Chapter 130 Come Home Early Tonight! There's a Surprise
"You know what Mistwood Hill means? My dad wanted to get a villa up there back then, but he didn't make the cut."
"William actually has a villa up there?"
Thalia nodded.
Evelyn was stunned. William had kept this really well hidden—even better than her own father.
A few years ago, Mistwood Hill was bought by private owners to build villas. Surrounding the entire mountain, from halfway up to the peak, twelve villas were built on all sides of the mountain, corresponding to the twelve zodiac signs. They weren't for public sale—only invitation letters were sent to those at the top of the power pyramid.
And those who received invitation letters were all famous wealthy people on the list.
Plenty of people wanted to buy in but couldn't.
"Halfway up the mountain?"
Evelyn thought to herself that with William's background, getting a spot halfway up the mountain made sense.
Who would have thought—Thalia took a sip of her coffee and quietly said, "The peak."
Evelyn: ........
"Do you know how rich Mr. Brown is?"
Thalia shook her head.
"My dad told me that the peak of Mistwood Hill was kept by the developers as their own private residence. And the road to that private residence doesn't connect with the roads to the other villas—they specially built a private road leading straight to the villa, so......"
Thalia thought back to last night's scene. It was too dark to see the road clearly.
Evelyn scratched her head. "Do you think it's too late for me to take back all those things I said about William before?"
Thalia: .......... Is she backing down now?
At noon, Thalia and Evelyn had lunch.
Thalia took Evelyn to pick up her bag and bought some clothes to change into.
"Ms. Smith, should we still deliver these things to the villa?"
Thalia thought for a moment. "No, deliver them to the top floor of the building across the street."
The manager paused, thinking about the building across the street. "The Celestia Group?"
"Yes."
"We can't get in there."
Everyone knew the lawyers at the Celestia Group really valued their lives. Ever since someone rushed in with a knife two years ago, security had been especially tight.
"Isn't the top floor the office of Emerald City's legal Satan?" The store employees started whispering to each other.
"Didn't you see the gossip news? Mr. Brown and Ms. Smith are in that kind of relationship now."
The person said this while making a heart gesture with their hands.
"No way! I always thought it was just rumors. Never took it seriously."
"Still not taking it seriously now?"
The manager agreed to Thalia's request and walked over. He picked a few employees to push the mall carts and load the items one by one.
When Brian got Thalia's call asking him to come downstairs to receive things, he didn't think much of it.
When Brian got to the lobby and saw the luxury store employees, he froze.
He couldn't help but think to himself that William's wallet was probably going to take a hit.
"Put the stuff in the car. You guys follow me this way."
Thalia had already told William that the things were to be moved to the new house, so shouldn't he arrange for people to deliver them upstairs?
After Brian finished moving the things, the manager came out with the bill.
"Brian, Ms. Smith told us to take the bill to Mr. Brown for reimbursement."
Brian: .......
That's so Thalia.
"Follow me upstairs."
The store manager followed Brian all the way to the top floor. Brian stood at the door knocking and asked the person to wait.
He went in sideways first.
"Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown sent a shopping list for you to reimburse."
"Let them in."
The manager handed the list to William. "Mr. Brown, the total is $820,000."
Brian: ........ Did she buy a mine?
William wasn't surprised at all. He pulled out his card and handed it over, not showing the slightest ripple of emotion over that string of numbers.
"Thank you, Mr. Brown."
........
"William will pay for you?"
Thalia leaned back in the car playing with her hair. "Yes."
"You're that confident?"
"Of course."
Thalia sat there playing with her phone, glancing at the production crew group messages. "Should I drop you off at the store? I have to go to the set this afternoon."
"Just pull over and let me out."
Thalia didn't insist and had Isla pull over.
William had just finished signing and paying when Thalia's message came in: "Come home early tonight! There's a surprise"
William stopped his work. "What surprise?"
Thalia: "You'll know when you get home"
.......
At seven o'clock sharp, William returned to Maple Grove Villas.
As soon as he entered, he looked around but didn't see Thalia.
He asked Fallon, "Where's Mrs. Brown?"
Fallon found it strange. "Mrs. Brown hasn't come back yet."
William had a vague feeling he'd been played. He pulled out his phone and called Thalia. "Didn't you say there was a surprise? Where's the surprise?"
"You're home?" Thalia was sitting in the makeup room getting her makeup done, fanning her freshly painted nails. "The surprise is that I'm not coming home."
"I joined the production," Thalia said while shaking her head. "Work one day, rest five days—I really envy Mr. Brown!"
"You——," William's anger shot straight to his chest.
Before he could explode, Thalia hung up the phone.
She sat happily in her chair, practically bobbing her head with joy.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She looked up and saw Layla standing behind her, watching her through the mirror.
Layla held back her emotions since there were others around.
Only after they left did she practically grab Thalia's ear. "You look so happy that I'm wondering if your dad came back to life?"
Thalia: ....... "Think of something else."
If she jumped into William's trap because of the inheritance and then her dad came back to life, she'd really be beating her chest in frustration.
"Take it easy."
Layla handed her the coffee she bought. "You can only drink coffee tonight, no eating. Your face has gotten chubby."
"Being a female celebrity is really not easy!"
"Want to hear something even harder?"
"What?"
"Nora somehow pulled strings to join the production, and she's right next to you, playing your younger sister."
Thalia: ........
....
The night scene wasn't easy to shoot. The first scene Thalia had to film after joining the production was a sex scene with Gregory.
The assistant director's explanation made her blush.
"Do we have to shoot this today?"
"The director's thinking is that while you and Gregory aren't that familiar yet, filming this wedding night scene will capture that awkwardness and tension perfectly. If you get too familiar later, he's worried you'll be too relaxed."
Too relaxed?
With all those cameras in front of them, how could they relax?
Thalia nodded.
"Ms. Smith is really something, starting off with such an intense scene."
"Did you run out of trash to pick through? Is that why you're here?" Thalia shot back without mercy.
"Nora, if I were you, I wouldn't have the face to show up. Keep it down, or I'll really curse you out."
Thalia rolled her eyes. Turning around, she saw Gregory coming over with his script, his assistant following beside him.
Thalia understood immediately. "Going to rehearse?"
"Or should you finish what you're doing first?" Gregory didn't say anything—his assistant spoke up first.