Chapter 380 What Do You Intend to Do by Sneaking into My Room?
"Thalia, perfect timing. Tell me, what's with those scratch marks on William's neck?" Harper asked.
William had been lectured by Vaughn for half an hour, getting his ear pulled the whole time.
No matter how decisive and ruthless he was in business, today he was just a poor soul getting worn down.
Vaughn had been a teacher in his early years, then a dean, and later a professor and mentor. No matter which role, his ability to discipline people hadn't diminished one bit.
Daniel and the others had been afraid of coming to the Brown Mansion since childhood, scared of being lectured by Vaughn. That showed his authority.
When William heard Harper's question, his eyes fell on Thalia, expecting her to clear his name.
But unexpectedly, Thalia just sat there, head lowered, silent, her loose hair covering half her face, looking all wronged.
William was speechless.
If he wasn't mistaken, Thalia was setting him up.
"William..." Harper's anger flared up instantly.
Vaughn's face looked even grimmer. He stared at William and snapped, "Come upstairs with me."
William thought, 'Thalia, you just wait!'
Setting him up? This marriage ends here.
"I'm going to the bathroom," Thalia said.
"Okay, I'll have the kitchen prepare some dishes you like."
Harper glanced at Amara, signaling her to be sensible.
Amara nodded repeatedly, looking at Thalia with admiration.
"Impressive. You and William are evenly matched."
At the bathroom door, Amara stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, watching Thalia. She saw her pull out a tissue to wipe off her lipstick and touch up with powder, creating a visually fragile, innocent look like a pitiful starlet.
"Aren't you afraid William will make you pay for this later when you get home?"
"Of course I'm scared, so I'm not done with my act yet."
Amara's eyes lit up. So there was more drama to watch? The show wasn't over?
She had to help Thalia finish the performance properly.
"My dad's really harsh when he scolds people. Want to listen?"
"Can we?" Thalia's eyes brightened. She'd never seen William get scolded before!
William had always been a good student in school, and after they met as adults, he was already his own boss with no one daring to scold him.
"Sure, come on." Amara motioned for Thalia to follow.
The two sneaked upstairs. Before they even got close to the study, Vaughn's voice came through the slightly open door. "William, Thalia is the one you chose to marry. Harper and I didn't even have time to voice any objections before you made it happen. Since you married her, you need to take responsibility."
"I never asked you to be extremely wealthy or hold a high position, but at the very least, you should be someone who's self-disciplined and restrained, who knows what's important and what's not in this world. If I had acted like you do now, do you think you'd even exist?"
"You should think about this—when Amara gets married someday, if her husband treats her this way, how would you feel as her family?"
Thalia listened at the door. Vaughn didn't use a single curse word the whole time, yet he was pulling William's ear and lecturing him.
This kind of putting yourself in someone else's shoes was more effective than cursing.
"I understand."
At a time like this, explaining would just be making excuses. William knew his current situation wasn't suitable for saying much. Admitting his mistake was his only way out.
Vaughn looked at William, momentarily at a loss for words. He'd watched William grow up and knew what kind of person he was. Hearing him not deny it left him unsure what to say. "So you really did this?"
William replied, "No."
"Then why didn't you deny it?"
"Even if I denied it, no one would believe me."
"Ms. Anderson," a servant's voice suddenly came from the doorway. William frowned, turned, and pulled open the half-open door. He immediately spotted Thalia frantically pushing open a door to hide inside.
Amara was scared and shrank back at the stairway, quietly watching William, not daring to make a sound.
Thalia had just hidden in the room and hadn't yet calmed down when the door behind her was pushed open.
Hearing the sound, she instinctively wanted to rush into the bathroom.
But someone grabbed the back of her neck.
"What are you hiding from?"
"I'm not hiding! Stop making things up. I came in to find the bathroom."
"Really? Looking for the bathroom, and you ended up in my room?"
"Your... your room?"
Thalia turned to look at William, but before her eyes could focus, William grabbed her shoulder with one hand and pushed her against the wall.
He looked down at her, their foreheads almost touching.
"Yeah, so what did you want to do, sneaking into my room?"
Thalia kept making excuses. "Looking... looking for the bathroom."
"Your tongue's all twisted? That desperate to pee?"
Thalia was speechless.
William's room wasn't even half the size of their master bedroom at Mistwood Hill. There was just a big bed, a desk by the floor-to-ceiling window next to it, and a cabinet across from the bed with some books William usually read. The whole room was spotlessly clean, clearly cleaned daily, and even the windows were open for fresh air.
Thalia was about to struggle free when the man swept his hand across, knocking the books off the cabinet, then grabbed Thalia's waist and sat her on top of it.
Thalia jumped in fright and immediately wrapped her arms tightly around William's neck.
"Let go," William snapped.
Thalia refused. "No."
"I said, let go."
"No, if I let go you'll bully me."
William laughed in exasperation at Thalia's shameless words. So she could bully him, but he couldn't bully her back?
"When you were bullying me, didn't you think I'd get you back?"
"That was me giving you love."
William smiled. "You sure what you're giving me is love and not grief? Letting go or not?"
Thalia added, "Not letting go."
So William held Thalia's bottom with one hand and carried her to the door. Just as he was about to open it, Thalia slapped her hand over it.
"What are you trying to do?"