The hospital’s VIP ward was quiet, with only Atlas Vance and the billionaire inside.
The older man had already recovered enough to sit upright, but disbelief still filled his eyes whenever he looked at Atlas.
“Young man, how exactly did you save me?”
“Some things are better left unexplained,” Atlas replied calmly.
The billionaire studied him for several seconds before asking, “Then at least tell me your name.” Atlas removed his sunglasses and answered, “Atlas Vance.”
The billionaire froze when he heard the surname.
“When I was born, my father visited an old family psychic who told him that one day, when my life was hanging by a thread, a man named Vance would become my greatest benefactor.
My father believed that prediction until the day he died, and I always thought it was nonsense.”
He suddenly reached out and gripped Atlas’s hand with obvious excitement.
“Apparently he wasn’t wrong.
Mr.
Vance, may I see your face properly?”
Atlas removed his mask.
He knew that someone with this man’s wealth and influence could uncover his identity sooner or later, so there was little point in continuing to hide from him.
The billionaire looked carefully at Atlas before taking out a metallic gold business card and placing it in his hand.
“You saved my life.
If you ever encounter trouble and need my help, call me directly,” the billionaire said.
Atlas glanced at the card and answered without hesitation, “Actually, I do need help right now.”
“Name it.”
“I want to borrow twenty million dollars.”
The billionaire smiled as though Atlas had asked for pocket change.
“Why borrow twenty million?
I’ll give you five hundred million.”
Atlas was stunned.
Five hundred million dollars was enough money to completely change his life.
For a brief moment, greed naturally rose in his heart, especially considering that he had just saved this man’s life.
He could accept the money, clear every debt surrounding Vance Studios, and never worry about production funding again.
Atlas quickly discarded the thought.
He didn’t want to build his future by collecting a massive reward for saving someone, and he believed he could eventually earn far more through his own movies.
More importantly, refusing such an enormous gift meant this billionaire would continue owing him a favor, and a favor from someone this powerful could someday be worth far more than five hundred million dollars.
“I appreciate the offer, but twenty million is enough,” Atlas said.
“Treat it as a loan.
I’ll repay it with interest within one year.”
The billionaire stared into Atlas’s eyes with genuine surprise.
Very few people could remain calm after being offered half a billion dollars, especially someone whose company was already drowning in debt.
His respect for the mysterious young man in front of him immediately increased.
“All right,” he finally said.
“We’ll do it your way.”
Atlas provided his banking information, and the billionaire made a single phone call.
A short while later, Atlas’s phone vibrated with a banking notification showing that twenty million dollars had been transferred into his account.
“Thanks.” Atlas stood and headed toward the door, but before leaving, he stopped and looked back.
“You’ll keep what happened today confidential, right?”
The billionaire nodded.
“You have my word.
If the world learned what happened in that operating room, it would create trouble for me too.”
Atlas gave a small nod and left.
After the door closed, the billionaire continued staring at it for several seconds before picking up his phone again.
“Find out everything you can about a young man named Atlas Vance.
Do it quietly, and make absolutely sure nothing about what happened at this hospital reaches the press.”
Inside his car, Atlas stared at the balance displayed on his phone and finally smiled.
Twenty million dollars wouldn’t make him rich compared with the man he had just saved, but it was enough to deal with the company’s immediate financial crisis and provide startup capital for Ring.
At the very least, Vance Studios finally had room to breathe.
Atlas knew that openly using Sadako’s healing ability in front of several doctors had been reckless.
Fortunately, the billionaire was the only person who had seen Atlas’s uncovered face, and Atlas hadn’t sensed any hostility from him.
With the man’s influence, suppressing the small amount of attention created by the hospital incident shouldn’t be difficult.
Atlas glanced toward Sadako in the passenger seat.
“Sadako, thanks for helping me today.”
Sadako turned toward him with a slightly surprised expression.
It had been a very long time since anyone had sincerely thanked her.
Soon, Atlas returned to Vance Studios and went straight to his office.
He opened the safe, removed the Ring screenplay, and glanced at Sadako before heading back toward the door.
“I’m going to a meeting.
Stay here and don’t run around.”
