Actor in Hollywood Chapter 479: Shadow of the Moon

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

"Wow, unbelievable, unbelievable!"

"Don't worry, this ti it will definitely work. I'll bring friends to the theater on Friday to support."

"After hearing these reviews, I can't help but get curious. It's all Jas's fault for not inviting to the premiere. I'm blaming him for it."

"Finally, I can get a good night's sleep for the next two days."

Chatting away, friends were saying their goodbyes, one after another, giving hugs.

Ryan stayed back, slightly reserved, but when he saw Anson, he managed a smile. In just two days, it seed like they had gotten a lot closer.

Up ahead, Seth Rogen joked bluntly, "I thought the movie would get bad reviews, so we ca over specifically to cheer you up and then hide in the bathroom and gloat. But it turned into a party, how disappointing."

"I'm insanely jealous right now; I need to calm down."

Unexpectedly, Anson responded seriously, "When the opening weekend box office numbers co out, you'll be even more jealous. Make sure to prepare yourself ntally."

Seth was montarily stunned, blinking his eyes, "Uh, Anson, maybe you should stop doing cody. You're handso and funny, give us a break. Leave the cody to us chubby guys."

"Haha."

Not just Anson, but Ryan, standing behind, was also laughing heartily.

After Seth left, Ryan stepped forward, "Congratulations. Now I'm looking forward to it too."

Looking at Anson, Ryan put on a serious face, "'Look into his eyes, that is the most breathtaking shade of blue this year.' I will definitely pay close attention."

That line was also from a review, also giving praise to Anson.

Rarely, Ryan noticed Anson looking a bit awkward—

Suddenly, standing under the spotlight, countless praises poured down like a torrential rain, soaring up high, making it a little dizzying and bewildering.

Anson chuckled wryly, joking, "Be careful not to fall in love."

"Haha," Ryan laughed out loud, "I'll be extra careful."

After speaking, he paused, instinctively glancing back, wanting to say sothing but then stopping. After so thought, he swallowed the words that were already on the tip of his tongue.

Anson followed Ryan's gaze—

Brad.

Throughout today's review party, Brad was never really present, a bit low and restless. Although he tried to put on a smile, he kept spacing out in the end.

Before Anson could speak, Ryan quickly said, "Well, I'll head out now. This weekend, I'll go to the theater. Hopefully, I can get a ticket."

The implication being that the theater would surely be packed.

Anson picked up on it, "I'd love to rent out all the theaters in Los Angeles, but sadly, I don't have the money, so I'll just have to imagine it."

"Haha." Ryan was directly amused, clapping his hands and laughing. Despite being worried about Brad, today's party was mainly for Anson and Jas, and after hesitating for a mont, Ryan decided not to say anything more. He'd just call Brad later.

Gradually, all the guests left, and the once noisy hall quickly quieted down, leaving behind a ss of bottles and trash.

Jas must have gotten drunk, probably lying sowhere in a corner fast asleep; Chris was rummaging through the kitchen for garbage bags to clean up.

Anson felt a headache coming on: as expected, parties are fun at the mont but a disaster afterward.

No wonder there are professional party cleaning teams in Los Angeles, and they're doing well in business.

Anson and his friends had underestimated the craziness of today's party. They thought it would just be a small gathering, so they weren't prepared. Now, seeing the ss in front of them, it was probably too late to call a professional team.

So, they could only clean up themselves.

With a long sigh, Anson prepared to help Chris with so of the cleanup; otherwise, who knows how long Chris would be busy.

Suddenly, Brad, who was sitting on the floor leaning against the cabinet with his eyes closed, stood up like a zombie, breaking the silence and startling everyone.

Brad seed to be in a slightly tipsy state, holding onto the cabinet to stand up, his body swaying slightly. He saw Anson, paused for a mont, and said, "Uh, sorry, I might need to go out for a bit. Sorry for leaving this ss for you guys."

Anson looked at Brad, "Are you sure? You don't seem fit to go out right now."

Brad waved his hand and walked straight to the door, "I know, but I have to. Actually, I just lied. I didn't reschedule with the producer; I just told him I needed to co back and freshen up, change clothes. Now, I need to get to the Hilton Hotel to et him."

Anson quietly looked at Brad, took a deep breath, and finally couldn't hold back, "Of course, no one should miss such an opportunity."

His words carried a hint of sarcasm.

Brad caught it, stopped, and looked at Anson with a puzzled expression, "What do you an by that? I made up an excuse to delay the eting so I could co back and support you guys. Instead of being thankful, you could at least show so respect."

Anson gently shook his head, "Really?"

Brad got a bit angry, his shoulders tensed, "What!"

Anson, "Did you really co back to support and Jas?"

Brad, "Of course..."

This ti, Anson didn't let Brad finish, "No, you didn't. You didn't co to support and Jas. If you truly wanted to support us, you wouldn't choose to be absent when you thought the movie was successful, and then suddenly show up when you realized it might fail."

Brad's expression faltered slightly, his shoulders and arms noticeably stiffened, "What... what? No, that's not how it was."

"I told you, I was at the Hilton Hotel. A producer wanted to et with , and I thought I shouldn't refuse him."

Anson nodded slightly, "Right, but you still left. What happened? Suddenly, it didn't matter? Suddenly, the producer could wait?"

Brad opened his mouth, looking bewildered, "You... you, and Jas, I put our friendship first, and I thought I needed to support you. Anson, this is absurd, I refuse to accept your insult."

Anson wasn't angry, not sad, not hurt; there was just a sense of sighing and bitterness, "Brad, I think you heard the good news from Century City. Everyone is saying the movie was a success. Obviously, 'Spider-Man' might actually blow up the market. You got jealous, you panicked, you couldn't handle it."

"Why? Why did 'Digital Murder' fail, but 'Spider-Man' could succeed? You couldn't accept that reality."

"However."

"When the rumors of bad reviews kept increasing, you suddenly realized, hey, we're still brothers in adversity."

"Except, you didn't expect those bad reviews weren't actually bad, just average."

"Worse still, behind the average reviews ca a string of good ones. The movie sohow ca back to life, and it seed like the work Jas and I did was still going to succeed."

"You couldn't handle it; you started drinking; you refused to make eye contact with or Jas. When we were celebrating, you were like a ghost at the party, completely absent-minded. You tried to cover it up, but you couldn't."

"Brad, you shouldn't drink because alcohol makes you a terrible actor."

Ryan was worried about Brad, and so was Anson. Throughout the entire party, they couldn't ignore Brad, but they never imagined the expressions and looks in his eyes would be so different from what they expected. Until just now, Brad's forced lie finally confird the worst suspicion.

Anson's eyes were full of sadness.