Since 'Batman Begins' started filming in Melbourne last year, this city in the Southern Hemisphere has gradually received more and more attention.
The wedding of Simon and Janette has made Melbourne the focus of attention for the entire world.
After all, no matter how much doubt filled the media, Simon had already solidified his title as America's first multi-billionaire with a net worth of over ten billion dollars.
The city government clearly understood the huge benefits this wedding could bring to the city.
Beyond the significant boost in world-class fame, the lineup of top-tier guests from all over the world, if properly courted, would definitely bring many benefits to Melbourne.
Therefore, it wasn't just the Johnston Family; to welcome this wedding, the entire city of Melbourne was mobilized.
In terms of security alone, many police forces were temporarily transferred from other cities in Victoria.
In addition to the itinerary arranged by the Johnston Family, the Melbourne city government took the opportunity to arrange a series of business exchange activities to promote Australia's various industrial incentive policies to investors from Hollywood, Wall Street, and even Europe.
Of course, these would certainly take place after the wedding.
The day before the wedding, Janette spent the entire day playing with her close friends and didn't fly back until late at night.
Simon spent the last day before the wedding busy hosting guests who were arriving one after another.
At his core, Simon had always been a very nostalgic person. Therefore, since his rebirth, everyone who had helped him along the way; Dr. Chapman from Watsonville, the hotel owner from Santa Monica, Jonathan from WMA, the three credited producers during the production of 'Run Lola Run', and so on, all received invitations this time.
In addition, colleagues from work, business partners, old friends and relatives of the Johnston Family, and various others brought the total number of guests to over eight hundred.
This was also why the wedding was chosen to be held at the open-air Yarra Valley Park.
March 3rd.
Early in the morning, the entire city of Melbourne was enveloped in a festive atmosphere.
Simon had been worried about the weather a few days ago, but the heavens seemed to be very cooperative; it was a very clear day.
The wedding was set to start at five o'clock in the afternoon, and a large number of media reporters were already waiting outside the strictly closed Yarra Valley Park.
Although they couldn't enter the wedding site, the photos of the guests taken at the entrance would be enough for a major story.
Therefore, starting from four o'clock in the afternoon, the flashes at the park entrance never stopped. Although some guests wanted to keep a low profile, most of them inadvertently showed their faces to the media.
The interior of Yarra Valley Park had completely become a sea of flowers.
Walls made of flowers divided the park into several different areas; both the wedding ceremony and the evening banquet would be held within the park.
Inside a tent in the park, Simon had already changed his clothes and was chatting with the four or five Johnston brothers serving as groomsmen today, as well as Keanu Reeves and Adam Baldwin. Sandra Bullock suddenly walked in from outside.
After greeting everyone, Sandra sized up Simon with great interest.
With less than five minutes left before the wedding began, the others saw this and tactfully left on their own. Several other staff members in the tent also walked out with smiles.
Simon also looked at Sandra, who was wearing a fiery red long dress today, and asked, "Did you have fun yesterday?"
Although they had always been somewhat at odds, Janette had still invited Sandra to her bachelorette party yesterday.
"In the end, Janette got her way, so how could I be happy?" Sandra stood with her hands behind her back, stood on her tiptoes, and added huffily, "I didn't even get to be a bridesmaid".
Simon laughed and said, "If it were me, I wouldn't let you be a bridesmaid either. If something like stealing the groom happened at the wedding, that would be quite a spectacle".
Sandra gave Simon a disdainful sidelong glance. "Only a ghost would want to steal you".
Simon put on a hurt expression. "It's really heartbreaking to hear you say that".
As they were talking, a staff member leaned into the tent entrance and reminded them, "Mr. Westeros, it's time".
Simon nodded to the person, looked back at Sandra, and opened his arms. "Come, give me a blessing hug".
Sandra stepped forward and hugged Simon, but finally said somewhat unwillingly, "You're only 22. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"When you know you've met the right person, there's naturally no need to delay anymore", Simon said as he walked out, then asked Sandra, "What about you? Have you met a guy riding a white donkey lately?"
Sandra followed Simon out and rolled her eyes at his words. "You're the one who's going to meet a guy riding a white donkey".
"I knew you wouldn't find one. So, you should still try to find a princess; blooming lilies are the most beautiful".
