Joyce Monroe froze on the spot.
'This statement...'
'How was she supposed to respond to that?'
'Could it be that last night, besides pinning him down, I also forced a kiss on him? Did I go so far as to go full-on beast mode, so completely depraved that I bit his lip open?'
'Oh, heavens, is the universe trying to kill me?'
"You passed out drunk on me and wouldn't let go of my tie." Silas Thorne was unhurriedly adding caramel cubes to his coffee as he explained why he'd brought her to the hotel.
"You said I was your husband. I was afraid you'd spout more nonsense in your drunken state and be overheard by someone else, so I had no choice but to bring you back here first."
After all, their marriage was a secret.
He said it so casually, but Joyce wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
It was just too embarrassing!
She picked up her coffee and took a sip. It had just been brewed, with nothing added, and it was so bitter her throat tightened.
"Do you want to add some sugar?" Silas Thorne asked.
"No, thanks." Drinking it black helped with swelling and was a good pick-me-up.
Joyce watched him continue to add sugar to his own coffee and raised an eyebrow slightly. She had never seen a man add so much sugar to his coffee.
As they were talking, Silas Thorne got up and went to the guest room, returning with two gift boxes that he handed to her. "One is a birthday present from your brother, and the other is from me. Happy birthday."
Receiving gifts was naturally a happy occasion. Joyce quickly stood up and took them with both hands. "Thank you, Mr. Thorne."
Joyce opened them. One was a set of jewelry, with a handwritten card from her brother inside the box.
In the other box was a small, exquisitely framed piece of embroidery depicting flowers and birds.
It was from the Qing dynasty, an antique that had to be worth at least seven figures.
Her heart suddenly clenched, because…
Silas Thorne actually knew what she liked?
"What's wrong? You don't like my gift?" Silas Thorne observed the change in her expression.
"I love it. Thank you for going to such trouble."
"We're husband and wife."
"..."
Joyce only gave a faint hum in response.
Even in a marriage of alliance, devoid of love, he was so thoughtful in his actions. No wonder that when she was to be married to Silas Thorne, neither her parents nor her brother had objected.
He…
...really was a good man.
Joyce examined the small embroidery piece, unable to put it down. Her phone vibrated with a group chat notification:
[The Sutton Family was frantically searching for someone last night. They said Ina Sutton was missing and were afraid she'd been kidnapped. But guess what happened?]
[She was at a bar last night, met some guy, and the two of them went out into the wilderness and… you know…]
[But as luck would have it, they were discovered. They got so scared they dropped and broke their phones, their tires were slashed, and in the pitch dark, they couldn't even find where the car keys went. The two lovebirds ended up spending the night in the middle of nowhere.]
[The Sutton Family has already clarified it's a false rumor, saying she just got drunk and spent the night at a friend's house. But I think it's totally true.]
...
Joyce saw the group messages and was stunned.
'The middle of nowhere?'
She remembered what she had casually said to Silas Thorne, then immediately looked up at him. "What happened to Ina Sutton… was that you?"
Silas Thorne didn't answer directly. He just sipped his coffee. "Feel better?"
Joyce stared blankly for a few seconds.
'He… he's…'
'He admitted it!'
'What if he gets caught?'
As if reading her mind, he spoke. "Don't worry, it was done discreetly. No one will find out. Since she likes being out in the wild so much, I just gave her a little push in that direction."
His tone was casual, yet arrogant.
It was as if…
...he did this kind of thing often.
"Even if it's traced back to me, she was the one who provoked you first. The Sutton Family wouldn't dare cause trouble for me. Besides, with their own daughter's indiscretions, they wouldn't dare make a big deal out of it."
His words were domineering, yet they stirred something in her heart.
But then Joyce heard him continue, "If your brother had been here last night and found out she was deliberately causing trouble on your birthday, he wouldn't have let her off easy either. And as for that recent gossip about your ex-boyfriend, she was fanning the flames behind the scenes."
