Chapter 21 Sister, You Said This Morning That You Wanted to Cut Mr. Brown's...
When William heard the name Smith, he immediately thought of Thalia.
It wasn't until the person stood right in front of him that he realized it was Chase.
"Chase, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to talk about a potential collaboration with you, William," Chase leaned back in his chair, looking confident as he gazed at William.
William raised an eyebrow slightly. Chase didn't waste any time and placed his phone in front of William. The top post on Facebook was about Thalia having a late-night rendezvous with her boyfriend.
"Did you and Thalia break up?"
"Handling someone like Thalia must be exhausting. If you need to take on a client's case, why not consider me instead?"
"Taking Thalia's case means dealing with both money and emotions. With my case, it's straightforward—we only talk about money."
William's hands slowly clasped together in front of him, his fingers tapping his knuckles thoughtfully. "Have you considered that the person in the news might be me?"
Chase chuckled, "Last night, you were working late at the office."
William's smile remained unchanged, "How did you know that?"
William's unhurried tone easily led Chase into a trap.
"It's not hard to find out," Chase steadied his emotions.
"It's not hard, indeed. I can be so sure because it wasn't from someone within my circle," William said. Only three people were working late last night: the finance manager, himself, and Brian. These two were his trusted aides and wouldn't betray him. Chase knowing this meant he had been keeping an eye on him. And knowing that the person who went to Thalia's house wasn't him meant he had been watching Thalia too.
"May I ask, where were you last Thursday night?" William's chin rested on his clasped hands.
Last Thursday night, Thalia was kidnapped...
Chase stared at William, "I'm here to discuss a collaboration, not to be interrogated."
"You're right... I overstepped..." William said as he pressed the intercom to ask Brian to make some coffee. When Brian brought the coffee in, William stood up with his phone, saying he needed to make a call, and gave Brian a look to keep an eye on Chase as they passed each other.
"Brian, aren't you busy?" Chase glanced at Brian.
Brian smiled, "Busy, but I can't neglect our guest."
Chase's fingers slowly rubbed the coffee cup, "Why do I feel like you're guarding me?"
"Mr. Brown, you misunderstand. We in the legal field would never break the law. Your words, to put it nicely, are guarding, but to put it bluntly, it's illegal surveillance."
Chase: ...Did he just get called out?
A secretary dared to call him out?
Chase's cold laugh echoed.
"William, another time? I have an urgent matter," William walked back in, heading to the coat rack to grab his jacket, ready to leave.
"Sure, can we set a time?"
"Let's say... tomorrow night," William thought for a moment.
......
Sunset Grove Villas in Emerald City was a place only the wealthy could afford, known as one of the top ten luxury residences in the city.
This place was a gift from Hayden for Thalia's eighteenth birthday.
As Thalia put it, she could work as a star for a lifetime and still not afford a place here.
A single duplex apartment here would go for over a hundred million dollars, let alone the villa Thalia lived in.
Thalia had injured her foot, and her show was canceled, so she was stuck at home to recuperate.
She spent her days in a wheelchair, recovering.
"Jada, someone's at the door."
"I'll get it," Isla jumped up from the sofa to answer the door.
As soon as the door opened, William, dressed in a sharp suit, appeared at the entrance. He looked Thalia up and down as she sat in her wheelchair.
Thalia was startled to see William, "What are you doing here?"
Behind William, a few people entered, all of them tearfully apologizing.
Thalia was confused, "What's all this?"
"Do you recognize them?"
"Has Mr. Brown become a cop now?"
"They came voluntarily. After what happened to you, I owe you an explanation."
Thalia rolled her wheelchair over to William, looking up at him, "What? Mr. Brown afraid I won't let you go even as a ghost?"
William tugged at his pant leg, one hand on the back of her wheelchair and the other on his knee, meeting her gaze, "Afraid? Will you let me go?"
Thalia smiled faintly, tilting her head with an innocent look, and beckoned him closer, "Come closer."
William turned his head, bringing his ear to her lips.
Suddenly, Thalia bit his ear.
William: ........
Isla: ...... What!
Brian: .......?
"Thalia, if you bite it off, do you believe I can make sure you stay in that wheelchair for life?"
She believed it!
William's methods were ruthless.
Thalia's face heated up. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed Isla and Brian's shocked expressions and snapped, "What? Never seen people flirt before?"
"This morning, you said you wanted to cut off Mr. Brown's... you know," Isla was stunned, probably never having seen Thalia so bold.
Was this still the pure star from the entertainment industry? Would her fans think she'd gone mad?
Thalia: .......
Jada stood at the kitchen door, tossing aside the rag she was holding, "You, stop saying nonsense and come help me with the prep."
William looked at Thalia with a half-smile, leaning in to whisper something in her ear that made her blush.
"Chase had people watching you. The night you were kidnapped, his people saw you being taken."
"It wasn't Chase," Thalia said succinctly.
William's eyes narrowed, "You're sure?"
"Chase isn't that stupid. At a time like this, if he personally got involved and something went wrong, he could lose everything. At most, he just had people watching my every move to figure out where Hayden was and monitor my connections. He wouldn't act unless absolutely necessary."
"Chase would rather watch me die without lifting a finger. If I were him, I'd do the same. Why not let someone else do the dirty work and take out a competitor, making billions more for myself?"
"You're pretty open about this," William retorted.
Thalia glanced at William, "Mr. Brown, a single child from a poor family like you wouldn't understand how tough it is for us kids from wealthy families."
"There's a saying, 'You don't know how many siblings you have until your father dies.'"