Chapter 453 Reminiscing Upon Seeing Objects
"Dad insists that you must come home for dinner tonight."
At four in the afternoon, Amara came to find William on Vaughn's orders.
Today, Emerald City was hit by a heavy downpour. Dark clouds gathered outside the thirty-plus-story building. A floor lamp glowed at the man's desk, its dim yellow light making the entire room feel drowsy.
William sat under the dim light, a cigarette between his fingers, occasionally flipping through documents and tapping ash into the nearby ashtray.
"What's up?"
"I have no idea," said Amara. The temperature had dropped after the rain, and she was wearing a fluffy sweater, having just come from the hospital. She probably hadn't washed her hair in days—her shoulder-length hair was casually tied back in a messy bun.
When William looked up, for a moment he thought he saw Thalia. This was her favorite look at home.
And this sweater Amara was wearing—Thalia seemed to have one just like it.
Come to think of it, since the temperature had dropped, he hadn't seen Thalia in quite a while.
"Who bought you that sweater?" William asked as he opened his phone to check the calendar.
Amara looked down at her clothes. Was he missing someone because of what she was wearing?
"Thalia and I bought it with your card. Why? Did your wife dump you? Are you getting all sentimental over a sweater?"
William glanced at her. "You go ahead. I'll come back tonight."
Amara spun her chair around to look at the dark clouds outside the window. "You're going anyway, so I'll wait for you. With those dark clouds out there, the minute I leave, it'll probably start pouring. I'm not a good driver."
As one of Emerald City's new elite and a famous figure in legal circles, William was ambitious and dealt with numerous matters daily.
Everyone on the top floor of the Celestia Group was constantly busy, operating like a well-oiled machine.
Amara first sat in front of him, but seeing too many people coming and going, she moved to the sofa. She didn't do anything else, just watched people go in and out.
This continued until six o'clock, when William finally finished his work, stood up, and grabbed his coat to leave.
A thunderclap exploded in the sky, followed by pouring rain.
Amara thought to herself, perfect timing to get off work.
From here to the Brown Mansion was 10 miles, and even without any traffic lights, it would take at least two hours.
On the way home, William took out his phone to check messages.
Amara sneakily craned her neck to peek at his phone.
Sensing this, William didn't hide it but openly handed her the phone. "What do you want to see?"
"The gossip about you has spread pretty far lately. Aren't you afraid Thalia will find out and kill you?"
William took back his phone, probably knowing what Amara was talking about. Was he going to the Brown Mansion today to get scolded?
The man grabbed a bottle of water from the door, opened it, and took a couple of sips. "It's just gossip."
Amara nodded seriously. "I think so too. Just gossip."
At eight o'clock sharp, the car stopped in front of the Brown Mansion.
When Finn opened the driver's door and held an umbrella to open William's door, he glanced at the parking spot nearby. "Mr. Brown, that's Mrs. Brown's car."
William looked where he indicated and indeed saw Thalia's business car parked in the yard.
Taking the umbrella from Finn, he strode into the house.
As soon as he entered, he saw Thalia standing in the living room chatting with Harper.
He walked over and put his arm around her waist, but before he could say anything, he felt wetness.
"Your clothes are wet, and you don't know how to change?"
Emerald City's rain was sudden and fierce. Even though Thalia had used an umbrella to come in from the yard, she still got wet—on her clothes, on her pant legs, water droplets everywhere.
She was wet, but not nearly as much as William's expression suggested.
"Am I wet?" Thalia touched the spot where his hand was.
Slightly damp, but not so serious. From William's grave expression, you'd think she'd just climbed out of a water tank.
"Go upstairs and change first!" Harper, seeing something was off, glanced at Amara and quickly had someone fetch clothes.
William half-pulled Thalia upstairs. As soon as the door closed, Thalia's questions came. "What's wrong with you? In a bad mood?"
"Go take a shower!" William's tone left no room for argument. Thalia muttered under her breath, not daring to provoke him, and took her clothes into the bathroom, not daring to contradict William.
Downstairs, Harper felt something was off. Looking at Vaughn, she carefully ventured, "Seeing how much William cares about Thalia, are we worrying over nothing?"
Thalia's temper was notoriously fierce.
If William really did something outrageous, Thalia would probably deal with him herself before they could lift a finger.
Hearing Harper's words, Vaughn fell silent.
"Let's wait and see." These two were both troublemakers. What if they were putting on a show for them?
After all, William's scandal had spread far and wide—even students were asking him about it. If there was nothing to it, people wouldn't be spreading such rumors.
Thalia came out after her shower in clean clothes, wearing a long sweater that reached her knees, her slender legs showing underneath, quite alluring.
William sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. Seeing Thalia emerge, he put his phone on the coffee table. "Where are you coming from?"
"The set! Where else? Today's Wednesday! Why did you suddenly call us back for dinner?"
Thalia walked over and sat beside William. In the white chunky-knit sweater on her body, her hair loose, she probably had just came from the set and hadn't removed her makeup yet.
Fresh from the shower, warmth radiated from her whole body. She looked warm and fuzzy.
"To get scolded."
"Scolded?" Hearing those two words, every pore on Thalia's body tensed up. She hadn't done anything recently!
"What did I do?"
"Who's scolding me? Your dad or your stepmom?"
"If they scold me, can I talk back?"
These two—one a professor, one a dean and professor. If they teamed up to scold her, she might not stand a chance.
Thalia looked worried, gazing at William, her pretty eyebrows knitted together. The person who had been sitting beside him now felt a bit upset, kicked off her shoes, and knelt beside William, looking serious.
Seeing he wasn't answering, Thalia got anxious and tugged at William. "I'm asking you!"
Maybe her movement was too big—Thalia's body tilted, and she almost fell. William reached out to steady her.
"They're not scolding you."
"Then who?"
"Scolding you?" Thalia suddenly caught on, and her tense emotions instantly relaxed.
"That's what I'm saying—how could they bear to scold such a sweet, obedient, and lovable girl like me!"
William was speechless.
"Come on, let's go downstairs." Thalia couldn't wait to watch William get scolded.