Godfather Of Champions - Chapter 1021 - Retirement

Fasal did not divulge Shania’s decision to leave the entertainment industry on the 10th of May to anyone else, but Shania still received a lot of attention from the media.

Shania’s agent suddenly announced that she was going to turn down her modeling jobs at the fashion shows that would be held in Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and New York and that she was willing to compensate for the losses. However, he did not provide a reason as to why Shania had suddenly turned down those jobs, and that has led to inevitable speculation in the media.

Some people believed that Shania was suffering from a health issue because a source claimed that he saw Shania going to the hospital. This conjecture was actually quite close to the truth. The only issue was that they had thought about it too negatively. There were also people who guessed that Shania was not in the mood to work because she was experiencing a problem in her relationship with Twain. However, this guess could not be farther away from the truth. Shania and Twain were well known to be a loving couple, and many regarded them as their role model. There might be a 21-year age gap between the two of them, but they did not have trouble communicating with or understanding each other. In addition, there was no news or reports that have hinted at a problem in Shania and Twain’s relationship thus far.

Most of the guesses that the tabloids came up with were nonsensical. They were always trying to think about things in a negative light. Those with good intentions would definitely be able to see what lay beneath the surface.

Twain rarely read celebrity gossip magazines. One reason for it was that he was not a fan of any celebrity, and thus he did not need to read those magazines to understand what was going on in the life of his idol. Another reason was that he spent most of his time on football and had no interest in news that was not related to the sport.

However, he had to read the articles pertaining to his wife. He could not possibly fail to show an interest in what was going on with his wife, even if he knew he could just ask her directly instead of reading about it in a magazine…

The players crowded around to have idle chat during a break in between their training sessions. Likewise, the coaches had formed a group of their own to chat as well. Everyone was discussing various topics that interested them. The coaches were more gossipy than the players were, and they were chatting among themselves. Twain had never thought that elderly men could be this gossipy. They were almost like bored housewives.

“Hey, Tony. Did you read the latest edition of Time Out?”

“The entertainment magazine? You know I don’t read those, David.”

“I think you should take a look at it. Did you notice anything odd about your wife these few days?”

Twain found Kerslake to be odd. Why would he suddenly care about his wife?

However, Kerslake was a man who has worked with him for several years. He must have asked that question because he had his best interests at heart.

Twain thought about what his wife was like over the past few days. He did not find anything about her unusual. She would always return home with a smile, and everything about her demeanor was normal as well.

Kerslake observed Twain’s expression from the side and realized that Twain really did not know what was wrong with Shania. He decided not to explain anything to him, because he was afraid that his words would affect the training session. Twain should just buy the magazine and read it for himself later, he thought.

The training session ended soon after. On his way home, Twain passed by a newsstand and bought a copy of the magazine that Kerslake had mentioned earlier. Time Out was a well-known fashion and entertainment magazine, and it was not hard for him to get his hands on a copy.

Twain saw his wife’s name on the cover page and quickly found the article after looking at the page number that was indicated on the cover.

“Shania Twain has surprisingly turned down all her upcoming jobs, and according to her agent, Fasal, she would not be taking on any new jobs either. This is puzzling…”

Twain frowned after reading the article. It was indeed puzzling, but he quickly guessed the reason behind Shania’s actions…

※※※

The nanny finished preparing dinner, and Shania waited for her husband in the living room.

Twain came home soon after. However, the first thing he passed to her was not his coat, but rather a fashion magazine.

“What’s this about, Shania?”

Twain flipped open the magazine to the page that he had earmarked before, pointing at the article.

Shania glanced at the title and immediately knew what the article was about. A smile emerged on her face as she looked at her husband. “I’ve decided to retire, Uncle Tony.”

Her answer was not surprising to Twain, but he was still confounded. “Why would you want to retire? Aren’t you doing well in your job?”

“29 years is considered old for a model. I don’t want to continue in this job any longer.”

“You could act in movies…”

“You know I don’t have the talent for that, Uncle Tony.”

Twain was rendered speechless. It was just as Shania had said. He knew very well that she was not particularly talented at acting, and she would definitely not be able to become the main cast of any movie without the help or recommendation from her friends. However, she could not possibly keep relying on her friends forever. She was not the kind of person who would want to do that either.

“But still… You don’t need to retire. What on earth are you thinking, Shania?”

