Chapter 146 Aren't You Going to Support Your Wife?
"Mr. Brown, what you're saying - how many modern women actually come home early?"
"These days, coming home early equals being poor."
"So... I'm poor?" William went along with Thalia's twisted logic.
Fallon was bringing over a tray with water when she heard William say this, and it startled her.
William, poor?
She couldn't agree with that.
Everyone knew who the wealthy elite of Emerald City were.
"Deliberately making things difficult for me? Then I'm leaving."
"Go ahead!" William lifted his chin. "You dare walk out that door, I'll break your legs."
Thalia followed William's gaze downward and saw him staring at her legs. She shifted them unconsciously and cursed, "Damn pervert."
Thalia was about to head upstairs when something occurred to her. She pulled back the foot she'd just raised to the step, smiled, and moved closer to William, her slender, pale arm resting on the dining room bar counter. "Mr. Brown, let me ask you something."
William tersely threw out one word: "Speak."
"Has Eleanor been asking you for favors lately?"
William didn't respond, but the look he gave Thalia told her it was true.
Thalia adjusted her position. "What does Mr. Brown think about it?"
"What do you want me to think?"
"If I tell you what to think, you'll think it?"
William casually sipped his water, looking at Thalia with a half-smile. "Let's hear it."
"You know Eleanor and I don't get along."
William had heard about the issues between Thalia and Eleanor. They didn't get along, but the two hadn't done anything outrageous - just the usual stuff between girls.
If that accident hadn't happened back then, Eleanor would have been the one to take the position of the Smith family's daughter - what would any of this have to do with Thalia?
Thalia was proud and had held onto this grudge all these years, competing with Eleanor in secret. While Hayden was in a coma it was fine, but if Hayden woke up, who knows how often he'd call Eleanor home for dinner, which would upset her even more.
"So?"
"Aren't you going to back up your wife?"
"My wife is planning to replace me, and I should still back her up?"
Thalia scoffed. "As if? Am I that kind of person? Don't make things up."
William pulled out his phone and tapped it, then Thalia's voice played back, grinding through gritted teeth: "You believe I won't replace you?"
Thalia: ......
"Just banter between husband and wife, and you took it seriously?"
William pulled his lips into a half-smile, reached out to set down his glass, glanced at Thalia, and headed upstairs to shower.
"Mr. Brown, that's not fair."
"You already have me, and you still want to mess with Eleanor? How is that different from wanting what's in the pot while eating from your bowl?"
"William."
William went into the bathroom and closed the door, shutting Thalia out.
Thalia was so angry a curse word almost escaped when her phone rang. Evelyn said from the other end, "Check your messages."
She hung up right after.
Evelyn had pulled her into a group chat.
「What's the Mitchell family up to?」
「First thing back in Emerald City is to find William?」
「Let her try. If Thalia couldn't catch that man, what makes her think she can?」
「The Mitchell family would have to think William, with no family background, is good enough」
「Just afraid she acts all high and mighty in front of us, then goes begging William behind our backs」
Thalia watched everyone gossiping in the group and opened the member list - several familiar names.
Evelyn: "Exciting, right?"
Thalia: ...... "Exciting. Is this where you've been getting all your gossip lately?"
"Yeah, super exciting. Everything big and small in Emerald City is totally transparent in this group. Just read the gossip, don't comment."
Thalia rolled her eyes. What a waste of time.
........
"Layla, some media contacted us asking if we want photos."
"What photos?"
Layla had just gotten home to her apartment from the company and was standing in the entryway about to change shoes when she got the call from the office.
"They said photos of Thalia and her ex-fiancé in an alley."
Layla hated when subordinates were vague and snapped, "What photos?"
"Just... having sex."
Layla: ...... "Are you joking with me? Do you think Thalia is someone who would get back with an ex?"
"Really, they sent over a photo for us to look at. You know entertainment reporters wouldn't dare come to us without real photos - they'd get sued."
Layla was a veteran in the entertainment industry and understood what this meant.
If they didn't handle this properly, the worst outcome for Thalia could be having to leave the entertainment industry.
Andrew was the perfect example right in front of them.
Layla was standing at the door about to go in, then turned to leave instead. "Wait for me at the office."
Half an hour later, Layla arrived at the company. People who were about to leave were now all neatly waiting at the office. Seeing her arrive, they rushed up. "Layla, the photos."
Someone handed over a tablet. Layla opened it and looked.
Someone projected the photos on the conference room screen. "We already had tech people verify - they're not composites."
"Not photoshopped either."
"This is Thalia? Since when does Thalia have such a worldly look in her eyes?" Layla could be certain the person in the photos wasn't Thalia, but for the moment she couldn't find any flaws.
"Which entertainment reporter?"
........
Thalia came out after her shower, drying her damp hair, wearing a white spaghetti-strap palace-style dress - pure yet seductive, her arms still showing faint water droplets from just applying body lotion.
William walked in just in time to see this tempting scene.
William, standing in the doorway, caught his breath.
A tingle ran down his spine.
The hairdryer in Thalia's hand was taken away.
Her long hair wove through William's palm.
"Mr. Brown's skilled technique makes me wonder - which woman did you practice this on?"
"Homework I did to marry you," William said leisurely.
Lies told as truth - plenty of people believe them. But truth told as lies - no one dares believe.
When William said this, Thalia replied, "Good thing I know what kind of place I hold in Mr. Brown's heart."
"Done. Feel if it's dry."
Thalia stood up and felt her hair, then stepped back to leave.
She saw William standing behind her, bare-chested, revealing eight-pack abs. His waist and ab lines rivaled those of gym models.
Thalia thought to herself, this is killing me.
All the good deeds she'd done in her life, and now a man with eight-pack abs was standing right in front of her - how could she not touch?
Her hand followed her heart. Thalia, with her long hair loose, let her slender fingertips fall on William's waist. "Mr. Brown......"
"If seducing people was illegal, how many years does Mr. Brown think he'd get?" Thalia's flirtatious tone carried a hint of allure, her fingertips trailing up William's abs......