Chapter 44: Eyes from Warner
After a quick tour of the estate's exterior, the real estate agent led them to the main residence.
"Let's head inside, Mr. Garfield," the agent said with a smile. "Don't be misled by the classic exterior—this house has a very modern interior design."
"Alright," Wayne nodded, stepping inside. "By the way, why did the Wall Street guy sell this place?"
"He went bankrupt, sir," the agent replied bluntly, without hesitation. "The bank repossessed the property." Clearly, this wasn't confidential information—anyone who cared to look could find it.
He continued explaining, "This estate was completed in March 1970 and was purchased outright by the previous owner. Back then, his futures business was doing quite well. Unfortunately, two years ago he couldn't escape the inevitable crash. He had a very old-school mindset—refused to believe in anything related to the internet, made the wrong bets."
"This estate has only had one owner, and he rarely lived here. He was based in New York for most of the year. In October two years ago, Mr. Halford filed for bankruptcy, and this property was seized by the bank as collateral."
Wayne nodded. He remembered the situation—there had been a crazy stock market rally around February last year. A lot of investors and firms thought they'd struck gold, only for many to crash and burn in the aftermath—some quite literally.
"After clearing the previous owner's debts and completing all legal formalities, the estate finally landed in our hands," the agent said with a small laugh. "Since Mr. Halford lived in New York full-time, this house was almost never used. He had staff maintain it regularly, but the place has basically been empty for years."
In other words, the house was practically brand new. All the signs of age and character had been deliberately preserved or curated, which Wayne found very appealing. While most North Americans didn't care about things like this—many of their mansions were decades old—for someone like Wayne, with a soul from across the Pacific, this detail held deep meaning.
"This way, please," the agent gestured. "All of the furniture in this house was custom-designed by a renowned interior designer to match the architectural style. Everything has been curated to fit the house's overall aesthetic. And if there's anything you don't like, adjustments can be arranged."
Nina's eyes sparkled as she looked around the stately and elegant mansion. She could already tell this wouldn't be cheap, but she also knew her boss had the means to afford it.
The layout of the entrance hall was open and airy, with concealed floor-to-ceiling windows that flooded the space with natural light. The interior felt nothing like its heavy exterior—it was warm and welcoming.
The soaring ceilings made the main living room feel even more spacious and grand. The open layout brought a sense of tranquility and elegance, and from almost any spot in the room, you could gaze through the massive windows out onto the breathtaking gardens of the estate.
Wayne and Nina remained silent, quietly following the agent as he led them into the enormous dining room, taking their time to admire every detail of the house.
From there, they entered a private cinema located on the left wing of the main building. The theater wasn't huge—just a dozen or so seats—but the very presence of it gave the estate a major boost in Wayne's mind.
Next to the theater was an indoor pool. It was curved and modest in size, yet looked incredibly relaxing.
The upper two floors housed the private residential quarters—bedrooms, lounges, a home office, and a study. Down below, however, was something even more impressive: a massive wine cellar and a secured vault. The vault door was the same type used in actual bank safes, built to store valuable items and art collections safely and securely.
Wayne silently took it all in, a small smile forming in his eyes.
They moved up to the second floor next. On the left were the guest rooms; on the right, a study and recreation lounge.
The third floor was much smaller, divided into just two parts: a sprawling master bedroom and a spacious walk-in closet. From the bedroom's balcony, a spiral staircase descended directly into the garden.
Wayne stood on the third-floor balcony, taking in the panoramic view of the estate. In the distance, most of Los Angeles sprawled beneath him, and right at his feet was Beverly Gardens.
"All the furniture and decor are from Chanel," the real estate agent reminded him gently from behind.
Wayne looked more closely—sure enough, every piece bore the Chanel logo. He hadn't realized the brand was also a top-tier furniture designer.
After the full tour, they returned to the expansive living room on the ground floor. Everything about the interior—the design, the layout, the atmosphere—aligned perfectly with Wayne's taste. He was thoroughly impressed.
"Mr. Garfield, what do you think of the estate?" the agent asked, settling into a gray leather sofa.
Wayne paused for a moment before replying, "Not bad at all."
The main residence alone spanned over 2,000 square meters. It featured ten bedrooms, each equipped with its own walk-in closet. Even if his parents came to live with him, there would be more than enough space.
The only real consideration was the upkeep. A property this size would require a dedicated staff: a butler, a chef, maintenance personnel—and, of course, there were the property taxes. But in this country, as long as you had the money, none of that was really a problem.
This was Wayne's first time buying a house in both his lives. In his previous one, he never owned any property. His parents had left him a small countryside courtyard and a modest apartment provided by his father's workplace. He had never experienced the pressure of being a "mortgage slave."
