Chapter 513 Homewrecker
"Why are you so sure that after William makes a move on Sean, Dione will definitely come to Emerald City?"
"Nobody wants to dirty their own hands."
Dione hadn't killed off the Jimenez family all those years - not because she couldn't, but because some people deserved to die, just not by her own hand. Given her position at the time, she had family above her and children below.
She had to think ahead and consider the bigger picture.
Killing the Jimenezes directly would certainly exact revenge, but once it came to light, it wouldn't do her any good.
Nobody wanted to be labeled as someone who betrayed trust and ignored basic human decency.
Dione wanted people dead, but she also wanted to keep her own hands clean.
Now that William was making his move, wouldn't she jump at the chance to get involved?
"Thalia, when it came to scheming and strategy, I really couldn't match you."
With this one move, Thalia dealt with Sean, fulfilled her promise to go after Eileen, and ended up holding leverage over Dione - all of it were part of Thalia's calculations.
Beneath that innocent actress's exterior lay a mind that thought of everything.
How could William not lose his composure?
"No scheming needed, just do as you're told." After saying this, Thalia hung up. She had a company event to attend that night - the show with Gregory was about to air, and her schedule had been packed lately.
"Gregory was already downstairs at the company."
"You didn't let him come up?"
"Layla said he didn't ask to," Isla responded to Thalia.
Thalia wore a black dress that day, casual in style, with red heels - very fitting for her character's post-transformation image in the show. As she headed downstairs to get in the van, Gregory's car door opened.
Luca's face appeared, beaming at Thalia. "Thalia, come ride with us!"
Thalia glanced at Layla, and only after seeing her nod did she bend down and get into Gregory's van.
"Long time no see, Gregory."
"You saw each other - you guys played games together just yesterday," Luca replied.
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it you who played games with me yesterday?"
Luca laughed sheepishly. "I'm terrible at it. You kept yelling at me. Gregory couldn't stand watching, so he played a few rounds for me."
"I..." Luca paused. Seeing Thalia, he went into chatterbox mode. Just as he was about to say more, he caught Gregory's cold stare and immediately shut up.
"Are they done filming that show you were working on?"
"March, after the New Year. Gregory, what were you thinking?"
"The company bought the rights to a novel and was planning to adapt it. Wondering if you'd be interested." As Gregory spoke, he pulled two thick books from a side compartment and handed them to her. When Thalia took them and saw the cover, she looked at Gregory in shock.
"You've read it?" Gregory asked.
"More than that - I read this in high school during class. Teachers confiscated seven or eight copies from me."
Back then, when she was chasing after William and couldn't find common ground, she'd constantly tell him stories from this novel.
Thinking about it now, she really had done such foolish things back then.
She was truly persistent - most people would have given up after having one copy confiscated. Money really did make the difference.
"Interested?"
"Absolutely! Talk to Layla about it."
The car stopped downstairs. Thalia and Gregory got out of the van together, and instantly, screams erupted from the surrounding fans.
Thalia raised her hand to greet them.
"Thalia is so beautiful!"
"They looked so good together!"
Gregory stayed half a step behind Thalia, following closely in a protective stance. While the person involved didn't notice, the fans instantly went wild, immediately posting on Facebook.
Within half an hour, the two were trending.
........
"Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown is next door."
On the company's top floor, William was having tea in the chairman's office, discussing work, when Finn pushed the door open with this news. The man looked somewhat surprised.
"Mrs. Brown and Gregory's show had started airing. There was an event that day, and it was being held at a nearby villa."
"What kind of event would be held in a villa?" William, having spent so long in business circles, couldn't help but associate villa events with those shady places involving power and sex.
"Seemed like a promotional tour, with host interviews and such," Finn responded vaguely.
Hearing the word "seemed," William's expression darkened.
"I'll go find out right away." Finn realized he hadn't done his job properly and immediately went to handle it.
About three to five minutes later, after asking Layla, he returned and whispered, "Asked Layla - she said it was work-related, a promotional tour plus interviews."
William nodded. He didn't like too many men around Thalia, but her stubborn personality couldn't be changed overnight.
The man lost interest in work, wrapped things up with a few words, and without having the driver bring the car, walked over to Thalia's location with Finn.
At the interview location specially selected by the organizers, Thalia and Gregory held microphones, responding to the host's questions.
"I'd seen many clips online. I heard you two had a wet scene this time?"
Just as Thalia was about to answer openly, she looked up and saw a familiar figure standing at the door, making her freeze.
Why was William here?
Isla, standing on the outer edge, was also startled.
William showing up there; wasn't this basically grabbing Thalia by the throat?
"Ms. Smith?"
"Yes," Thalia turned her head away from William's line of sight. To others, it looked like she was hiding embarrassment, but she knew - it was pure guilt.
"I heard the kissing scenes reached a new high in your acting career?"
Thalia thought, 'Can you ask about something else?'
The interview was tightly paced, ending after half an hour.
As it wrapped up, Thalia was covered in sweat.
When she stood up, her legs gave out, and she nearly fell to the ground.
Beside her, people in the studio gasped at the scene. Gregory, standing next to her, reached out to help her, but before his outstretched hand could touch her, someone intercepted it.
Looking up again, the trembling, terrified woman was pulled into someone's arms.
In William's deep eyes swirled wild, dangerous whirlpools that seemed to burn Gregory. That one look felt like it pierced into his soul. Gregory inexplicably felt like a homewrecker who'd stolen someone's wife, and had been caught red-handed in public.
Gasps rose and fell all around.
"What's going on? Who is this guy?"
"William Brown," someone explained.
"So the news was true?"
"Whether it was true didn't matter; what mattered was could we take photos now?"
Someone in the crowd fidgeted, itching to pull out their phone to take pictures.
Someone grabbed their camera lens and warned quietly, "If you want to die, don't drag us down with you. Do you think we can afford to mess with William?"