Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

That look and voice would've been enough to make an average man sweat and comply. However, the agent had years of experience working with prissy and bitchy showbiz people. Even someone like Tristan, someone the agent was warned about, was not enough to make him give up immediately.

Clenching his fists nervously, the man shook his head.

"Mr. Gemello, I apologize again, but Mr. Garstean's decision was—"

Tristan forcefully cut the agent off. He leaned forward in his seat, putting even more pressure on the way he addressed the man.

"I'm not going to listen to your twice-chewed explanation, and I won't leave this office until I talk with Mr. Garstean. Do that, or otherwise, I will stay here and live on office coffee and chocolate bars from the hallway vending machine if I need to."

Tristan's eyes shone with bright resolve, and looking into them, the agent believed that this impossibly stubborn will really go with his threat!

The only way to make him leave was to call the security or call Garstean.

The agent's shoulders slumped.

"Mr. Gemello, this is… not respectable behavior. But I will give your words to Mr. Garstean. Please, wait here."

Tristan smiled and leaned back in his uncomfortable office chair like it was a soft couch.

"Sure. I will wait until the Second Coming of Christ if I need to."

He only needed to wait for fifteen minutes until James Garstean stepped into the office.

Tristan turned to him immediately, smiling.

"Greetings, Mr. Garstean. I could even say, 'Long time no see'."

Garstean gulped and sat at the place at the table where his agent was before.

And just like the man who was there before, Garstean was visibly nervous.

Just a single look at Tristan made him feel queasy in his stomach.

Because it was impossible to not recognize such a charismatic face! Tristan only became more handsome and impressive since Garstean saw him playing in the Good Lion Bar, but Garstean still immediately recognized him after seeing pictures from the Californian Young Star contest.

If he was there personally, he'd never offer Tristan a contract.

However, his agent didn't know about it, and it made no sense to not offer a contract to the winner of that round. And Garstean himself only found whom the agent wanted to offer a contract to after he was shown recordings and pictures from the competition.

If Tristan's name was spoken back when he showed his piano skills, Garstean had long forgotten it.

Tristan was the person who played in Leon "King Lion" Clavon's bar. In Garstean's eyes, Tristan had to have some gangster connections!

It was bad enough that Garstean took investment money from gangsters, and they wanted returns on these investments, as well as Garstean's help with laundering their dirty money.

Taking in a person from the same gang—won't that put even more pressure on him?

It definitely would!

And unlike with bloody gang money, the benefit Garstean will get from signing a contract with Tristan was too negligible and not worth his frayed nerves.

The arrogant way Tristan Gemello acted in the office, and the way he talked like they were old acquaintances, only confirmed Garstean's fears.

He smiled through them, trying to appear friendly.

"Greetings, Mr. Gemello. I heard you had a misunderstanding with one of my subordinates, so I came here to clarify the situation."

"A misunderstanding, huh? Mr. Garstean, why won't the Golden Talent Group agency sign a contract with me? Changing your mind so rapidly after inviting me to an interview… not only is it incredibly suspicious, it's also incredibly rude."

As he spoke, Tristan drilled holes in Garstean with his eyes, making the man's plump face sweat.

"We… ah… Our agency realized that we currently don't have enough resources to support your career as it deserves. I'm sure you will have much better offers with other agencies—"

"Please, Mr. Garstean, if you can't tell me the real reason, at least don't feed me this bullshit. I know perfectly well that you have all the money you might want, thanks to your investors. Especially one investor we both know personally."

Tristan smiled.

Garstean paled.

"Ah, but, well—"

"Mr. Garstean, small talent agencies like yours would've been eager to take me under their wing. Are you going to lose to them just because of some fear? This way, you will only become bankrupt eventually, even with all those investments. And when that day comes, who knows what the bankruptcy lawyers will find in your finance documents?"

Every word Tristan said was carefully measured. With his observation skill he gathered even small reactions Garstean had on his earlier words, and from them, he could guess what his biggest fears were.

With an expressive man like Garstean, playing on his fears was as easy as playing on a guitar! New chapters at m v|le|mp|yr

[Ding!]

[You have utterly terrified a person. Reward: your PP increased by 30.]

Even the Second Identity System didn't consider it much of an achievement.

Garstean slumped in his seat, defeated.

"Mr. Gemello, my initial judgment, ah, it was too rash. We should talk about the details of a contract with our agency which, ah, will work for you. But this is a serious decision, so, ah, perhaps meeting again tomorrow to finalize it will be better?"

Garstean's question sounded more like a plea. He looked like he could faint any moment.

"Sure, tomorrow works for me. Just send a draft of your contract to my email, please, so I could review it in the meantime."

Tristan wanted to do it regardless—he simply expected to discuss it beforehand here. Signing a contract in one go would be too quick for such a decision.

"Of course… of course, Mr. Gemello. Do you have anything else you wanted to discuss?.."

"No, no. But please, hurry with the contract draft," Tristan reminded. "Have a good day, Mr. Garstean."

He left the office room and went to the front lobby. Garstean followed a dozen meters behind him, like a lost shadow, which didn't know itself why it was doing so, only followed blindly after the pull of Tristan's charisma.

At the entrance of the lobby, Tristan suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened with shock, but then he grinned.

That event he was awaiting since this morning was actually happening right now!