Chapter 486 Mr. Brown, Driven Out?
"I told you someone as sharp as Rainey couldn't possibly do something that stupid. Look at this," Angelina handed the iPad in her hand to William.
He took it, glanced at the photo on the iPad, and his eyes suddenly filled with murderous intent. "Jacob?"
"Dione left, but Jacob stayed behind. And yesterday, he went to see Rainey."
"Rainey made it out of the countryside and established himself in the investment circle by being sharp. The guy's got thicker skin than Thalia. This time, even though he knew Ms. Smith was being pushed around on set, he didn't make a move. I figure he's been wavering."
"I'm guessing Dione left Jacob behind to keep you in check. After all, she's got both kids and a happy family now. If you go to Regal City, you'll destroy the happy family she's built over decades. I think Daniel had a point - to Dione, you're a permanent stain on her perfect life."
"If you were doing poorly, that'd be one thing. But now you're famous and successful, standing at the top of the pyramid - impossible to ignore."
"Just standing there, doing nothing, you're like a thorn in her throat."
William pulled open a drawer, took out a cigarette, and rolled it between his fingers, seemingly not planning to light it.
The man's eyes held a coldness Angelina rarely saw. Over the years, climbing his way to this position, keeping his emotions hidden had become second nature. After a long pause, the man suddenly spoke. "She sure has a long reach..."
"Where's Steven?"
"In Regal City."
"Get him to Emerald City."
Angelina instantly saw through William's intentions. "You want to use him to do your dirty work?"
William didn't respond directly, pulling open the drawer and tossing the cigarette back in. "It's getting late. Stay the night. Have Brian notify everyone that there's a breakfast meeting tomorrow."
"When you recruited me, you said I'd be general manager. Now I'm doing all the work a secretary should be doing."
Day after day, she even had to notify people about meetings.
William shot her a look. Angelina wanted to keep talking, but faced with the man's deadly gaze, she was forced into silence.
"First thing tomorrow, contact the bank and cut off Rainey's loan."
Angelina thought to herself, 'Someone's done for. Of all things to mess with, he messed with William's woman. Rainey's finished.'
"Thalia..."
"Thalia..."
Mistwood Hill had dedicated guest rooms. For trusted confidants like Angelina, there was even a permanent room - hers was on the third floor, right next to Amara's room.
As Angelina came out of William's study, cursing under her breath and heading upstairs, she'd only taken a couple of steps when she heard knocking on the master bedroom door on the second floor.
Angelina's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Mr. Brown, did you get kicked out?"
"Can't get in anymore, huh?"
"I knew it! After scheming against Ms. Smith like that, how could she let you off so easily?"
"I'm so jealous! Even after marriage, you still get the chance to sleep alone."
"I hope when I get married, I'll have the same opportunity."
William's face had already looked terrible, but hearing these words, it turned even more ashen.
"Get lost!"
"Right away." Angelina waved her hand and quickly turned to head upstairs. As she turned, her unrestrained laughter echoed from the third floor down to the second, reaching William's ears.
William was just thinking about asking a servant for the key when his phone rang. Seeing Thalia's number.
The man steadied his emotions and cleared his throat. "Honey."
"Stay out there! Behave yourself. If you dare climb through a window, I'll call your dad over."
She had backup now.
...
"Mr. Ward, the loan we negotiated with the bank has been blocked."
"Why? Weren't all the documents in order?"
"The documents are fine. I asked the bank, and they just said it was orders from their higher-ups, didn't give us any explanation. This matter might require you to go ask in person."
Rainey had an ominous feeling, hoping this wasn't William's doing, or the losses would be huge.
"Get the car ready." Rainey grabbed his coat and headed out, no time even for breakfast, just grabbed two sandwiches on his way out.
When he arrived at the bank, the staff kept dodging, looking at him with confused expressions. "Mr. Ward, your loan was handled personally by the branch manager. He's not here, so we can't make any decisions!"
"When will your manager be back?"
"I have no idea," the other person shook their head.
As they were talking, someone emerged from a corner and called out to him.
Rainey looked over - it was the account manager who'd initially served him.
The two found a corner to chat. "Mr. Ward, your loan was basically a done deal, but I heard last night someone called the manager, and that's when..."
The young man hesitated, then changed tack. "Mr. Ward, think about it - have you offended anyone recently?"
Offended anyone?
That would only be William.
He just hadn't expected William to move so fast.
In just a few hours, before he'd even figured out how to make amends, William's fury had already come crashing down.
"How'd it go?" When Rainey came out of the bank, his people started asking.
He shook his head. "Mr. Brown's doing."
"Should we go find Ms. Smith?"
...
"Was that Thalia just now? I thought she wasn't coming today."
"She has scenes today, why wouldn't she come?"
"Last night's incident..."
"Shut up," the person beside him glared. "Don't you know the situation? Did you forget what the investor told us last night?"
"Besides, this was the director's fault to begin with. What does it have to do with Thalia? What celebrity doesn't have rumors? Just recently, there was a male star caught with prostitutes, wasn't there? It's just a rumor, and the director uses his power to make things hard for her. When has Thalia ever been anything but dedicated on set?"
"People in the crew have been talking privately these past few days."
"You'd better keep last night to yourself. Actually, if you still want to work with the director, keep everything from these past few days to yourself."
"Thalia, you're up."
Thalia was touching up her makeup in the van when the production assistant came to call her.
Today's scene was by the river. Thalia got out of the car in a thin dress and shivered from the river breeze.
"Thalia, want to add a layer?"
"No need, the costume designer matched this. Adding more wouldn't look right."
"We can adapt to the environment! Add another layer! Otherwise you might catch a cold."
Thalia was speechless.
"John, are you seeing these people's true colors now?"