Chapter 497 I'm About to Die, and You Still Think It's Fine?
In the reception room downstairs, William sat at the head seat, with several other executives and people from the event planning company sitting in the other seats. The room was filled with the rich aroma of coffee beneath walls lined with books.
The boss of the planning company was giving William a report.
"Mr. Brown, all nine floors of the cruise ship are your private space, and everything has been arranged according to your requirements. Here are the photos from the site. Please take a look at it."
"Except for the flowers, which need to start being set up tomorrow morning, everything else has been arranged today."
William took the iPad, glanced at it, and made a sound of acknowledgment. "What about security?"
"Security is in place, Mr. Brown. Don't worry, your people are covering the important areas, and the rest are experienced professionals sent by a professional security company."
"Make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Understood."
While they were talking, someone knocked on the reception room door. Fallon came in and whispered something in his ear.
William made a sound of acknowledgment and waved his hand, signaling her to leave.
"The entrance screening must be strict."
"Mr. Brown, don't worry." Even though the Celestia Group had people, William didn't want to hand such tedious matters to his subordinates for such a big event. Leaving professional matters to professionals was the smart move.
"That's all for today. Finn, see them down the mountain."
Before leaving, the boss of the planning company saw William take a wine glass from the butler and head upstairs in a hurry, as if going to meet someone.
"Could Mr. Brown be secretly keeping a lover? Rushing upstairs with wine like that, it sure looks like someone's waiting up there."
"Don't go poking your nose into things you shouldn't."
The person who got scolded touched his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed.
In the master bedroom on the second floor, Thalia had removed her makeup, washed her hair, and was lying in the bathtub with a face mask on. Hot water enveloped her entire body, making her sigh comfortably.
Footsteps sounded. She glanced sideways, thinking it was Fallon, but it was William.
"You're home!"
"Just finished talking business. Are you cold?"
"Yeah!" Thalia pointed to the small table nearby, signaling William to put down the wine.
"Not leaving?"
"Let's chat."
"Has Bella contacted you these past few days?"
"She has. She'll come with us tomorrow. Have you arranged everything?"
"All arranged." William nodded. The man sat in a nearby chair, casually chatting with her. Thalia was getting drowsy from the bath.
Coming to her senses, she saw William was still there and spoke unkindly. "Still not leaving?"
"Your period is over? You can take a bath already."
"It's too cold, it ended early!"
The man was first stunned, a flash of concern crossing his face, then, thinking of something, he nodded. "That's good!"
"I'm dying here, and you still think it's good?"
The sound of the door closing cut off her words.
"Bastard!" Thalia muttered. She got up, put on a robe, and casually dried her wet hair.
Just as she came out of the bedroom, she saw William feeding the cat with a cat treat. Thalia walked over with her glass, sat cross-legged on the sofa, drinking wine while watching William feed the cat.
It felt quite peaceful.
"Are you bringing Amara tomorrow?"
"Depends on her schedule."
"Have you asked her?" Thalia asked.
William glanced at her sideways. Thalia understood - that meant he hadn't contacted her.
The next day, the Celestia Group's year-end appreciation banquet was held on the cruise ship, starting at 4 PM that day and continuing until 10 PM the next day. The route started from Emerald City's Pier 10, sailed down to W City, and then returned, touring the scenery of both cities along the way.
Guests entered from the first floor. Those with red invitations took the elevator to the second floor.
Those with green invitations took the elevator to the sixth floor.
Guests and the Celestia Group's internal staff were thus separated.
The company personnel's activity area was on floors two, three, and four. The guests' banquet area was on floors six, seven, and eight. As for the ninth floor, it was William's private space.
Others couldn't go up there.
The fifth floor was a separately opened accommodation floor.
"Mr. Brown really went all out! I heard he spent seventy million dollars to charter this luxury yacht just to hold the year-end appreciation banquet?"
"Exactly! The Celestia Group's year-end appreciation banquet is the center of attention every year, and Mr. Brown has always been willing to spend money on these things."
"Mr. Brown is really something."
"I think I just saw the woman from the scandal. Not sure if I saw wrong."
"Who?"
"Ms. Smith."
"Ms. Smith is from the Smith family. Whether she's the woman from the scandal or not, the Smith family is on the invitation list every year. What's so surprising about that? Look at the people from the Celestia Group - which one of them has talked about this? It's just us outsiders acting like we've never seen anything."
That day, Thalia wore a wine-red velvet off-shoulder gown.
Her slender, fair arms and slim waist were captivating.
"Ms. Smith, they're here."
"Got it." After John finished speaking, Thalia nodded, stood by the railing on the seventh floor, and looked down at the banquet hall on the sixth floor. Her eyes immediately spotted that fair figure.
"Who are you looking for?" That day, Amara wore a black sequined spaghetti strap dress. Since she didn't like attending such events, she couldn't find many proper dresses in her closet. This one was Thalia's.
Someone who spent years in the hospital without sun exposure had skin so clean you couldn't see a single pore.
One in black, one in red, standing together - quite a sight.
"Sean."
"What do you want with him?"
"To take you to watch a good show, of course." Thalia raised her eyebrows.
Hearing this, Amara's eyes lit up. What wealthy families had most was exactly this kind of thing, wasn't it?
And Thalia's shows were much more interesting than ordinary ones.
"A show from the Jimenez family?"
"Mm-hmm!"
"Are you handling this yourself or helping William handle it?"
"What's the difference?"
"Of course there's a difference!" Amara's voice suddenly rose. "You need to know, if you're handling it yourself, it's your own business. But if you're helping William handle it, that means - are you planning to tie yourself to him for life? Never getting divorced?"
Thalia stopped in her tracks. Hearing Amara's words, she was a bit surprised. "How did you know?"
"Is it strange that I know?"
Amara originally wanted to brush it off, but seeing Thalia's eyes fixed on her with no intention of letting it go, she coughed awkwardly. "Last time William was sick, I was keeping watch at the door and overheard."
"Don't talk nonsense, don't let your parents know." Young people's ways aren't necessarily acceptable to older folks.
"See, you do have feelings for William, right? If you didn't have feelings, you wouldn't care if my parents knew. You wouldn't care about other people's feelings. People only care when they care."
Thalia sneered. "You're so good at this, it's a shame you're not a psychologist."
"Stay here, I'm going to the restroom."
Thalia followed Bella's figure to the restroom.