Chapter 822 Are You Here to Catch Someone Cheating Tonight?

Chapter 822 Are You Here to Catch Someone Cheating Tonight?

"Where is she?" William's face was cold and stern.

Isla answered, "She's inside."

"Mr. Brown, don't worry. Thalia hasn't been back to the company in ages. She's just having a meal with everyone today, catching up, nothing out of line."

Hearing Isla's explanation, William's expression softened a bit.

His steps toward the door stopped right there.

It felt like catching someone in the act only to find out it was all a misunderstanding.

The man reined in his emotions. If it weren't for Isla's words, he would have stormed in furiously, which definitely would have upset Thalia. "Go tell her I'm at the door."

"Got it, I'll go right in." Isla's back went numb as she nodded repeatedly.

When she found Thalia, she was listlessly propping her chin, watching a few young guys roll dice.

"Stop playing, let's go."

"Go where?" Thalia asked.

"Mr. Brown is here."

Thalia replied, "So what if he's here? I haven't done anything wrong."

Isla draped Thalia's coat over her arm. "He's at the door. If you don't go out, and he comes in, how are your colleagues supposed to keep having fun?"

"Throwing me out to deal with the trouble?" Thalia got it.

"Be good."

Thalia wrapped herself in her coat and came out of the bar, her bare ankles exposed to the air.

The cold wind blew, giving her goosebumps instantly.

In the distance, William stood at the bar entrance.

His posture was straight and sharp, his expression easygoing as he chatted with an older man in a black jacket, a faint smile on his face.

Perhaps the man said something that pleased him, because his smile grew broader.

As Thalia approached, she heard the old man say, "I really envy your father's life. I thought it would be good enough if he just got married, but who knew, even after marriage he'd choose to be childfree."

"Everyone has their own aspirations. You can't force it."

"Isn't that the truth! At my age, I should learn from you young people to be more laid-back. No grandkids for me, so I'll just have to go cuddle other people's."

William heard footsteps behind him, turned to look, and reached out his hand toward Thalia, his gaze casually sweeping over her ankles.

"Let me introduce you, this is Zoey, my dad's colleague."

"My wife, Thalia."

"Hello," Thalia greeted politely.

The other person smiled in response.

After chatting for a bit, they waved goodbye.

William glanced behind Thalia, his tone casual. "Had enough fun?"

Thalia rolled her eyes at him, stuck her hands in her pockets, and turned to leave. "Don't bring your bossy work attitude home. I won't put up with it."

"And you think you're in the right?" William found her last remark somewhat amusing.

Before he could even start, she'd already slapped him down.

"You can go to business dinners but I can't? Does the law say men and women are different?"

Thalia was fired up now. Seeing things going south, William quickly backed down. "Alright, alright, my fault. Calm down."

Finn followed at a distance, taking in their entire conversation.

He'd always felt that William's greatest skill was focusing only on the goal.

As long as the goal was achieved, what did it matter if he had to lower his head or bend his back?

Just like today. His goal was to pick up Thalia and bring her home.

Mission accomplished. In the process, lowering his head, admitting fault, sweet-talking her, or getting told off by her—none of it mattered.

"What's he doing here?" Thalia's confusion was understandable. An old man, retired but rehired, a teacher—and here on a bar street. These things together were indeed pretty odd.

"A student got drunk and caused trouble. Someone called the police, and they contacted him to come bail the kid out."

"Oh," Thalia responded. "Same neighborhood?"

"You've met him. He lives across the hall in the staff building. He laughed at you several times when you came to my door."

"Him?" Thalia was surprised. "That bad old man."

William was speechless.

Bad old man?

The guy wasn't bad at all.

If he were really bad, William wouldn't have chatted with him for so long.

Back when Thalia was chasing him in high school, she'd show up at his door all the time.

After failing to catch him several times, she got stubborn, stood at his door like a mule and refused to leave. Zoey from across the hall saw her, brought her a chair, gave her water, and even shared fruit with her.

Once or twice was fine.

But after it happened repeatedly, Thalia felt wronged.

One day, when she showed up in the pouring rain, Zoey said with a half-smile, "Miss, you're trying so hard but you still haven't managed to win him over!"

Hearing that, Thalia felt so wronged she stood at the door and burst into tears.

Thunder, rain, and crying mixed together, earth-shattering, the whole building heard it.

By the time the gossip reached Vaughn's ears, it had turned into William bullying a young girl who came to his door seeking an explanation but didn't get one, and cried her eyes out.

When Vaughn came home from work, he beat William up on the spot.

He still remembered it vividly.

The next day he limped to school and got mocked by her.

"He's not as bad as you," William said as he opened the car door, gesturing for Thalia to get in.

The warm air hit her, and Thalia sighed comfortably.

Walking out of that alley with bare legs in the dead of winter was pure torture.

"Mr. Brown, when you become capable enough, can you install air conditioning for the whole Earth?"

William gave a cold laugh. "Don't worry."

He took off his coat and draped it over her legs. "I won't have that ability even when I die."

Thalia leaned back comfortably in her seat and hummed. "Then I'll have to get a new husband."

"Go ahead and switch. When you find a husband who can install air conditioning for the Earth, remember to bring him to show off in front of me so I can broaden my horizons."

William reached over and pulled the coat off her legs. Thalia said, "What are you doing?"

"You're getting a new husband, so why are you using my coat?"

The man glanced at her. "Freeze then!"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You're so petty."

William gave a cold laugh.

In the driver's seat, Finn gripped the steering wheel, holding back laughter, his shoulders shaking like a sieve.

The car drove all the way toward Mistwood Hill. Thalia turned to face William. He'd been drinking, and the faint smell of alcohol wafted over. The flickering streetlights made it hard to read his emotions. "Thalia."

"You came to catch me cheating tonight, didn't you?"