Chapter 211: Nicole: Expert at digging her own grave

Looking at Rupert Murdoch, who was currently younger than sixty, Eric's first thought was News Corporation's eavesdropping scandal that happened in the early teens. Perhaps because of the eavesdropping scandal, the media used pictures in which he looked very old and infirm, but at this time, Murdoch seemed full of energy, his remaining few hair neatly combed, wearing rimless glasses with a friendly smile on his face.

While Eric observed him, Murdoch was also carefully examining the young man less than twenty years old standing opposite him. However, this all took less than a few seconds before the two reached out their hands at the same time.

"Hello, Mr. Murdoch, I’m Eric Williams."

Although Murdoch must have seen his photo, out of courtesy as their first meeting, Eric still introduced himself.

"Hello, Eric," Murdoch shook hands with Eric, then turned to Jennifer, "And this must be the beautiful Miss Jennifer Aniston. Your performance in Friends was truly wonderful."

Since it was the first time she had been complimented in front of her boyfriend, Jennifer was a bit embarrassed but she quickly reached out and shook hands, "Thank you, Mr. Murdoch."

When Eric and Jennifer were greeting Barry Diller, old Murdoch glanced at his daughter.

Elisabeth couldn't help feeling a little upset when she saw the intimate couple in front of her. After she realized this, she felt even more uncomfortable.

But soon, she made up a reason to justify her emotions. She claimed to herself that she was feeling upset for Julia. A few days ago, on the plane, she saw Eric sleeping on Julia’s lap. After he woke up, Julia remained seated for a long time as her legs had gone numb. Julia was so kind to him, but since returning to Los Angeles, he never contacted her, and now he appeared together with another woman.

‘What a bastard!’ she thought while gritting her teeth.

"Hi, Liz, you look so beautiful today," After greeting Barry Diller, Eric turned to Elisabeth.

"Hello, Mr. Williams," Elisabeth quickly shook hands with him before retracting it as if she wanted to keep her distance from him. Immediately, she brightly smiled and hugged Jennifer as she said, "Hello, Miss Aniston, my name is Elisabeth. Wow, your dress is so beautiful! Come on, let’s go inside."

Jennifer looked at Eric inquiringly. Although Eric felt that Elisabeth was a bit unkind for bringing up Jennifer's dress, he was certain she would not go too far on this occasion, so he nodded at Jennifer who then let herself be pulled inside by Elisabeth.

His daughter's actions were completely opposite of what he had instructed her which made old Murdoch a little angry, but he was helpless.

Murdoch is busy with his business empire and pays little attention to his children. Although he is reluctant to accept that he is aging, he must also consider the successors to his media empire. Compared to his eldest daughter who has no interest in the family business and his two young sons who are incompetent, Elisabeth is undoubtedly the most capable. During her school days, she had managed to successfully establish a small local cable TV station. It's just that she is both stubborn and prideful, and she tends to rebel against his decisions.

Seeing his daughter greet Eric lightly and pulling away his girlfriend, Murdoch said to Eric, "Sorry, Eric, Liz is still a little ignorant. Let's go inside."

"It’s no problem, Mr. Murdoch. In fact, I like Miss Elisabeth's frank character." Eric replied politely, and the three of them walked inside the mansion where the party was held.

More than twenty guests had already arrived in the villa, and as time went on, more people arrived.

In addition to the actors and creative team of Friends, Fox invited many Hollywood stars to join in.

Although Eric has avoided Murdoch over the past few days, it is impossible for the latter to mention the topic of Friends' broadcasting rights right away, so he chatted with Eric casually. Then, after telling him to enjoy the party, Murdoch and Barry Diller went to entertain other guests.

After the two left, Eric looked around the crowd, and quickly found Jennifer, but he couldn’t help having goosebumps.

Elisabeth had definitely done this on purpose. Jennifer was among a group of women who seemed to be talking and laughing together. The group included Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Gabrielle Anwar and Nicole Kidman.

Taking a closer look, Oh My God! Even Drew?! Isn't that little fox supposed to be in boarding school?

Realizing the situation, Eric immediately turned around, intending to stay far away, but Nicole, who was facing him, saw him.

