Alex y on his bed with his ptop open. It was time to work on his project. His st project, Hurt Locker, had been his ing achievement—an intense war drama that not only domihe box office but also raked in multiple Academy Awards. Well, now he wao create something different. Something deeply personal. Something that spoke to the human dition rather than an adrenaline-fueled spectacle.

  A romance.

  Not the generiuid that Hollywood ed out year after year. No, he wanted something real. Something that left people thinking long after the credits rolled.

  Thankfully, he wasn't short on inspiration.

  Thanks to the knowledge he carried from his past life, he already knew which stories had the potential to bee iic. He had no she of ideas, no ck of brilliant scripts waiting to be written.

  The only question was... Whie?

  He opehe saved hat he never posted and chose three.

  Each was a masterpie its ht. Each had the power to redefine modern roman film.

  And tonight, he had to make a choice.

  [The Ameri Beauty]

  Alex opehe first book.

  A story about suburban disillusio, The Ameri Beauty was not a roman the ventional se was a deep, psychological unraveling of love, desire, and the crushi of expectations.

  It wasn't about graures or happy endings. It was about truth, evehat truth was ugly.

  It was a bold choice. A troversial one.

  Audiences expected romao be beautiful, to leave them with hope. This film would do the opposite. It would force them to front unfortable realities, to questioure of happiness itself.

  Would Hollywood embraething so dark?

  Or would it be too much of a risk?

  Alex exhaled and moved to the one.

  [Lost in Transtion]

  A quieter, more introspective story.

  Two lost souls, adrift in a fn nd, finding so each other.

  Lost in Transtion was not about fiery passion or sweepiions. It was about the small moments. A gnce across a crowded room. A whispered versation in the middle of the night. The unspoken uandiween two people who kheir time together was fleeting.

  It was a film that didn't rely on a or spectacle. It thrived in subtlety.

  A, it recisely that subtlety that made it a risk.

  Would audiences ect with something so uated? Or would they dismiss it as too quiet, too uful?

  Alex tapped his pen against the desk, sidering.

  Then, he moved on to the final option.

  [La La Land]

  Alex smirked.

  This was the biggest choice.

  A film about love and ambition, about chasing dreams even at the cost of losing something precious.

  La La Land was vibrant. Nostalgic. It celebrated the magic of romance while aowledging its iable heartbreak.

  Of the three scripts, this was the safest bet. It had music, spectacle, sweepiions—everything a modern audience could want.

  ...

  Alex leaned back against the headboard, his ptop banced on his p, fiapping idly against the keyboard. The soft glow of the s illuminated his fa the dimly lit room, casting long shadows across the penthouse.

  Three choices.

  Three entirely different stories.

  Three paths, each leading to a different kind of legacy.

  He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. The Ameri Beauty was bold, La La Land was the safest, and Lost in Transtion...

  His gaze lingered o one.

  Quiet. Introspective. Subtle.

  There were no grand speeches, no dramatic love triangles, no over-the-top decrations of love in the p rain. Just two people, lost in a world that didn't quite uand them, finding something fleeti profound in each other.

  It was a story that didn't tell you how to feel. It just... let you feel it.

  And that recisely why he couldn't stop thinking about it.

  With a sigh, Alex she ptop shut. This wasn't a decision he could make from the fort of his bed.

  He needed air.

  The night air was crisp against his skin as he stepped onto the penthouse baly, barefoot and still i-shirt and sants he'd been lounging in.

  The city stretched out before him, a glittering sea of neon and headlights. New York never slept. Not really. But up here, high above the noise and chaos, it almost felt peaceful.

  Alex pced his hands on the etal railing a his mind wander.

  Did he want safety? A guaranteed hit? Because if he did, La La Land was the obvious choice. Big musiumbers. Nostalgic charm. Romand heartbreak ed up in a beautifully ematic package.

  It would sell. It would win awards.

  But would it matter?

  He frowned.

  The Ameri Beauty owerful. Dark. It had the kind of depth that made critics lose their minds.

  But was the world ready for that kind of brutal hoy?

  Or rather... was he?

  His fiapped against the railing.

  No.

  her of those was his story to tell.

  His heart already khe answer.

  Lost in Transtion.

  It wasn't the loudest. It wasn't the fshiest. It wouldn't and attention the way other films did.

  But it would linger.

  It would whisper to people long after they left the theater. It would sit in their minds, in their chests, growing in meaning as they carried it with them through life.

  That was the kind of story he wao tell.

  Alex exhaled, letting the weight of the decisiole.

  That's it, then.

  He went back to the bed after closing the baly doors. Thehe project to his assistant. After that, he fell asleep.

  ...

  [M]

  Alex's m started the same way it always did... early. Not by choice. His phone's relentless vibrating on the nightstand had yanked him out of sleep like a drill sergeant with a vea. He groaned, blindly reag for it and squinting at the s.

  7:02 AM.

  And about ten missed calls from his assistant, Rachel. That was never a good sign. Alex exhaled sharply, ran a hand down his face, and finally picked up on the eleventh ring. "Rachel, if someone isn't dead or on fire, I swear..."