"Pah!"
Sandra spat at Simon. Walking through the corridor lined with flowers, she inexplicably remembered the time he had ridden a bike to carry her through the streets of Los Angeles.
Back then, her heart had been moved, but unfortunately, she hadn't been able to grasp it tightly.
Now, many memories were destined to be buried deep in her heart forever.
Thinking this, she suddenly reached out and pulled the sleeve of the man beside her. "Hey, Simon, will we still be friends in the future?"
Simon stopped his pace, felt the hope in Sandra's gaze, and nodded solemnly. "Of course, the best kind".
She really wanted to hug him again, but at this moment, the flower corridor was full of staff members passing by, so she could only give up on the idea.
Although the crazy thought of ruining the wedding like in a movie plot had crossed her mind, she would absolutely never actually put it into action.
Simon, however, had no such scruples. He stepped forward and hugged Sandra again, even kissing her on the forehead.
Suddenly, she felt satisfied.
Reaching out to gently push the man away, Sandra said while backing away, "I'm heading in first".
Simon stood at the exit of the flower corridor, watching Sandra enter the central wedding venue and sit down on a bench.
After a moment, the priest, groomsmen, and ring bearer entered the vow-taking flower pavilion in sequence. Under the reminder of the staff, Simon then entered the venue, waiting for the bride's arrival.
Under the gaze of hundreds of guests, the solemn wedding march sounded. Janette, holding Raymond Johnston's arm and wearing a white wedding dress more magnificent than any princess, walked out from the exit of the other corridor.
Amidst the spontaneous applause of the guests, the bride slowly entered the flower pavilion. Raymond Johnston solemnly handed Janette over to Simon's hand.
Even though they had known each other for a long time, Simon had to admit that a woman wearing a wedding dress was indeed at her most beautiful moment in her life.
Being stared at intently by Simon, a faint blush still appeared on Janette's face through the veil. Those expressive eyes did not look away, gazing affectionately at the man before her.
The two stood still, and the music in the venue stopped.
After the priest's solemn address ended, the most critical moment arrived.
"Groom, do you take this woman before you? To have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in good times and in bad, to protect her, to cherish her, and to regard her as your eternal treasure, for as long as you both shall live?"
Simon continued to look into Janette's eyes, feeling the most sincere expectation deep within them, and nodded without hesitation. "I do".
"Bride, do you take this man before you? For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in good times and in bad, to respect him, to accompany him, and to regard him as your eternal guardian, for as long as you both shall live?"
Janette's eyes were glistening, and likewise without any hesitation, she said softly, "I do".
"Then, groom, bride, please exchange rings".
Simon held Janette's white-gloved left hand and placed a ring on her ring finger. Then, Janette also placed a ring on Simon's finger.
The priest smiled as he waited for them to finish exchanging rings, then announced loudly, "Groom, you may now kiss your bride".
Simon stepped forward slightly and embraced the woman in front of him.
Warm applause also broke out in the venue.
Next, the guests began to move to the wedding banquet venue. Simon and Janette went to the adjacent lawn to take wedding photos. After saying that 'I do,' the woman hadn't spoken again, nestling happily by Simon's side.
Once the wedding photos were finished, Janette went to the tent next door to change out of the magnificent wedding dress with a train several meters long.
Simon waited patiently for half an hour. The woman finally walked out of the tent wearing another simple wedding dress and naturally took Simon's arm again, as if everything around them no longer existed.
The two entered the banquet venue; guest speeches, the first dance and at seven o'clock, dinner began.
This continued until eight-thirty in the evening. After throwing the bouquet and amidst the laughter and congratulations behind them, Simon and Janette left Yarra Valley Park together.
The group of reporters who had been waiting outside the park finally caught a fleeting glimpse and took photos of the two.
In the following days, news reports about this wedding were still everywhere, but Simon and Janette entered a state of ignoring the outside world.
After spending the night in their little nest on the outskirts of Melbourne, the two boarded a plane early the next morning and flew to Europe to begin their honeymoon trip.
The first stop was Barcelona, Spain.
Because they didn't want to be disturbed, they only brought a few attendants with them this time. The conspicuous Boeing 767 was also swapped for Gucci's Falcon after arriving in Europe.
