[Edward POV]

"So what are we going to do today?" I asked Haley as I came home from work.

She grinned and pulled up a clip on her laptop. It was an attack ad—one community college mocking another, claiming their rival's degree was worthless because they'd once given a diploma to a dog.

"Hmm?" I frowned. Isn't this the same gag they'll use in Community? That's not supposed to come out until 2015. So this is the prototype, huh?

"I'm thinking something like this," Haley explained. "Narrator, freeze-frames, a couple of harsh talking points. We can do a bunch of them."

"Oh. Did you write some down already?" I asked.

"…Was I supposed to?" she said slowly.

"…You didn't?"

She shook her head, smiling nervously.

I sighed. "Fine. I get the gist. We'll improvise."

"Perfect!" Haley perked up. "I've got ideas for a longer skit for YouTube and a short one for Instagram."

"Alright. I'll take a shower first."

From the bathroom, I could hear everything. Haley had lined up the girls and was already barking orders like a drill sergeant.

"Although I don't want to share my time with him, I'll need three people for the roles. Ideally men, but since there's only Edward, you'll have to do."

"I'm a professional actress," Willa said. "So I think I deserve one of the spots."

"Stand up straight!" Haley snapped. Willa immediately straightened, hands behind her back.

"I'll decide if you're good enough, Maggot! Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Willa answered without hesitation.

"Maggot?" I muttered under the running water.

Haley turned to Barbara. "Chest out. Too slutty. Go change if you want a role."

"But I'm barely showing—"

"Now, Maggot!" Haley barked. Barbara left to change.

Haley put on sunglasses and paced in front of the line. "You each have fifteen seconds to convince me you deserve the role."

"What role?" Selena asked.

"DISQUALIFIED!" Haley snapped.

Selena blinked in disbelief, but Taylor tried instead. "Well, I'm the most famous—"

"Out. Too famous. Same goes for you, Ness. And you, Selena."

"So the choices are Barbara and Willa?" Selena said flatly. "Then why did you even call us here?"

"Just to rub it in." Haley grinned.

Ness laughed. Selena and Taylor just frowned.

Taylor muttered, "If they screw up, we're stepping in."

Barbara raised her hand timidly. "I've never acted before."

"It's fine. You don't need to be Meryl Streep for a one-minute Instagram skit," Haley said.

By the time I came out in gray sweatpants and a black tank top, the room was buzzing. The girls squealed the moment they saw me.

"Whore," Haley scolded. "Put on something normal. I don't want people thirsting over you in my comment section."

"Copy that." I turned around quickly and went to change again. I put on a white shirt and jeans next, finally earning Haley's approval.

"Who should be the narrator? I think they need to have a deep or comforting voice—"

Willa was interrupted by Taylor, who said, "This is a hit piece. So they need a deep voice."

"I'll do it and change how my voice sounds using AI," Ness said.

All of us agreed with her suggestion.

"What's the first idea?" Barbara asked Haley excitedly.

The first idea was based on a tabloid article about my relationship—or rather, the lack of it. It was written in the early days, before I even admitted I had one.

-First Hit Piece-

"I told you, I'm not giving you my number! That's a violation of my privacy!!" I snapped at Barbara and Willa as they pretended to approach me at a party.

Freeze-frame. My angry face filled the screen. I wore nerdy glasses, had side-parted hair, suspenders, a bowtie, and short pants, making me look like the perfect caricature of a nerd.

Narrator: This is Edward Newgate, a Silicon Valley billionaire with a huge dream.

The scene changed, showing me coding in my room.

Then Barbara and Willa opened the door, each wearing only a towel wrapped around her body.

"Edward, we're going to sunbathe by the pool. European style," Willa said with a grin.

Barbara added, "Can you rub oil on our bodies while we lie on our backs?"

I turned to them, snapping, "I told you not to bother me! There are two of you! Rub the oil on each other's bodies!" I slammed the door.

Cut to commentary.

I sat facing the camera. "My dad always told me: 'Son, women are a distraction, and you should never let them get in the way of our collective dream.' I'm not just working on this project for myself—I'm working on behalf of all man…kind."

I paused, letting the last word land ambiguously.

Barbara faced the camera next. "He has a 225 IQ. But he's so dumb he kept missing our hints."

The footage showed Barbara trying to get Edward to take off her bra, but he ignored her and opened his laptop instead.

Narrator: We asked Edward about his end goal. What is he working toward? What is he doing instead of just laying pipes to the girls who are clearly into him? I mean—man! Just look at those girls!

Back to the scene.

"We're leaving!" Willa told Edward as he worked on his laptop. Her face was twisted in anger and desperation, almost on the verge of tears. "Unless you tell us you love us right now—"

"Drive well!" I called out, closing the door in their faces. They looked stunned.

The shot cut to me gazing affectionately at a blushing emoticon on my computer screen.

I faced the camera one last time. "One of these days, I'm going to fuck my laptop—"

The short hit piece ended abruptly. Haley flashed the tabloid article it was based on.

{Edward Newgate caught building a sex doll? A large shipment of skin mimicking silicon was delivered to his house.}

-End video-

Haley giggled at the end product. She turned to Barbara, "You seem rather awkward, but it's fine."

