Start by Calling Me Husband 25: Chapter 25: Try Making It Real?
Start by Calling Me Husband His words made Joyce Monroe’s heart stop and threw her thoughts into chaos.
She stiffly turned her head to look at Silas Thorne.
Her expression was a mask of pure shock and astonishment, completely out of her control.
The car was in motion.
Beneath the curtain of rain, the streetlights were hazy, their glow filtering through the water-streaked windows.
It was like an old silent film, the light inside the car flickering between dim and dark.
Silas Thorne was steeped in the dark shadows, his expression unreadable.
“Mr…
Mr.
Thorne, what did you just say?”
“You didn’t hear me?”
“Yeah.” Joyce Monroe even began to wonder if something was wrong with her hearing.
As she watched, Silas Thorne slowly leaned closer.
The car’s interior felt cramped and confining as the cool air he seemed to carry with him spread out, wrapping around her…
His eyes, full of a startling tenderness, were fixed on her.
His voice was soft and gentle.
“Joyce, have you ever considered…”
“Turning this act into reality with me.”
The rain began to fall harder, the chaotic drops drumming against the window like scattered pearls, and Joyce Monroe felt her heart thrumming in time with the rhythm.
He leaned even closer, his breath hot as it brazenly invaded her space.
Their eyes met.
His gaze was gentle, but Joyce Monroe was clearly flustered.
She looked away and forced a laugh.
“Mr.
Thorne, our marriage is fake, so…
so…”
Her mind was a whirlwind, making it impossible to think.
‘A contract marriage.
Just for show.’
‘Turn the act into reality?’
‘What about the divorce we’re supposed to get in a year?’
‘I’m just a substitute, someone with eyes that resemble his one true love.’
But Silas Thorne was already extremely close.
His voice was a low murmur by her ear, melting into a scorching heat as he asked, “So what?”
“We signed an agreement!” Joyce Monroe’s heart pounded, but she forced herself to stay calm and rational.
“You’re too formal with me.”
“Am I?”
‘We’re not that close to begin with.
Being formal is normal.’
“You said it yourself—Mrs.
Zimmerman will tell your father everything.
Now that I’ve moved in, she’ll definitely report the details of how we get along to him.
Sleeping in separate rooms is understandable if the feelings aren’t there yet, but in other respects…
shouldn’t we try to make things as authentic as possible?”
Silas Thorne continued, “And what your father knows will sooner or later get back to my family.”
“We’re married now.
You probably don’t want our families asking about our love life.”
“So, what you mean by ‘turning this act into reality’ is…” Joyce Monroe frowned.
“To act like a real couple.
Get to know each other, go on dates, build a connection.”
Joyce Monroe’s eyes widened in understanding.
‘Oh, so that’s what he meant.’
‘That gave me a scare.
I thought he meant…’
Right after they got their marriage license, Silas Thorne had given her a bank card.
A fixed allowance was deposited for her living expenses on the 10th of every month.
Joyce Monroe didn’t need the money, but it’s hard to say no when you’re on someone’s payroll.
For the duration of their contract, it was only natural that she cooperate with him.
‘The marriage might be fake, but the money is real.’
‘And who doesn’t like someone who throws money around at the drop of a hat?’
So she immediately nodded.
“Okay.”
“Mr.
Thorne, could you maybe first…”
‘…move a little farther away?’
Before Joyce Monroe could finish, Silas Thorne cut in, “We’re a married couple.
If we’re going to make this look real, physical contact is unavoidable.”
“For example?”
The words had barely left her mouth when Silas Thorne reached out and gently covered the back of her hand with his.
Perhaps because he’d been drinking, his palm was incredibly warm.
The searing heat invaded her senses, making her skin tingle.
She was momentarily dazed, and in that fleeting instant, he had turned her hand over, pressing his palm against hers…
His fingers curled, sliding between hers.
The moment their fingers locked, her breath caught in her throat.
As her heart constricted, her own fingers curled reflexively, lacing tightly with his.
Joyce Monroe subconsciously tried to pull her hand away, but he only held it tighter.
“You can’t even handle this?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Holding hands is the most basic form of physical contact.
Besides…”
“…you’ve done far worse to me.”
Silas Thorne’s voice was mild, but when their eyes met, Joyce Monroe’s breath hitched, singed by the heat in his gaze.
‘Pinning him down, forcing a kiss!’
‘That was definitely much worse than just holding hands.’
So Joyce Monroe gritted her teeth.
“I can handle it!”
“Does that mean you agree to turn this act into reality with me?”
“Mhm!”
“Then let’s start by changing what you call me.” As he spoke, Silas Thorne released her hand.
