Chapter 298 Contacting Thalia Through Gregory
"Put your clothes on."
William had just walked in when Thalia came downstairs wearing a camisole nightgown. Before they could even greet each other, William's cold voice cut through the air.
Behind the door, Brian and Finn stood holding stacks of files, not daring to enter.
William waited until she went upstairs to the bedroom before instructing Fallon to have everyone bring the files to the reception room.
"Didn't you say you weren't coming back tonight?" Thalia threw on a loose t-shirt over her nightgown.
Seeing William standing at the door with a dark expression, Thalia muttered, "You could've told me you were bringing people back!"
"How's the situation with Kurt?"
Thalia didn't get a response and looked up. "I'm asking you a question, William."
William deflected, keeping it brief as always, and beckoned to Thalia. "Come here."
"What for?" Thalia walked over reluctantly. William pulled her into his arms with one hand, pressed her against the door, and a torrent of kisses followed.
In her mouth, the strong smell of cigarettes made Thalia uncomfortable. "How many cigarettes did you smoke?"
"Not many."
"How many is 'not many'?"
William held her close, lowering his head to bite her neck. The pain made Thalia want to pull away, but he held her in place. "I wasn't planning to come back, but thinking of how happy you'd be home alone, I came back."
"Fine, I'll make sure to tell you in advance next time."
"It's handled. The equity transfer agreement is signed."
It took Thalia a moment to realize William was answering her earlier question. She raised her hand to his forehead. "Are you okay?"
William pulled down Thalia's palm, dragged her by the waist onto the counter in the walk-in closet, his slender fingers moving toward the hem of her ankle-length skirt.
"Mr. Brown, people are waiting for you downstairs."
"No rush, they won't be here for another half hour."
"Half an hour? Isn't that underestimating yourself a bit? What if you get me all worked up and then leave me hanging? Aren't you afraid I'll post on social media and curse you out?" Thalia pushed William with one hand while the other pressed down firmly on her skirt hem, not letting him get his way.
William watched, his expression darkening. His already mediocre mood plummeted to rock bottom because of Thalia's rejection.
The two stood at an impasse in the walk-in closet. Seeing his expression, Thalia knew she'd have to coax him again. "What's wrong? Work not going well? Or is Kurt not cooperating?"
Look at her, being so considerate!
She'd even learned to show concern for William.
William had figured out Thalia's personality—if he left her alone and didn't bother her, she didn't care about William's situation at all. But if he tormented her and made her unhappy, she'd immediately pretend to care about him.
The man braced his hands on the counter, suppressing a smile as he looked at Thalia. "You made me unhappy?"
"What did I do to you? Don't make things up, I've been very good."
"Really? Then tell me how you've been good."
"You tell me first what I did to make you unhappy. I might not change it even if you tell me, but if you don't say it, you might just suffocate yourself."
"Don't you wish I would suffocate? When I die, you can take my inheritance and fly off on my private jet to sleep with other men!" William said while pulling off his tie and tossing it casually on the counter.
Then came his suit jacket.
Thalia found the scene increasingly alarming.
"William, just a reminder, you have sixteen minutes left."
"Isn't that a bit tight? Don't you want to think it over?"
Thalia was scared but still had the nerve to remind William.
The man's voice was low. "Get down."
Thalia ignored him.
"Want to have sex?" William added.
"I'm getting down, I'm getting down."
"The Celestia Group executives are coming for a meeting tonight. If you want anything, ask Fallon."
"Okay."
William's implication was clear—stay upstairs and don't wander around.
..........
"Here's the information."
"I'm still curious why you're investigating her out of the blue?"
Michael flipped through Thalia's file, a deep smile on his lips. "You'll find out soon enough."
"Stefan is still in Emerald City?"
"Still there, staying at the Jimenez Mansion in Emerald City. Mr. Steven Jimenez arranged it."
Michael tapped his cigarette ash. "How interesting. I'm family, but when I return to Emerald City I can only stay in hotels, while he, a servant, gets to stay in the Jimenez Mansion. Don't you think my grandpa is being unfair?"
The other person didn't answer, since Steven was still a prominent figure in Regal City—not someone they could comment on.
"Is Gregory free these days? Since we're both in entertainment, I should arrange to meet with him."
"Speaking of Gregory, he recently acted in a show with Thalia. In that show, fans are shipping them as a couple. If you want to get close to Thalia, going through Gregory would be perfect."
......
"What did you say?" In the car, Zephyrine was shocked when she heard Kurt's words. "Who did you sell the company to?"
"William."
"Why? Don't you discuss these things with me? Do you make all the decisions in this family alone? Kurt, do you even consider me family?"
Faced with Zephyrine's interrogation, Kurt remained calm, turning to look at her. "Are you done? If it weren't for what you did, we wouldn't have been caught. William put evidence of your previous actions in front of me and made me choose—you or the company."
"What do you think I should have chosen? Or do you think choosing you was wrong?"
Zephyrine immediately backed down, staring at Kurt, her mouth opening and closing for a long time without managing a single word.
"How dare he."
"Why wouldn't he dare? If you didn't want people to have dirt on you, you shouldn't have done those things in the first place."
"Did I do those things just for myself? Wasn't it because I didn't want the company to collapse?"
Kurt had a headache and didn't want to argue with Zephyrine. After years of marriage, both in their fifties, having lived through more than half their lives and countless ups and downs, fighting over this would be a loss.
"Fighting is pointless. Selling the company was our best option. Trying to hold on would only drag us down, and in the end we'd lose everything we've saved over the years."
The savings were protected, but what about her status in the Carter family? Could that still be saved?
Zephyrine lowered her head and covered her face, a wave of grief suddenly washing over her.