Chapter 167 Gregory, Is This Prepared?
"You're with William now?" Grace was sitting on the sofa holding a cup of coffee, looking at Thalia the moment she walked in.
Thalia played dumb, blinking at Grace.
"If you're together, you're together. Don't pretend with me."
"What did you guys talk about?" Thalia changed the subject.
"About your dad - what do you think?"
Thalia thought for a moment, sat down on the sofa and touched her temple. She said it would be a lie to claim she had no feelings - after all, Hayden had been good to her, showered her with love, given her a comfortable life, and never let anyone disrespect her from childhood to now.
But now, being asked to make a choice was really putting her in a difficult position.
Thalia lowered her eyes, her long lashes casting faint shadows on her face.
Her silent appearance looked exactly like someone making a major decision.
After a long while, just when Grace thought she couldn't answer the question, her indifferent voice echoed in the corner of the room: "Do what needs to be done!"
"That's what I think too."
"These past few months, every day I've had to deal with the problems he left behind - today this illegitimate child, tomorrow that mistress, one after another showing up at the door. Only by resolving this can I have some peace and quiet."
"The inheritance and all that - that's for later. What's the point of having money if you're miserable?"
Grace had figured it out too.
"I've already called people over. Since he's gone, we'll cremate him, bury him, and get it all done tonight. No way we're giving those illegitimate children outside any chance to take advantage."
........
"What did you say? Go where?"
"Hayden's funeral."
Evelyn stood on her villa staircase in her pajamas: "Dad, are you still half asleep? What funeral?"
"Isn't Thalia's dad still alive?"
The person downstairs was tying his tie while looking at the person on the steps: "4 AM this morning. Check your phone first."
Evelyn turned and went upstairs, picked up her phone and scrolled through Thalia's Facebook, seeing she had posted an obituary.
Confirming the news of Hayden's death last night.
"No way, I asked her the day before yesterday and she said he was alive. How long has it been?"
.......
"Mr. Brown, I'm very worried about your future." Angelina walked into the office early in the morning with her tablet. Seeing the news on it, she could probably guess why the Smith family would issue an obituary overnight, then get a death certificate, arrange cremation, and all those other things in one night.
William had guessed it - Thalia wasn't someone who liked being controlled by others. The mess Hayden had created for her would affect her state of mind more the longer it dragged on: "Worried Thalia will treat me like this in the future?"
"Exactly! Look how decisive Ms. Smith is!"
"Death certificate, cremation - so decisive! Not giving anyone a chance to breathe."
William flipped through today's schedule, his tone casual: "Then she should be more merciful to me in the future."
"How so?"
"I don't have all those messy illegitimate children."
Angelina clicked her tongue: "Don't speak too soon, Mr. Brown. What man doesn't have mistresses?"
William looked up and glanced at Angelina, laughing lightly: "Comparing me to those men you've met is an insult to me, Ms. Jolie. 'Scumbag collector' is your title, not my wife's."
After William finished speaking, he tossed her a file: "The Wilson family case."
"Giving it to me again?" Angelina wasn't happy: "It's precisely because you exploit me like this that I don't have time to identify whether scumbags are actually scumbags."
"You don't want to work if you stay in the country, but you're not willing to go abroad either. What, did I bring you back to be a mascot? Just for good luck?"
Angelina: ........
At the funeral home, the Smith family's bodyguards surrounded the entire place. Hayden's secretary stood at the entrance identifying whether visitors were Hayden's friends.
Unrelated people were not allowed in.
Inside the funeral home, Luna wore a black dress and sidled up to Grace: "Grace, you're amazing!"
"Quietly getting all these big things done. No wonder among all of Hayden's women, only you could rise to the top?"
Hayden had affairs everywhere, countless women outside, but Grace was the only one among all those women he actually married. And after she rose to that position, Hayden never brought any other woman home again.
She sat firmly in the chair of Hayden's wife until Hayden died.
"I had a good teacher," Grace shot back lightly. When she married Hayden, Luna, as the ex-wife, had come to the door with cold mockery and warnings not to daydream for too long.
"So tell me, have I been dreaming long enough?"
"You—" Luna wanted to lash out.
Thalia walked over and said: "Don't get angry. The dead can't come back to life. I'll tell you where we bury him later, and you can dig up my dad's grave then. So many media watching - you wouldn't want them to dig up what happened at the dock last night, would you?"
Luna felt a breath stuck in her chest.
She knew last night's incident wasn't that simple. The authorities went to the dock to check on them for no reason, dragging it out until dawn, then just said "wait for notice" and left. It was obvious someone was messing with them.
"Was it you?"
Luna reached out to grab Thalia, but Thalia calmly dodged: "If I had that kind of power, would I let Chase give me such a hard time?"
"You think too highly of me."
"Thalia," Evelyn's voice interrupted the confrontation between Thalia and Luna.
"Ms. Bailey is here too?" Evelyn nudged her own father with her elbow. He was smart enough to start chatting with Luna.
The Smith family's funeral was quite lively.
When Thalia saw off the last group of guests, she rubbed her legs and pulled her fair feet out of her high heels, rotating them.
"Didn't bring flat shoes?"
A man's questioning voice came from below the steps, startling Thalia.
"How did you get here?"
"Aaron came, so I came along." People from the crew saw the obituary Thalia posted and contacted Layla saying they wanted to pay their respects, which was how he ended up here.
Thalia responded flatly: "I forgot."
"What size shoes do you wear?"
"7." Thalia answered without thinking much - it's not like he could make a pair of shoes appear, right?
Gregory, who should have been climbing the steps, turned and went to the nanny van behind him. When he came back down, he was carrying a pair of handmade flat shoes of some brand.
Thalia raised an eyebrow. Impressive!
"Gregory came prepared?"
Gregory bent down and placed the handmade flat shoes at her feet: "Always ready to pursue a girl."
"Scumbag, scumbag!"