Chapter 465 My Man, Not Someone You Can Bully
William stood up with a cold laugh, looking at Dione. "Sure, you gave birth to me, but you never raised me. There should be zero feelings between us. How close I am with the Jimenez family is my business. Whether you destroy the Jimenez family or not is your business. As for whether you'll take me down along with the Jimenez family, that depends on whether you have what it takes."
William buttoned up his suit jacket, his mocking words stabbing into Dione's heart like knives. "Giving birth without raising is a deadly sin. To me, you're already dead. There's really no need to go through all this trouble to find me."
"William," hearing this, Dione—who had kept her emotions hidden from the world for years—instantly exploded.
She stood up abruptly, the embroidery on her silver-white dress shimmering under the lights, as if coming alive.
The dignified Dione looked at William with emotions that were both strange and hateful. "Giving birth without raising? A deadly sin? Do you know that if I hadn't shown mercy back then, you wouldn't even have had the chance to come into this world?"
As the past was uncovered, that sense of oppression became vivid, making even the surrounding air feel thin.
Dione looked at William like an enemy, the feeling of wanting to tear him apart particularly intense.
Back then, Steven killed her biological mother and threw her out of Regal City. Those desperate days were a nightmare that she still recalled.
As for William, she should never have come into this world.
If it weren't for Vaughn...
"So I should thank you for abandoning your husband and child?" William's eyes flashed with cold light.
If a third person were present, they would surely marvel at how identical the mother and son's expressions were. When that calm and murderous emotion spread, both gave people a suffocating feeling.
"Abandoning husband and child?"
"You've only heard my name, never understood my story. What right do you have to judge someone who gave you life and brought you into this world?" Dione's face turned pale with anger.
She walked around the coffee table toward William. "The Jimenez family pushed me into the abyss. If you insist on colluding with them, the first person that I'll destroy is you."
"I won't allow a beast to grow wings, and I won't allow myself to create a blade that will stab me."
"You turned an innocent life into a sacrifice for family struggles, yet you won't allow people to judge you. Ms. Jimenez, how noble of you."
Furious Dione, slapped William across the face.
The man's face turned to the side from the slap. He pressed his tongue against his cheek, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, and when he looked back, suppressed murderous emotions spread through his eyes.
The moment their eyes met, Dione had the illusion of seeing herself.
William let out a light scoff, looked at Dione without a word, and turned to leave.
The moment he opened the door, the door to the lounge diagonally across also opened. When Thalia looked up and saw the handprint on William's face, her heart felt like a huge stone had been dropped into it, blocking everything.
She rushed toward William.
The latter clearly didn't want Thalia involved in these matters and closed the door behind him.
"She hit you?"
William looked down at her, pressing his lips together without speaking.
"Speak. Did she hit you or not?"
"Let's go first."
William said, reaching out to grab Thalia's wrist.
She shook it off. "Not going. I'm asking you, did she hit you?"
Noisy sounds came from the corridor. Dione in the lounge heard the commotion and opened the door, appearing at the doorway. At the same time, Jacob also came from the end of the corridor.
Thalia looked at Dione with anger and hatred in her eyes. She grabbed William's arm like a parent seeking justice for him. "Why did you hit him? What gives you the right to hit him?"
"What are you to hit him? Someone who doesn't even want her own son—what right do you have to lay hands on him?"
Thalia demanded angrily, staring at Dione with a look that made people think she might rush up and slap her the next second.
"I'm disciplining my son. When is it a little girl's turn to interfere?" Dione was, after all, someone in power. Just standing there with proper posture gave people an intimidating sense of authority.
If it were someone else, they might have backed down.
But the person before her was Thalia.
"Son? Are you worthy?"
"You only gave birth to him and weren't part of his first half of life, but I'm the one responsible for his second half. Tell me, can I interfere or not?"
Hearing Thalia's words, William felt warmth in his heart. His originally cold gaze was instantly surrounded by warmth.
He looked at her sideways, as if everything in the world had stopped, and only Thalia was alive.
"Ms. Smith, let's go inside to talk about whatever it is. Here..." Jacob saw things weren't going well and felt that Thalia wasn't the type to let things go easily. He wanted to mediate to prevent things from getting out of hand and everyone losing face.
Hearing Jacob's voice beside her, Thalia didn't think twice and raised her hand to slap him. "What are you? Is it your turn to speak?"
After this slap, Thalia looked sideways at Dione, her eyes full of provocation.
This slap wasn't for Jacob—it was for Dione.
Jacob, having been slapped, was a bit dazed, looking at Thalia with complete bewilderment.
Before he could say anything, Thalia raised her hand and slapped him again. "What are you looking at? I'm hitting you. You got a problem?"
With those words, another slap.
She never took losses. Bullying her or bullying William—neither was acceptable.
Across the way, Yosef and Eleanor watched this scene, their hearts racing nervously for Thalia.
"What's up with Ms. Smith?"
"Since when has she been so good to Mr. Brown?"
Eleanor vaguely sensed something. "Go check and see what their relationship is."
"Haven't we always known?" Yosef was confused.
"Known what?" Eleanor asked back, then added, "I suspect they're already married."
Yosef was stunned.
Given Thalia's personality, if they weren't husband and wife—in other words, if she didn't like or love William—she wouldn't care even if she saw what happened.
Today, rushing up to stand up for him...
Thalia was in love without knowing it!