They were at the end of their tether. Their phones must have got wet and they couldn’t have had any battery left, yet they were holding them like kids who wouldn’t let go of their security blankets.

Alpha turned and stared at Franck. He decided there was enough hatred in his eyes and charged at Liem and Travis, clearly prepared to catch them like hares. The other dogs followed his lead and they all rushed at the two men.

‘Stop … Stop!’

Franck ran in front of the dogs to restrain them but they wouldn’t stop; they wanted a fight and carried on barking as if they had just cornered a wild boar. They believed they had to keep their quarry at bay until they heard shots or the blows of the hunting spear. But all they could see was Franck, waving the contracts at his two partners.

‘OK, OK, calm down. We’ll sign, we’ll sign …’

‘You’ve read it?’

‘Yes! We’ll sign, we’ll sign, no problem …’

‘Really? Just like that, you’re going to sign because three dogs are threatening you? I can’t believe that you can bear to admit that animals have got the better of you.’

The dogs were barking aggressively, getting as close to Liem and Travis as possible, looking as if they couldn’t control themselves any longer and were determined to bite.

‘Hold your dogs back, damn it!’

‘Remember your dirty scheme to trap me? Well, now you’re the ones who are trapped!’

‘OK, if that’s what you think, but call your dogs off!’

Franck ordered the dogs to stop barking with a click of his fingers. Strangely enough they sat down, still twisting and squirming, but sitting down. Franck unrolled the contracts, smoothed them down, and then he paused. Instead of giving them to his partners, he held them to his chest and ripped them up.

Liem and Travis watched him, stunned, then immediately began to panic again.

‘What are you doing?’

‘It’s fine. I’ve seen what I wanted to see.’

‘Seen what?’

‘Fear. I wanted to see it in your faces. I wanted to see that imploring look in your Bambi eyes when you saw the wild animals, and now I’ve seen it, I’m happy. You guys can go to war, you can fight with your banks, with Netflix and whoever else. Go for it, but I’m warning you, once you start a fight it will never end, especially when you don’t know the rules. It never ends.’

‘You’re the one who’ll be in trouble.’

‘Why? Are you going to bring charges? If you do that, I’ll destroy you; I’ll destroy you in front of the whole industry, directors, actors, co-producers – I know all of them. The film industry is still run by human beings, something you haven’t quite figured out.’

‘So what do you want then?’