In the rain, under the umbrella,
their shoulders pressed close.
It was damp and humid…
Yet there was no way to escape.
Although Silas Thorne had already removed his hand from her shoulder, the warmth of his palm lingered through her thin clothes, surprisingly hot.
The boundary-crossing distance and excessive intimacy made her vaguely recall the day they registered their marriage.
It had been raining just as hard that day.
He held the umbrella, pulling her into his arms so naturally.
Joyce Monroe felt awkward, but he simply said:
“Mrs.
Thorne, we’re husband and wife.
It’s normal to be close.”
Joyce Monroe pressed her lips together and replied, “It’s just for show.
We’re a fake couple.”
Silas Thorne said softly, “Once the certificate is signed, nothing is fake.”
Joyce Monroe’s heart skipped a beat.
She stared at him in disbelief, but Silas Thorne just explained calmly, “I’m speaking from a legal standpoint.
Once you’re registered, you’re a real married couple.”
‘He wasn’t wrong.’
After seeing the marriage certificate, her grandfather’s health did improve, but his life had simply run its course.
He only managed to hold on for another half a month.
Although it was a hidden marriage, Silas Thorne helped a great deal with her grandfather’s funeral.
Since he was her brother’s best friend, his presence didn’t attract too much attention.
Thinking back…
‘Silas Thorne really was a good man.’
‘For someone with her brother’s personality to befriend him meant he had been carefully vetted.
He had to be exceptional in every way.’
But Joyce Monroe had just been burned by love, and to make matters worse, she’d unintentionally heard that he had an old flame whose eyes were very much like her own…
That was why before she left Northgate, she had specifically sought out Silas Thorne to draw up a three-year contract.
She still clearly remembered the look in Silas Thorne’s eyes back then:
Direct and sharp.
It was unsettling.
Joyce Monroe braced herself and said, “Is the term too long?
How about…
two years?”
“We just got married, and you’re already thinking about divorce?”
“I’m worried you’ll meet a woman you like, and I’ll be holding you back.
Besides, in three years, you should have a firm grasp on the company’s affairs.”
“How thoughtful of you.”
“After all, this is a marriage of convenience for us.”
“So, once you don’t need me anymore, you’re just going to cast me aside?”
The look in his eyes made her feel like a heartless woman who uses a man and then tosses him aside without a second thought.
This marriage had been for her grandfather’s sake.
To want to kick him to the curb right after the old man passed away really was inappropriate.
But in the end, Silas Thorne signed the agreement anyway.
However, he never showed up for her farewell dinner.
On the day she left Northgate, he only sent her a two-word text:
“Safe travels.”
Now, on another rainy day, hearing similar words, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the past.
Her thoughts were pulled back to the present when a hand suddenly tightened on her wrist, and Silas Thorne’s voice rang out, “What are you thinking about?
You’re not even watching where you’re going.
There’s a puddle ahead.”
Only then did Joyce Monroe notice the standing water.
“Thank you, Mr.
Thorne.”
Silas Thorne gave a faint grunt of acknowledgment and released her hand.
“You were coming to visit my grandmother, why didn’t you give me a heads-up?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“I heard from Mrs.
Zimmerman that your grandmother treats you very well.
As your husband, it’s only right that I pay her a visit.”
“There are other guests at home today,” Joyce Monroe reminded him, a subtle warning not to expose their hidden marriage.
“Guests?”
Silas Thorne’s peripheral vision caught someone standing under the eaves of the corridor not far away.
When he looked up, his gaze met the other person’s directly.
Julian Griffin was holding a folded umbrella, inwardly fuming:
‘Who is this damn man with Joyce Monroe!’
The moment their eyes met, Silas’s gaze swept over him, coolly and indifferently, yet filled with a sharp chill.
It made Julian’s heart flutter with inexplicable panic.
By the time he snapped out of it, the two were already walking over under the umbrella.
The man was very tall, with long legs and broad shoulders.
Standing next to him, Julian Griffin felt as insignificant as dust.
This person, in both looks and bearing, was clearly no ordinary man.
“Joyce,” her grandmother hurried out of the house.
“You must be soaked.
You silly child, running out into the courtyard just to take a call…”
Her words of reprimand died on her lips when she saw Silas Thorne.
She paused for a few seconds.
“And you are?”
“Mrs.
Monroe, hello.”
“Please forgive my unannounced visit.
I’m Silas Thorne, a friend of Kian’s.