"I'm not an actor. I'm just a very pretty girl." Barbara said with a baby voice while moving towards me.

I ignored her and said to Haley, "Are you going to post it now?" Then, I turned to Willa. "Do you have the 'okay' from your agency? I don't want them to get mad at you."

"That's completely unnecessary. They are going to be really glad I did that." Willa said with firm confidence.

Barbara poked my arm, wanting some attention while we were discussing. In the end, I pulled her into my embrace, which caused her to get dirty looks from the others.

"I– I'm going to post it after we finish the youtube skit. That will take some time I guess. Maybe one or two days, since Edward only has a little time each day."

"Yeah, Edward is the problem." Willa teased.

I rolled my eyes and said, "I'm already filming episode 10, and only the fourth episode is on the air right now. Then, I'm going to take three weeks off for Christmas and New Years Eve."

"Then, we can spend the last days of the lockdown together before going back to normal." I added

The girls were all stunned by my words. I didn't know what I expected from them, but this wasn't it.

We ended the filming that day, and Barbara asked me a personal question as I was going to sleep.

She entered my room and laid down beside me, asking, "Edward, do you think I'm a good actress?"

"Based on your 7 second screentime in an instagram skit? I have no idea." I replied.

"Why don't you try to act something out. I'll see if you have any skills." I said, slightly interested.

She grinned and stood back up, getting ready to act. She fixed her hair into a ponytail and said desperately, "The queen is going to kill me." She heaved her chest and added, "She's going to rip out my heart."

"Huh? What's this from?" I was confused.

Barbara blinked slowly and said, "Kristen Stewart from Snow White and The Huntsman."

"You're picking an acting scene, yet you pick Kristen Stewart?" I muttered with disbelief.

She smiled and said giddily, "Yeah. So?... I love that movie."

"Oh boy. I don't know– You might– You might have some acting skills." I said dismissively. "If you can act like you love that movie."

Barbara was annoyed and pounced at me, "It is a good movie." Hugging my arm, she said childishly, "Also, I just watched it today, so I can only remember that."

"Ah, that made more sense now." I chortled and then kissed her cheek.

"Do you want to be an actress?" I asked.

She thought about it and said, "I do. But I'm not going to do it with connection. Like if I'm going to act, I want to go through the auditions."

"That's admirable. But honestly sweetheart, no one in Hollywood really gets their start without any connections."

I wondered if I should copy and paste my acting skills or acting talent to Barbara. That way, she would immediately become an Oscar level actress.

"Edward, what's wrong?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"Well, usually your hand will be down my pants by now when you hold me like this, but we're not even kissing yet."

I paused for a few seconds before hugging her tightly and said, "Come here!"

…

–Duplicate Edward; Christen Forger–

Since I had an actual identity, I bought a place in Fairfax County and officially immigrated to America from France.

Christen Forger was part of the Illuminati. On the surface, he had an impeccable reputation as the heir to a multibillion-dollar family business. Behind the scenes, I was using his identity to funnel money into foster homes and orphanages across the world.

Right now, Christen's cash reserves were at 750 million. I spent eight million on an English-style Tudor mansion — large enough for hosting, with its own yard, a pool, and eight bathrooms.

"Huh… I got an invitation to meet a talent agency?" I muttered, scrolling through my texts.

After the Netflix movie came out, my name was hot in Hollywood.

"I don't need to sign with one. I'll be gone from Hollywood after this anyway. But it's nice to be wanted."

Another call came in — Scarlett's manager. He wanted to set up a dinner meeting before filming started.

"I get that," I muttered, "but why at a five-star restaurant?"

I drove there in my classic '63 Studebaker Lark, its velvet-colored paint gleaming under the city lights.

Scarlett was waiting for me alone. And when I say alone, I mean completely alone — the restaurant was cleared out for her. Lockdown rules had emptied most public spaces anyway.

She wore a shoulderless dress, her short hair styled neatly.

"You look beautiful, Mrs. Johansson," I said politely.

She laughed. "Please, just call me Scarlett."

"Alright. Call me Christen. What did you want to discuss?" I cut straight to the point.

She smiled, unfazed. "Shouldn't we eat something first?"

"Fair enough." I ordered the best wine and food they had.

Her eyes brightened. "You know wine?"

"My family owns a winery in France," I replied casually.

"Oh? What else do they do?" she asked, swirling her glass. Her eyes glittered with curiosity.

As if you haven't already Googled me, I thought.

"They have a couple of small businesses," I said vaguely. That only made her more intrigued, assuming I was being modest.

In truth, the family business was valued at ten billion, and I was the sole heir.

"That's fine," she said smoothly. "So what made you get into directing?"

I deflected. "Better question — what made you start acting?"

We talked for a long while. The conversation felt less like a meeting and more like a first date.

At one point, I asked about her single life after the divorce. She swirled her second glass of wine and grimaced.

"You know how dating works in this industry?" she asked.

"No. Enlighten me." I smiled.

"It's like middle school," she said. "If you like someone, you tell your manager. Then your manager talks to their manager. If both sides agree, the date happens."