Enjoying the beautiful scenery along the Mediterranean coast, the two also made a special trip to Casablanca, which was just across the sea.
Janette still clearly remembered Simon's joke about the movie 'Casablanca' back then.
However, this didn't stop the two from loving this famous North African city.
Along the warm Mediterranean coast, after Barcelona came Cannes in France, Rome in Italy, Athens in Greece, and finally they settled on the Johnston Family's small island in the Aegean Sea.
During such a trip, the time in March passed quietly.
The rotation of the Earth never changes for any single person. During this month of ignoring the outside world, many things were happening in the world.
In Hollywood, the new Academy Awards Ceremony ended on March 26th.
Highgate Films production 'Driving Miss Daisy' became the biggest winner of this year's Oscars. With 9 nominations, the film snatched five major awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Influenced by the Oscar wins, the box office for 'Driving Miss Daisy' rebounded again to $8.69 million during the Oscar week. After more than three months of release, the film's cumulative box office reached $78.23 million amidst this steady momentum, and breaking the hundred-million mark was almost a certainty.
At the same time, after another month of screening, 'Batman Begins' also surpassed the $400 million mark under much anticipation, becoming the first film in North America to break $400 million in its initial run.
Besides these two films, Daenerys Entertainment's Valentine's Day release 'Pretty Woman' saw its cumulative box office quickly surpass $130 million in just seven short weeks.
With the arrival of the Easter slot next month, the industry predicts that this Hollywood fairy-tale romance, which unexpectedly gained audience approval, could reach a total North American domestic box office of around $170 million to $180 million.
If it were a few years ago, this would have almost been the level of an annual box office champion.
Through this movie, the film's two leads, Julia Roberts and Pierce Brosnan, both leaped to become Hollywood A-list stars.
People began to count them up: starting from Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in the original 'Run Lola Run', and relying on a series of films he directed personally, wrote scripts for, or were produced by his company, Simon Westeros had created a large group of new-generation Hollywood stars like Adam Baldwin and Valeria Golino in just a few short years. At the same time, he had revitalized the careers of many veteran stars like Robert De Niro and John Travolta. Such star-making ability was far beyond even the era of the Hollywood major studios.
Therefore, as the DC Cinematic Universe began casting, even though the selection criteria were stricter and the contracts more demanding this time, the actors throughout Hollywood hoping for fame were still practically frantic.
On the Wall Street side…
Before the wedding, Janette, who had been busy for more than a month, had already completed the setup of the Cersei Capital operations team. The three subsidiaries all began to get on the right track in March.
Moreover, just like in the original timeline, after a series of manoeuvres, Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait all announced in March that they would increase oil production. International oil prices fell in response. Amidst the concerns of many hedge funds that oil prices would rise due to further unification of Middle Eastern oil fields, Cersei Capital had unknowingly established various types of oil futures contracts with a total value of over $10 billion at around ten times leverage in crude oil futures trading markets like London and New York.
Of course, during this process, although Cersei Capital tried its best to keep it secret, many still followed suit in the shadows.
Consequently, many people could feel the volatility in the crude oil futures market during this period caused by the hedging of capital with different viewpoints.
In addition, after Apollo Management Company's team easily raised its first $1 billion in funds, they also began positioning themselves in the North American junk bond market.
After BlackRock's capital scale increased to $6 billion, it also easily became an A-list player on Wall Street.
On the other hand, the storm triggered by the exposure of Simon's personal asset figures before his wedding also gradually subsided within this month.
In reality, it was impossible to earn billions of dollars in cash through illicit means in this world. Furthermore, since most of it was obtained from overseas markets, various media outlets and some factions within the Federal Government made a fuss for a while, but seeing no practical effect, they all had to call it a day.
The adaptability and forgetfulness of ordinary people are always very strong.
Unknowingly, most people gradually got used to Simon Westeros's status as North America's first multi-billionaire.
In fact, quite a few people were even somewhat proud of it.
One must know that in these years, the top-tier wealthy were all occupied by Japanese people, which to a large extent also dented the self-confidence of many Westerners.
Now, Simon Westeros had undoubtedly become an existence that could pull the Japanese down from the top positions on the rich list they had occupied for many years.