I happen to be in Graymoor on business, and I’ve often heard him speak of you, so I wanted to pay my respects.
I’m very sorry for not calling ahead.”
Humble, polite, and thoroughly refined.
The old woman immediately understood who he was.
Julian Griffin’s eyes widened in shock.
This was the actual man in power of the Thorne Family of Northgate, their youngest leader.
No wonder his aura was so sharp, inspiring both admiration and fear.
‘Looks like dumping Ina Sutton and cozying up to Joyce Monroe was the right move,’ he thought.
‘Even the people who just show up around her are powerful figures far beyond his reach.’
After a brief pause, the old woman smiled.
“Ah, so you’re Kian’s friend.”
Joyce Monroe’s older brother had taken their mother’s surname, so he was called Kian Jacobs.
Because their parents had divorced early, they had different surnames and didn’t live together.
Especially in Northgate, many people didn’t even know they were biological siblings.
And who didn’t want to curry favor with the Thorne Family of Northgate?
At that moment, Quentin Walsh and Felix Dalton came in, holding umbrellas and carrying gifts.
“Just having you here is enough, you shouldn’t have brought gifts!
Hurry inside, your clothes are all wet.”
Mrs.
Monroe frowned.
Joyce Monroe was mostly fine, but one side of Silas Thorne’s body was almost completely soaked.
“Get inside, quick.
I’ll have someone find you a set of dry clothes.”
“There’s no need to go to such trouble,” Silas Thorne politely declined.
“How could I not?
If you catch a cold in our home, Kian will blame me for being a poor hostess.
Even if you don’t change, you should at least dry off a bit.” Mrs.
Monroe insisted, so Silas Thorne agreed and was led to a guest room by a maid.
Due to the height difference, her father’s clothes wouldn’t fit him.
Joyce Monroe went to her younger brother’s room and got a new, unworn set of clothes.
As she was about to take them to him, her grandmother stopped her.
“Why don’t…
I take the clothes to him?” Julian Griffin offered.
‘He hadn’t even had a chance to introduce himself earlier.
If he didn’t make an impression on a powerful figure like Silas Thorne today, he might never get a second chance in his lifetime.’
Seeing that her grandmother wanted to talk, Joyce Monroe handed the clothes to Julian Griffin.
“Grandma?” she asked, looking at the old woman.
“I just wanted to ask you what Mr.
Thorne likes to eat.
It’s rare for him to visit, so we can’t be impolite or neglectful.”
「Guest Room」
Quentin Walsh and Felix Dalton were at the door.
Julian Griffin, feeling anxious, knocked and entered only after getting their approval.
The air conditioning in this room was stronger than elsewhere.
A wave of cold washed over him, making him shiver involuntarily.
Silas Thorne had taken off his jacket.
His white shirt, with a few buttons undone, was damp from the rain, clinging loosely to his body and vaguely outlining his physique, full of tension.
He was sitting on a black leather sofa.
Outside, heavy clouds gathered, and raindrops pelted the window like shattered jade falling onto a plate.
The light in the room was dim, the only brightness coming from the glowing tip of the cigarette between his fingers.
Sullen, gloomy, untamed.
He was a completely different person from the gentle and refined man from just moments ago.
The next second, the door was suddenly slammed shut.
The sound made Julian Griffin gulp nervously.
“Mr-Mr.
Thorne, I’m here to bring you the clothes.”
Silas Thorne didn’t say a word.
“My name is Julian Griffin.
I was Joyce’s high school classmate.”
“Julian Griffin?” Silas Thorne raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You’ve…
heard of me?” Julian Griffin was overjoyed.
“I’m just a nobody.
I don’t deserve such high praise from you.”
“Yesterday, I was having dinner at a hotel and happened to see you fighting with a girl.
You even got the police involved.” Silas Thorne said it casually, but Julian Griffin’s face turned beet red.
“It’s not often you see a man and a woman come to blows.
It left quite an impression.”
“I, I…
I was supposed to have dinner with Joyce last night.
I don’t know how that girl found me.
She and I have some…
romantic entanglements, which led to a bit of a conflict.”
“You like Joyce?
You’re trying to pursue her?” Silas Thorne’s bluntness stunned Julian Griffin.
He stammered, not denying it.
Silas Thorne took a drag from his cigarette and flicked the ash.
As it fell, the ember flared and dimmed.
He scoffed, “You?”
“You think you’re worthy?”