Chapter 454 Are You Being Threatened?
"You're this happy seeing me get scolded?" William sat motionless on the sofa, refusing to budge, no matter how hard Thalia pulled.
Thalia stared at him. "Think about it - back in school, I was always the one getting scolded while you watched. Now I finally get to watch you get scolded. Of course I'm gonna seize this opportunity!"
"Even the good student gets scolded sometimes - how rare is that!"
William thought to himself, 'Yeah, rare for Thalia to see me getting scolded.'
"Fine! I'll make you happy today." As William spoke, he took charge, his warm palm wrapping around Thalia's hand as he led her downstairs.
The moment they went down, the conversation in the living room stopped abruptly.
Vaughn and Harper's eyes turned toward them in unison.
Their scrutinizing and questioning gazes were completely unconcealed. If Amara hadn't cleared her throat, those two would probably still be standing there, confused.
As parents, they naturally hoped their children's marriage would be harmonious. If William dared to mess around outside, Vaughn wouldn't let him off.
The recent gossip had indeed sounded pretty bad.
As a teacher, being cornered by students at school asking if the gossip about his son was true, nobody could accept that happening to them.
But Thalia was here, and the two seemed to be getting along well today.
What if it was all just drama? Bringing it up now would only drive a wedge between the couple, wouldn't it?
"The food's ready anyway, let's eat first."
Thalia was led by William toward the dining room, her bright eyes darting around. This harmonious family scene didn't look like anyone was about to get scolded!
"Thalia, have you been busy filming lately?" Amara asked.
"Pretty busy these past few days."
Amara ladled a bowl of soup and handed it to Harper, glancing at William. "You haven't been home in over ten days, right? You know, when I went to the company to find William today, he saw this sweater I'm wearing and started missing you."
Thalia bit her fork and looked at William, blinking like a little rabbit. "Really?"
"Eat!" William glanced at her with a soft rebuke.
Thalia was shameless anyway and didn't care that Harper and Vaughn were present. "If you miss me, just say so! Look at you - so many days without even calling me. How am I supposed to know if you miss me or not!"
So many days without a phone call?
Vaughn caught the key point in Thalia's words. "How many days has it been since he contacted you?"
Thalia thought about it. "About ten days!"
Wasn't that exactly when William and Selene's scandal broke?
William had thought that, seeing him and Thalia getting along well, Vaughn might let him off the hook today and spare him the scolding.
But he didn't expect Thalia to deliberately stir up trouble.
"Come upstairs with me."
Seeing Vaughn's face darken, Harper grabbed him. "Let's eat first, Thalia's still here!"
"What's wrong?" Thalia asked, blinking. This question was like fanning the flames - she couldn't help it, she really wanted to watch the drama unfold.
William's expression remained unchanged, but his slender fingers slipped under the table into Thalia's sweater, sliding along her soft, pale thigh upward, stopping where they shouldn't.
Though he did nothing more, Thalia felt her heart racing with alarm.
William's rough fingertips rubbed the tender flesh of her inner thigh, making her itch but not daring to say anything.
Thalia's hair stood on end. She glanced sideways at William, and the man shot her a warning look.
As if telling her to think carefully before speaking.
Thalia was like a cat with its fur standing up, stammering, "Maybe... maybe we should eat first! If it gets cold, the kitchen will have to make it all over again."
Amara was puzzled.
Harper followed Thalia's lead and tugged at Vaughn's sleeve. "Thalia's right, let's eat first."
Seeing Vaughn sit down, Thalia reached under the table to push away the hand on her thigh.
And stomped hard on his foot under the table.
...
In early November, Emerald City's temperature plummeted. A violent storm cut the city's temperature in half.
The rain poured from six in the evening until ten at night without stopping. The media was full of reports about traffic jams and rear-end collisions.
In the living room of the Brown Mansion, tea was brewing on the coffee table, and the TV was playing the news.
William wore a thin white shirt, his tie gone, the top two buttons undone, revealing his collarbone. His cufflinks were undone, sleeves rolled up to his forearms.
One hand rested on his knee for support, the other lifted the teapot to pour tea.
"Why don't you stay the night! This rain is coming down hard; who knows when it'll stop. The wind's strong, the rain's heavy, it's dark and the roads are far - safety first." Harper looked at William, her tone inquiring.
She was always polite with William, and even her words of concern came out as questions.
"Why are you asking him? Ask Thalia! When his wife's around, he has no will of his own." Amara saw right through it.
As soon as the words left her mouth, before Thalia could respond, the man nodded calmly and handed the teacup to her. "I'll listen to Thalia."
With that doting tone and William's every move, who would think he was a cheater with scandals flying everywhere?
"I'm fine with either."
Harper's face lit up at Thalia's words. Ever since she and Vaughn decided to spend their lives together, William rarely came back to the Brown Mansion. In the past, he would stay over after their Wednesday family dinners, but after marrying Thalia, he stopped staying even on Wednesdays.
Today, he was finally staying over.
She had to arrange everything properly.
"I'll take the servants upstairs to clean your room again and change the sheets and bedding to fresh ones."
"Don't trouble yourself, it's fine as it is," Thalia said, trying to stop her. They had just come down from upstairs and hadn't noticed anything dirty in the bedroom.
"It's no trouble, I'll go check again."
As soon as Harper went upstairs, Vaughn called William into the study. Only Amara and Thalia were left in the living room.
On the other side, Amara nudged her. "At the dinner table just now, were you threatened?"
Thalia picked up her cup somewhat unnaturally and took a sip. "No way."
"Then why were you helping William? Not watching the drama unfold - that's not like you at all!"
"First, tell me what's going on. What happened?"
Hearing Thalia ask this, Amara was shocked and shot up from the sofa. "Holy shit! You don't know?"