Chapter 145 Business Tycoon, It Wouldn't Be Surprising to Support a Female Celebrity
"What do you call this? Acting all sweet and innocent?"
Chase, rarely seeing anyone get under Thalia's skin, was in a great mood and chimed in with agreement.
Thalia handed the phone back to Eleanor. "Didn't expect Mr. Smith, with his limited education, to know so much."
Eleanor knew these two didn't get along and wasn't about to say anything.
"Does Ms. Mitchell have that much free time? Enough to keep up with my gossip?"
"I didn't realize how famous you were until I came back to Emerald City," Eleanor was telling the truth. At lunch downstairs earlier, she'd overheard people on their phones talking about Thalia, and even in the company elevator, she'd occasionally catch her name.
"Everywhere" was the perfect word to describe her presence.
The three sat together, each lost in their own thoughts.
Thalia's slender fingers tapped absently on her glass. Eleanor studied her, her mind full of what she'd overheard in the law firm elevator that afternoon: "Is Mr. Brown really with Ms. Smith?"
"Of course, would the secretary's office spread false information?"
"But didn't Mr. Brown deny it?"
"Did Mr. Brown actually deny it?"
The Mitchell family's return to Emerald City to start a business required a solid legal team as their backbone, and in all of Emerald City, only William could provide that.
But William was the type who didn't take just any case. What was it like to approach the firm four times in a row and get rejected each time?
Eleanor had waited all afternoon in the meeting room without even catching a glimpse of William.
If Thalia really did have a relationship with William...
Could she take a different approach?
And Chase had always been at a disadvantage in his battles of wits with Thalia. If Eleanor joined in, might things take a turn?
Thalia picked up her cup and took a sip of cold coffee, a deep smile on her lips. "With Ms. Mitchell's level of awareness, I'm afraid it'll be hard for you to carve out a place in Emerald City's complex business world."
"What makes you say that?"
Thalia curved her lips. "Intuition. Don't you know? A woman's sixth sense is very accurate."
"Did you rely on your sixth sense to become the entertainment industry's innocent sweetheart?"
"Yes," Thalia admitted freely.
"Intuition, to put it bluntly, is just good luck. Not something most people can count on."
As she spoke, Thalia noticed it was getting late. William's messages kept coming in non-stop, and she was too lazy to keep making small talk with Chase and Eleanor. She picked up her bag and stood. "You two chat."
Seeing Thalia leave, Eleanor also prepared to go.
Chase called out to her: "Aren't you interested in Hayden's assets at all?"
Eleanor didn't answer Chase's question. Instead, she gave him a long, meaningful look, then turned and left.
.........
"Ask around at the firm, see if Eleanor's been trying to meet with William lately."
Thalia gave the instruction to John as soon as she got in the car.
John didn't delay, made a call, exchanged a few pleasantries, and hung up.
"The firm's security says Eleanor's been to the office three days in a row, seems like she wants to work with Mr. Brown."
Thalia's hand paused as she was opening a water bottle. "Three days in a row?"
"Yes."
Thalia casually twisted off the cap and took a sip. "Interesting."
"What about William's other businesses I asked you to look into? How's that going?"
"Can't find anything," John said with difficulty.
Plenty of people in Emerald City knew William's holdings went beyond just the law firm.
Many had tried to investigate him, but all came back empty-handed.
"I don't believe there's not a single trace."
The car drove up to the villa on Mistwood Hill.
As they went up the main road, a nanny van passed them going the opposite direction.
One going left, one going right.
"That car just now..."
"What about it?" Gregory looked up from his phone.
"That nanny van looked like Thalia's."
Gregory had been staying in Emerald City Film Studio lately for shooting. The Lopez family's business empire spanned the globe, and this villa on Mistwood Hill was their base in Emerald City, though it had been sitting empty. Since Gregory's focus this year would be in Emerald City, he'd had the Mistwood Hill villa cleaned up, which had taken some time.
"Thalia?"
"Looked like it," Luca nodded.
"No matter how capable Hayden is, he couldn't access a Mistwood Hill villa. Everyone living here has some military connections. He wouldn't even qualify to buy. You saw wrong."
Luca thought Gregory had a point and nodded.
"True, and that car was heading toward the top of Mistwood Hill. I heard the villa at the peak is the developer's private residence—some business tycoon. Wouldn't be surprising if he kept a celebrity mistress."
Gregory didn't respond, returning his attention to his phone.
He remembered what the crew had told him about that barbecue restaurant: "It's not Thalia's. We used to eat there all the time. At first it was a couple running it with their son. Then their son got leukemia and needed expensive treatment. Thalia first tried to get everyone to donate to the owner, but he wouldn't take the money. Later, Thalia went around saying it was her restaurant and telling everyone to go there, and that's how the rumor started."
"Sadly, the owner's son still died. He was only thirteen."
Luca, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at Gregory, who'd been silent the whole time. The look startled him—Gregory's finger kept hovering over Thalia's phone number.
Was he... falling for Thalia?
That couldn't be!
........
When Thalia returned to the Mistwood Hill villa, she immediately sensed something was off.
More than ten people stood in neat rows in the house, led by Fallon, all with their heads lowered, looking like they'd just been scolded.
Thalia changed her shoes and entered, her movements cautious. "What happened? Being punished?"
"Mrs. Brown."
Thalia had been about to call William by his name, but remembering that the people at William's villa were rather particular, she changed course for his sake: "Where's your Mr. Brown?"
"Mr. Brown is exercising in the yard."
"So what's going on here?"
Everyone looked at Thalia with somewhat blank stares, none daring to speak.
Seeing no one would talk, Thalia lost patience. "Everyone, go!"
"......."
No one moved?
What did that mean?
Thalia was trying to figure out why when she heard sounds at the villa entrance.
She turned abruptly to see William coming in.
She hunched her shoulders and walked behind William, tugging at the hem of his t-shirt, asking cautiously: "What happened to them?"
William's eyes turned cold as he glanced at Fallon. "Go."
"Yes..."
The group responded respectfully, then turned and left in unison.
Thalia: ........ Bullying people?
"You..."
Before Thalia could finish her question, William's voice came out, laced with anger: "Eight twenty-five, Mrs. Brown. You sure are busy."