Chapter 509 Indeed a Pair
Sean rushed over, grabbed his collar, and snarled viciously, "I told you to stay away from her."
"Are you deaf or what?"
Michael was speechless.
In the end, he still couldn't escape Thalia's scheme.
"It's a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? I saw it with my own eyes, and you're telling me it's a misunderstanding?"
Thalia wanted to kill Sean, and Sean could die, but not because of him.
Once an external fight turned into an internal one, all he'd get besides a bad reputation was nothing.
A fight he could clearly win would end up being nothing but losses because of Thalia.
A losing deal—he didn't want any part of it.
"Why don't you look behind you?" Michael reminded him at the right moment. Only then did Sean turn around.
The moment he turned, he saw a crowd standing in the corner, holding up their phones and watching the show.
He stopped thinking immediately.
Sean looked at Bella standing in the cold wind, took off his coat, and walked over to wrap it around her, half-embracing her as they left the scene.
Only then did the green figure in the corner slowly emerge.
Thalia looked down at Michael sitting on the ground, reached her hand back, and Finn pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.
Thalia casually tossed it to Michael. "You're really disappointing."
"Sean can die, but not by my hand."
"People who care about the process never become the boss, Michael. No wonder you're doing worse than him."
Michael was about to say something, but just as he opened his mouth, he saw Thalia turn and leave.
"Mrs. Brown, what about him?"
"When the boat docks, toss him in the river. He ruined my mood."
No wonder Thalia and William were a match.
Their methods of dealing with people were equally simple and brutal.
...
The boat docked, and William and Thalia left first, leaving the Celestia Group executives to see off the guests. As people left, they chatted about the interesting events on the boat.
In the black Maybach, Angelina sat in the passenger seat, turning to look at the two people in the back. "You guessed right. Jacob went to find Rainey, wanting to use him to deal with you."
William leaned back in his seat, a cigar between his fingers, spinning it absently.
He lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
"I gotta say, he knows how to pick people. Rainey might not be much of a threat to you, but it's different with Ms. Smith. First, expose your relationship, then use some shady illegal methods to get you implicated in something, then use connections with higher-ups in Regal City to apply pressure—you'd end up in prison for a few years no matter what."
Breaking the law isn't scary. What's scary is having people in high places pressuring you. Isn't that exactly what's happening with the Jimenez family now?
Even the smallest mistake gets blown up by Dione, making it impossible to escape public scrutiny.
"Have Rainey come see me," William snapped.
On the other side, Rainey had just left his office when he saw a black Jeep parked by the roadside.
He glanced at it and was about to walk past when someone got out and approached him. "Mr. Ward, Mr. Brown would like to see you."
"William?"
"Yes."
Hearing William's name, Rainey's back went numb.
He didn't want to go, but didn't dare refuse.
Everyone knew that over the years, William had set up no less than ten private clubs in Emerald City for work purposes, none open to the public, only used for business entertainment and hosting guests. People had reported them multiple times, leading to both open and undercover investigations by various departments, but they all came up empty.
No profit, no illegal activities—nothing to find.
In a private room, William had taken off his coat and casually draped it over the back of a chair, the cigar between his fingers glowing with tiny sparks. When the door opened, Angelina stood up from across from him, greeted Rainey, and left.
"Mr. Brown."
William hummed in acknowledgment, nodded, and gestured with his chin. "Sit."
"Mr. Ward, been busy lately?"
The sudden concern made Rainey freeze in fear. Someone like William would never genuinely care whether anyone was busy or not.
"Not too bad."
The man leaned lazily against the chair back, cigarette in one hand, reaching to pour water with the other, which scared Rainey into holding out his cup with both hands.
"Mr. Ward, your business scope keeps getting broader."
The cup was only half full when it crashed onto the table.
"Mr. Brown, please enlighten me."
William's gaze rested on him . After a moment, his tone was matter-of-fact. "Mr. Ward, if you're going to make a choice, you should know what price you'll have to pay."
"Mr. Brown, it's true that they approached me, but it's also true that I didn't agree. Though I haven't had much contact with you in Emerald City, I've benefited from you in the development of subordinate cities. Naturally, I wouldn't be so ungrateful as to betray you. This time, they tried to persuade me by exploiting the fact that I'd angered you, knowing my cowardly nature and concern for reputation, but I would never do anything against you!" Rainey practically wanted to kneel to prove his loyalty.
The more nervous and stuttering he became, the more amused William's gaze grew.
After he declared loyalty, William took a clean cup and poured him more water. "I was just asking casually. Why are you so nervous?"
"I understand what kind of person you are."
"Mr. Ward, since you haven't thought about betraying me, there's something I need your help with."
"Mr. Brown, please speak frankly."
......
"All settled?"
"What are you eating?" William came out of the private room, pulled open the car door, and got in, only to see Angelina in the passenger seat and Thalia in the back seat, each holding a bowl of something, eating with gusto. The whole car reeked of spicy food—it was really unpleasant.
"Barbecue."
William was speechless.
"Want some?"
The man got in the car and slammed the door with a thunderous bang.
"Drive. Open the windows."
"I'm cold."
"Deserve it."