Chapter 466 William's Grievance
"Move," Thalia demanded, pulling William towards Eleanor, as she blocked the doorway without budging.
"This is my lounge." Eleanor's gaze fell on William.
The once-dominant business tycoon of River City was now being led behind Thalia, looking pitiful and wronged—though it seemed somewhat pretentious.
"So what if it's your lounge? Believe me, I'll beat you up!" Anger boiled over in Thalia, leaving her ready to lash out at anyone in sight.
Only she could bully William.
No one else had that right.
Eleanor didn't argue with her. She nodded, stepping aside to let Thalia in.
Thalia shoved William onto the sofa, glaring at him through gritted teeth with a look of disappointment. "Did you fight back?"
"No need to ask, he definitely didn't." Eleanor leaned against the door with her arms crossed, enjoying the spectacle on display.
"Why don't you get lost?"
"I honestly want to watch you two lovebirds."
Thalia grabbed a cushion and threw it at her. "Got nothing better to do? Believe me, I'll go downstairs and make a scene at Elowen's wedding! I'll let her come and torture you."
Eleanor didn't want anything to go wrong today; all she wanted was for that jinx Elowen to be sent away as soon as possible.
To stop Thalia from making a scene with Elowen, Eleanor obediently left. "You two have a chat, I'll close the door. Yosef will keep watch outside. If you can't control yourselves and feel like making a move, go ahead—there are no cameras in the room."
Thalia was speechless.
Yosef asked, "Really? Keep watch for them?"
"What else? That's Mr. Brown and Mrs. Brown in there."
"I've never seen you play favorites like this before!"
"Neither William nor Thalia is particularly intimidating on their own. But if they become family, you know what that means? All the legacy assets in Emerald City are with the Smith family, and all the emerging ventures are in William's grasp."
"Plus, William has the brains, and Thalia has no shame. With money, access, brains, and no shame—do you know what that implies?"
"Neither morals nor laws can restrain them." Yosef always remembered that Thalia fearless.
She didn't care about anyone. If you crossed her, she could hound you with insults until dawn.
Eleanor gave Yosef a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "Keep watch!"
"Keep a good watch!"
Inside the room, Thalia lifted William's chin with her nail-polished finger, examining his face from side to side. "She hit you. Why didn't you fight back?"
"You just said you'd take responsibility for the rest of my life. Is that true?"
His question dodged her question, so Thalia asked again. "She hit you. Why didn't you fight back?"
"You just said you'd take responsibility for the rest of my life. Is that true?"
"William, answer my question first."
"She gave birth to me; this slap settles that debt," William answered seriously, his gaze fixed on Thalia like a searchlight in an empty field, impossible to ignore.
"Your turn to answer me, is it true?"
Thalia remained silent.
William narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded. "Then I'll go out and let someone slap me twice more."
Thalia shouted, "Go ahead! If you dare leave, I'll tear into your mother!"
William's backside, barely off the sofa, dropped back down. Thalia pulled out a wet wipe from the table and wiped her hands, her casual tone laced with a threat. "I mean every word I say. You don't need to keep testing me."
With a flick, the wet wipe landed in the ashtray. Thalia grabbed William's tie, fixing him with a piercing glare. "Remember this—you're my man. Only I can hit or scold you—no one else has that right."
"Just this once, I'll let it slide since she's your mother. But if this were to happen again and you don't want me to cause a scene with your mother, then act accordingly."
"The conflicts between in-laws are mostly caused by useless men!"
After delivering her warning, Thalia was about to let go and sit back down, but William seemed to sense her intention. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest. Thalia ended up straddling his lap, and William pressed her head down, kissing her frantically.
Every cell in her body was burning.
…………
"Ms. Johnson, please calm down." Jacob poured a cup of tea and handed it to Dione, who was leaning on the sofa, her whole body tense with killing intent.
"What's their relationship?"
"What we found out is that they've been married for almost a year."
"What?" Dione was shocked.
"Married?"
"Yes," Jacob nodded.
"No one in Emerald City knows about this. Apparently, they've kept it very secret."
"A secret marriage?" Dione's head was buzzing.
"Yes."
"A secret marriage, huh! Then let people know. Are they so bored that they're meddling in the Jimenez family's business? Then let's give them something to do."
Jacob wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he looked at Dione hesitantly. "If you do this, your mother-son relationship with Mr. Brown will..."
"Mother-son relationship? Looking at how he is now, do you think we can have any mother-son relationship?"
Dione rubbed her temples, leaning back on the sofa with her eyes closed, Thalia's provocative expression flashing through her mind. "Make arrangements, I'm going to Emerald City to see Vaughn."
"If your husband finds out..."
"I'll tell him myself."
"But there's something strange - yesterday, Mr. Brown had a scandal with a Ms. Peterson."
"Which Ms. Peterson is also here today."
Before Dione could figure out how to deal with William, someone had delivered themselves to be used as her weapon.
"Go meet her."
.........
"Go downstairs and get our coats," Thalia opened the door, the lipstick on her lips noticeably lighter than when she went in.
She handed him the custom ribbon from the wedding.
Yosef glanced at it, and following Eleanor's instructions, took the ribbon and went to get the coats.
Soon after, Thalia took Yosef's coat and walked to the lounge. As she entered, she bent down to look at the red marks on William's face. Seeing they had faded somewhat, she felt relieved. If he went downstairs with slap marks all over his face, where would he put his dignity?
Thalia casually draped her coat on the sofa, holding William's coat ready to hand it to him, but on impulse, she reached into his pockets.
When her fingers touched something hard, she pulled it out - a stack of business cards.
Thalia flipped through the cards one by one. "Company presidents and general managers are one thing, but what's with this private club owner?"
"And handwritten numbers? What's this at the back? A woman's measurements?"
William was speechless.
"Care to explain?"
"I don't know, I'm innocent."