“What, are we just going to give up?” Denise asked with a helpless expression after leaving Thalia's room.
“Anthony would never give up so easily!” Benjamin replied calmly.
“As much as I hate to admit it, Benjamin does know me very well,” Anthony said.
“Then why did you stop questioning her?” Denise asked.
“Thalia may seem all carefree and gullible, but she's actually incredibly smart about what she says. She only tells us stuff that she wants us to hear. She wouldn't disclose any information that she doesn't feel like disclosing or isn't allowed to disclose. I mean, she's professionally trained to resist interrogation! There's no way a bunch of kids like us could ever get her to tell us anything against her will!” Anthony explained.
Denise nodded in agreement after hearing that. “I suppose you're right... What should we do, then? We're not going to just leave this be, are we?”
“Leave this be? Do I look like the kind of person who would do such a thing?” Anthony asked.
“Wow! You look a lot like Daddy when you said that, Tony!” Denise exclaimed.
Anthony narrowed his eyes. “I look really cool, don't I?”
“You know what? Forget I said anything...”
Anthony decided to stop teasing her as he continued, “Spencer, Dave, and Thalia are the key individuals we should focus on. Daddy and Nat aren't going to tell us anything, so we can just ignore them and focus on the above three. We've tested Thalia and confirmed that she definitely knows something. She just won't tell us about it.”
“So?”
“So, we will have to split up to make this work.”
“What will we do?”
“We'll each pick one of the three and try to find out whatever we can from them. It'll be a lot more effective to attack them all at once instead of focusing on one at a time. That should somewhat increase our chances of success,” Anthony explained.
Benjamin nodded in approval. “That makes sense.”
Denise nodded as well. “All right, then. I'll go along with your plan.”
“Right now, we need to decide on how we pick our targets,” Anthony said.
Benjamin and Denise knew exactly what he meant. “I'll pick Mr. Dave! Just a few days ago, he was talking about taking me in as his goddaughter. He won't be on guard when dealing with me!” Denise proposed.
Anthony nodded. “That sounds good.”
“I'll go with Thalia, then?” Benjamin asked.
“Yeah. She likes you the most, so she should drop her guard when she's with you. I'd say you have a very high chance at getting that information out of her.”
“You get Spencer, then?”
“Spencer and I aren't that close, but I can still give it a shot,” Anthony replied with a frown.
“Tony, I think your chances of success are low regardless of who you pick. You just give off that impression that you want something out of others whenever you approach them,” Denise commented.
Of course, Anthony knew that very well. “Yeah, because I'm born with an air of excellence. It's not easy being so great.”
“Come on, Denise. Let's go grab a snack downstairs,” Benjamin said.
“Yeah, let's go!” Denise was quick to go along with his suggestion.
Anthony glared at them as he said, “I know you two don't want to admit it, but it's the truth.”
Benjamin and Denise ignored him and continued walking toward the stairs.
“Hey, wait up! What are you guys going to eat? Wait for me!” he shouted while running after them.
Natasha went over to Thalia's room as usual that afternoon.
Thalia was sitting on the bed and staring blankly into space when she came in through the door.
She quickly put her phone down when she saw Natasha come in. “How are you doing? Are you all right?”
“What do you mean?” Natasha asked as she made her way over to the bed.
“Denise told me that you fainted while you were outside today. Are you...” Thalia was about to say something but held herself back in the end.
Natasha let out a chuckle. “Oh, Denise and her big mouth... I didn't think she'd tell you about it so soon!”
“She's worried about you, after all,” Thalia said.
Natasha sat down on the side of her bed and said with a smile, “I'm fine.”
“I was going to pay you a visit, but the kids told me that Kenneth was around, so I didn't want to disturb you two,” Thalia replied with a hesitant look on her face.
Natasha let out a sigh. “They've been taking care of me ever since I donated my blood to you.”
Thalia couldn't help but laugh when she heard that. “You seem to be living a very happy life right now.”
Natasha nodded in agreement. “You could say that.”
“Back then, I could never stand Kenneth. I felt like his good looks were all that he had. He couldn't do anything else right, and his love life was a total mess. I thought he didn't deserve to be with you at all, but he changed completely after dating you,” Thalia continued.
“Oh, you haven't seen Kenneth when he was little. Not only was he very serious and single-minded about everything, but he also trusted me unconditionally. On top of that, he treated me very well and always kept his promises. Oh, and let's not forget how handsome he is!” Natasha replied.
Thalia shot her a doubtful look. “Are you sure we're talking about the same person here?”
“Yes, we are. It's true that he has changed his ways, but I'm the only one who gets to see this other side of him!” Natasha said with a chuckle.
Thalia nodded and teased her, “Okay, now you're just flaunting your love in my face.”
“It is what you make of it,” Natasha replied.
“Who would've thought a perfectionist like you would end up flaunting your love one day, huh?”
“I just want others to see him for who he really is.”
“Oh, okay, I see how it is. You're going to defend him because you're with him now. You won't let anyone badmouth your man anymore.”
Natasha simply flashed her a faint smile without saying anything.
The look in Thalia's eyes grew serious as she suddenly called out to Natasha, “Ms. Watson.”
“Hmm?”
Thalia's tone grew increasingly melancholic as she continued, “I envy you. You courageously pursued your relationship and managed to get yourself a great man and such adorable children. You probably wouldn't have any regrets if you were to die in an accident or anything, would you?”
Natasha was taken aback when she heard that. “What? You—”
“I have so many regrets. No one has ever loved me right!”
“You still have a long way to go in life.”
Thalia shook her head. “Not really. It's probably the same as yours. At the very least, you won't be lonely.”
Natasha stared at her in confusion, but Thalia refused to explain herself.
After taking a moment to process her words, Natasha's eyes went wide as she understood what Thalia meant. “Why would you... Is it because of the blood transfusion?”
Thalia nodded.
Natasha flashed her an apologetic look. “I'm sorry, I didn't know at the time...”
“There's no need for you to apologize. Had you not helped me, I would've died of blood loss anyway. If anything, I should be thanking you for prolonging my life! At the very least, I know Spencer is into me, so I can die without too much regret,” Thalia replied. Although her tone sounded regretful, she showed no sign of anger or resentment.
After all, she was well aware that no one was at fault for what she went through in life.
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