Chapter 249 So You Think I'm Poor?
"William, you're inhuman."
In the courtyard, Cruz was stripped naked and hung from a tree. Cruz's lips were sealed tight. Finn had tried every method to break him, but Cruz wouldn't talk. They beat Cruz until his skin was torn and flesh exposed.
The whole scene was extremely bloody.
Thalia took one look and couldn't help but cover her throat, retching as she rushed out. She squatted by the bushes next to the courtyard, dry heaving. Meanwhile, William just shrugged indifferently: "You're the one who wanted to see."
"You could have just told me it was bloody and told me not to go."
"You've always been extremely curious since childhood. I learned that a long time ago. If I didn't let you go, you'd just keep thinking about it, guessing, and then doubting me."
Wasn't that exactly how it was when Thalia was chasing after him?
She wanted to go home with him, and despite all obstacles, she even resorted to following him.
Even when he told Thalia his family was ordinary, that they lived in a run-down old apartment complex—he practically told her everything except that his mom abandoned him and his dad right after he was born—Thalia still didn't believe it. And not believing wasn't enough; she became even more curious about him.
Late at night, she followed him into the family housing area of Westbridge University.
Thalia had always lived in villas. When she first saw the run-down complex where even the kitchen was shared, she was so shocked she couldn't process it for a long time. She stood dumbly in the middle of the path, blocking a neighbor's way and getting yelled at.
He only turned around when he heard the commotion and saw her standing there like a fool.
Thalia held her waist and reached out to William, who very sensibly helped her up.
"Why do you hold grudges like this?"
"Of course I do. I've been holding onto this grudge for over ten years, and now that I've finally run into the person responsible, shouldn't I get my revenge?"
"So petty. Watch out—your son will be just as petty as you."
Thalia glared at him. William couldn't help but laugh: "Doesn't matter. My son is also your son. If my son is petty, your son is petty too."
Thalia's face flushed: "Who said I'm having a son for you?"
"Who knows!"
Under the night sky, green ghostly light flickered through the forest on Mistwood Hill. Thalia and William walked along the cobblestone path toward the villa, with Thalia shaking her legs as she walked to ward off mosquitoes.
Meanwhile, William's dress pants were wrapped tightly around his legs, giving mosquitoes no chance to bite him.
As soon as Thalia entered the house, before even taking off her shoes, she bent down and started scratching her legs.
"Don't scratch. You'll scar."
"It itches."
"Fallon."
"Coming, Mr. Brown."
You had to hand it to the servants here—they were all very smart. Often before William even finished speaking, Fallon had already brought what was needed.
Thalia collapsed on the sofa, letting William apply medicine to her legs.
She looked up at William's profile in the light—his deep-set eyes, his high nose bridge, and below that, lips that were neither thick nor thin.
They say men with thin lips are heartless, but William's lips were just the right thickness, right in between.
"I used to think that if I could get you, with our looks combined, we'd definitely have a kid who'd be the next princess of Emerald City."
William kept his head down applying medicine, responding to Thalia's words: "Then why did you dump me? Didn't want your kid to be Emerald City's princess?"
"Later I figured it out. My status as Emerald City's princess isn't because I'm good-looking—most of it is because my dad is rich and bought it for me."
William patted her calf: "Bend your leg."
Thalia changed position. He continued applying medicine, still calm: "So you thought I was poor?"
"Pretty much!"
"But if I'd known you had potential, I never would have dumped you."
"When you found out later that I'd made it big, did you regret it?"
Thalia lazily leaned back against the sofa and shook her head: "Not really. Regret is a feeling only poor people have."
William chuckled softly. He really did understand Thalia. It was precisely because he knew her personality so well that he went after the Smith family. If the Smith family didn't fall, how would he have a chance to get Thalia?
"What are you laughing at?"
"Laughing at your honesty."
"What's there for me to lie about?" Thalia had Hayden for the first half of her life, now she had William, and even if she and William divorced in a couple years, she'd still get a hefty settlement. Her life was pretty comfortable!
"Go eat something."
William washed his hands and came out to see Thalia sitting in the dining room with a bowl of bird's nest soup, sipping it absentmindedly.
"Your phone rang. It's Daniel calling."
William followed Thalia's gaze and picked up his phone. Looking at the missed call, sure enough...
"What's wrong?"
"You had someone watching your dad, and sure enough, I saw people from the Jimenez family. They just left your dad's office and are heading to Azure Palace Hotel now."
William acknowledged this, then turned to look at Thalia. Seeing her scrolling through her phone while drinking her soup, he walked a bit further away with his phone: "Do you know what they talked about?"
"No idea. The Jimenez family brought some people too, and your dad knows us too well, so we didn't dare get too close."
"Got it."
"Why don't you just ask him?"
"My dad won't tell me."
Daniel thought about it—that made sense: "Your dad never wants to cause you trouble. If he can handle this himself, he definitely will."
"Thalia's famous again. Have you seen the news? Everyone's investigating her."
"Evelyn came to my place for drinks tonight and said some things about Rainey. Said Rainey wanted to meet with Thalia but couldn't, so Rainey went to Evelyn's dad."
"Got it." William said a few more words and hung up.
William walked to the dining room and looked at Thalia: "Has Rainey been looking for you recently?"
"No, he went to Evelyn's dad." She roughly explained what happened.
William's brow furrowed slightly: "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Probably because he hasn't caused me any trouble yet? If there's trouble, I'll definitely tell you."
Thalia realized something was off: "What's wrong? What did Daniel tell you?"
"Nothing much. Just said Evelyn was drinking at his place and they chatted a bit."
"Then why are you looking at me like I did something wrong?"
After Thalia finished her shower, William had just finished using the bathroom in the guest room next door. Since marrying Thalia, he no longer had any space in the master bedroom's bathroom.
"Mr. Brown, I finished filming. Can I borrow your private jet?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"I want to go shopping in Zephyria."
"I'm going there on a business trip next week. I can take you."
"You said it—no taking it back."
William pulled back the covers and got into bed, casually picking up the iPad from the nightstand. He opened social media to check news about Thalia. As soon as he opened it, he was hit with a flood of hit pieces about Thalia—all kinds of exposés about her and unflattering photos everywhere: "Did you offend someone?"
Thalia applied skincare to her face while speaking nonchalantly: "That's just how the entertainment industry is! If you're not famous, maybe nobody bothers you, but once you're famous, plenty of people will try to bring you down."