Chapter 230 Cleaning Up Lumira
William slowly stood up, looking down at Lumira who was half-sprawled on the ground. "Five minutes, Lumira. If you're not gone by then, I guarantee everyone online will know about these two things."
"William, you'll die a horrible death."
"Don't worry, you'll definitely go first."
"No respect for the elderly - just wait till you're old yourself," Lumira propped herself up, sitting on the ground and shouting at William.
William ignored her ranting, raised his wrist to check the time: "Four minutes."
"You monster, absolute monster."
Lumira struggled to get up from the ground. Not a single onlooker reached out to help her.
Lumira was old now, inevitably unsteady, while William stood there like an outsider, watching her struggle.
As Lumira struggled, he parted his thin lips to announce the countdown.
Lumira left, the crowd dispersed. Everyone was so shocked by what just happened they couldn't react for a long time.
"Mr. Brown really has an iron fist."
"Should we be kind to that shameless old lady?"
"Aren't you worried about media exposure?"
"Even if it gets exposed, this is just an old person acting entitled. Bad people get old too!"
The surrounding conversations gradually faded. Near noon, after a meal, the drama ended.
On the weekend, Thalia's scenes were almost done. To help Gregory meet his deadline, Aaron gave her time off.
For once, Thalia thought of Grace. The first thing she did after returning from the set to the city was visit the Smith Group.
The Smith Group had new leadership. Grace wanted to clean house - from the reception desk to the board, she replaced everyone she could, except for a few trusted people.
So when Thalia arrived at the company, she was stopped at the entrance.
"Come down and get me, I'm downstairs."
"Finally have time? Finally remembered your own mother?" Grace would tease Thalia while having her secretary go down to get her.
When the secretary met Thalia, she made sure to tell the reception desk, describing Thalia as the boss's daughter.
Within half an hour, news that the boss's daughter was a celebrity spread throughout the company.
"Grace, you're looking younger and younger."
"Shows that when you're not around annoying me, I really can live to a hundred." Today Grace wore a red suit with a black shirt underneath. Her formerly gentle long hair had been cut short into a crisp, sharp style.
Grace's whole demeanor was completely different from before.
"Weren't you supposed to find me a stepdad right after my dad died? How come you're playing the career woman now?"
Grace looked up at her: "It's all so you can have a good life later."
"For me?"
"What else?"
"If you hadn't come to the company, you wouldn't know - before your dad died, he subsidized Chase so much he almost gave away the entire company. If I don't step in, even if you get your inheritance, it'll just be a fixed amount."
Grace regretted it. If she'd known Hayden would die so early, she shouldn't have raised Thalia to please men. She should have raised her to be a strong woman, to fight idiots like Chase, instead of having to clean up the company's mess herself now.
The suffering the child doesn't go through, the mother has to bear.
"A fixed amount would still be enough for us to live on forever."
Grace was about to say something, but hearing this, she was speechless: "Which lifetime are we talking about?"
Thalia: ........
"How are things going with William?"
"What do you mean? Don't talk nonsense."
"You're pretending with your own mother? You think I don't know you two got married?"
"How did you know?"
Grace opened a drawer, put something on the desk. Thalia reached over and grabbed it - an invitation signed by Harper.
"I ran into William's stepmother at the beauty salon a few days ago. She was so enthusiastic when she saw me, I thought she wanted my kidney. Turns out you've already met his family?"
"William paid me," Thalia rushed to explain.
"How much?"
"A lot."
"How much is a lot?"
"Two billion dollars."
Grace finally gave Thalia her full attention: "How much did you say?"
Thalia spoke clearly: "Two billion dollars."
"Go ask if William only has one mom. We could use a few more moms like that."
Thalia: ............
Grace used to be a career woman too. After getting trapped in marriage, plus Hayden being generous with money, she simply retired to be a wealthy housewife.
Grace was a top university graduate after all. Though she'd been out of business these years, she hadn't completely checked out. She'd traveled everywhere with Hayden - the connections were one thing, and she'd learned plenty from watching his methods.
Thalia waited for Grace to get off work. They were planning to have dinner together for the first time in a while.
They'd just entered the parking garage when a yellow Ferrari stopped in front of them.
Chase got out. He'd come for Grace, but didn't expect Thalia to be there too.
"Limited edition Ferrari, nice. Mr. Smith, your dad dies and suddenly you're rich. Were you just waiting to cash in on the inheritance to buy a car?"
"Thalia, after all this time in entertainment, how is your mouth still so foul?"
"Probably because I'm looking at shit!"
"You think just because you sent Walter to prison you're hot stuff? Don't you know what the whole Emerald City elite circle is saying about you? Thalia, maybe stop acting and come back to hear all the gossip about yourself."
Thalia didn't care what the wealthy circle said. She'd stopped caring about their gossip long ago. Only idiots like Chase cared.
"Is that what you came to say? Are you done?"
"I came to see your mom."
"Fine," Thalia replied lazily, then looked at Grace. "Do you want to talk to this moron?"
Grace couldn't be bothered with him and walked straight past the yellow Ferrari toward Thalia's van.
Chase couldn't let this opportunity slip away. Several senior executives at the company who used to be familiar with him had been demoted by Grace under various excuses and scattered to different cities. Now at the Smith Group, he couldn't even get a word in, let alone have any informants.
His freight company had only survived all these years because Hayden sent business his way. Now that leadership had changed, his dock was about to go under.
"Grace, we're all family. Even though my dad's gone, Thalia and I are still blood relatives. If you're unhappy with me, just say it directly. There's no need to be so ruthless, is there?"