The young woman was wearing a black pencil skirt with high heels when she appeared beside Eric who was hiding in the crowd.

"Good evening, Eric," she approached Eric and stood around a foot away from him as she gently raised the glass of red wine in her hand.

It is said that the distance between intimate people is usually less than 1.5 feet while the people standing more than 1.5 feet apart are usually nothing more than friends. Nicole was likely unaware of this theory. Standing so close to Eric was probably an unconscious act on her part. Sure enough, several people standing nearby involuntarily glanced at them.

Of course, even Eric was unaware of the 1.5 feet theory, but he instinctively felt uncomfortable, and took a small step back subconsciously before asking, "Nicole, why are you here?"

Nicole noticed Eric taking a small step back and looked at him with a hint of resentment, but she didn’t move closer to him as she explained, "I am Australian."

Eric unconsciously thought of the Australian Gang in Hollywood from his memory. It is said that the Australian Gang is the most united circle in Hollywood. However, it is currently the end of the '80s and the Australian Gang has no presence yet. Main representatives of the Australian Gang such as Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Nicole standing in front of him are still unknown actors. Thus, he can be sure that Nicole's presence here has nothing to do with her being an Australian like Murdoch.

Although she didn’t tell him the truth, Eric had a few guesses. He thought back to Gabrielle misrepresenting her relationship with him which allowed her to live comfortably in Hollywood and even get the role of an important supporting actress despite being a newcomer. Naturally, Nicole, who is going to be the heroine of his next movie, coupled with her scheming means that go far beyond Gabrielle, could easily pull a similar scheme. Although she has yet to make a movie in Hollywood, she is already living comfortably.

After understanding this, Eric didn't care to think about it anymore. He didn't care what tricks Nicole used, as long as she acted sensibly in public.

"Nicole, what were you... talking about?" Eric asked as he pointed at the place where the girls had gathered together.

She chuckled lightly and replied with a hint of ridicule, "Don't worry, Eric, no one mentioned Miss Aniston's dress. We talked a bit, um, about Friends since it's the theme for tonight. Also, you; Miss Murdoch pays much attention to you."

After speaking the last sentence, Nicole winked mischievously.

Eric took a sip of red wine to cover up the embarrassment on his face before asking, "Anything else?"

"Nope," Nicole shook his head, and then whispered in a charming voice, "However, you won't be able to sleep in someone's bed tonight. Do you want to come to mine?"

"You are really unkind," Eric replied with a wry smile.

Jennifer tends to get easily upset regarding his scandals. Since so many women with whom he has had a close relationship appeared tonight in front of her, she must be very upset in her heart. If he dared to leave her to spend the night with other women tonight, then there would definitely be a storm the next day.

"Really, do you think I'm a bad woman?" Nicole looked at Eric, dissatisfied.

If he hadn't caught the gleam in her eyes, Eric would've really thought that she had said that sentence without any ulterior intentions.

"Do me a favor, Nicole," Eric thought for a while and said.

Seeing her showing a look of interest, Eric continued, " Look after Jenny for me. She is pure-hearted; you could surely make her happy easily."

"Hmph!" Nicole coquettishly snorted and protested, "I won't."

Eric glanced at her and said solemnly, "Drew is also there. Go and make sure the two of them don't cause trouble."

Eric has a lingering fear of Drew and Jennifer fighting. Both girls use an ancient method of fighting. In layman's terms, they scratch each other with their sharp nails. If they scratch each other's faces, he will be the one to suffer.

Nicole had stayed in Eric’s villa for a long time and knew Drew's eccentric and psychotic personality very well. If she really lost her mind and attacked Jennifer, no one would be able to stop her. Thinking of the two girls, Nicole had a bitter  look on her face and faintly pleaded, "This is too difficult, Eric."

Eric took a sip of his red wine casually, but his tone was flat and unquestionable as he said, "Go on. If the two of them quarrel tonight, you won't have to worry about being in Sleepless in Seattle."

Nicole could tell that he was not joking. She sighed regretfully and cursed herself for digging her own grave by approaching Eric. Still, she no longer dared to argue with him as she turned around and walked away quickly.