"Mr. Henry," Wayne asked, "what's the price of this property?"
The agent smiled. "Since the bank is selling the house to recover its losses, the price is significantly below the current market value. And if you hire our company to manage the estate, we can offer you the absolute lowest rate."
"Just tell me the number."
"Twenty-eight million dollars."
Henry had no doubt this young man could afford it. He had specifically chosen to recommend this estate because there were few clients capable of purchasing such a luxury home—and the one in front of him was definitely a high-potential buyer.
"That's acceptable." Wayne stroked his chin, then added, "Can your company help with mortgage arrangements?"
"Of course!" the agent beamed. "For a client like you, securing a loan is easy."
"Bring out the contract. I'll wire the down payment soon—I want to move in as quickly as possible." Wayne made it clear he was ready to close the deal. "Also, have your company hire two estate maintenance workers for me, and recommend a butler and a chef."
Henry hadn't expected the deal to go this smoothly. With high-end real estate, clients were usually very cautious and hard to please.
"Absolutely, Mr. Garfield. We can finalize the paperwork this afternoon. You could move in as early as tomorrow."
"Nina, you handle the paperwork with Henry."
"No problem, boss," Nina responded crisply. She had already prepared the necessary documents during the car ride over.
"Mr. Garfield," Henry said as he walked them out. "You're the fastest luxury home buyer I've ever seen in Hollywood. Just down the road on Mulholland lives Tom Cruise—he's also one of our clients. But even a superstar like him spent a decade working in Hollywood before he could afford a home here."
Wayne simply shrugged at the flattery. He didn't take the praise to heart. It wasn't him Henry was complimenting—it was the dollars in his pocket.
"Thank you, Mr. Henry. Please assist my assistant with the paperwork. The money will be transferred to your company shortly." He handed the documents to Nina, exchanged polite words with the agent, then got into his car and drove back to his apartment to pack.
He only planned to bring personal items and some clothes. Most daily necessities would stay behind. He would continue paying rent on the apartment—he had no intention of terminating the lease. If the chance arose, he might even buy the place someday. After all, it held memories from his university days.
What Wayne didn't know as he prepared to move was that someone in Burbank had already turned their attention to his project.
Known as the "Media Capital of the World," Burbank is home to the headquarters of Warner Bros., one of Hollywood's major film studios. Like its fellow giants, Warner Bros. produces and distributes dozens of films each year and operates with rigorous project evaluation and risk assessment processes.
Every project submitted to Warner Bros. undergoes intense scrutiny from specialized teams—scripts are reviewed, market risks are evaluated, and selling points are analyzed to see if they align with mainstream trends.
They take into account the genre, target audience, box office results of similar films, the potential cast, and the director's recent track record.
Of course, none of this guarantees a film's success, but it minimizes the risk of failure.
Wayne's "Get Out" script and production proposal had passed through this review process with record speed and now sat at the center of a Warner Bros. executive meeting. The materials had just arrived from his agent, Jimmy.
In truth, Warner had their own information networks. The moment Fox received the pitch, Warner caught wind of it too and immediately began their internal evaluation. Hollywood giants are both collaborators and competitors—constantly watching each other.
There weren't many people in the meeting room. It was quiet. Jeff Robinov personally distributed photocopies of the proposal to CEO Kevin Tsujihara and the other senior executives. The packet included his initial research and notes on the breakdown in negotiations with Fox.
Months earlier, Jeff had received a report from a subsidiary about a request from Universal Pictures. Goodman, Universal's executive, had asked them to pass on distributing a film called "Happy Death Day." They did so, as a professional courtesy.
But then 20th Century Fox picked up the movie—and it became a surprise hit. With a budget of just one million dollars, it went on to gross over $100 million globally. And it wasn't even backed by heavy marketing. The case study landed on the desks of numerous Hollywood executives.
So the moment Jeff heard that Fox's negotiations on a new project had fallen apart, he knew there was an opportunity—and his early intel had finally found its use.
When Jimmy submitted Wayne's "Get Out" script, Jeff had already completed all the groundwork.
As the executives flipped through the documents, the first page detailed a director profile—and if Wayne had seen it, he would've been shocked. It contained detailed records of nearly everything he had done since his freshman year of college.
"I've heard of this director," joked one executive from the distribution department. "Got into it with Universal's Goodman a while back—even threw a punch at the graduation ceremony. Swore he'd use his nearly $30 million film earnings to 'bury' Goodman in lawsuits. Talk about crazy. Ambitious little bastard."