Chapter 207 Want to Please Me?
"Thalia, getting bold, huh? You deleted my fingerprint?" Outside the door, Layla heard the commotion and rushed over from downtown in the rain.
She wished she could crack open Thalia's skull to see what she was thinking. Who goes around offending investors?
The Smith family wasn't what it used to be. Did she really think it was still like when Hayden was around?
"Did you delete Layla's fingerprint?" Thalia got up in her robe and looked at William lounging leisurely on the bed.
"Yes."
"Are you crazy? Deleting her fingerprint?"
"Would you rather have someone burst in while we're having sex?"
Thalia: "You're going to get me killed."
"Layla's definitely going to chew me out."
"What's there to chew you out about? Just tell her the problem's solved. If your agent is this emotionally unstable, I suggest you get a new one."
William watched as Thalia walked over to him, lifted the covers and tucked him in: "Stay put, don't come out and stir things up."
William: ........
Thalia opened the door in her robe, and before Layla could speak, she struck first: "It's just two billion dollars. Already taken care of."
Layla's rage felt like someone had dumped cold water on it: "Where'd you get the money?"
"Mr. Brown gave it to me."
Layla: "Mr. Brown is that generous? I thought you two were just fooling around?"
Layla had always thought William and Thalia were just playing around. If something really happened, she doubted he'd actually help. A contract marriage—which of these big shots would really care?
"Take it easy. If you want to switch careers and work behind the scenes as a boss, don't go offending all those investors. Don't train up the artists in your company only to have alienated everyone."
Layla hadn't been able to keep an eye on Thalia lately because Thalia wanted to become a capitalist, and she was helping plan things behind the scenes.
The entertainment industry is only so big. If you really want to make money, it all depends on connections.
Though Thalia rose late, at least she rose.
Layla felt somewhat relieved.
"Got it. Next time remember to call ahead, don't just show up in the middle of the night."
"Guess why I came straight over?" Layla laughed in exasperation.
Thalia sensed something. Something flashed through her mind. When she and William were in the throes of passion, she did vaguely hear a phone vibrating, but it got cut off shortly after. She thought it was William's phone, but it turned out.......
"You hung up on my call?"
William glanced at her lazily and acknowledged it.
"Is that polite?"
"Is she polite?" William countered: "Calling in the middle of the night—people are either sleeping or having sex. Doesn't she have any sense?"
Thalia: .........
.........
"Gregory, did you hear? Thalia actually gave Aaron a check for two billion dollars."
"I'm shocked. Is she really that rich?"
"She's been hiding it! Why would someone that rich still act? She's totally a princess from a wealthy family experiencing ordinary life!"
Early in the morning, Gregory was still washing up when Luca, looking at his phone, gossiped with him while checking Messenger.
The group chat had exploded.
Everyone now saw Thalia in a completely different light.
She went straight from female lead to capitalist. Aaron must be treating her like a treasure now.
"What did you say? Two billion dollars? Where'd she get that much money?"
When Nora heard about last night, she'd been smiling even in her dreams, thinking Thalia had offended the investor and Aaron was probably figuring out how to torture her!
But after just one night, she actually came up with 2 billion dollars.
"It's true. Aaron even posted the good news in the group."
Nora was so angry she was dazed, sitting on the bed for a long time without reacting.
"So does that mean Thalia is now my boss?"
Luca stammered: "Sort of!"
After all, these two had never gotten along.
"This show is already showing signs of going viral based on the behind-the-scenes footage alone. With Thalia's 2 billion dollar investment, if the show gets good reception when it airs, won't she be a full-fledged capitalist?"
Nora couldn't believe it: "At last night's dinner, was she doing it on purpose? Deliberately angering the investor to make him pull out so she could step in herself?"
Luca trembled: "I... I don't know!"
Apparently things got pretty unpleasant last night. Aaron was worried someone would come cause trouble today, but unexpectedly, as soon as dawn broke, Thalia delivered the check to him. Alfonso seemed to have vanished. Normally these capitalists are the hardest to deal with, but after last night, what happened just... happened? Really puzzling.
Starting work in the morning, everyone was busy while gossiping, until Thalia approached from a distance and they stopped.
"Thalia, morning."
"Morning."
"Did you walk here?"
"Yeah, Alfonso smashed my car last night."
"What?" The stage manager was surprised. They hadn't heard about this when the dinner ended last night.
"Thalia, Aaron wants to see you."
Thalia walked over to Aaron with her coffee. Aaron saw her coming and greeted her with a smile: "Thalia's here! Have a seat!"
"Aaron, did you need something?"
"Well..." Aaron seemed a bit embarrassed as he shook the script in his hand: "You're now the biggest investor in this show. Is there anything you want to change? Or anything you're not satisfied with?"
Thalia shook her head directly: "No."
"Are you sure? You know who I'm asking about."
"I know! No, just do it your way. I definitely won't interfere. You can rest assured, you're the professional in this area."
The screenwriter watched Thalia's back as she walked toward the makeup room and shook his head: "Same profession, why is the difference so huge?"
"How can it be the same? A wealthy family's daughter entering the entertainment industry—even if she doesn't do well, she can go home and inherit the family fortune. What about Nora?"
The screenwriter nodded: "True."
Today's scenes were packed, running in the same location until evening. As the female lead, Thalia had scenes with everyone from the male lead to the third male lead.
At first, everyone thought Thalia was unapproachable and didn't get familiar with her. But after hearing that Thalia threw 2 billion dollars at the production, they all came to curry favor with her.
Thalia had just sat down in her chair to rest when... she saw people bringing all sorts of things to her, trying to ingratiate themselves.
She was stunned.
These people had never been like this before.
"What's this? Trying to butter me up?" Having spent so long in wealthy circles, Thalia had seen this kind of scene too many times.
Seeing this group approach, she couldn't even be bothered to deal with it.
"Thalia, you're being too blunt," Isla couldn't help muttering.
She went over to smooth things over: "That's just Thalia's personality, she means no harm. Today's workload is pretty heavy, everyone take a break! There'll be plenty of chances to get along later."