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sooner had Henry and the others returned to Los Angeles than Cruella arrived with her team right on their heels.
The premiere of The Rock was scheduled to take place on Alcatraz Island, the former prison off the coast of San Francisco. There were just over two weeks left.
For Charlize Theron and Cruella de Vil, that might sound like plenty of time—but in reality, it was extremely tight.
Including J.J. Harris, the three women were working at full throttle. Even their usual bickering had toned down. Though every time they met, they still looked like two fighting roosters thrown into the same cage—pecking at each other a bit before getting down to work.
Honestly, even with a Kryptonian super-brain, Henry couldn't quite understand why they were so tense.
To him, attending a formal event was simple: as long as you weren't naked, you were appropriately dressed.
He understood fashion—but that was his core value system. Unfixable.
Still, their busyness had its benefits. At least their daily clashes were limited to verbal sparring. No time for actual fights, no time for passive-aggressive delays. Work came first.
Though… Henry's evenings were getting a bit rough on his back.
He had to "convince" people—definitely convince, not anything else—to stop dwelling on unpleasant matters… and maybe distract them a little.
---
What they were busy with wasn't just premiere outfits.
Cruella also wanted to complete TV commercials and print shoots at the same time.
Those two weren't urgent for Charlize—but Cruella herself had to attend Paris Men's Fashion Week at the end of June. Her time in Los Angeles was limited.
All three projects combined—that was the real reason the three women were running themselves ragged.
---
As for the vampire situation—it hadn't escalated.
Just standard business sabotage.
If you ignored their true identities, it looked like nothing more than a powerful competitor setting up obstacles.
Henry, meanwhile, stayed within Stark Pictures.
The "Stark" name still carried a certain protective aura—like a charm warding off trouble. Most problems didn't reach him.
But when they did… they weren't small ones.
---
After spending some time catching up on lagging Git projects, Henry returned to his own work.
Recently, certain… questionable images had begun circulating online.
Naturally, upon discovering such materials, Henry conducted a very thorough and serious "critique."
He was even considering whether to quietly become an unsung hero—launching a hacker-level cleanup of the internet.
Just as he was weighing the idea, his phone rang.
"Hello, Henry Brown speaking. Who's this?"
"Hey, it's me. Charlize."
"Ah, sweetheart. Missing me already? I was just thinking about you—see, perfect timing. But shouldn't you be filming the commercial right now?"
He kept track of her schedule—not obsessively, just normal concern.
Today was special. They were using Stark Pictures' green screen stage to shoot, planning to composite the footage later with existing material to match Cruella's concept.
Henry had been planning to slack off a bit longer before dropping by.
Apparently, Charlize had other plans.
"Can you do me a favor? Bring Katie over. I want her in the ad."
"…You're serious?"
"Completely. How fast can you get here? The sooner you arrive, the sooner we can wrap. I miss you."
Ah.
So the collaboration had gone poorly again.
That explained it.
Otherwise, this South African firecracker wouldn't casually say something like "I miss you."
"Alright. Traffic's light—I can do a round trip in twenty, thirty minutes. In the meantime, coordinate with the crew and get everything ready."
He stood up as he spoke, heading out of the office.
Passing the secretary's desk, he covered the receiver and told Yulian, who was busy eating cookies:
"I've got to step out. If anyone asks for me, leave a message or contact me directly."
Caught off guard, crumbs scattering everywhere, Yulian jumped up.
"Yes, boss!"
"Relax," Henry said, waving her down. "And clean up your desk—unless you want an ant invasion."
Then, back into the phone:
"Sweetheart, I was just talking to Yulian. You know how she is—snacks all day."
He hung up and headed for the parking lot.
---
Stark Pictures' soundstages might not match the Big Eight studios in scale, and some props were a bit dated—but the equipment was all in-house and cutting-edge.
For his girl? Of course he reserved the best stage.
Unused anyway.
Due to the vampire situation, Henry had also increased on-site security. No firearms—but batons and pepper spray were standard.
Against real vampires, that wouldn't help much.
But their daytime operatives were still human. A stronger visible presence was enough to deter petty troublemakers.
---
Henry's old Cadillac was already registered—no cliché scene of a security guard blocking the CEO.
He parked outside the stage, opened the rear door—
And let Katie out.
No leash.
No chain.
Just a 550-pound apex predator stepping onto set.
Instantly—
Gasps.
Sharp inhales.
Whispers of alarm.
This wasn't a pit bull or a Tosa.
This was a tiger.
Animals would flee at its scent.
People just froze.
---
Only one person approached without hesitation.
Charlize Theron, wearing a gold gown, walked up, crouched down—
And firmly rubbed Katie's head.
"Hey there, Katie."
Henry raised a brow.
"What exactly are you planning to shoot? Why do you need her?"
Charlize stood up with his help and gestured behind her—toward a group of staff too scared to come closer.
"Cruella wants a 'wild' theme. We're planning to composite African savanna footage and lions later.
"But the director has no idea how the lion will move or how I should interact with it. And Cruella's losing her mind.
"So I suggested—why not use a real tiger? We can actually interact. Later we just swap in whatever background we want—savanna, jungle, whatever."
She shrugged.
"Problem solved."
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