My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 153: Better You Than Me

Celia Sterling, who had been in high spirits all afternoon, saw her expression darken for the first time. Beside her, Silas Norwood’s pale gold eyes fell coolly on the name, his expression holding the calm indifference befitting the rightful husband.

Of course, Celia Sterling and Silas Norwood weren’t the only ones who saw the friends list.

A group of people had witnessed the phone screen, and it was obviously too late to switch people now. The popular young starlet Faye Sinclair was the first to let out a small gasp. "That name, isn’t it the same as..."

She wanted to say, *Isn’t that the same as Eldest Young Master Norwood, the current shot-caller in the entertainment industry?*

But Eldest Young Master Norwood was rumored to have a difficult personality, and several major entertainment giants under him were said to be suffering terribly. Faye Sinclair didn’t dare say that name out loud in front of the millions of viewers in the live broadcast.

Besides, Declan Norwood belonged to a tier of people one rarely encountered. Those present knew of him, but none had ever met him. Even the recent trending topic about Declan Norwood and Summer Sutton had been taken down almost instantly before it could spread widely, so most people were unfamiliar with him. Plus, countless people had similar names. Aside from Faye Sinclair, no one else even considered the possibility of it being the Eldest Young Master Norwood.

Faye Sinclair bit back the rest of her sentence, and the others didn’t give it much thought, waiting to see how Celia Sterling would handle the borrowing challenge.

Celia Sterling braced herself and glanced at Silas Norwood, her almond-shaped eyes pleading for help.

Though he was her ex, Silas Norwood knew the full story, and he was the one who had proposed the marriage swap. Celia wasn’t worried he would misunderstand; it was purely the awkwardness of the name itself.

A hint of faint helplessness appeared in Silas Norwood’s eyes as he silently glanced at the host.

The host picked up on Celia Sterling’s inexplicable embarrassment. Though he didn’t understand why, he took Silas Norwood’s subtle cue and immediately smoothed things over. "Miss Sterling and Mr. Norwood are husband and wife, a single entity. They only need to complete one challenge. If it’s inconvenient for Miss Sterling, it’s the same if Mr. Norwood does it."

Celia Sterling quickly took back her phone and gave Silas Norwood a light pinch on his waist.

A faint, tingling sensation spread from her touch. Silas Norwood paused for several seconds, then his well-defined fingers reached for the two boxes and randomly drew the numbers. "I’ll do it, then," he said in a level voice.

The host verified the numbers. "Alright, Mr. Norwood, please borrow twelve thousand from the thirty-second friend on your list."

Twelve thousand was nothing more than the cost of a casual meal in their circle. The others watched Silas Norwood’s phone with nonchalant expressions as his long, slender fingers, as elegant as polished jade, slowly scrolled through his list, stopping at the thirty-second contact.

An eerie silence fell over the group.

There was no other reason for it. This mysterious non-celebrity guest’s friends list seemed... a little terrifyingly impressive.

He had scrolled so quickly before, and no one had been paying close attention, so they hadn’t noticed anything unusual. But now that he had stopped at number thirty-two, the friends ranked from twenty-eight to thirty-one were also quietly displayed for everyone to see.

Number twenty-eight, Kevin Warren. Which Kevin Warren? Why was that name identical to the chairman of Seraphina’s cosmetics giant, the Hale Group?

Next, Elle Esperson. That looked like the head of the Hull Family, who was ranked third on this year’s global rich list...

Henry Stanton? Wasn’t that the name of the boss of Leviathan Entertainment, one of the four biggest giants in the entertainment industry?

Calvin Zane? The head of the Zane family, one of the three top financial clans in Port Sovereign...

One name might be a coincidence, but to have so many magnates listed on the same page—surely they couldn’t all be coincidences?

It was possible this non-celebrity guest had deliberately saved his contacts under the names of billionaires for fun, but Silas Norwood exuded such a noble and refined air. He didn’t seem like the type to indulge in such low-brow humor. Besides, Director Coleman and the host’s cautious and respectful attitudes...

