Chapter 209 Joking with Me in the Kitchen?
Thalia shuffled in her slippers toward the kitchen. As she reached the doorway, she saw William cooking in an expensive white shirt.
His watch worth millions of dollars was casually unfastened and placed on the stovetop nearby.
The bright kitchen lights outlined William's silhouette and bone structure, highlighting his natural commanding presence. William, in his teens, had been spirited and radiant, like the male lead in a romance novel that people would fall for at first sight.
Now in his twenties, a decade had passed. Time had taken away his youthful spirit, transforming his radiance into steady aloofness - the campus novel male lead had become the domineering CEO type.
Sometimes Thalia wondered how someone like her, who didn't believe in love, ended up with a clean-cut man like William.
William sensed Thalia's gaze and slowly turned around to see her leaning against the kitchen doorway with her arms crossed. "What are you thinking about?"
"Thinking about how lucky I am to find a man like Mr. Brown with such a good body, good stamina, and good arm strength." He lifted that huge pot so easily.
"Talking dirty to me in the kitchen - do you want to have sex here?"
The atmosphere grew suggestive. Thalia awkwardly rubbed her nose, straightened up, and walked over to William's side, glancing at what was in the pot. "Pasta?"
"Yes."
"Why did you suddenly want this?"
"Just felt like it. Went to Fusion Feast this afternoon to buy pasta, but it had closed down, so I came back and made it myself."
Thalia looked at William with some restraint. "That's the restaurant from our first date?"
William glanced at her, somewhat surprised that Thalia remembered. "Nice of you to remember."
"But I remember that place wasn't good!"
"It's not the taste I miss."
"Then what do you miss..." Thalia stopped asking, already vaguely knowing the answer.
The location of their first date - if the food wasn't good, then what he missed was the person.
She wanted to leave, but William casually turned off the stove and trapped her against the counter, asking in a low voice, "Why did you stop asking?"
"I know the answer, so naturally I don't want to ask."
"Then tell me, what's the answer?"
"Mr. Brown, don't tell me you love me?" Thalia was straightforward, saying whatever came to mind. William's nostalgic look was quite surprising.
"What if I do?"
Thalia reached out to put her arms around his neck, but suddenly noticed an oil stain on his collar and touched it. "Then you better be prepared to have your money and love stolen."
"That cruel?" William looked into her eyes, trying to see through her intentions.
"Yes, I'm a heartbreaker!"
William chuckled softly, pressed her shoulders, and pulled her into his arms. "Thalia, remember what you said."
Just as Thalia was about to say something, William pressed her waist and turned her around to face the stove, putting the spatula in her hand. "No free rides, get to work."
Thalia didn't make a fuss and scooped the pasta from the pot onto a plate. Though clumsy, she managed it.
"Try it."
Thalia looked at the pasta on the plate, somewhat afraid to eat.
"Afraid I poisoned it?"
"A little. Why don't you take a bite first?"
William laughed at her response. "Making me test for poison - you must have done good deeds in your past life."
Thalia said nothing, only daring to eat after William had taken a few bites.
Soon, the bowl of pasta was finished. It tasted excellent, meeting the standards of someone as picky as Thalia.
She felt somewhat unsatisfied after finishing.
She propped her chin up and looked at William. "Did you learn how to cook?"
"No."
"You're too good?"
William pulled over a napkin and wiped his mouth, his tone casual. "Which aspect is Mrs. Brown referring to?"
"When a man isn't good at something, he hopes people will praise him for that thing. Which aspect does Mr. Brown hope I'm referring to?" Thalia leisurely threw the topic back at him.
William chuckled, placed the napkin on the table, glanced at Fallon, who understood and came over to clear the table, instructing the servants to pour water for them both.
William took his glass and headed to the living room, with Thalia following closely. "When are you planning to wrap up Walter's situation?"
"As soon as the Wood family's funds arrive."
"They went to raise funds?" Thalia was surprised.
"The Lewis family." Wesley and Jasper had initially planned to team up and swallow the Smith family's business, but the Smith family's foundation was too strong for ordinary people to take down unless they had capital backing.
They tried to climb William's tree but failed. Now they were waiting to be played.
"You want to deal with both families together?"
"Don't you?" William took a sip of water and pointed to the spot next to him, signaling Thalia to come over.
"Haven't thought about it, but I don't want to see Walter appear in front of me again."
"Don't you want to be a capitalist? Capitalists don't trap themselves in matters of love."
William finished the water in his glass and handed it to Fallon behind him, waving her away. "Once the Lewis family's funds transfer to the Wood family, there's no getting them back. When the Lewis family runs out of cash flow, they'll come begging to me. Then Scarlett, Emma, Walter - won't they all become your subjects?"
Thalia thought about how no one could match William when it came to scheming and plotting.
William had the Wood family and the Lewis family played to death with a wave of his hand.
Those two old foxes meeting William in this lifetime must be because they did good deeds in their past lives.
"Mr. Brown is impressive."
"Planning for my wife is what I should do."
Thalia scoffed. "Don't - who knows what you're really plotting!"
"Mrs. Brown, your phone is ringing."
Fallon came over with her bag. Thalia dug out her phone from under a pile of random items. When she pulled it out, the phone case had some blush on it. She casually took off the case and handed it to William.
"What's wrong?"
"Is William next to you?"
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Hold on."
Thalia walked away with her phone. "Go ahead."
"I saw Aria with Finn."
Thalia's features scrunched together. Evelyn looked at the people on the street. "Don't you think it's strange too? If William took on Angelina's case against Walter, shouldn't it be an employee or something with her, not Finn!"
"Take a video and let me see."
After Thalia said this, she hung up.
Aria's live-streamed plea for help about domestic violence had caused quite a stir. People online had even dug up information about her, but fortunately Layla could control the narrative. What was dug up was all positive news, praising her for being clear-headed and having good judgment about men.
In less than a week, opening any social media platform, the trending topic was always domestic violence.