Due to this sudden incident and the palm print on Charlize Theron's face, filming could not continue. Stuart Townsend left the set in a huff, driving away in a luxury car. Acquaintances in the Crew, like Doug Liman and Akiva Goldsman, came over to offer a few words of comfort before quickly leaving to attend to their duties.
Filming for the Crew was temporarily suspended, and there were many matters that Doug Liman and Akiva Goldsman needed to handle.
Matthew wasn't worried at all about Stuart Townsend calling the police; there were witnesses and the parties involved who could prove he was stopping a crime and acting in self-defense.
Unless Stuart Townsend was incredibly stupid, he definitely wouldn't call the police.
Charlize Theron stood there without moving, her exquisite and beautiful face exceptionally cold.
A temporary assistant brought a cold towel, which Matthew took and handed to Charlize Theron.
"Thank you." Charlize Theron took it and pressed it against one side of her face, looking at Matthew. "Sorry for getting you involved in this mess."
Matthew shook his head. "We're friends; I couldn't just watch you get—" He sighed softly and said, "Go back to your trailer; this isn't the place to talk."
Charlize Theron nodded and followed Matthew away from the area, turning to the inner side of the trailers and quickly entering her makeup trailer.
"Does it still hurt?" Matthew asked with concern.
"It's fine now." Charlize Theron set the towel aside, though the finger marks on her face were still obvious. "Matthew... I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
Matthew poured her a glass of water and said, "Blindly yielding isn't the way." He placed the water on the vanity in front of Charlize Theron. "Some words may be unpleasant to hear, but I still have to say them: Sally, think it over carefully."
Even though he didn't say it explicitly, Charlize Theron understood what he meant. Sitting in front of the vanity mirror, she looked at her reflection; the palm print was exceptionally prominent, more striking than any time in the past.
She suddenly spoke up, "Thank you, Matthew."
Matthew pulled over a makeup chair and sat beside Charlize Theron. "You don't need to be so polite with me."
Charlize Theron continued to stare at herself in the mirror. "For things to have reached this point, a lot of the fault actually lies with me."
Hearing Charlize Theron say this,
Matthew frowned slightly. Could it be that even now, Charlize Theron still held out hope for Stuart Townsend?
"You're right," Charlize Theron's voice came again, low and somber. "Tolerance is not the same as indulgence."
She stood up. "I will seriously consider this relationship."
Matthew also stood up. "Sally, don't let yourself get hurt anymore."
Charlize Theron nodded, took out her phone, and dialed her Agent's number. Once the call connected, she said, "Come to the set. I'm in Valencia. Something happened. I'll wait for you; it's urgent."
She hung up, looked at Matthew, and suddenly asked, "Am I especially weak?"
"No." Matthew shook his head gently. "In matters of the heart, there is no strength or weakness, and certainly no winning or losing."
A flash of curiosity appeared in Charlize Theron's eyes. "Have you experienced something similar?"
"Sally, do you know who my first love was?" Matthew appeared very honest, as if he completely trusted Charlize Theron. "The pop queen Britney Spears. I liked her very much back then."
Charlize Theron seemed to forget what had just happened, looking at Matthew in shock. "You dated Britney?"
"It was around 2000." Matthew knew that people here generally didn't care much about past history, especially within Hollywood circles, so he deliberately used this to show he was being heart-to-heart. "I wasn't famous then, and no one noticed me. Except for my Agent, no one knew Britney and I were once a couple."
He smiled. "Britney was very busy; sometimes we wouldn't see each other for a month. Time and distance eroded the relationship. We were both in a lot of pain then, but we knew breaking up was the best solution and would stop the suffering for both of us."
Matthew's phone rang. He pulled it out and glanced at it; it was a call from Helen Herman. She was likely arriving soon.
"My Agent is here," Matthew said to Charlize Theron. "I need to go see her."
Charlize Theron had also seen those two reporters and said, "If you need anything from me, just ask."
Matthew wasn't polite with Charlize Theron at all. He nodded slightly first, then reminded her, "You'd better make some preparations too."
The phone was still ringing. He didn't linger, leaving the makeup trailer to answer Helen Herman's call. He then waited for her to arrive, and they entered his makeup trailer together, where he gave her a general overview of what had happened.
"Was this just a coincidence?" Helen Herman felt some doubt in her heart.
"You were calling me at the time, so I went looking for a quiet place to answer," Matthew said plausibly. "And I just happened to see it."
