Chapter 193 Are You in the Same Crew as Gregory and Thalia?
Nora was slow to catch on, feeling a bit confused as she was pushed forward: "Mr. Brown, let me help you get that cleaned up."
William raised his hand: "No need."
Nora insisted. She knew that if she didn't go along with Kurt's wishes today, all her smiles and drinks tonight would likely be for nothing: "It's not far, Mr. Brown, this way please."
William glanced at the broken glass on the floor, his eyes narrowing slightly as he followed Nora to the restroom.
As he passed through the crowd, some looked shocked, others incredulous.
Only Thalia had a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"Mr. Brown, do you need tissues?" Nora stood at the men's room entrance, her back to William as she asked.
Inside the restroom, only the sound of running water could be heard. There was no response from him.
Nora stood at the door, feeling anxious.
"Mr. Brown?"
No response.
After a few seconds, she called out again: "Mr. Brown?"
"Nora," William's low voice came from behind her. Nora spun around sharply.
She immediately met William's cold gaze, his eyes showing a clarity that saw through everything.
Nora had done her research on William. His family background appeared clean, with no tangled connections. She had almost believed it, until after several encounters with Kurt, occasionally hearing William's name mentioned in their conversations. Piecing together fragments of their chats, she realized this man was far from as innocent as he appeared on the surface.
Ruthlessly ambitious, skilled at keeping up appearances, never showing his true feelings—these were all words used to describe him.
Their circle gathered those with power and influence at the top. She was just a small-time actress, utterly insignificant.
The William before her now had lost all trace of the gentle refinement he showed others, replaced by coldness: "Having ambition is good, but if you direct that ambition at me, I'll be far more ruthless than Kurt."
"I understand."
William understood everything.
The best choice earlier would have been to leave, but Thalia was still there, whispering about something with Gregory, their conversation leaving his mind blank. So he decided to play along, wanting to see Thalia's reaction.
But he actually saw amusement in her eyes.
Interesting!
She wasn't jealous, didn't care—fine. But she was actually watching the show like it was entertainment, practically ready to applaud.
"You're on the same production as Gregory and Thalia?"
"Yes."
"What's their relationship like?"
Nora was taken aback, seemingly not expecting William to ask about Gregory and Thalia. For a moment she didn't dare overthink it, answering honestly: "Just normal working relationship on set, but Gregory's assistant is pretty close with Thalia. They occasionally chat together."
If William wanted to know something, he could investigate it himself. He asked Nora because he wanted to see how she, as an outsider, viewed their relationship. Also, he wanted to know if Nora had the guts to lie to his face.
William and Nora returned to the banquet hall.
They continued to be followed by watchful eyes.
Kurt saw William's composed expression and looked at Nora with some appreciation.
Thalia glanced at Kurt, then quietly looked away.
She happened to see Aaron saying goodbye to colleagues.
"Leaving already?"
"Don't want to go?" Aaron asked.
Thalia shook her head: "I want to leave early."
In the elevator, Thalia leaned against the wall and sighed: "Finally get two days off and still have to come to this kind of place and feel the hostility. Being a celebrity is too hard."
"That's true. I heard a lot of people talking trash about you tonight."
Thalia: ........ Could you say that a bit more tactfully? Don't you know how much that hurts?
"A producer just asked me about Nora's situation," Aaron was straightforward. Coming from a happy family, he had no interest in those entertainment industry unwritten rules.
He just couldn't bring himself to like Nora, plain and simple. But unfortunately, she had found a powerful backer tonight.
A director like him couldn't compete with capitalists.
Aaron glanced at Thalia as he spoke: "Be mentally prepared."
........
At the entrance of the Wood Villa, a van roared past and dumped someone out.
When Aria got up from the ground, she looked at the gate before her, her head throbbing and foggy. She sat on the ground for a long time before getting up.
Supporting herself against the wall, she stumbled toward the house. Just as she reached the main entrance, she heard the Wood family discussing sending her abroad.
"The child's already been born, why keep her in the country? To embarrass us? The Wood family won't allow such a woman to marry in. If it weren't for the child in her belly being Wood family blood, I wouldn't have even let this kind of woman through the door."
"But—" Emma seemed to want to speak up for her.
She was cut off: "But what? If the Wood family's reputation gets ruined, it'll be hard for you to find a good husband later. Send her away quickly."
"Since when does whether I can find a good husband have anything to do with Aria? Is this all her fault alone? If it were Thalia instead of Aria today, would you dare say these things? It's only because it's Aria. If Walter had gotten involved with anyone from Emerald City's elite families and this kind of mess happened, they would have left long ago."
"That's enough. Where do you get this sense of superiority?"
"Find someone of higher status than you, and you'll spend every day looking at their faces, calling them arrogant and rude. Find someone not as good as our family, and you look down on them for this and that."
Emma's sarcasm made the Wood Villa fall silent for a few seconds.
Everyone looked displeased, staring at Emma without speaking. Wesley scolded: "Enough."
"Have someone take the baby downstairs to rest. Where's Aria? Haven't seen her all day."
The nanny Ava's hands trembled when she heard this: "Resting upstairs!"
She didn't dare let anyone know she had helped Aria escape. If the Wood family found out, she'd lose her job.
"Living the good life," Lumira Wood had moved out after Wesley's wife passed away and hadn't lived with them. Recently, thinking about her great-grandson being born, that sense of superiority made her return to the Wood Villa to lord it over everyone again.
"Right, even sleeping is living the good life. Some people have spent their whole lives bossing others around—isn't that the good life until death?"
Emma gritted her teeth, emphasizing the word "death" with force.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
Emma laughed coldly: "Not at all. I just think that Grandma, being a woman yourself, how can you have no sympathy for women? There's a saying online that's very true—women are always hurt by other women."
"Bad luck," Emma got up and headed upstairs, following Ava into the nursery.
As soon as she entered, she heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.
"Ms. Clark?" Ava called out nervously.
"I'm taking a shower, just a moment."