Although the celebrity guests kept their expressions neutral, they were dying of curiosity, their attention fully fixed on Silas Norwood.

Silas Norwood’s attention, however, was on his thirty-second friend. He said nothing.

Celia Sterling let out a soft "oh." "Miles Trenton? You added Mr. Trenton as a friend last time at The Regent’s Residence?"

Silas Norwood subconsciously rubbed the thumb ring on his finger and gave a perfunctory "mhm."

"Mr. Trenton is a very easygoing person. Borrowing money shouldn’t be a problem," Celia Sterling said, breathing a small sigh of relief.

Silas Norwood opened the chat window but hesitated to start a voice call.

He wasn’t sure about much else.

All he knew was that if this call connected and an oblivious Miles Trenton threw out a "BOSS," he had a feeling his demise would be rather unsightly.

’My identity as Rivermoon can be exposed, but not like this, not in this situation.’

A headache began to throb for Silas Norwood, but his wife’s clear, bright eyes were still fixed on him, so he didn’t dare show the slightest hint of anything amiss.

Celia Sterling asked softly, "Why aren’t you calling? Do you feel like you don’t know him well enough and it’s awkward?"

Silas Norwood replied with a straight face, "I just don’t think this is the optimal solution."

After weighing the choice between sacrificing a comrade or himself for a split second, he decisively set his sights on his wife’s ex-boyfriend—the very "comrade" who had called him an old man.

He turned to the host. "My wife and I only need to make one call, correct? It doesn’t specify whether it has to be from my phone or hers, right?"

The host nodded in agreement.

Silas Norwood held out his hand to Celia Sterling. "My dear, let’s use yours."

Celia Sterling paused. "Making me call Declan Norwood is your optimal solution?"

"No," Silas Norwood said, his voice calm. "I’m calling Declan Norwood."

Celia Sterling silently handed over her phone.

’An uncle borrowing money from his nephew... it really did seem like the optimal solution.’

Silas Norwood opened the chat between Celia Sterling and Declan Norwood, tapped the voice call button, and dialed.

The call was answered instantly.

There wasn’t even time for the ringing tone to sound.

It was as if... the person on the other end had been lingering on her chat screen all along.

Celia Sterling uncomfortably looked around, pretending not to understand the meaning behind the instant connection.

"Why are you calling me?" On the other end, Declan Norwood’s voice held an irrepressible tremor and a deep hoarseness. "Did he treat you badly? Did he bully you?"

Silas Norwood remained silent, his aura chilling slightly. His nephew, it seemed, truly enjoyed making things difficult for him behind his back...

"Cece, don’t be silent," Declan pleaded, his tone bordering on begging. "Just say something, anything. What did he do to you? Tell me, and I’ll book a flight back to you right now..."

Countless gossiping eyes were fixed on the phone.

[Live Comment: HOLY SHIT! What kind of drama is this? The current and the ex? This is intense! hospitality]

[Live Comment: So many non-celebrity guests this season, but this one is the most exciting! I fell for him before I even saw his face, and now we get to see a fight between the ex and the current during a simple game.]

[Live Comment: Hahaha! All the celebrity guests have their ears perked up. Looks like I’m not the only nosy one.]

...

The matter between Declan Norwood and Silas Norwood was not something for outsiders to discuss.

The moment related comments appeared online, the platform acted decisively, imposing a blanket ban on all comments.

Amidst the bewilderment of millions of keyboard warriors, the live camera captured an incredibly handsome profile shot of the non-celebrity guest, Silas Norwood.

In front of screens across the nation, gasps echoed one after another. However, the vast audience found that even smashing their keyboards wouldn’t allow them to express their awe at that stunning glimpse of Silas Norwood in the comments. Yet, from just that one unintentional profile shot, the live stream’s audience of a million, fueled by countless fan recommendations, surged like a tidal wave. In just a few short minutes, hundreds of thousands more people had squeezed in.

Under the watch of countless people, Silas Norwood’s cool voice rang out. "It’s me."

Declan Norwood, who had been highly emotional just a moment ago, suddenly went silent.