The moment Atlas disappeared down the hallway, Sadako slowly floated several inches above the floor.
Atlas sent a meeting notice through the company’s executive group chat and entered the conference room with the screenplay under his arm.
Before long, senior executives arrived in groups of two and three, but nearly everyone looked exhausted and defeated.
“The company can’t last much longer.
Bankruptcy is probably inevitable,” one executive sighed.
Another shook his head and added, “Actors are demanding releases from their contracts, our online reputation is destroyed, and nobody wants to invest another dollar in us.”
The conference room quickly filled with complaints while Atlas remained silent and observed everyone.
Most of these executives had helped his father build the company from nothing, and many had known Atlas since he was a child.
He still remembered several of them secretly slipping him spending money or buying him food whenever he visited the office.
Finally, one of the executives sitting closest to Atlas asked, “Atlas, did you call us here to announce bankruptcy and liquidation?”
Atlas cleared his throat.
“No.
I called everyone here because I have a way to save this company.”
Several executives exchanged tired looks.
Atlas continued, “If this works, Vance Studios won’t merely survive.
We’ll produce the movie that puts genuine horror back in front of American audiences.”
His words failed to create much enthusiasm.
One older executive sighed and said, “Atlas, I worked beside your father for more than ten years.
He said almost the exact same thing before every new movie.”
Atlas couldn’t really argue with that.
Instead, he placed the screenplay in the middle of the conference table.
“Don’t make a decision yet.
Read this first, then we’ll vote.
If more than half of you approve it, we start production.”
A middle-aged executive picked up the screenplay and looked at the cover.
“Ring?
At least the title is better than A Hand Reaching Out of the Toilet.”
Atlas’s mouth twitched.
“Please never say that title in this building again.”
The man chuckled and began reading.
Before long, his expression changed, and after reaching several key scenes, he abruptly straightened in his chair.
“A ghost crawling directly out of a television?”
That reaction immediately attracted everyone else’s attention.
Several executives moved closer and began passing pages around until almost the entire table was reading sections of the script.
The gloomy atmosphere in the room gradually disappeared.
“The cursed videotape concept is excellent,” one executive said.
“Anyone who watches it receives the seven-day death curse, and the mystery surrounding the tape keeps the tension going throughout the story.”
Another nodded.
“And Sadako’s appearance is simple but memorable.
Long black hair covering the entire face means the audience spends the whole movie imagining what might be underneath.”
“The television scene could become iconic if it’s filmed correctly,” someone else added.
“A supernatural entity crossing through the screen into the viewer’s world isn’t something audiences will easily forget.”
The executives began discussing the screenplay with obvious excitement, exactly as Atlas had expected.
He allowed them to talk for another minute before raising his hand.
“All right.
Those who approve production of Ring, raise your hands.”
Nobody moved.
Atlas blinked.
An executive gave him a bitter smile.
“The script is good, Atlas, but have you forgotten the company’s finances?
Your father emptied every account and borrowed everywhere he could to finance the last movie.”
Another man sighed.
“We’re already more than ten million dollars in debt.
Even if this is the greatest horror script ever written, we don’t have enough money to start filming it.”
Atlas calmly pulled out his phone and opened his bank account.
Then he placed the screen on the table.
Every executive nearby stared at the eight-figure balance.
The conference room became completely silent.
“Atlas…” one of them finally said.
“Where the hell did you get twenty million dollars?”
Atlas took the gold business card from his pocket and placed it beside the phone.
“I borrowed it this morning from Victor Sterling.”
Several executives immediately recognized the name.
“Victor Sterling?”
“The Victor Sterling?”
Sterling was one of the richest businessmen in America and a billionaire whose name regularly appeared in financial news.
Nobody in the conference room could understand how Atlas had walked out that morning and somehow returned with twenty million dollars from someone at that level.
Atlas put the card away.
“Now let’s vote again.
Those who approve production of Ring, raise your hands.”
Swish!
Every hand in the conference room immediately went up.
Atlas nodded with satisfaction, but just as he prepared to discuss production, something outside the window caught his attention.
His expression slowly stiffened.
Sadako was floating outside the conference-room window several floors above the ground, silently staring through the glass with obvious curiosity.