel, they looked at the security footage. It would likely be considered self-defence, maybe a little excessive force, but it was debatable. Mason was just happy they were not dead yet as he had predicted.

" Thank you very much." Samuel took the initiative as they shook hands.

Some familiar faces also arrived at the scene; Daniel and some of his people hurriedly came in to find Liliana.

Most days, few people would follow Liliana as she was their boss' daughter, but this was one of the days they didn't have anyone posted around her.

Arthur was the one that sneakily informed them; they were her immediate family. It felt wrong not to give a few words out as basic respect.

Daniel immediately took a sigh of relief, seeing she wasn't harmed.

" Liliana, are you alright?" He asked, seeing the mess in the lobby.

" I am fine. Sami took care of most of them." She briefly told them what had happened, and they were furious when they heard the whole story.

" Boss, what I get rid of them? There are a lot of cops right now, but we can make a small window-" one of the underlings immediately asked for revenge.

" No, I can see the chief of police here. It would be too much heat; we should let it calm down a little bit-" another one who was a little sensible suggested, but Daniel cut their train of thought.

" Leave it to the cops. Samuel is also here; I think he already has a plan." He looked toward Samuel and nodded.

" Yeah, please leave it to me."

After talking for a few more minutes, they left and posted outside the hotel. It would be harmful to linger here in the presence of police; they were already getting suspicious glances.