He said naturally, "It's not like you don't know; Sally and I are good friends. I've always been very loyal to my friends; I couldn't just watch Sally get hit—"
Helen Herman knew a bit about it; over the last two years, Matthew often drank at Depp's bar with Depp, Theron, Reeves, and the others. It seemed they really were on good terms.
Since it had already happened, the priority wasn't to dig for the root cause but to figure out how to handle it.
"Don't worry too much," Helen Herman said after thinking for a moment. "Since it's TMZ's people, Elena Boyar's side should give us a heads-up. Besides, you're not in the wrong. Based on your description, the only one who's going to be unlucky is Stuart Townsend."
Matthew nodded slightly.
Helen Herman continued, "If Stuart Townsend is smart, he won't say a word from the moment TMZ exposes this and will find a place to hide for a while."
She glanced at Matthew and added, "Charlize Theron's attitude is also key."
"Don't worry." Matthew seemed very confident. "Unless there's a huge surprise, Charlize Theron will definitely break up with Stuart Townsend."
Helen Herman felt relieved. She paced around the makeup trailer twice, then suddenly changed her tone. "Matthew, I don't care what's behind this. Since it's happened and it's in our favor, we must use it to seek as many benefits as possible."
Matthew had no objection to this.
"You ask Elena out tonight; we'll have dinner together." Her voice was low and her speech rapid; after this short time, she clearly already had a plan. "Once the incident is exposed in the media, I'll talk to Akiva Goldsman... and Charlize Theron's Agent."
Meanwhile, in another makeup trailer, Agent Heidi Shaffer had just finished listening to Charlize Theron's account.
Heidi Shaffer walked up to Charlize Theron, carefully examined the injury on her face, and said, "Sally, this time is much worse than last time!" She emphasized, "I highly doubt that if Matthew Horner hadn't stopped Stuart Townsend, you'd even be able to stand in front of me right now!"
Charlize Theron said softly, "Matthew blocked his second blow. He even wanted to hit Matthew, but Matthew threw him down hard."
"Are you going to keep enduring this?" Heidi Shaffer ignored Charlize Theron's words and asked, "Do you want there to be a next time? I advised you last year, and I'm saying the same thing now: break up with Stuart Townsend!"
She emphasized again, "Otherwise, you'll be destroyed by him!"
"I've already decided." After this period of consideration, Charlize Theron had made her decision. "I will break up with Stuart Townsend."
Hearing this, Heidi Shaffer felt a complete sense of relief. After thinking for a while, she said, "Sally, this has already been caught by TMZ's paparazzi. It's hard to suppress TMZ with PR; you need to be prepared for the exposure."
Since Charlize Theron had made her decision, she was mentally prepared. "I'm ready."
"There are a few things I need to remind you of." Heidi Shaffer could tell that Charlize Theron had truly given up hope, so she said directly, "You're currently pushing for an A-list position; we must minimize the negative impact of this incident."
"Heidi..." Charlize Theron shook her head. "Can we not talk about this right now?"
"This concerns your career," Heidi Shaffer reminded her. "If handled properly, this incident is also a good opportunity."
Exhausted in mind and spirit, Charlize Theron waved her hand and said, "You handle these things as you see fit."
Heidi Shaffer nodded and said, "Fine, I'll handle everything then."
After the Crew finished packing up for the day, Heidi Shaffer spoke with several people on set. After a detailed talk with the two direct witnesses in particular, she already had a rough plan in mind.
In fact, given Stuart Townsend's atrocious behavior, she didn't need to do much.
The main point was to fully expose everything Charlize Theron had sacrificed over the years to maintain the relationship, as well as what Stuart Townsend had done. The media and the public would surely have infinite sympathy for Charlize Theron, which would also benefit her image-building.
Additionally, as one of the parties involved, as long as Matthew Horner's subsequent statement favored Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend would have no chance of recovery.
According to Charlize Theron, Matthew Horner had been her friend for years, which was why he had come to blows with Stuart Townsend. He would inevitably side with Charlize Theron, and since doing so would also benefit him, it shouldn't be hard to persuade him to speak well of her.
Then there was the Crew. If the Crew could fully support Charlize Theron, the situation would be even better.
Heidi Shaffer quickly made a decision: she would first see how public opinion shaped up, then contact the Crew and Matthew Horner's side tomorrow to help Charlize Theron rid herself of the major burden that was Stuart Townsend as much as possible.
Charlize Theron was her most important client; without the scourge of Stuart Townsend, she would surely be able to go much further.