'So that's why…'
'He did it for my brother's sake?'
However, Joyce hadn't known that the gossip about her ex-boyfriend and stepsister had blown up so quickly because Ina had a hand in it. 'She totally deserved it.'
"Also, your ex-boyfriend called you last night," Silas Thorne said nonchalantly.
"Who?" Joyce checked her call history and froze for a few seconds.
But her hand holding the phone tightened unconsciously.
"He heard you call me your husband and got emotional. He kept calling back, so I took the liberty of blocking his number."
Silas Thorne sipped his coffee, but his gaze was fixed on her, observing her expression. A strange look flashed across Joyce's face as she looked at him. "He didn't say anything crazy to you, did he?"
"Not really," Silas Thorne said, seemingly casual. "Are you two still in touch?"
"No. After we broke up, I only saw him once at my maternal grandfather's funeral. We just said hello. After the funeral, my brother beat him up and sent him to the hospital. You were there at the time."
"I remember."
"Right, when my brother started fighting, why didn't you stop him?"
"Felt bad for your ex-boyfriend?"
"I was worried he'd beat him to death and ruin my brother's bright future."
"Don't worry. Your brother knows how to hold back. He would've left him breathing."
"..."
'Listen to him. When other people's friends fight, they try to mediate. But him? Not only did he condone it, he basically fanned the flames and acted as a lookout.'
"Your brother said he'd cut ties with anyone who dared to stop him. In the end, though, I was the one who called 911 for your ex-boyfriend," Silas Thorne continued. "He also said to wish you a happy birthday."
Joyce just gave a bitter smile, scoffing internally:
'Is he out of his mind?'
'He was the one who said we weren't a good fit and broke up back then. Can't he just let us both live our separate lives in peace now?'
She gritted her teeth inwardly. 'What a mess!'
She was just trying to celebrate her birthday, and suddenly her husband, whom she barely knew, shows up, and her ex-boyfriend, whom she hadn't seen in two years, crawls out of the woodwork. But the crucial thing was…
...in one single night, she had completely and utterly embarrassed herself.
She'd even lost her first kiss.
Joyce stole a glance at Silas Thorne. The cut on his thin lips was exceptionally obvious.
But Silas Thorne just continued to drink his coffee, his face betraying no emotion.
——
Just then, Quentin Walsh and Felix Dalton knocked and entered. They handed a bag of clothes to Joyce and were holding some documents, talking with Silas Thorne about a certain development and acquisition project.
It was a business secret, so Joyce was about to get up to give them some privacy and change her clothes when she heard Silas Thorne say, "You haven't finished your breakfast."
"Aren't you about to discuss work?"
"There's nothing you can't hear. You're not an outsider."
Joyce had no interest in business matters, so she lowered her head and continued to scroll through her phone. In every group chat, everyone was discussing Ina Sutton.
"Is my father-in-law not in Graymoor?" Silas Thorne asked suddenly, flipping through the documents.
"He's abroad. He should be back in a few days," Joyce replied.
"So no one is home?"
"My sister is performing overseas, and my dad and Ms. Hughes went to support her. My younger brother went to the Saros Continent for summer camp. So, no one is home at the moment." As Joyce spoke, she took another sip of coffee. "As for my grandmother, she doesn't know I'm married…"
"I heard from your brother that you don't live at home?"
"Yeah, I live on my own. It's more convenient for work, and it's quiet."
"I have to go on a business trip now. I'm heading to the neighboring city of Oakhaven to discuss a project. It'll probably take three to five days."
Joyce nodded in acknowledgment.
She grumbled inwardly:
'We're just in a marriage of convenience, the non-interference kind. You don't have to report your schedule to me.'
"Well, I wish you a successful trip."
Joyce took a sip of coffee, sighing in appreciation:
'Freshly ground coffee really is so much better than instant.'
But in the next second,
her smile vanished.
Because Silas Thorne said:
"When I get back from my trip, would you mind if I stayed with you?"