“Before I answer that question, I have a question of my own for you, Uncle Tony. Why did you decide to retire at the end of this season?” Shania smiled and stared at her husband. She did not care about the gloomy look on Twain’s face.

“Because I want to spend more time with you, of course…” Twain answered straight away without thinking.

“And my answer is the same, Uncle Tony.” Shania was pleased that her husband had fallen into her trap. She took a few steps forward and embraced Twain before resting her head on his chest.

“You don’t need to do that at all, Shania. I retired so that I can spend time with you, but you can continue working…”

“I’m not interested in my current job. I just want to stay at home and spend time with you and our daughter.”

Shania’s reason made sense because she has never enjoyed being a model. She did have an interest in acting in movies, but sadly, she did not have the talent for it.

Twain hugged his wife and did not know what he should say. Shania’s decision was too sudden, and he found it hard to accept.

And, most importantly…

“Why didn’t you tell me anything before?”

Shania felt Twain’s arms tighten around her. She knew that her husband was a bit discombobulated.

“I didn’t want to bother you since you were busy with work. Actually, I only came to this decision two days ago after discussing it with Mr. Fasal. I’ve been trying to find a good opportunity to speak to you about it, but I didn’t expect the entertainment magazines to get their hands on the information this quickly…”

Shania’s explanation made a lot of sense, and Twain could not find anything wrong with it either. However, he still could not help but feel like there was more to Shania’s sudden decision to retire. It was not as simple as she said it was…

However, what could her true reason be? Twain did not have a clue.

Twain felt like his wife was hiding something from him as he held her in his arms. However, there was no use in asking if she was not willing to tell him anything. He could only hope that it was not going to be a piece of bad news…

※※※

The tabloid reporters were truly skilled. It only took them a week to figure out the truth behind why Shania had suddenly turned down all her jobs. It was not because she was ill, and neither was it because of a problem in her marriage. It was because she had decided to leave the entertainment industry!

The news of her decision to leave came as a shock to many. Shania was a world-renowned supermodel and Hollywood star who had many fans from all over the world, and she was also the brand ambassador of numerous fashion and luxury brands.

However, such a superstar was going to leave the entertainment industry forever. How could her fans accept such a piece of news?

Shania’s official website was instantly flooded with comments from passionate and angry fans.

A large number of her fans did not believe in the news. They thought that the media was just spouting nonsense.

However, Shania subsequently admitted that she was going to leave the entertainment industry during an interview, and her words shattered the last shred of hope that her fans had.

“… I don’t wish to make my supporters sad. However, this is a decision that I have to make because I want to spend more time with my husband and daughter in the future. It was a tough decision to reach… However, to me, family always cane before career. I can only apologize to those people who like and support me…”

“This is not a break but a retirement. I will not appear as a celebrity any longer. I would like all of you to remember me as Tony Twain’s wife and Teresa’s mother. I am going to enjoy my life as an ordinary woman from now on.”

Shania has always come across as a confident and opinionated woman. She demonstrated her toughness when she insisted on marrying Tony Twain, who was older than she was by 21 years, despite the negative attention from the public. Her decision to leave the entertainment industry behind and take care of her husband and child as a simple housewife was yet another example of her toughness.

It did not matter what others thought, said or did. She would never change her mind.

There were some celebrities who liked to hypocritically claim that they were ‘tired of living in the limelight’ and that they ‘wished to lead an ordinary life’. However, those celebrities would all be looking for ways to capture the attention of the masses once again when they did lead ‘ordinary’ lives. In fact, they might not even be able to live a week without public attention.

Naturally, there were also people who saw Shania as being just like those celebrities who craved attention. They believed that Shania had only announced that she was going to leave the entertainment industry because she wanted to generate attention for herself and for Dior’s product launch in May. Why else would she stay on with Dior when she has turned down all her other jobs?

Their rationale made a lot of sense – all of this must be a publicity stunt by Shania and Dior! They would not change their minds about the matter even though Dior released a statement and said that it was not a publicity stunt. Every action was just a cover-up, many thought.

Shania did not refute those claims. Everything she said would only end up aggravating the situation anyway. Besides, her days of being a celebrity were over, and she did not need to care about what the media thought of her any longer. They could say whatever they wanted. It was not as if their words had any impact on her.

Shania carefully guarded her secret from Twain as she spent her next few days at home. She wanted to keep the truth from him until the very last moment and give her husband a huge surprise. Shania was brimming with excitement as she thought of the day when she would see the look of surprise and happiness on Twain’s face.

