Chapter 482 Don't Mention Him, It's Bad Luck
"Thalia?"
Vaughn and Harper sensed something was wrong and hurried upstairs. Just as they reached the stairs, they saw Thalia storming down, fuming.
Harper grabbed her. "What happened?"
"Nothing!" Thalia didn't want to make a big deal out of it... after all, it was between her and William.
Seeing something was off, Vaughn rushed upstairs to find William's hand bleeding, and struggling to stand while holding onto the bed. After burning with fever all day, his whole body was weak. Vaughn helped him sit up.
"Did you two fight?"
The man started coughing and waved his hand. "Just a small thing. Where's Thalia?"
"You're this sick, and you still managed to make her angry enough to want to leave home, and you call that a small thing?"
"Help me downstairs," William reached out his hand. Vaughn supported him. Luckily, the villa had an elevator—otherwise, in William's current state, he wouldn't be able to make it down.
Downstairs, Thalia was on the phone. Whatever was said on the other end made her grunt in acknowledgment, her face looking terrible.
When she saw William come down, the fire in her eyes crackled, as if she wanted to burn a hole right through him.
Seeing William, Harper thought for a moment. "You two talk,no fighting. If you fight, don't break things. If you break things, don't hit people."
"Everyone, sit down, let's talk together." Vaughn clearly saw something was wrong. With William's attitude, what else could he do besides drive Thalia away?
Hearing this, Thalia pointed at William and started complaining. "He spread the news about our marriage without my permission. My agency called me, saying over a dozen advertisers want to cancel their contracts with me."
"I'm going to have to pay so much money." After saying this, Thalia opened her mouth and cried with her head tilted back.
Hearing this, Vaughn turned his head and glared at William viciously. "Really?"
William rubbed his forehead.
Before he could explain, Harper joined the battle. "William, this is wrong of you. Thalia is a celebrity—how could you not discuss this kind of thing with her?"
"Exactly!" Thalia sobbed.
Harper continued, "She was already a star before she married you. Didn't you think about this before marrying her?"
"We agreed to keep the marriage secret, but he tricked me. He secretly tricked me. Last night, he deliberately got me drunk so I'd be out of it and couldn't answer the company's calls."
The more Thalia thought about it, the more wronged she felt. Her legs gave way, and she knelt on the carpet, crying loudly. "I'm so young, breaking into the entertainment industry all alone. Ever since my dad died, I've been walking on eggshells in the entertainment world, struggling every step of the way. I finally made it to where I am now,was that easy? I'm someone without a father, and you still bully me..."
William was speechless.
Amara felt this speech sounded somewhat familiar.
"You're the one messing around outside, having scandals with this woman and that woman, groping women's thighs at business dinners, and women still calling you in the middle of the night..."
Hearing this, Vaughn shot up from the sofa in anger and kicked William's leg, glaring at him furiously. "How can you, a grown man, do such things? Hurting others is one thing, but this is your wife."
William looked at Thalia, his face pale with anger.
He started breathing heavily, but just as he was about to say something, Vaughn kicked him again, triggering a fit of violent coughing.
If he didn't clear his name after being wronged to this extent, Vaughn would kick him out of the family.
Thalia watched as William stood up, pointing at her, trembling as he said, "Nonsense."
"How am I talking nonsense? Didn't you trick me?"
"First there was Scarlett, then Selene. You even got Selene a job at your company, put her right under your nose. I work in the entertainment industry, and I don't have as many scandals as you. You're really..."
"You scoundrel!"
In his thirty years of life, William had never been hit by Vaughn.
First, because Vaughn had a good temper and never used violence to solve problems, his educational principle was patient guidance. Second, because from childhood to adulthood, William had steadily advanced in both academics and career. After graduation, the first thing he did with his first earnings was improve the family's living conditions.
As a son, he was beyond reproach.
But today, William's thirty-year image as a good son was shattered by Thalia. With her smooth talk and just a few words, she stole away Vaughn's composure.
Vaughn lifted his leg and kicked William onto the sofa.
William lost his balance, hit the coffee table, and passed out.
Thalia and Amara were both stunned.
..........
[Breaking news! Turns out the woman in Mr. Brown's scandal photos at Regal City airport last time was Thalia.]
[How do you know?]
[Look at the picture.]
In the picture, Thalia was entering the hotel lobby, wearing the exact same clothes as the woman in William's arms.
Evelyn looked at the messages in the group chat and took a screenshot to send to Daniel:
[Do you think Mr. Brown's plan worked?]
Daniel: [Of course!]
Evelyn: [I really want to know if Mr. Brown is still alive.]
In the evening, after finishing work, Evelyn called Thalia.
It rang for a while before being answered. "What is it?"
"I want to hear the gossip."
Evelyn smiled ingratiatingly.
Thalia said coldly, "Get lost."
"I just want to know if Mr. Brown is still alive?"
"He's alive. I don't do illegal things."
"Not planning to take down the news?"
Now whenever Thalia heard the word "news," her skin crawled. In just 12 hours, the penalty fees for contract cancellations were approaching nine figures, and it was all thanks to William.
William just wanted to bankrupt her.
"Wasn't it suppressed? Why is it still there?"
"Suppressed doesn't mean removed. Didn't you ask Mr. Brown to take down the news?"
"Don't mention him. Bad luck."
William was unconscious for three days. At first they thought it was just a common cold, but at the hospital they found out it was a viral infection that almost turned into pneumonia.
He had wanted to play the sympathy card to escape punishment, but ended up suffering heavy losses.
With William unconscious and Thalia overwhelmed with her own troubles, the director kept calling, afraid of delaying the schedule. Before the storm had passed, she had to bite the bullet and go to the set, enduring the director's cold treatment.
"How does Thalia have the nerve to show up? I thought the director was going to replace her."
"How could they replace her? The show's already half done."
"But didn't you hear? Because of her, several advertisers pulled out?"
"How would I know? The decision to pull funding isn't up to the director alone. Just focus on filming!"
"The director has been giving her the cold shoulder these past few days."