Chapter 442 Mr. Brown Has a Second Rumored Affair
"Let me tell you something."
"Go ahead," William said as he entered his office, just as Angelina came in, holding her phone—she had apparently just finished a call.
"Zephyr just called me," she said. "He said Selene graduated from the University of Political Science and Law and is looking for a place to intern."
William frowned. "Then just help her find some random law firm in Emerald City."
"You really think that if she wanted just any random law firm, she'd be calling me?"
Angelina leaned against the doorway, watching him. Seeing William's expression darken slightly, she continued, "When someone hands you a favor on a silver platter…
you'd be stupid not to take it. Sure, Selene's interested in you, but you're married—what are you afraid of?
"Worst case, we bring her in and stick her on the 10th floor. If she wants to come up here, it’ll be like climbing to heaven."
She won't have a chance to run into you."
"This is business! No matter how high up you are, you have to maintain connections. Some favors aren’t worth the trouble, but some you shouldn’t turn down either."
"And Zephyr falls into the latter category. The charity association thing—it’s not super important, but it’s not nothing either."
When it comes to tax deductions, they still need to go through them.
"If you’re worried Ms. Smith will get the wrong idea, I can go explain it to her."
"Wait—are you worried Thalia will get the wrong idea?"William asked after hearing Angelina's words. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you’re not worried? Then I won’t bother explaining."
With that, Angelina turned to leave. William snapped, "Stop."
"You handle it. Make it clear, and don’t let her come home and argue with me about it."
Angelina nodded. As soon as she turned around, she started muttering under her breath.
Regular people worry every day about having enough to eat. William worries every day about keeping his wife from getting angry.
…………
“What are you looking at?” Layla asked when she came to visit Thalia on set, finding her fiddling with her phone.
Thalia closed her phone and glanced at her. "Just reading messages."
"Whose messages could make you look so worried?"
"Where do I look worried?"
Layla didn’t argue with Thalia. She grabbed a mirror from the nearby makeup table and handed it to her. "See for yourself."
"You’ve scrunched up your face so much that the foundation’s showing creases. Botox is expensive, you know."
Thalia was speechless.
"Man trouble?" Layla asked, seeing right through her. Besides William, she couldn’t think of anyone else who could make Thalia look so worried.
"What man could make me worried? Don’t talk nonsense."
Layla’s lips curved into a smile. "What? Does Mr. Brown have a second scandal partner now?"
Thalia’s heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
"The first scandal partner is you," Layla said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
She glanced at John, who understood and walked to the door to make sure no one suddenly entered while they were talking about William.
"How am I a scandal girlfriend? I'm his legally recognized wife, okay?"
Layla pulled out her water bottle from her bag, took a sip, and clicked her tongue. "Yes, yes, yes."
"Are you upset about some homewrecker out there?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"But I heard the charity association president sent his daughter to intern at the Celestia Group. Having a good dad really makes a difference, huh?"
How many women in Emerald City have their eyes on William? And how many of them even get to see him once—which would be pretty impressive?
But Selene was sent directly to the Celestia Group by her father.
"Your dad’s position determines your kid’s opportunities at critical moments. Look at Selene—impressive."
Thalia caught on. She paused. "This was sarcasm, wasn't it?"
"So?" Layla had been waiting for her to speak. She set her water bottle on the floor and looked at Thalia seriously.
"So you see, with Mr. Brown's position, there are plenty of women eyeing him. Whether they're from wealthy families or regular folks,
"He'll never lack for female attention. And you, for all that you're his legal wife, don't have many advantages at all."
"What’s the biggest realization for modern women? That focusing on your career beats focusing on men."
Thalia nodded. Got it.
She must have arranged something for her that she didn’t want. No choice—since she couldn’t find a better reason to convince her, she came up with this approach.
"Spit it out! What did you schedule for me without my permission?"
"That’s harsh. Am I really the kind of person who schedules things without your permission?"
We've known each other for so many years, I've been your agent for so long—don't you trust me at all?"
Thalia looked at Layla, not bothering to hide the skepticism in her eyes.
"Not going to say? Fine—I don’t want to hear it anyway."
With that, she started to get up and leave. Layla pressed her back down.
"Wait—I accepted a period drama adapted from a novel for you."
"I haven’t even finished filming this drama, and you’ve already accepted the next one?"
"Are you not giving me any rest at all?"
Layla knew Thalia would say this. She touched her nose. "This is a rare, really good script."
"Trust me, it’s not like there’s no rest time. Theoretically, after this drama wraps, you’ll have a week to rest before joining the next production."
"Does that week include promotional activities for this drama?"
Layla didn’t answer—she just grinned. Thalia knew her too well.
"It really is a rare, good script. Most importantly, this drama is also perfect for two of the company's new talents.
You play the female lead and bring along two newcomers as the second and third female leads. The company’s performance shoots straight to the top.
"Scripts like this, which suit both you and the company’s new talent, are truly hard to come by. When I see one, I have to grab it."
"Let me think about it."
"Okay, you think it over."
Actually, thinking about it was pointless—Layla had already agreed.
That evening, Thalia stayed at a hotel near the set, since this drama had so many location shoots.
They changed venues frequently, and with each move came a change of accommodation. Not going home at night was common.
At eleven, Thalia finished her night scene, and the director threw a celebration party for her. Thalia really couldn’t skip it.
She thought it would just be the crew, but when she arrived, she discovered that investors were there too.
"Why didn’t anyone mention there’d be investors?"
Thalia was still at the restaurant entrance and hadn’t gotten out of the car yet when she saw the director come out to greet her.
These investors looked somewhat familiar to Thalia, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen them before.
"The director didn’t say," Isla responded to Thalia. "In this kind of situation, since they’re celebrating you as the reason, they probably won’t make things too difficult for you."
"After all, the director knows you just recovered from your break. If they make you drink yourself sick again, it won’t be worth it."