Chapter 443 You Want to Watch Me Live?
At the dinner table, the director introduced several investors to Thalia with a big smile.
Thalia greeted them one by one.
One of the investors looked at Thalia with concern. "Ms. Smith, are you okay? We all saw the news from a few days ago and were worried sick. If something happened to you on our set, we wouldn't know how to explain it."
Thalia was a bit confused. If anyone needed to explain, it should be the director explaining to these investors. Why would these investors need to explain to someone else? Who was the person?
Seeing Thalia's confusion, they spoke up, "Oh! Look at me, I forgot to mention - we've been good friends with Mr. Ward for many years. We're all in the same circle, often getting together for meals. We always hear Mr. Ward mention Ms. Smith. When Mr. Ward found out we were coming to visit the set, he specifically told us again and again to send his regards, and had us bring a gift."
"Bring it in."
Hearing the boss's words, someone outside came in carrying a black cloth bag.
The bag had no logo on it.
It was large, covering whatever was inside. Others might not think much of it, but Thalia had attended these kinds of events with Hayden since childhood. In social settings, people usually chose inconspicuous bags to hide gifts - either to prevent the recipient from refusing if they saw the gift was too expensive, or to save face for their companions. Thalia often used this trick herself.
She just didn't expect it would happen to her today.
Two tables were set up in the private room, a large space that could fit forty people. Everyone's eyes fell on Thalia when they saw this scene.
Looking her over.
"How come we never heard that Thalia has such a good relationship with investors?"
"Look at the director, his face went pale. When Thalia first joined the crew, he gave her a hard time, always thinking she was just a pretty face who couldn't really perform. If it wasn't for Thalia's decent acting skills, the director probably would've replaced her already."
"Where are you getting all this? The director has a cold face with everyone; there's no special treatment, okay?"
The person next to them rolled their eyes at this comment. "Well then, does the director have a cold face with investors?"
That person went quiet. The other continued, "If the director knew Thalia was someone even investors try to please, he'd probably be really nice to her."
Everyone fell silent.
"It's nothing expensive, Ms. Smith. If you don't like it, I'll take the gift back today, and we can find another time to get together properly."
"I don't dislike it, it's just that I haven't done anything to deserve this."
"Ms. Smith, you've done us a huge favor. After such a big incident, you still put the crew first. Without you, this production would probably have to stop."
After all the small talk, it was really exhausting.
Thalia stopped resisting, accepted the gift, and joined the dinner. But this meal was destined to be unpleasant.
The dinner ended at eleven o'clock sharp.
Thalia had a slight smell of alcohol on her.
Isla was surprised when she saw her. "They made you drink?"
"Not much, just one glass of red wine."
"Mr. Brown called four or five times, starting from when you went in. About one call every half hour, asking you to call him back when you're done. He didn't sound too happy, so don't fight with him."
"Why would I fight with him? Let's go back to the hotel."
As soon as Thalia got to the hotel, she video-called William while taking off her clothes.
"Just finished? A simple crew dinner turned into a business dinner."
Thalia casually tossed her white shirt onto the bed. "Well, it was a business dinner, wasn't it?"
Thalia told William about what happened tonight.
After changing her clothes and putting on a robe, Thalia set up her phone on the table and took out the black bag. "Thanks to you, I got to experience what it's like to be the center of attention."
As Thalia finished speaking, she pulled open the black bag, revealing an orange box.
She opened the box to find a rare leather handbag inside.
"See it?" Thalia pointed her phone at the bag.
William made a sound of acknowledgment. "I see it."
The man was still at the office, his suit jacket draped over the chair back, with a bookshelf full of books as his background.
"If you like it, keep it. I'll return the favor later."
"William, do you know what I like most about you?"
"What?"
"You're responsible, you never let your woman feel wronged."
"Rare that you notice my good points." William found Thalia's praise very satisfying.
The man's expression visibly improved.
Thalia casually placed the bag on the table. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Okay."
"Not hanging up?" Thalia asked.
"Do we have to?"
"Otherwise? You want to watch me live? Isn't that perverted?"
"You can touch me, but I'm a pervert for watching you shower?"
Thalia's face turned red, left speechless by his retort.
"When are you coming back?" William returned to serious topics. Thalia placed her phone on the bathroom counter and bent down to remove her makeup.
She took a moment to respond to William. "Three to five days, I think. Shouldn't be too long."
Three to five days isn't long?
Well, compared to when Thalia used to be stuck at the film studio for extended periods, it really wasn't long.
At midnight sharp, Thalia turned off the lights and went to sleep.
She didn't notice that the bag she'd casually placed on the table was giving off something unusual.
At 1 AM, hundreds of thousands of people suddenly flooded into a livestream.
At 3 AM sharp, after seeing the livestream, Thalia's fans tried multiple times to contact someone and finally reached Layla.
"Layla, something's wrong."
"Thalia's sleeping is being livestreamed."
Layla answered the phone, not fully awake. "What sleeping livestream?"
"Check the livestream."
Layla leaned over to turn on her bedside lamp, opened the livestream, and at first glance, cursed out loud.
"How long has it been streaming? There are already over 100,000 people in the stream."
"Almost two and a half hours. A fan discovered it, found the fan group leader on Facebook, and the leader contacted the company."
"Report the livestream first."
"We tried. It doesn't involve anything sexual, so our reports haven't worked."
Layla first called Isla, asking her to check Thalia's room, then gathered her courage and called William.
"Mr. Brown, someone installed a camera in Thalia's room and is livestreaming her sleeping. We can't get it taken down."
William wasn't extremely chauvinistic, but he had an inherent dominance in his nature. His wife being livestreamed while sleeping was a huge deal to him.
"Send me the livestream link." The man was instantly awake, without a trace of the irritation from being woken up.
"I've already sent it to your phone."