When Joyce Monroe first met her brother’s group of friends, if she had simply called all of them “big brother,” it would have been impossible to tell them apart.
To differentiate, she naturally added their surnames.
Over time, it became a habit.
‘Change what I call him?
Don’t tell me he wants me to call him…’
‘…Hubby?’
Silas Thorne lowered his gaze to her, seeming exceptionally patient as he watched her with unhurried intensity.
Joyce Monroe felt practically cornered by him; the distance between them had long since crossed a line.
“In private, you always call me Mr.
Thorne.
Is that how a wife acts?” Silas Thorne said, smiling at her.
“Wife—”
He drew out the last syllable, sending Joyce Monroe’s heart into a frenzy.
The two-person audience in the front seats felt their own hearts pound with excitement.
‘Their boss…
is he…’
‘…flirting?’
‘Wow.
Live long enough and you really will see pigs fly!’
Joyce Monroe bit her lip.
He did have a point.
When she messaged her brother tonight, he’d mentioned this issue as well.
‘Back when I was abroad, I could avoid a lot of things.
But now that I’m back, I need to start acting like a married woman.’
‘Since we agreed to put on an act for our families, it needs to be convincing.’
She took a deep breath and murmured, “Hubby—”
It was the first time she’d said that word while sober, and Joyce Monroe was completely mortified.
Her voice was timid and barely a whisper, the sound soft and delicate.
And since they were so close, that single word felt as if it had been whispered directly into Silas Thorne’s ear.
It was cloyingly sweet.
He hadn’t expected Joyce Monroe to actually call him that.
A flicker of something unreadable passed through his eyes, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
He looked at the woman before him, her head bowed low, her ears so red it looked as if they might bleed.
‘He recalled the video of her hitting someone at her studio.
There hadn’t been a trace of timidity on her face then.’
‘One blow after another,’
‘she’d been truly vicious.’
The contrast was so stark it made Silas Thorne chuckle.
Joyce Monroe bit her lip.
‘I mustered up all my courage to call him that, and he’s laughing?’
‘Is it really that funny?’
‘Is he just messing with me on purpose?’
‘She’d always known Silas Thorne had a black heart.’
Annoyed, she was just about to reach out and push him away when…
…Silas Thorne suddenly reached out and ruffled her hair.
His palm was broad and thick, the center searingly hot as he rubbed the crown of her head.
Joyce Monroe’s ears felt like they were on fire.
She turned her head away, but Silas Thorne just chuckled.
“Joyce, I just wanted you to call me ‘Thorne.’ I didn’t realize you wanted to jump straight to ‘Hubby.'”
“Always using my family name sounds so awkward.”
“But if you want to call me ‘Hubby,’ I have no objections either.” A smile played on his lips, one that seemed both pleased and teasing.
“You…” Joyce Monroe gritted her teeth.
‘That’s only because he just called me ‘Wife’ and misled me!’
“‘Thorne,’ ‘Silas,’ or ‘Hubby’—call me whatever you like,” Silas Thorne said with a smile.
“But ‘Hubby’…
we should probably keep that one private, just between us.”
After all, their marriage was a secret.
Joyce Monroe gritted her teeth.
‘The way he said that…’
‘…He’s just asking for a punch!’
Joyce Monroe was still simmering with resentment, feeling like Silas Thorne had made a fool of her.
‘That old fox!’
They didn’t speak for the rest of the drive.
The moment the car rolled to a stop in the apartment garage, she scrambled out, not even waiting for Silas Thorne before taking the elevator upstairs by herself.
She didn’t even take the flowers and the little cake he had bought especially for her.
Silas Thorne chuckled softly.
‘Such a childish temper.’
Holding the flowers and carrying the small cake, he waited for the elevator.
Quentin Walsh and Felix Dalton had retrieved a stack of files from the trunk and were now standing behind him, cradling the documents in their arms.
Silas Thorne handed a photo to Quentin Walsh.
“Get rid of this.”
Quentin Walsh stared at the photo, stunned for a second.
“Just throw it away?”
“Do I look like I can’t find a trash can?
Like I can’t throw it out myself?”
“Then…”
“Shred it, then throw it away.”
‘Shred it and then throw it away?’
‘Does he hate it that much?’
Felix Dalton glanced over.
“I didn’t realize the madam had so many photos with her ex-boyfriend.”
“It doesn’t matter how many photos there are.
All of them put together don’t carry as much weight as a single photo of the two of us,” Silas Thorne stated bluntly.
“You and the madam have taken a photo together?” Felix Dalton asked, skeptical.
The two of them seemed like total strangers.
“Only once.
At the marriage registrar’s office.”
Felix Dalton was left speechless.
‘Well…
okay, that photo definitely carries some weight!’