Chapter 373 Revenge
If Michael knew Thalia and still came after him, wouldn't that mean he was playing both sides?
Chase looked at Michael, his face dark as thunder.
He stared at him with obvious displeasure.
Michael swirled his wine glass, seeming unsure of what to say.
In this whole situation, the person he initially wanted to cozy up to was Thalia, not Chase. Since he couldn't get Thalia's attention, he settled for Chase as second best. What he didn't expect was Thalia showing up out of nowhere. At this point, if Michael told Chase he didn't know Thalia, it would be a slap in Thalia's face.
But if he admitted knowing her, he'd lose his chance with Chase.
This just showed how calculating Thalia was.
She didn't need to do anything - just a few simple pleasantries, and she had Chase on guard against her.
Chase wasn't as smart as Thalia, but he wasn't stupid either!
His relationship with Thalia was already on thin ice. For her to suddenly appear and make small talk - if that wasn't deliberate, who would believe it?
"Mr. Jimenez, do you know Thalia?"
As Chase's question rang out, Thalia rested her chin in her hand, blinking innocently at Michael, looking like she was enjoying the show.
"Well? Do you?"
"Chase, aren't you being a bit unreasonable? He clearly doesn't want to answer, so why keep pushing?"
Chase's face darkened as he stared at Thalia for a long moment without saying anything.
"He hasn't said anything, yet you're so eager to speak up for him." Chase leaned back, his smile not reaching his eyes. "Thalia, you wouldn't be trying to take advantage of him, would you?"
Thalia looked like she'd heard a joke. She took a sip of her drink and said nothing.
After a moment, she explained, "If you can't find a real reason, don't make one up! Me taking advantage of him? No matter who I take advantage of in this life, it's their good fortune."
Chase's face went pale. Michael found Thalia's deadpan tone both amusing and awkward, holding back laughter as he raised his glass and took a big gulp.
"Mr. Jimenez, you're trying so hard to hold it in - careful you don't hurt yourself."
Once Chase left, Thalia's eerie tone came out.
"Sorry you had to see that."
"Indeed. Everyone in Emerald City knows Chase is useless and avoids him like the plague. Only you're throwing yourself at him. Doing things so obviously - aren't you afraid of karma?"
"When you're out of options, you have to try something," Michael said.
Try something?
Michael's methods were quite interesting indeed.
"Michael, be careful - overconfidence leads to carelessness, and that can backfire on you."
Seeing Chase had left, Thalia had no interest in continuing the conversation. She set her glass on the bar.
She stood up and looked at Michael. "Everyone in Emerald City knows I'm not easy to deal with. Don't push it too far."
"Ms. Smith, are you going to kill me?"
"Kill you?" Thalia laughed at that. "So in Michael's eyes, that's all I'm capable of?"
Michael watched Thalia leave. As he looked at her carefree figure walking away, he could almost still smell the scent of her shampoo.
It wasn't a scent ordinary people could afford - more like a custom-made fragrance.
For a moment, Michael felt confused. Why did all the good things in this world belong to William?
He had left the cutthroat environment of the Jimenez family, escaped that cage, grew up in a peaceful and enviable environment, and even had someone like Thalia. Why him?
"You're just leaving? Nothing even happened."
"What did you want to happen?" In the elevator, Evelyn looked at Thalia with disappointment.
"At least you could have given him a good telling-off!"
"Yelling at people every day - isn't that exhausting?"
Evelyn clicked her tongue. "What's exhausting about it? You're young and always complaining about being tired - just have less sex at night!"
Everyone knew Thalia had a strong sex drive. If she'd found some ugly guy it would be one thing, but she'd found William. With a two-year marriage term, she had to make the most of those two years, right? She'd only let him go once she'd had her fill. Otherwise, when the two years were up, and he was gone, having gotten nothing out of it, wouldn't she be furious?
Evelyn had known her for so many years and understood Thalia completely.
"Can't you keep your mind out of the gutter?"
"We're leaving already?" Evelyn asked.
"It's late - what would I stick around for?"
"Don't forget you used to stay at places like this all night."
"That was before." As Thalia spoke, she got into the car. Evelyn followed her in.
As soon as she got in, Finn glanced at her. "Everything's arranged."
"Just wait."
Before long, Michael came out, looking down at his phone, apparently about to message someone to pick him up.
But before he could send the message, someone grabbed him, pulled a black hood over his head, dragged him into a nearby alley, and gave him a beating.
"What did I tell you? Just letting it go isn't your style."
"Alright, show's over. You can get out now. I need to go home and find my man."
William was still waiting for her in bed! She couldn't waste this opportunity.
In the alley, after taking his beating, Michael realized his attackers had left. He pulled off the hood and looked around in shock - no one there.
He raised his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, then sat down against the wall.
Thinking about what Thalia had said, he suddenly laughed.
He'd just been wondering - would a woman really get dressed up and put on makeup just to go out for something minor?
Had she come just to warn him?
Clearly, he'd been overthinking it. Thalia was exactly what people in Emerald City said - someone who always got revenge.