novelraw Chapter 173: Private Chat Records
Chapter 173: Private Chat Records
Compared to how they used to pester Celia for intimate details about Kian Sterling’s body or play some wild dares, peeking at a few chat logs was nothing.
Besides, Silas Norwood was a proper, reserved man. Since they spent all day together, any risqué things he wanted to say were whispered right into her ear. What need was there for a messaging app?
Their chats were mostly filled with simple, daily check-ins—the content was mundane, but warm all the same.
’Still, why should she show it to a bunch of outsiders?’
Seeing that Celia was unmoved, the group of young socialites—representatives of the Capital Circle’s "Moonlight" fans—refused to give up. They switched to passive-aggressive taunts, trying to bait her:
"Oh, so reluctant. It really is just a marriage of convenience with Silas Norwood, isn’t it? I suppose that makes sense. A man as divine as him isn’t someone you get to ’savor’ just by putting a ring on it..."
"You’re getting ahead of yourself. They’ve only made the official announcement. Whether they’ll even make it to the wedding is another story. Canceled high-society engagements are a dime a dozen."
"I just saw Silas Norwood walk in with his arm around your waist, Celia. That feeling... all lovey-dovey in public, but cold as strangers behind closed doors... must be tough..."
Celia slowly set down her glass of water, a brow arching over her almond-shaped eyes. "Why bother with the taunts? We’re all businesswomen here. Surely you understand that a negotiation requires a price?"
The women exchanged a glance. Nina Sterling had only mentioned looking at the chat logs as a joke, but Celia’s reluctance had stoked her damnable curiosity. "That Hermès on Metropia’s Goldcroft Avenue—go pick out ten items."
Celia said nothing.
Beside her, Miss March, Miss Stanton, and the others began tabling their own ’sincere’ offers:
"My custom jewelry brand—I’ll give you a complete set."
"Let’s not talk about money. No one in the Capital Circle has more than you—Kian Sterling throws practically all his spare cash at you. I won’t embarrass myself. But... I know secret gossip about at least a dozen of the circle’s Crown Princes. I could share it with you privately?"
"Celia, you’ve hated my third brother for ages, right? I’ll go home and find an excuse to beat him up for you."
...
The corner of Celia’s mouth twitched. ’These women would truly stop at nothing for a little gossip about me and Silas.’
She glanced downstairs. The launch party had officially entered the banquet phase, with celebrities and socialites from every circle clinking glasses and expanding their networks. Silas Norwood and Kian Sterling were each surrounded, centers of their own adoring constellations. But the auras of both men were simply too powerful, and both were blessed with devastatingly handsome faces. Amid the clinking glasses and the extravagant, lively banquet, they were like two captivating whirlpools, sucking in all the surrounding light.
’With such dazzling appeal, it’s no wonder the women in their circle couldn’t get them out of their minds.’
"Fine. You can look," Celia sighed, pulling out her phone. She unlocked it, opened her chat with Silas Norwood, and casually handed it to Nina Sterling. "But this is the last time I’m tolerating you prying into my private life. If there’s a next time, I’ll dig up all of your most embarrassing moments from the past decade for public consumption. Got it?"
"Fine, fine, fine. I promise, after this, we won’t pester you with questions again. You and Silas can live however you want," Nina said, her mind already completely absorbed by the open chat window. She gave Celia a perfunctory reply as she and the other women crowded around the phone screen.
The chats were indeed quite mundane. It was nothing more than small talk: "Have you eaten?" "What are you up to?" "Where are you?" "Want to grab a bite together?"
Out of every ten messages, only two or three were even remotely suggestive, and even those seemed perfectly proper on the surface:
Silas: [My dear, I didn’t sleep well at all last night. I’ll come over to your place later to nap with you.]
Silas: [Are you bringing me afternoon tea today? Or should I come find you?]
Silas: [I acquired a new box of colored diamonds. I left them on the nightstand. They’re for you to enjoy, my dear.]
Silas: [Image: colored_diamonds.jpg]
The women’s thoughts ran wild. Nina cleared her throat. "Silas Norwood is so aloof. He’s thoughtful enough to take a nap with you?"
’A nap is nothing,’ Celia thought. ’If I weren’t on my period, he’d be all over me around the clock.’ She just gave a noncommittal hum. "We haven’t had the wedding ceremony, true, but we’ve already registered the marriage. The dramatic, high-society breakup you were hoping for isn’t going to happen, I’m afraid."
At her words, everyone froze, their expressions turning incredibly complex. It had only been a few days since the official announcement, and they were... already legally married? ’Silas Norwood agreed to that?’
"So, um," Miss March said, sourly changing the subject. She stared at the picture Silas had sent, at the dozen or so brilliant red, yellow, purple, and blue diamonds. "Those fancy diamonds... they look like they’re from the auction at Aethelred’s of Westerfall last week. They were being sold by the stone. I was actually planning to bid on a yellow one for fun, but then I heard the lot was pulled at the last minute and bought out by some tycoon. I can’t believe it was Silas Norwood. A whole box like this... it must be worth at least seventy or eighty million. Silas is really generous."
They were all from wealthy families—top-tier ones, at that. They received plenty of gifts from men, but fancy colored diamonds were already extremely valuable and a rare gift. Even when they did get one, it was a single stone. Who gives them out by the box?
Celia, however, was used to receiving such gifts. Whether it was Silas Norwood, Kian Sterling, or even Declan Norwood in the past, they all sent jewels and diamonds her way as if money were no object. Her display room at home had an entire wall dedicated just to storing them. She failed to detect the sour tone in the other woman’s voice and said mildly, "Are we really getting worked up over a few diamonds? Don’t you all receive them from time to time?"
That comment really twisted the knife.
The fundamental logic of businesspeople is to convert everything into a monetary value. Romance in high society was as fleeting as a soap bubble. Many of the women present had boyfriends, but their gifts always fell within a mentally-established price range. Exquisite fancy diamonds worth tens of millions would almost never appear on a boyfriend’s gift list; jewelry and ordinary colored diamonds worth hundreds of thousands or a few million were the norm.
A wave of irritation washed over several of the women.
Who said Silas Norwood was aloof?
Even if he was aloof, even if they could never sleep with him, look at the sheer extravagance of his spending! That alone blew a vast majority of other wealthy young masters out of the water.
Besides, with Silas Norwood’s face and physique, even if you couldn’t have a taste, just looking at him would be a refreshing experience for a lifetime...
The room fell silent. Celia held out her hand for her phone. "You’ve seen it. Is your craving for gossip satisfied? The chat history is pretty boring. What’s wrong? Starting to think the deals you offered were a little steep?"
No one was actually thinking about the deals they’d offered. One by one, boyfriend or not, they were all drowning in a sea of envy, jealousy, and hatred. Nina, still not quite satisfied, glanced over Silas’s messages one last time before slowly preparing to hand the phone back.
Just then, the phone buzzed several times in a row.
Several new messages suddenly appeared in the chat from Silas:
Silas: [My dear, an old physician I know just took my pulse. He said my vital energy is strong, and that twice a day isn’t excessive.]
Silas: [I’ll bring you to meet him so he can take your pulse, too. If there are no issues, I’d like to try doubling that number.]
Silas: [Are you free now, my dear? I’m coming up to get you.]