I raised an eyebrow.

"And since the dating pool is so small, people keep overlapping… sometimes even with married ones." Her voice lowered on the last part.

"So, who's your manager?" I joked.

Her eyes lit up and she joked back, "Who's yours?"

"I don't have one."

"That's a pity," she said, disappointment in her voice, though her eyes were still flirty.

We moved on to lighter topics, never touching the film itself.

As we were finishing up, a sharply dressed man approached our table. Definitely not a staff member.

"Mrs. Scarlett Johansson, what a pleasure," he said, his smile charming. "I'm a huge fan of Girl with a Pearl Earring. Though Lost in Translation is a close second."

"Oh, thank you," Scarlett replied politely.

Then he turned to me, his expression sharpening. "And you, Mr. Forger. Surely you remember me?"

"How could I forget? Mr. Reddington." I smiled at the James Spader lookalike, showing no hint of intimidation.

He chuckled, sat without invitation, and Scarlett frowned, but I gestured for her to stay calm.

"You see, Mr. Forger," Reddington began smoothly, "I'm curious. Why would a man like you step down in life—to play at being a mere movie director?"

The Forger family has had some business deals with him before so we knew each other in passing.

"I don't owe you explanations, do I?" I countered, smirking.

"I could ask you the same thing– why is the number nine on the FBI's Most Wanted list sitting here right now?"

Scarlett's eyes widened, a flicker of fear crossed her face. I smiled at her reassuringly before answering Reddington.

"But if I must answer—Newgate asked me to."

"He asked you?" Reddington blinked. "He told you to make movies?"

"We both know how persuasive the kid is."

He said sarcastically, "So he just asked, out of the blue, and you agreed?"

"No. I was bored, so I wrote a script," I said casually with a sarcastic edge.

Reddington guffawed, a sharp, knowing sound. "Yes. A script based on real events. A sick one, at that."

Scarlett's eyes widened again. Even I was thrown. "What?"

Reddington studied my face carefully, a master of reading expressions. My confusion made him pause.

"Don't tell me you don't realize what you've written. You've painted a target on your own back, and you don't even know it?"

"I was making it up," I replied evenly. "Based on a poker game I played with a college friend."

Reddington's eyebrows shot up, then he chuckled again. "Ah. Creativity can be dangerous. Seems you've stepped right into a predicament of your own making."

He turned slightly to Scarlett. "I think it's best if Miss Johansson heads home before we continue this discussion elsewhere."

"It's fine. I don't need your services," I said coolly.

He paused, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. "You're sure? They'll come for you—and anyone you care about—to make sure this doesn't happen again."

I smiled. "Lucky for me, I don't have any loved ones. And anyway… they can't really hurt me."

Scarlett bit her lip at my cockiness, and Raymond looked flabbergasted—he wasn't used to losing control so quickly.

Reddington's method was simple. Offer help, then hold it over someone's head until the day comes to collect.

He had no friends—only connections. I had no interest in being part of that. I was here to make movies, not to play his game.

Scarlett had driven herself, but I offered her a ride home since she was tipsy. She accepted.

On the way, she asked, "So… is it like Eyes Wide Shut?"

I understood immediately. The controversy surrounding Kubrick's final film revolved around censorship, studio interference, and rumors of elite exposure.

Officially, the edits secured an R rating. Unofficially, some whispered that incriminating footage was removed—and that Kubrick's death wasn't entirely natural.

"I don't think so. Or maybe there is something," I said. "Edward Newgate doesn't do censorship, and he doesn't care about the elites. So maybe he ruffled some feathers putting this on Netflix."

Scarlett frowned. "I'll text him, let him know what's happening."

"Oh, I think he already knows," I joked.

She blinked, then sighed. "Well… if Eddy's got your back, you don't need anyone else."

"You really trust him, huh?" I asked.

She smiled softly. "Eddy's a good friend of mine. I guess he's a good friend of yours too."

"A little bit," I said ambiguously.

When we arrived, she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks for the ride. I can't wait to start working together."

"Me too."

Back at my Tudor mansion, the front door had been pried open.

I sighed and walked inside calmly. In the living room, multiple figures wearing golden masquerade-style masks awaited me.

(Squid game reference)

"What in Batman's Court of Owls shit is this?" I muttered.

"Have a seat Mr Forger." They said threateningly.

"Nah. Get the fuck out of my house." I said casually.

They held rifles and guns at me.

I smirked and said, "Is that supposed to be intimidating?"

"Only if you care about your life." The leader said with a deep voice.

"Really? Then… shoot." I sat in front of them casually.

They were taken aback at first. The leader threatened again, "This isn't a game Mr Forger."

"I don't care. Shoot your rifle, or get out of my house. I have nothing to talk with you guys about." I said firmly.

"...Pity." The leader said before he opened fire. But as the bullet flew, it crashed into a translucent shield– my chakra shield I had opened.

They were startled and began to fire everything at me.

The loud sound of the gunfire reverberated around the entire mansion.

Unfortunately for them, the bullets didn't even get near me.

As their bullets were depleted, they looked at me with horror.

I smirked at them and said, "Are you done? Now it's my turn."