Chapter 45 Touching William's Woman
"The crazy thing is, they didn't catch anyone, but Andrew's agency is already playing the victim card on Facebook. Can you believe that guy? An Oscar-worthy performance!"
Thalia got out of bed and stood at the sink, brushing her teeth while listening to Layla's rant.
"Are you spitting out toothpaste or Andrew?"
Thalia put down her electric toothbrush. "Is there a difference?"
"Hand me the tablet."
"Andrew injured while heroically saving a damsel in distress."
"Andrew severely injured."
Thalia opened the comments section and saw that Andrew's fans were all expressing their sympathy for him. Mixed in were a few comments criticizing Thalia.
"They didn't catch anyone?"
"Nope."
Thalia cursed under her breath.
"Thalia, the security guard from our complex called. There's someone outside with a banner cursing you out."
Isla peeked in cautiously.
"What are they saying?"
"They're accusing you of hurting Andrew."
Thalia sighed. "Are his fans all crazy? Did they forget what he did at the promotional event?"
Layla sighed. "I told you to stay away from him."
"And yet you still got me this gig."
Layla: "..."
She knew Andrew was trouble, yet she still got Thalia involved in this movie. It was bound to be a headache.
Thalia angrily called Evelyn.
"They didn't find anyone?"
"No."
"So what now? The internet's blowing up, calling me a femme fatale!" Evelyn was sitting in her office, scrolling through the news, and had hired a bunch of trolls to fight back against the negative comments on Facebook.
She went through everything Andrew's fans had done from start to finish.
"Is Andrew dead or something? Why isn't he coming out to clarify?"
"When has he ever clarified anything? Come pick me up."
Half an hour later, Evelyn took Thalia to the rooftop of the hotel from yesterday.
"See anything?"
Thalia glanced at the surveillance cameras. There was one in each corner, plus cameras in the stairwell and elevator. "Isn't it interesting that they claim there's no footage?"
"You think someone bribed the hotel?"
"Pretty much!" Thalia chuckled.
Evelyn clicked her tongue. "Someone's got it out for you."
"Who owns the hotel?"
"Let me check." Evelyn pulled out her phone and started searching. Emerald City had too many wealthy big shots, and identifying the owner of a particular property wasn't easy.
"Well, what a coincidence. It's your ex's family."
Thalia: "The Wood family?"
"Yep."
She had hoped someone in the industry might help her out, but now it seemed hopeless. Walter would definitely want her to suffer.
"Let's go!"
There was no point in staying and getting cold. Evelyn grumbled as she followed Thalia to the entrance. When they reached the door connecting the stairwell to the rooftop, they found it locked.
"Seriously? Such a cheap trick?"
"Make a call."
Evelyn picked up her phone to call for help, but there was no signal.
Thalia: "We'll just have to wait until Isla realizes something's wrong and gets us out."
"Your assistant? I always thought she was a bit slow."
Evelyn had always thought Isla was a bit of an airhead, lacking sharpness.
Thalia kept Isla around because she had a round face, and Thalia always liked having friends with round faces.
Thalia sighed and found a spot sheltered from the wind. "If I freeze to death here, I'll haunt her every day."
Meanwhile, Isla was downstairs playing a game. When Thalia didn't come down, she called but got a message saying the phone was out of service.
She didn't think much of it and continued playing.
Forty minutes later, after finishing her game, Isla called again and still got the out-of-service message. She began to worry.
Isla got out of the car and headed upstairs to look for them.
As she was about to enter the elevator, a hotel staff member stopped her. "Ma'am, may I see your room key?"
"What? I can't go look for my friends?"
"Sorry, this is a high-end hotel. We need to protect our guests' privacy."
Isla laughed. "You can't find a murderer, but you're protecting guests' privacy? Are you kidding me?"
"Finding criminals is the police's job. Our job is to protect guests' privacy."
"Fine, just wait..."
Having been with Thalia for a while, Isla knew some people were tough to deal with. If she couldn't handle it, someone else definitely could.
...
"Mr. Brown, Ms. Smith's assistant is here."
"Who?"
Brian was puzzled. "Ms. Smith's assistant."
"Let her in."
Isla entered William's office with red eyes, working up her emotions, and burst into tears, telling William that Thalia was in danger.
"Isla," William rubbed his temples in frustration. "Calm down and explain."
Isla took a deep breath and finally spoke clearly. "Thalia went to the hotel to gather evidence, but she hasn't come down, and her phone is out of service."
William's expression darkened. "Are you sure she didn't leave early?"
"I'm sure. Evelyn is with her. If they left, they would have called me."
"Brian..."
"Boss."
William thought for a moment. "Never mind, I'll go myself."
He didn't want Thalia accusing him of abandoning her again.
William grabbed his coat and Isla followed closely.
"Boss, should we call for backup?"
"Bring those dozens of new interns."
Messing with William's woman? Big mistake.
At the hotel entrance, William walked in without anyone stopping him. Even when he pressed the elevator button, no one intervened.
As Isla was about to follow William into the elevator, someone grabbed her arm. "What's your problem? I told you, you can't go up."
Isla glanced at William, who spoke up. "Why are you harassing her?"
"Brian, call the police."
"You—"
"Mr. Brown, let's discuss this calmly. There's no need to call the police," the lobby manager recognized William and hurried over, practically bowing.
William's most intimidating trait wasn't his ruthlessness but his devil-may-care attitude. Unlike other rich kids in Emerald City who cared about their reputation, William was different.
"Really?" William rubbed his fingers together. "Then let's go live and expose your hotel's issues."
William took a step closer to the manager, bending slightly to whisper coldly in his ear, "I don't care who told you to do this. Go back and tell them, William's woman is off-limits."
The manager was stunned, trying to process the information. Thalia was William's woman?