In the elevator.
Joyce Monroe waited for her breathing to steady before forcing herself to speak. "Mr. Thorne, when did you get back? Why didn't you tell me? I would have picked you up."
"You wanted to pick me up?" Silas Thorne asked casually.
"..."
"Next time, I'll let you know in advance."
Joyce Monroe pressed her lips together. 'I was just being polite; it's not like I actually wanted to go pick him up.'
"I just got to Graymoor, too," Silas Thorne said, answering her earlier question.
"Then how did you know I was eating here tonight?"
Silas Thorne turned to look at her. "Mrs. Thorne, is there anyone in all of Graymoor who doesn't know about you and him having a date here tonight? Did you think I'd need to go out of my way to find out?"
Joyce Monroe had forgotten. She was the one who had specifically asked Lily Kennedy to spread the news.
"Those two in there are both my old high school classmates. You know the woman—she's the one who caused trouble at my last birthday party. The man's name is Julian Griffin..." Joyce Monroe briefly explained to him what had happened over the past couple of days.
'Even in an arranged marriage, some things have to be made clear.'
"...So there's nothing going on between him and me."
"I was just fed up with him using me and treating me like an idiot."
Silas Thorne nodded. "I heard you accepted his flowers."
"I thought they were from you." Joyce Monroe didn't want to talk about that crazy couple, so she changed the subject. "Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"This hotel has a few excellent specialty dishes. My treat." Joyce Monroe pressed the button for the 2nd floor, where the hotel restaurant was. A waiter led the two of them to a small private dining room.
As her guest, he let her take the lead, so Joyce Monroe took charge of ordering. While they waited for the food, she couldn't help but complain again about the crazy couple upstairs.
She opened her phone and sent a few photos to Lily Kennedy.
[Julian Griffin posted on his Moments. Now everyone in our circle is laughing at Ina Sutton and knows you're innocent.]
[All it takes is a mouth to start a rumor, but a clarification from the person involved is more effective than a hundred things we could say.]
[My Joyce is fair-skinned and beautiful, why would she ever fall for trash like Julian Griffin, let alone be a homewrecker? Some people have wild imaginations. Only an idiot like Ina Sutton would treat him like a treasure.]
...
During the meal, Joyce Monroe had already put her phone away. She spoke again, "Do your father and mother know about what happened with me? Should I go explain it to them?"
"No need. I'll explain it to them," Silas Thorne said.
"Okay."
"Your brother told me about this beforehand."
Joyce Monroe looked down and ate, muttering to herself inwardly:
'My brother is reliable after all!'
She asked casually, "How did he explain it to you?"
Joyce Monroe was just trying to fill the silence and deliberately find a topic of conversation, but then she heard Silas Thorne say:
"He said that you told him your husband is especially wonderful."
"Broad shoulders, long legs, rich, handsome, powerful, and influential... and that you're very satisfied with me..."
"I didn't realize you thought so highly of me."
His tone carried a hint of amusement and teasing.
Joyce Monroe subconsciously tightened her grip on her chopsticks. Although she had indeed said those things, she never imagined her brother would repeat them directly to Silas Thorne. She could just die of embarrassment.
She took a deep breath and cursed her older brother in her heart:
'No wonder he's still single at his age.'
'He deserves it!'
For the rest of the meal, she kept her head down, not daring to look at the man across from her, wishing she could bury herself under the table. Silas Thorne, however, picked up food for her several times. He took a work call midway through, which finally gave her a chance to breathe.
As they were leaving the restaurant and heading to the parking garage, she happened to overhear a hotel employee revealing that the crazy couple on the top floor had been making such a scene that the hotel had called the police, and they'd been taken to the station.
Apparently, they even started fighting.
They also smashed a lot of the hotel's property. It was quite a commotion.
—
After getting in the car, Joyce Monroe was surprised to see that Silas Thorne was driving today.
Neither of his two assistants were with him.
She was puzzled. Just as she was about to fasten her seatbelt, her phone vibrated. It was a call from Mrs. Zimmerman, who helped take care of her.
She said that two people claiming to be Silas Thorne's assistants had just dropped off his luggage.
"Mrs. Zimmerman, please put his luggage in the room and get out some toiletries for him—the ones I bought a few days ago."
"Alright."
"When will Mr. Thorne be arriving? Should I prepare a meal for him?"
"No need. He's with me. We just ate."
After hanging up, Joyce Monroe looked at Silas Thorne. "I bought some toiletries for you a few days ago, but I just grabbed some basics. Do you want to go to the supermarket and see if there's anything else you need?"
She was afraid the things she'd bought wouldn't be to His Lordship's liking.
"I don't know your preferences and habits, so I was worried you wouldn't like them."
Joyce Monroe fastened her seatbelt. When she didn't get a response, she turned to look at him, only to find Silas Thorne staring at her intently.
Probing, scrutinizing...
And maybe a hint of confusion.
"Mr. Thorne, why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?"
Unexpectedly, the next second, he suddenly leaned in close.
The distance between them closed in an instant.
Joyce Monroe's breath hitched, and she instinctively pressed her lips together.
The swollen corner of her mouth had long since healed, but as she pressed her lips together, it was as if she could still feel a trace of discomfort. That, combined with the warmth of his approaching breath, was a double stimulus that sent her heart into a frantic, uneven rhythm.
"What do you want to know?"
"Huh?" Joyce Monroe looked completely lost.
"I don't like sour food. I dislike cilantro and ginger. I like ice in my drinks, and sugar in my coffee. I don't like to drink alcohol, and I'm in the process of quitting smoking. I don't like cats or dogs. I like photography, astronomy, mathematics..."
Perhaps because they were too close, the cool, quiet scent from his body began to invade her senses again. The warmth of his breath as he spoke brushed against her face, a little hot, a little ticklish.
They were husband and wife, but they were still, in reality, strangers.
This boundary-crossing distance made her a little uncomfortable.
"Mr. Thorne, why are you telling me all this?" Joyce Monroe asked sullenly.
"You don't want to know?"
"I don't!"
"Not interested?"
"Nope!" Joyce Monroe nodded emphatically.
She grumbled internally:
'Is Mr. Thorne okay?'
'Why is he telling me all this out of the blue? And besides...'
'He's way too close!'
The corners of Silas Thorne's lips curled up slightly. His gaze was still direct, shockingly bright in the dim light of the car. He spoke in a low voice, "Not interested? Then why did you ask your brother to dig up information on me?"
"..."
"Your brother called to criticize me, demanding to know if he was just a part of our marital 'play'."
Silas Thorne chuckled. "He also said that you're a girl and you're shy, thin-skinned. That you wanted to get to know me but were too embarrassed to ask directly."
"So, he told me to be more proactive."
Joyce Monroe felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
She vaguely recalled that she had indeed asked her brother about Silas Thorne's preferences a few days ago. Her damn brother had said he'd go ask for her, but Joyce Monroe had thought he was just joking. She never expected...
He actually did it!
'Having a brother like you is truly a blessing.'
'You two really are best buddies, aren't you? Telling him everything, without a single thought for whether your own sister lives or dies.'
"If there's anything you want to know about me, just ask me directly." By now, Silas Thorne had pulled back, creating some distance between them.
"I get it," Joyce Monroe said sullenly.
Silas Thorne stared at her, his tone slow and deliberate:
"Is there anything else you'd like to know right now? I'm here to answer any and all questions."