※※※

The media continued to speculate about Shania’s decision to retire over the next few days. Numerous tabloid reporters appeared near Shania and Twain’s house in Nottingham, and they would rush up to interview Shania when she left the house or when she returned home. Fortunately, Teresa has been following her celebrity parents around for approximately half a year or so by now and had grown used to seeing hordes of reporters flocking up to her. Otherwise, the sight of so many strangers before her would have terrified her.

Shania gave the same response to every single reporter who came up to her:

“I’ve decided to retire, and I’ve already said everything that I’m supposed to say. There’s nothing else for me to tell you now.”

Some of the more idiotic tabloid reporters decided to interview Shania’s husband instead since Shania refused to comment. They hoped to get more valuable information from Twain.

However, they forgot one very important thing. Twain was a man who was notorious for being extremely hard to interview, and all the sports reporters in England could attest to that. The tabloid reporters would definitely not find it easy to deal with him either.

Nottingham Forest’s training session ended, and Twain coldly looked at the reporters who had flocked up to him. “I want the reporters who are not interested in sports to leave. I will not answer any of your questions. Don’t try to pretend to be a sports reporter either. I know every single reporter who’s supposed to have an interview with me here. Everyone else, please leave, or I’ll call the security.”

Some of the tabloid reporters did not believe Twain’s words, and they went up to him pretending to be sports reporters. However, Twain immediately called the security guards and got them to kick the sneaks out. The reporters tussled and yelled about ‘the freedom of the press’ or ‘the public’s right to know’ as they were being dragged outside, but Twain turned a deaf ear to them. He sent every single tabloid reporter out of the premises and even blacklisted them. They would not be able to enter without permission in the future.

Twain did not have anything against the tabloid reporters. It was not as if he had not accepted an interview from a tabloid reporter in the past. However, the circumstances were different this time around, and he needed to deal with them differently as well.

What are they thinking? This is the worst possible time for them to interview me, he thought. The final Premier League match would be held on May 10, but Nottingham Forest was still in the 7th place! They were two points behind 6th, and there were four matches remaining in the league. If Nottingham Forest would not be able to overtake the sixth-place team by the end of the season, then all the hard work that they had put in this whole season and all the hard work that he had put in for half a season would be for naught!

How could Twain possibly allow those damned tabloid reporters to disturb him and his team now?

The reporters were here to ask Twain about his private affairs, but the truth was that he did not understand what was going on with Shania either. With the end of the season drawing near, he had no choice but to prioritize work for now, and he would think about everything else later. He refused to think about matters irrelevant to football and allow the tabloid reporters to interview him about Shania.

Nottingham Forest had another round of training after Twain had kicked all the tabloid reporters out of Wilford. Twain wanted to prepare his team for the last four matches of the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest would face just one strong opponent in their last four Premier League matches. Perhaps fate was at play here, because the strong opponent that they would have to face was the Manchester United team led by Mourinho. The two sides would meet on Forest’s home ground. The match would be Forest’s last Premier League match of the season, and also Twain’s farewell match.

All three of Nottingham Forest’s opponents before their match against Manchester United were weak by Twain’s standards. However, half a season ago, Nottingham Forest would not have been able to say with certainty that they would win against those teams.

Twain’s plan was to cement Forest’s position in the 6th place before the match with Manchester United. This would ensure that the last match of the season would not end up being a death match between the two sides and there would be less pressure on his shoulders as well.

This was the ideal scenario for the team. Why should Forest put themselves in a situation where they would have to fight to the death with Manchester United? They should just ensure that they won their first three matches.

Life was not like a novel. There was no need to leave the biggest and most crucial fight until the end. Twain would not do that and he would not allow his opponents to do it either. In order to climb up to 6th place, Twain had to ensure that his team was able to win three of their four remaining matches, and he also needed his opponent to commit mistakes and lose points. However, he was not particularly worried about the second point, because the current 6th-place team, Manchester City, had a much tougher run of fixtures ahead of them as compared to Forest.

Manchester City would have to face three tough opponents in their four remaining matches, and one of their matches would be a Manchester Derby… Twain did not believe that Manchester City would not drop points in the derby match. Even if the match ended as a draw, Nottingham Forest would still be able to climb up to 6th place based on goal difference.

There were only four matches remaining for the season. There was no room for error for Forest.

The entire team could feel the tension in the air due to their need to battle for 6th place.