Chapter 287 Thalia Went Filming Again?
"Yes!"
Finn hadn't expected that reality shows these days would go this far. For ratings, they'd arrange any kind of activity - putting a man and woman alone in the deep mountains to pick mushrooms all night long. Wasn't this deliberately creating scandal for them?
"Which idiot came up with this stuff?" William tossed the documents in his hand onto the desk, startling Finn.
"Should I... intervene?"
William was so angry his head hurt, but thinking of Thalia's competitive nature and her determination to make it big in the entertainment industry, he held back. "No need. Let her do what she wants."
Finn thought to himself, 'Then why are you so angry?'
"Got it!" Though Finn was grumbling internally, he still had to do what William ordered - after all, he was the boss!
......
"Alright, here we go!"
The moment the lid came off, Thalia let out a "wow." "This is our delicious meal for tonight."
"It's just oatmeal porridge."
"I'm already very grateful."
Thalia's flattery began again. "Besides, it's oatmeal porridge that Gregory made for me. I'm keeping the bowl after eating, not washing it. I'm going to auction it off later."
"Scamming my fans?" Gregory asked.
"We'll split the money fifty-fifty! Or seventy-thirty works too," Thalia chuckled.
Gregory glanced at her. "Looks like I need to warn my fans to watch out for scammers trying to take their money lately."
After dinner, the two found a place to rest.
Two run-down rooms, pretty much the same - didn't matter which one they slept in.
The only inconvenience was bathing at night, but fortunately the production team had some conscience. The livestream stopped after 10 PM, otherwise if even bathing had to be broadcast live, that would be terrifying.
When Thalia lay back on the bed, she felt something poking her from underneath. She quickly sat up and lifted the mattress to look.
They might as well sleep on the floor.
Someone used to sleeping in a luxury bed tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
William: [Was the oatmeal porridge good!]
The text message sound startled Thalia. The phone network in these deep mountains came and went.
Thalia could tell from the tone it was William without even looking at the name.
Thalia: [I miss the food at home.]
Thalia: [I miss the bed at home]
Thalia knew exactly what William's sarcastic words meant. He was definitely in a bad mood right now. If she went head-to-head with him, she'd definitely be the one to suffer.
So she pretended to be pitiful, saying she missed everything at home.
Thalia even lifted the bed board and took a photo for William.
Thalia: [Sigh, I'm so pitiful. You're at home living in a mansion, sleeping in a comfortable bed, and here I am, all alone and miserable in the deep mountains, sleeping on hard boards and feeding mosquitoes]
William: [Is that so? I see you're getting along quite happily with your Gregory]
William even went to Facebook, took a screenshot, and sent it to her.
When Thalia saw the photo, she cursed. The production team was so evil!
"Geez! You scared me. What time is it and you're still not off work? Did Thalia go filming again?" Angelina had a business dinner that evening. After it ended, she wanted to go back to the office to get some documents. Walking to the office door, she saw William's office light on and thought someone forgot to turn it off. She didn't expect him to still be sitting in the office at this hour.
Normally, as long as Thalia was home, this man would definitely leave work right on time. If he was working overtime at the office, Thalia must not be home.
"What are you doing back here?" William asked.
Angelina said, "Getting documents. Want to go for a drink?"
"Let's go!"
At the top floor of Aurora Tower, Daniel clearly hadn't expected William to come at this hour either.
He even checked the time, his questioning gaze falling on Angelina. Angelina shrugged and poured a cup of coffee. "Thalia went to do a show."
"No wonder, I think I did see on Thalia's Facebook that she was recording a variety show."
"With Thalia not home, he's acting like he's gone through a breakup." Angelina poured William a cup of coffee.
Angelina said, "People on Kurt's side came back saying that if the company doesn't get a large injection of funds, it probably won't be able to hold on. Zephyrine should be making her move soon. Are our people still watching her?"
"Yes!" William nodded.
Angelina added, "Then we just wait to close the net. I thought this would take more time, but Zephyrine is so eager to force our hand."
"Who knows if this is a blessing or a curse for Kurt."
William didn't directly respond to Angelina's words. Instead, he turned his gaze to Daniel. "How's the investigation into the Jimenez family that I asked you to do?"
"Apparently, Steven is sick. He's been to the hospital many times, received critical condition notices twice. The Jimenez family is in chaos now. Everyone wants to get their hands on Steven's inheritance - it's like a succession drama. And after all these years, he seems not to have forgotten about your existence, which is why he had his trusted aide come to Emerald City to find you this time."
"Steven wants you to go back, so naturally the other Jimenez family members want to kill you. Your situation now isn't much better than Thalia's was back then."
"If you ask me, you two are equally unlucky."
"Are other Jimenez family members in Emerald City?" William asked.
"Yes! They've been following Steven's people's movements, but probably can't get close to you."
"Everyone's probably confused, not knowing why Steven is so determined to bring you back. Though they don't know the reason, they all know that if you go back, their share of the wealth will be cut in half. So your death is the best option for them."
The power struggles in wealthy families were dirty and dangerous. They might know full well that William didn't need the Jimenez family's money, but just knowing of his existence meant they had to make him die.
............
"Mrs. Lowe, it might not be convenient for us to act recently," In Zephyrine's study, her secretary advised. The situation wasn't good lately. If they acted rashly, it would definitely hurt them, and the time interval from the last incident was really too short.
According to their usual plan, they should have acted the day after the incident, then collected all the payments within a week. After all, the drug they administered wouldn't leave the body within a week, but after a week, it was hard to say.
Without that crucial leverage, negotiating benefits would be harder.
"Convenient or not, we have to act," Zephyrine snapped. Whether the company could be saved depended on this move.
Kurt would absolutely never do these things. Only she could handle this kind of dirty work.
"But..."
"No buts."
"I'll make the arrangements."