### Chapter 390: The Life and Death of the Child

On the sea, Ms. Anna stood on the lower deck with a folder, waiting a while until the Japanese woman slowly descended the stairs. She bowed with her hand resting on her abdomen and softly asked Mr. Beck to come upstairs.

Ms. Anna thanked her politely, took off her hat and sunglasses, and followed Sasaki Nozomi to the upper deck.

Seeing Anna arriving, Link put on a shirt, poured a glass of sparkling water, and handed it to Anna, asking what the urgent matter was that required her to come out to sea.

Anna, now his manager, was primarily responsible for coordinating Link Music, Palm Bay Management, and other related tasks, effectively acting as his personal steward in the entertainment field.

Anna said there were three things to report.

First, the films he shot last year had been big hits and were considered to have strong box office appeal.

Palm Bay Management had recently received many script offers, with eight scripts offering more than $10 million each, all from major studios' annual productions.

These included "The Tsunami Miracle," "The Hobbit," and "Les Misérables." Some offered leading roles, and some offered significant supporting roles, all with excellent characters.

Link considered it and decided to reject all of them.

These movies were commercial, and actors take on commercial films mainly to make money, which he no longer lacked.

A $10-20 million paycheck for a film was just a few minutes of a match for him, while shooting a film took two to three months or more.

His time and energy were very limited, and he couldn't dedicate all of it to making movies.

He told Anna that he would do a maximum of two films per year, and since he still had four films left to shoot this year, there was no need to accept other scripts for now. If he wanted to act, he would actively seek out roles that interested him.

Anna understood. The second matter was that Harvey Weinstein's secretary had called, inviting Link to a celebration party hosted by Weinstein's company over the weekend.

At the recent 83rd Academy Awards, Weinstein's film "The King's Speech," which Weinstein produced and distributed, had received 12 nominations and won four major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. It was the biggest winner of this year's Oscars.

Harvey Weinstein had been thanked by several winners and was one of the most talked-about figures at the Oscars.

"The King's Speech" not only received great reviews and numerous awards but also performed well at the box office, earning $108 million in North America and over $220 million overseas since its release on December 25 last year, with a production cost of only $15 million.

Weinstein's company had made a huge profit from the film, overcoming last year's slump and financial crisis to become a leader in the independent film sector once again.

According to the Hollywood Reporter’s power list at the beginning of the year, Harvey had surpassed Disney President Robert Iger, Fox Film Owner Rupert Murdoch, Paramount’s CEO Brad Grey, as well as Spielberg, George Lucas, and Tom Cruise, becoming the top figure in Hollywood.

Link thought about it and decided to accept the invitation.

From late last year to early this year, Harvey had invited him twice to parties, which Link had declined due to being too busy.

Now, with the media reporting that he was on vacation in Miami, clearly he had time. Refusing again might embarrass Harvey and affect the collaboration on "Silver Linings Playbook."

"Anna, is there anything else?"

Anna hesitated, "Boss, the detective has sent news. It seems Taylor didn't have a premature birth, and the child might not have died."

Link frowned, "Is the information reliable?"

"Not entirely sure. Taylor gave birth at a highly confidential private hospital where all the doctors and nurses involved had signed confidentiality agreements and couldn't disclose any information. As a result, our investigation and the media's inquiries didn't yield much.

The private detective also faced difficulties in the investigation, but a few days ago, he managed to get some information from a maternity nurse he met at a bar, although there were no photos or concrete details. I can't confirm the accuracy of the detective's report."

Anna said.

Link pinched his forehead.

In February, before Taylor’s due date, he had ended all his work and rushed to Nashville to be with Taylor. However, Taylor had refused to see him, not even once, no matter what he said.

By early February, he returned to Los Angeles to attend the Grammy Awards, where he won three trophies and became the biggest winner of the ceremony.

Before he could celebrate, he received a call from Anna in Nashville that Taylor had accidentally slipped on snow while checking for pregnancy and had an early birth.

When he arrived in Nashville, Taylor's assistant, Emily, told him that due to inadequate treatment, there had been complications during delivery, and the child had died. She advised him to take care.

Link was distressed by the news and asked for details, but Emily said she wasn't present at the time and didn’t know much. Considering Taylor’s situation, he didn’t press further.

He then followed Emily into the ward, seeing Taylor lying on the bed, pale and unconscious. He decided to focus on caring for Taylor, setting aside the issue of the child.

After a week of care, Taylor's condition gradually improved, and she could take walks on the grass. One day, Taylor asked if he wanted to know how the child had died.

Link didn't want to bring it up and was about to change the subject.

Taylor revealed that it was an accident she had caused intentionally by falling, saying that if the child had lived, he would have constantly clung to her, controlling her life, and using the child as an excuse to intrude into her life.

She hated this and decided to end the child’s life herself.

Taylor spoke with clenched white fists, her expression turning cold.

Link was shocked and suspicious but didn’t question the truth. After sending Taylor back to the ward, he left Nashville.

Regardless of whether Taylor was telling the truth or not, her words conveyed a desire not to be disturbed by him, and he had no reason to stay.

After reflecting, he felt Taylor’s words might have been said in anger. If she were truly so ruthless, she would have had an abortion in the early months of pregnancy, not waited until now.

If Taylor didn’t act intentionally, the child's death was an accident or perhaps there was no premature birth at all, and Taylor was just using it as an excuse to get rid of him.

Considering this, he had arranged for a detective to investigate, but Taylor and the hospital had done a good job of keeping things confidential.

Whether his people investigated or the media inquired, it was reported that Taylor had had an accident a few days before her due date, and the child had sadly died.

Now the detective had received some news suggesting that Taylor had not had a premature birth and that the child was fine.

Whether this news was true or not was uncertain.

If it was true, that would be great.

He thought for a moment and told Anna to stop the investigation, as it was pointless.

If the child was not there, finding such speculative news would be useless and might even cause Taylor additional distress.

If the child was still alive, Taylor, with her millions, would certainly be able to take good care of the child.

If the child was still alive, discovering it through a detective or media wouldn’t be beneficial.

Since Taylor wanted to keep everything hidden, he would respect her wishes.

Anna acknowledged this and asked when he would return to Los Angeles to book a flight for him in advance.

After seeing Anna off, Link stood on the deck, looking out at the azure sea, and sighed thinking about the child’s uncertain fate.

If he could go back three years, he probably wouldn’t have involved himself with Taylor.

She was beautiful, smart, independent, tall, talented, and had achieved fame at a young age.

By her thirties, she had hundreds of millions, was a global superstar, and a dominant force in the music industry.

Without his interference, she would have had many famous boyfriends.

Money, beauty, fame, status, and luxury—all within her grasp.

She was like the favored character in a wish-fulfillment novel.

It was too difficult to win against her.

(End of Chapter)