Chapter 538 - 347: The Matter is Resolved, Changes in the Crew

Chapter 538: Chapter 347: The Matter is Resolved, Changes in the Crew

"What did I do wrong?!"

Johnny Depp pointed to himself, completely baffled by the bullshit he was spouting.

"Your spending is so high, and your financial structure is so complex," Gray Brown said. "Think about all your expenses. Are you really going to hand all that over to a stranger, a strange firm?!"

"You haven’t forgotten, have you? How many of ’those’ kinds of expenses," he glanced at Li Wei, "were run through the company’s books? You don’t think the Internal Revenue Service will investigate?"

His barrage of questions left Johnny Depp stunned.

"And honestly, Johnny," Gray Brown paused, "you suddenly want to move your tax filing to an outsider, without even discussing it with me, just giving me orders... that really hurts, you know?"

"It’s been 30 years, Johnny," he said. "When you were fighting your court case with Amber, when everyone had abandoned you, I never left your side. And now you’re going to treat me like this?"

Don Quixote suddenly frowned. He leaned close to Li Wei’s ear and whispered, "He’s changing the subject. He still hasn’t explained why he won’t hand over the financial documents."

Li Wei nodded and patted Don Quixote’s hand.

"I..." Depp’s tone softened. "That’s not what I meant, Gray. Of course I know you’ve always helped me..."

"I understand now," Li Wei suddenly spoke up. "What Mr. Johnny Depp did here was indeed out of line."

Johnny Depp whipped his head around to look at Li Wei. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed the expression on Li Wei’s face.

He signaled for him to sit down first.

Johnny Depp reluctantly sat on the edge of the seat, far away from Gray Brown.

Gray Brown held no personal animosity toward Li Wei. ’He’s just some jock, he can’t do anything. As long as he stops bewitching Johnny Depp, everything will be fine.’

"Mr. Li Wei," he nodded and shook Li Wei’s hand. "I’ve heard a lot about you. I didn’t know you and Johnny were friends."

"I’m a big fan of Johnny Depp, and now we’re going to be working together," Li Wei said, sitting down next to Gray Brown. "Seems I’ve come at an awkward time, right in the middle of a work discussion."

"Indeed, it is awkward," Gray Brown said flatly. "After all, this is a private matter between Johnny and me. It would be best if Mr. Li Wei didn’t pay it too much mind." ’Hurry up and get lost, kid.’

Li Wei smiled and activated [Sail with the Wind (Bronze)].

"Honestly, I can really understand how you feel," Li Wei said. "A relationship of over 30 years, and he wants to just switch things up like that... It’s really—"

"Thirty-two years," Gray Brown said. "It’s been thirty-two years."

He suddenly felt that talking to Li Wei might not be so bad. The young man seemed genuinely kind, and he did have a lot bottled up inside.

"And you know what?" he continued, following Li Wei’s lead. "All these years... honestly, Johnny himself knows better than anyone how much I’ve done for him."

"That’s true, absolutely," Li Wei agreed. "You must be the person who knows Johnny’s financial situation best, right? For over 30 years, you’ve shouldered all of this by yourself. The workload must be immense."

"Immense is an understatement," Gray Brown shook his head and sighed. "After he got famous, one day he wants to get into art, the next day he wants to get into wine, buying up houses everywhere... the property taxes and insurance for six properties, his philandering debts, classifying his royalty income... Just for tax season alone, I have to start working overtime in January."

"That sounds rough. How do you charge for your services?" Li Wei asked casually.

"A flat annual fee," Gray said. "400,000 USD a year."

Li Wei rubbed his chin. "400,000?" He looked at Gray Brown. "400,000 isn’t that much."

"It really isn’t," Gray Brown said, feeling that Li Wei was a great guy, even regretting not having met him sooner. "Compared to the big firms that charge millions, my price is practically a friendship rate. All these years... honestly, Li Wei, I’m not gonna lie to you, buddy, I’ve been truly wronged."

Johnny Depp’s eyes widened as he watched Gray Brown, who had looked ready to kill him just moments ago, now pouring his heart out to Li Wei.

His instincts told him this wasn’t the time to speak.

"I completely understand," Li Wei nodded, patting Gray Brown’s shoulder. "You’ve helped him for so many years, saved him so much money, worried about so many things for him... he probably has no idea himself, right?"

"Of course. The Internal Revenue Service creates these complicated tax systems precisely so people can’t understand them," Gray Brown sneered. "If citizens could understand it, how would they issue fines, collect taxes, and trick people into spending?"

"And Johnny himself definitely can’t understand it, right?" Li Wei said.

"Definitely not," Gray Brown said. "He doesn’t even know about some things. He never looks at the itemized statements. He never opens the emails I send him."

"So, would it be pretty easy for you to skim quite a bit off the top?" Li Wei suddenly leaned in close and asked in a low voice.

Gray Brown gave a sly chuckle and replied subconsciously, "Of course. I can skim over a million every year. I mean, his annual income is in the hundreds of millions, so a million or so is impossible to notice—uh—"

Before the words had even left his mouth, his body froze.

There’s nothing worse than a sudden, dead silence.

Gray Brown whipped his head around to look at Johnny Depp.

Depp sat motionless not far from him, staring daggers at him.

"J-Johnny," Gray Brown stammered, as if he’d suddenly lost the ability to speak. "I-I-I... what I meant... was... not over a million every year... no... that’s not what I meant..."

"Gray. Gray Brown."

Johnny Depp stood up, picked up a silver candelabra, and weighed it in his hand.

