Fat Teacher Elias's words were quite philosophical, incisively explaining how society's legal system was becoming increasingly civilized. Bella agreed, yet felt his statement seemed unfinished. Judging from its structure, there should have been another half to that sentence…
Just as she was about to ask what came next, her phone rang. Old Professor John Grey informed Bella that there was news from the publisher and asked her to come over.
Realizing that her New York trip was about to end—and that she hadn't encountered any bad people or those annoying incidents from start to finish—Bella happily bid farewell to the refined-looking, chubby teacher.
"I'll be waiting for your new book to hit the shelves. I'll definitely buy a copy to keep," Fat Teacher Carl Elias said, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha.
"Don't worry—when the time comes, I'll give you a signed copy!"
"Deal! For a poor history teacher like me, buying bestsellers really is a financial burden."
Leaving the library, Bella took a taxi to Random House.
With Professor John Grey's recommendation, she certainly wouldn't be treated like an unknown newcomer.
The editors at Random House had read her novel. The prose was solid, the plot tight, and the religious elements were bound to spark controversy—but publishers feared too little controversy, not too much. The more debate a book generated, the better it sold. As long as the logic held together, even claiming that George Washington was a direct descendant of Jesus wouldn't be an issue.
As for the parts of the book that painted France in a negative light, that wasn't a problem either.
The Paris human trafficking incident had caused an enormous stir. Numerous feminist organizations were protesting daily, and lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties were publicly criticizing the French government. Smearing France posed no issue at all—criticizing France was politically correct at the moment.
Bella's The Da Vinci Code closely followed current events. It combined suspense, deductive plotting, and elements of detective fiction, thriller, and conspiracy theory, maximizing public interest in religion. It was truly a rare and valuable work.
At the very least, these editors were thoroughly convinced. Much of the knowledge in the book was unfamiliar to them, and ideas such as the Mona Lisa being Leonardo da Vinci's self-portrait were particularly astonishing.
All of them agreed that The Da Vinci Code was worth publishing.
Bella's appearance was another bonus. A beautiful female author—excellent promotional material.
They would have loved to sign her at a bargain price, but unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
Bella once again invited Hogarth Law to handle her legal affairs. The female lawyer herself was still in Paris, but the firm sending two attorneys to negotiate the contract posed no problem.
Despite using many connections, Bella was still fundamentally a debut author. After detailed internal evaluation, Random House set the initial print run at 100,000 copies. The unit price would be calculated later, and Bella's royalty rate was fixed at 8%.
This was a percentage no newcomer could normally obtain. Even for many established authors, it wasn't low. Extremely famous writers could demand 15% or even 20% royalties—but if you dared ask for that, publishers would dare to underreport print quantities.
Taking everything into account, Bella accepted the figure.
If the unit price were twenty dollars, selling 100,000 copies would earn her $160,000 in pre-tax royalties.
If Random House reprinted, she would continue to receive 8%. If a hardcover edition were released or prices increased, she would benefit proportionally. The publisher would handle promotion and rankings, taking the larger share, while she received the smaller—but steady—portion.
Film and television adaptation rights, advertising rights, and merchandising all remained hers. Of course, there were limits—it wasn't as if mentioning Notre Dame de Paris in the book meant she suddenly owned the cathedral. Cultural heritage was excluded from such rights.
Random House wanted a five-year publishing term. Confident in her book, Bella offered only three years. After some back-and-forth, they settled on four.
After four years, the publishing rights to The Da Vinci Code would automatically revert to her. She could keep them or find a new publisher as she wished.
After signing a series of contracts, all promotional work for The Da Vinci Code was entrusted to Random House.
Selling hardship narratives, talk show appearances, and crafting a "beautiful author" persona would be handled after the first wave of public reception—at least two months later.
"Thank you, Professor." Leaving Random House, Bella expressed her gratitude to Professor John Grey for helping make the introduction.
"If you want to thank someone, thank Charles. He's a billionaire—I'm just a university professor," the chubby old man said cheerfully.
Bella knew Charles Xavier had played a role, but she didn't underestimate Professor John Grey's help because of it.
Professor Charles and his X-Men didn't appear again. In high spirits, Bella practically walked on air, nearly humming as she returned to San Francisco.
Her entire New York trip had been perfect—no setbacks at all. Everyone she met was a professor or a teacher, all cultured people. Bella cleared herself of suspicion: her constitution wasn't the problem! It had to be that cheap sister of hers constantly dragging her into trouble!
…
As news continued to ferment, Interpol rescued many girls, and the impact of the Paris human trafficking incident spread worldwide.
Americans didn't have labels on their faces; traffickers couldn't target only Americans. The trafficked girls came from all over the world. Soon, tourists from various countries turned pale at the mere mention of Paris. Tourism? Forget it.
Without carrying two guns, without black-belt-level combat skills, and without a team of over a hundred people, traveling to Paris was strongly discouraged.
Many economists expressed pessimism about Paris's economic outlook for the year. After compensating the girls with €100,000–€300,000 each for emotional damages, the French government announced its surrender—no, its collective resignation—and launched early elections.
Bella treated it all as entertainment—and as a way to scare Heather.
According to her, a uniquely gifted talent like Heather would fetch at least a million if sold in France. High-ranking French officials would probably fight over her—maybe even costing a finance minister his life.
In early June, to celebrate Natasha's eighteenth birthday, Charlie and Samantha bought the young beauty a red BMW M3.
With the Paris incident settled, they approved the girls' travel plans. Go have fun—just don't go too far.
Still, the two hesitated. Where should they go?
"Can you swim?" Bella suddenly asked.
Who are you looking down on? Natasha curled her lips slightly. "Go swimming now?"
They left on a whim. Packing swimsuits, sunscreen, and surfboards, they drove off in Natasha's new car, speeding away from California.
California had plenty of beaches—but even more tourists. They were heading somewhere more remote, for wild swimming.