  "Where have you been?!" Rachel cut in, her voice at peak exasperation.

  "Sleeping?" Alex said dryly, rolling out of bed and stretg. "Like a normal human being?"

  "Normal human beings don't disappear the m after they drop a multi-million-dolr projeto their produ team with zer!"

  Alex rubbed his temple. 'Ah. Right.'

  Last night, he'd sent out a preliminary message about his film choice before knog out. And judging by Rachel's tohat message had sent Hollywood into a full-blown crisis.

  "I take it you got my email," Alex muttered, already moving toward the shower.

  Rachel made a sound. It art sigh, part scream, part strangled groan. "Alex. You picked a quiet, artsy romance. You know that's not what the studio wanted."

  Alex turned oub water, letting the water heat up. "And?"

  "And?! And?!" Rachel sounded personally offended. "Do you have any idea how maings I had to schedule i hour? I'm talking emergency-level Hollywood nonseudio execs. Iors. Agents. They are asking if you'd lost yoddamn mind!"

  He grinned. "Did you tell him it happened years ago?"

  "I did not," Rachel snapped. "Because I'm too busy figuring out how to keep these people from freaking out."

  Alex yawned, stepping into the shower. "Tell them all to calm down. I know what I'm doing."

  Rachel's sigh could be heard over the phone and through time itself. "You always think that, Alex. And then the hing I know, I'm getting calls from some A-list actor's agent demanding to know why you rejected their t in favor of some unknown indie guy you saw in a coffee shop once."

  He smirked. "That actor won an Oscar two years ter."

  "That's not the point!"

  Alex chuckled. "Rex, Rachel. This one will be in-house produ and I'll be direg the movie. I'll take care of all the casting and all that other crap you hate handling. Besides, I'll be taking all the risks. So, it doesn't matter what I do with my money or my produ house. I am the boss, not them. Make sure they get that. If they won't then feel free to fire them. Tell them to read the tract." He started singing an old tune by Oasis: "Should I Stay Or Should I go? Now if the Rolling Stones say...It's alright. It's okay. You may look and see me go away..."

  Rachel let out a very long, very aggravated sigh. "Alex, please take your life a little bit seriously."

  "This is my life," he ughed. "Anyway, I'm guessing the Bckstar Studios are the oo say no this time?"

  "...How'd you know?" She asked.

  "Simple dedu. Our colboration traded with the st movie. So, why the hell are they meddling in my work?" He pced the phone on the basin ter and put it on loudspeaker. Theepped into the tub.

  "Uh, you aren't going to rehe tract? Vanessa Harper called me two days ago, saying that you are pnning on renewing the tract!" She sounded exasperated.

  "Yeah, I po, but sidering the problem they are creating and might create iure that might hinder my movie, then I want the option to dee their involvement in my film. It's time, Rachel to promote our produ house to the level. No more colborations with other produ houses or iors. Only ours."

  There was a moment of silence from the other side, which told him Rachel was staring at her phht now in the middle of his decration.

  "This...This is so sudden. Many people are gonna be pissed off," She stammered.

  He was gd she didn't oppose his idea.

  "My money, my project, my team... I could care less about some third-rate leachers leag off from me for the st five years. Vanessa helped me with my startup, and I paid her enough for the st five years. It's time to go our separate ways. Moving ohe word out about the new project. Set up audition dates and all those things you usually do. I'll swing by the Bckstar Studios on the way. Oh, before I fet tell the team that since we are doing everything in-house without colborating with another party, they expect a raise in their paycheck, including you," Alex said as he sat fortably ihtub and rexed himself.

  There was another brief silence, followed by a relut voice, "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me. You are the one I should be thanking for taking care of my mess these past few years, also, repce the freezer in my office, please. It's been ag up tely," He ordered.

  "Don't tell me that a five-year-old ice cream cup melted," She chuckled.

  "It was the cookie fvor, the limited batow I'm never getting it. Gahh! That was three years ago and it still haunts me in my sleep... You are never going to let it go, are you?"

  Rachel let out a chuckle, "Absolutely not. But don't worry, I'll take care of it as usual."

  "You are a lifesaver, Rachel," He gave his gratitude to her, to whom he could entrust the most.

  "I aim to serve, but tell me this, Alex. Are you really pnning on casting unknown actors this time?" She asked.

  "We will just see about that... Well, see ya in the office," He responded vaguely.

  "Yeah, see you..."

  After their call ended, Alex sighed and rexed ihtub, enjoying the feeling of his exhaustioing away. His eyes closed, a out a long sigh.

  "Oops. I fot about the Cupcake deal."

  Alex took his phone aed Caroline, inf her about the date, time and location of the delivery.

  --------

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  [9 advance chs] [All chs avaible for all tiers]

  ----

  chapter ing in a few...

  AN: I know you guys want him to make different movies, and he will. Have a little patience. As fames, I don't know. Maybe he i and open a studio or something, but I am not going fame developer mode.