He walked over to the trembling Gray Brown and, without any warning, swung the candelabra and smashed it down—

CRASH! The coffee table was shattered to pieces.

Gray Brown cried out, curling into a ball and trembling uncontrollably.

"How much of my money did you pocket?" Johnny Depp asked softly, panting heavily.

He propped the candelabra beside him and sat down next to Gray Brown.

"Th-three million," Gray Brown said.

"I swear, if the number you give me is one cent less than the real amount, this candelabra will land on your head," Johnny Depp said. "How much was it?"

"F-five million," Gray Brown cried out. "It was only five million! I swear!"

"Very good."

Johnny Depp nodded and stood up.

Just as Gray Brown thought he was going to get away with it, Johnny Depp raised the candelabra to smash it down on his head—

"12.8 million! Damn it! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!" Gray Brown screamed, shielding his head with his hands.

"You’re lying!" Johnny Depp roared. "I’ve earned at least a billion USD in Hollywood! And right now, I have less than 1.2 million in my account! You’re telling me you only took 12.8 million?!"

"It wasn’t just me!" Gray Brown shouted. "It was your legal team, too! Their bills were hugely inflated during those years with the lawsuit! And your assistant—"

"I never took anything!" Stephen shouted.

"The former one! The former assistant!"

"How much did you all take in total?" Johnny Depp’s voice was trembling.

"R-roughly... a little over 60 million in total," Gray Brown said in a small voice. "Your lawyers and assistant took the most. They were the ones who dragged me into it."

Even Li Wei was a little surprised.

’Three people siphoned over 60 million from Johnny Depp in 30 years. They really bled him dry.’

Johnny Depp sat back down, sighed, and buried his face in his hands.

A line of text popped up on Li Wei’s retina.

[You have completed the hidden mission: Termites on the Pirate Ship]

[You have rooted out all the termites gnawing at the ship’s hull]

[Free attribute points +0.3]

"Do you need my help?" he asked, looking at Johnny Depp. "I can help you handle this matter. After all, your advance payment for the film is coming in soon, and in a few more days, you’ll officially join the cast for shooting..."

Johnny Depp pursed his lips, managing a crooked smile.

"Thank you, Li Wei," he said with an effort. "But this is my own mess to clean up."

He looked at Gray Brown. "My own mess. I’ll handle it myself."

Li Wei nodded. After all, Depp had been in Hollywood for 40 years. It would be a lie to say he was just some naive actor who didn’t know anyone and only focused on filming.

「The next few days」

No news came from Johnny Depp’s side.

There were no media leaks, and not even the paparazzi at TMZ seemed to have any direct information.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Li Wei didn’t contact Depp either. It was his personal business, and pestering him would be useless.

However, Daniel Brody, the real estate agent helping Li Wei find a house, happened to mention something during a phone call.

"By the way, Mr. Li Wei, you didn’t like any of the houses we saw last time and asked me to find a luxury home for rent. I have a lead on that now," he said. "Also, regarding the luxury homes in the Hollywood Hills we looked at, there was a rather nice Spanish-style villa that belongs to Johnny Depp. I’d been trying to schedule a viewing, but he took all his listings off the market in the last couple of days."

"Oh?" Li Wei asked.

"Johnny Depp," Daniel said. "He had two properties listed in Hollywood—a penthouse apartment downtown and a villa. He took them both down in the last couple of days."

Li Wei didn’t say much, just acknowledging it with a sound.

’Looks like Depp is indeed handling it, and things are moving in a good direction. He’s either recovered some of the money or at least stopped the bleeding.’

His tax documents were also finally sent over to the firm.

「A few more days passed.」

In early April, the Los Angeles sun grew more intense, and the shadows of the palm trees grew shorter.

Warner Bros. Burbank Studio, Soundstage 9.

When Li Wei had last been here, it was just a vast, empty space with a half-built set and a single model of a dragon installation. Now, the entire soundstage had been expanded and divided into several huge areas, with stagehands and carpenters still putting on the final touches.

Li Wei walked through the bustling crowd and arrived at the makeup room.

Eileen’s makeup station had twice as many tools as during the audition. She seemed to be in an excellent mood, and her whole demeanor was much brighter.

"We meet again," Li Wei said with a smile.

Eileen turned her head, a little surprised to see Li Wei. "Li Wei?"

"If I remember correctly, my scenes are today," Li Wei said, sitting down in the swivel chair in front of Eileen. "I’m here for makeup."

"I thought a big star like you would have your own team and a personal makeup artist when you officially joined the cast," Eileen said, surprised. She gestured for him to proceed. "It’s my honor to do your makeup."

"That’s because I’ve got a good foundation to work with," Li Wei joked, watching Eileen handle the foundation and a beauty blender. "But seriously, the studio has changed a lot. Last time I was here, it felt like a work in progress."

"Well, your money came pouring in," Eileen said as she dabbed the beauty blender in foundation. "In the week after you left, the art and set design departments were working almost around the clock. The carpentry crew practically lived here."

She tilted her head, glanced toward the door, and lowered her voice.

"And it’s not just the hardware that’s changed," she said, picking up a brush and starting to apply a base layer of makeup to Li Wei’s face. "The people have, too. Before, everyone was more or less uncertain. No one knew how this project would turn out."

"And now?" Li Wei asked.

"Now?" Eileen laughed. "Now, the 3-in-1 instant coffee has been replaced with a capsule coffee machine."

She paused her work and looked at Li Wei seriously for a few seconds.

"There! Mr. Li Wei, you really do have a great base to work with," she remarked. "The foundation is done. You can go change into your costume now. Come back after you’ve changed, and I’ll put on the final touches."