Chapter 435 Make Love First or Eat First
"Mrs. Brown, you're back!" Fallon was thrilled to see Thalia. She always felt the house only came alive when Thalia was home.
Usually, it was so cold and empty, without any warmth or life to it.
Thalia hummed in acknowledgment. "Where's William?"
"Mr. Brown..." Fallon hesitated. "He hasn't come back."
Fallon had wanted to ask if they weren't together, but after thinking it over, she figured that might cause trouble between the couple, so she stopped herself.
Thalia had grown up watching her parents' marriage - she knew that when servants hesitated and gave evasive answers, it was usually to cover up for someone.
"He hasn't been home at all while I was away?"
Fallon didn't dare make a sound; her eyes lowered as she looked at Thalia. Thalia was so sharp - any explanation would just sound weak.
William was on the phone with Thalia when Steven was in the meeting room at the Celestia Group.
The two were at a standoff when the phone rang. Seeing it was Thalia, he hung up and sent a text: [Wait a sec.]
Thalia: [What are you doing?]
William opened WhatsApp and sent his location.
With a note: [Don't overthink it, I'm at the office.]
Then he opened the camera and took a photo of the person across from him, showing a corner of Steven's clothing.
Thalia saw how he was reporting his whereabouts but couldn't help but smile.
Seeing no reply, William felt reassured and put his phone down beside him.
Before he could speak, Steven said, "I don't know who your biological father is. Your mother and I didn't have a good relationship back then - she never confided in me about anything. In her eyes, I was just a sinner."
William cut him off. "I don't want to hear your excuses."
"You want me to return to the Jimenez family? Fine. Give me half of the hotel chain Eileen has."
"The hotel chain isn't worth that much - you make more than that with a flick of your finger."
"Whether I care about it or not is my business. Whether you have sincerity is yours, Mr. Jimenez. Do I need to spell it out? Either you bring me into your camp, or I stand against you. If I'm not mistaken, plenty of people in Regal City want to bring you down, right? The Jimenez family went through all that trouble to get Sean to where he is now - you wouldn't want someone watching and waiting to pull him down, would you?"
The man leaned forward, picked up his glass for a sip of water, his eyes full of warning as he looked up. "Messing with me comes with a price."
...
"What does he want? My hotels? As if he deserves them!" Eileen snapped.
Back when the Jimenez family was thriving, money was never an issue.
But things had changed over the years - the whole family's expenses now depended on her hotel chain.
If she gave William half the hotels, wouldn't that be cutting off half of the Jimenez family's lifeline?
"Don't you realize what the hotels mean to us? If we give them to him, what will we use to keep things running?"
Steven sighed. "If we're not willing to give up something, it's hard to gain bigger benefits. If we don't change our situation, we'll always be controlled by others."
Sean sat to the side, head down, thinking. "Grandma, if he wants it, give it to him!"
"But whether we give him the profitable hotels or the ones about to lose money - that's up to us. William has always been capable - maybe this will be our opportunity."
"Sean's right."
William's wealth was beyond counting - he didn't really care about what they had. But if he asked for it, they had to give it.
Eileen still felt uneasy but stopped insisting. "I hope he can help us break through this."
When William got home, Thalia was sitting on the couch watching entertainment news.
The news was showing footage from the fire that day.
The man walked in, and before he could say anything, the ragdoll cat charged at him like a maniac, meowing and pawing at William's leg.
"Poor thing, your dad abandoned you."
"Don't talk nonsense." William scoffed lightly, bending down to pick up the cat and comfort it. He stroked its fur while heading to the bathroom, apparently to wash his hands.
Thalia glanced at him and clicked her tongue, her tone cool and sharp. "Some people haven't seen me for a week, and when they get home, the first thing they do isn't hug me, but hug the cat. Now I get it - I rank lower than the cat."
William stopped in his tracks, let go of the cat, and walked toward Thalia. Seeing this, Fallon waved her hand, signaling the servants to leave.
As William approached Thalia, she clearly saw the desire burning in his eyes.
The wild hormones overwhelmed her, making her unable to move, instantly making her want to flee.
She stood up from the couch, trying to escape over the other side.
"I was just saying, you don't have to specifically... mmph."
William pulled Thalia back down. Their positions shifted, and she ended up sitting on his lap like riding a horse. William's kisses came down like a storm, leaving Thalia breathless. Instinctively, she wanted to escape.
She pushed at him with her hands. She almost pushed both William and herself off, but luckily, William was quick and caught her by the hips, bouncing her back.
"Weren't you being all tough just now?"
"I wasn't."
"Then I must have heard wrong," William said with suppressed amusement, nodding at Thalia.
"Since we're already at this point, do you want to make love first or eat first? Pick one."
"Wait," Thalia put her hand over his lips. "I haven't been home for a week, you haven't been home for a week - don't you think you should explain your schedule?"
"I was at the office."
"Eating and sleeping?"
"Also at the office."
"Proof?"
"Brian and the company executives can all testify."
Thalia said nothing.
"If you don't believe me, I can pull up the security footage for you." William said while caressing her waist.
Thalia replied, "I'll reluctantly believe you. Let's eat first."
"No rush, I need to discuss something with you."
When William used the word "discuss," Thalia had a vague feeling that something was off. "Discuss?"
"Yeah, discuss," the man nodded. "I make the small decisions for myself, but I need to listen to you for the big decisions."
Thalia raised her delicate eyebrows. "So how big of a thing is this?"
"Eileen told me Vaughn isn't my real dad."
Thalia was shocked, and swallowed hard when she turned to look at William. "What? Really?"