Being stared at by the entire family made Roy's scalp tingle.
But before he could explain, Janette was already covering her mouth and chuckling. "It's not like this is your first movie premiere. Why are you so nervous?"
"I…" Roy was caught between laughter and tears—it wasn't him who was nervous!
"Oh, come on. What's there to be nervous about?" Janette teased him with a giggle. "Just grab the newspaper. The reviews will be out already."
Roy glanced at Laila and saw her face instantly turn pale. He quickly stepped in, "No need. I don't want to know what the reviews say right now." Since his wife didn't want to know, of course, he, as her husband, would respect her wishes.
Janette thought he was the scared one, and she had a good laugh at his expense. Then she said, "You're still worried Laila's movie might flop? Even if my models tripped all over the runway at once, Laila still wouldn't fail. You need to have more faith in your wife!"
Roy couldn't defend himself, so he just smiled awkwardly. "Of course, I believe in her. But I'm planning to take her on a short trip. I don't want the film stuff to affect our mood."
Laila, who had been feeling guilty about letting Roy take the blame, immediately looked up in confusion when she heard that. When did we say anything about going on a trip?
Roy patted her hand. "Don't you remember? We agreed to take a mini honeymoon after the movie's release."
This was the solution he had come up with after a sleepless night. As long as they stayed in the house—or even in the country—there were too many ways for Laila to learn about the movie's performance, directly or indirectly. The best way to help her avoid the outcome was to take her to another country altogether. And more importantly… during this break, he was determined to completely erase that "Eastern man" from her heart.
With everything laid out like that, how could Laila not understand?
"Yes, we planned this," she replied with a smile.
With a husband who thought of her in every way possible, what more could she ask for?
Old Mr. Oswald put down his half-eaten soup dumpling. He suddenly lost his appetite. Just smelling all that lovey-dovey "dog food" was enough to make his stomach feel full.
"Go on, go on—just get out of here. Little Eli can stay with your grandma and Janette. You two just enjoy yourselves," he said, waving his hand impatiently like he couldn't wait to get them out of his sight.
So right after breakfast, Laila and Roy were packed off and sent away. As for where they went, only the two of them knew.
After confirming they had taken a private jet and left Hollywood, the old man finally let out a long sigh. "It's good that they left."
How could he not check the reviews the moment they came out? This was his most beloved granddaughter's film. And he was a media tycoon—when he wanted to know something, he found out faster than anyone else.
So, early that morning, he had already gotten the scoop on the reviews.
And this time… there really was trouble.
Several major media outlets released articles from prominent film critics at the same time.
"Laila Moran: Her Divine Aura Fades"
"The Legend Steps Down From Her Pedestal"
"Out of Ideas—Can She Save Herself?"
One headline was more attention-grabbing than the next, but they all said the same thing: Laila's film had bombed.
"Moran delivered a film that's thought-provoking in concept, but she clearly remains too steeped in commercial filmmaking. The result is a jumbled mess of half-finished ideas."
"No one can deny Laila Moran's success in commercial cinema. But she clearly harbored grander ambitions—she wanted to tackle deeper themes. That's where Silent came in. The problem is, she spent far too much time on the flashy elements of commercial film, while only giving the heavier themes a tragic ending to carry the weight. It's like trying to carry several tons of cargo in a truck rated for one ton. The imbalance could only lead to a crash."
"Moran's talent as a filmmaker is undeniable. But she's still too young and lacks the experience needed to handle more artistic material. If only she had learned more from veteran art-house directors, this failure might have been avoided."
Whether or not it was coordinated, nearly all the major media outlets were downplaying the film. At the same time, online discussions questioning Laila's work were growing louder. And strangely, despite an entire night passing since the premiere, none of the attendees had come forward to share their viewing experience.
What did that suggest?
Most likely, Silent had left them disappointed—so much so that they didn't even know how to respond.
And those who attended the premiere were, without a doubt, her most loyal fans. If even they were silent, how could the general public be expected to love the film?
Sure, there were a few defenders of the movie—voices saying it was beautiful, powerful, and perhaps even Laila's best work. But those comments were quickly drowned out by the growing tide of negative reviews.
After all, who doesn't have a few die-hard fans?
Even if Laila had filmed a steaming pile of dog sht and screened it for two hours, her fans would still write think-pieces claiming it was the most groundbreaking, cosmic, era-defining dog sht in the history of cinema.
So when headlines slamming the film appeared in newspapers and magazines all over the city, people began to hesitate.
Had Laila really fallen this time?
And when the opening day box office figures were released, the tension that had been building for a day finally exploded.
$33 million.
That was Silent's first-day gross.
For most directors, that would've been an excellent result. For a low-budget film, that kind of number would've already covered production costs.
But this was Laila Moran.
Her last film had tripled that amount on opening day.
Sure, box office alone doesn't determine a film's quality. But when it came to Moran, people held her to a much higher standard. That number—while objectively strong—seemed like a letdown because she had once broken box office records in film history.
Was $33 million really a poor showing? Not at all. It dominated the charts, easily beating out all other Christmas releases and suffocating the competition.
The problem was that her past achievements had been so legendary.
She had reached the heights of Hollywood on the back of her box office success. And now, with a lackluster premiere compared to her previous work, fans who had expected her to once again shatter records couldn't help but feel let down.
It was like watching the leader of the martial world—revered and respected—get beaten to a pulp by some random nobody. How could their loyal followers not feel disillusioned?
Laila was the same.
She built her empire on box office power. And now, her latest film's numbers—while not bad—simply didn't measure up. For fans who had thought she might once again redefine film history… this was a bitter pill to swallow.