Casting Call: The Replacement Husband

The day I found out Lucas Sterling was hooking up with his assistant, I went straight to Instagram and posted a casting call:

“Urgent: Seeking a new husband. Must be handsome, sweet-talking, chaste, and possess outstanding moral character. Monthly allowance of $15,000, full benefits, and 401k included. First come, first served.”

That night, the internet broke.

#A-ListActorFightsModelsForBenefits #TopDirectorAndScreenwriterBrawlForAllowance

One week later, Lucas returned from his business trip abroad.

I was at home playing poker with a few A-list celebrities, my face marked with lipstick from losing a bet.

His eyes were red-rimmed. “Willow, don’t you love me anymore?”

I glanced at him and laughed, free and wild. “Lucas, it’s not that I don’t love you.”

“It’s just that the Willow who loved you is gone.”

“She passed away the night you were in the VIP lounge, entangled with your little assistant, ignoring her call for help.”

1.

After getting sick, I retired from Hollywood.

Aside from seeing my therapist, I rarely went out.

I lost touch with old friends and lost interest in everything.

But that day, I suddenly wanted to see Lucas.

So, I went to his corporate headquarters—something I hadn’t done in ages.

Standing at the door of Lucas’s office, I saw a young girl lying on the sofa opposite his desk, her face pale.

Lucas handed her a cup of hot chocolate and tucked a blanket over her stomach. “If you’re feeling this awful, take the day off and go home.”

She took the cup, speaking righteously, “An assistant who leaves her boss to work all alone isn’t a good assistant.”

Lucas jutted his chin toward the inner door. “Then go lie down in the lounge inside.”

The little assistant took a sip of cocoa, joking half-heartedly, “No way, Senior. You’re a married man now. I have to avoid suspicion.”

Lucas chuckled, shaking his head helplessly.

Then he looked up and saw me standing in the doorway.

The smile on his lips froze.

I was dazed, too.

I was still thinking about the smile Lucas had just given his assistant.

Since I got sick, I’ve become slow.

Looking back now, it seems like he hasn’t smiled that easily in front of me for a long time.

But in a split second, he put on his usual expression and walked toward me. “Willow, what are you doing here?”

He reached for my hand, but I instinctively flinched.

Lucas’s hand froze in mid-air.

“Senior, is this a surprise inspection?”

The assistant, holding the cocoa Lucas gave her, stood by his side and extended a hand to me with a beaming smile. “I’m Chloe York, also a Yale grad. I wonder if you remember me?”

Chloe… Chloe…

I studied her face.

A few seconds later, I remembered. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen her.

She was a junior in Lucas’s program.

Freshman year, she fell for Lucas at first sight.

She was enthusiastic and bright, like a little sun, and immediately launched a fierce pursuit.

I was already in the industry then. Although Lucas and I were madly in love, I couldn’t be by his side 24/7.

But he consciously shut down any female interactions that might affect our relationship.

So he told her straight out that he had a girlfriend.

Naturally, she didn’t believe him.

A girlfriend never seen is a Schrödinger’s Girlfriend.

She thought it was just an excuse.

It wasn’t until I came back to campus after wrapping a shoot that she realized it was true.

I remember how disappointed she looked, tears welling in her eyes.

Looking at me pitifully, she asked, “Senior, can I at least add him on socials? If love is gone, I still need to focus on my career!”

Without waiting for my response, she turned to Lucas and begged, “Senior, if I can’t date you, give me a chance to be a normal classmate? You’re the top student; I’ll need your helping hand with my studies in the future!”

She sounded so open and honest.

But how did Lucas answer back then?

He said, “Sorry.”

“There is no need.”

“For academic questions, you can ask the professor directly.”

I have to say, I was very happy back then.

He stood by my side and gave me enough security.

Now, so many years have passed.

Chloe is still that same personality, like the sun, shining warmth on everyone.

And I seem to have lost all joy in life, like a black hole, swallowing all the light around me.

2.

Lucas still gave Chloe the afternoon off to go home and rest.

I sat in Lucas’s office all afternoon waiting for him to finish work.

He was in meetings.

I stared blankly at the half-drunk cup of cocoa Chloe left on the coffee table.

After work, I sat in the passenger seat of Lucas’s car.

When he leaned over to help me buckle my seatbelt, I saw a small ornament on the dashboard.

It was a cute, soft white bunny.

Not the kind of thing someone with Lucas’s cold personality would actively display.

The bunny ornament smiled softly at me.

But a heavy haze covered my heart.

Staring at it for a while, I suddenly spoke, “So Chloe graduated.”

“Yeah.”

Lucas responded, then explained, “Graduated last year. She sent a resume to our company right after. We were short-handed, and I saw her potential, so I hired her.”

He seemed to be comforting me, but the more he said, the more it felt like a cover-up, so he shut up.

And the sudden bit of energy and interest I had today vanished completely. I had no strength to ask further.

I just leaned my head against the window, watching the scenery fly by.

Maybe, for a sick person like me…

Even if he said “there is no need” today, just like years ago, giving me full security, I still wouldn’t feel happy.

3.

After seeing his smile in the office, I learned to pay more attention to him.

He seemed to be constantly tolerating me.

Maybe out of consideration for my illness.

Before, he would share funny stories from his startup days, finding joy in hardship.

He would slack off to tell me he missed the coffee I brewed and the chicken soup I made.

He would patiently listen to me ramble about weird industry gossip.

He shared his joys, sorrows, and longing with me.

Now, he showed almost no emotion toward me other than gentleness.

It seems that unknowingly, I lost the desire to share, leaving only unhappiness.

And then, I brought my black hole emotions to him.

We still cuddled to sleep, still ate breakfast face-to-face.

Everything seemed the same.

Yet there was an unspoken barrier between us.

The smile Lucas showed Chloe kept flashing before my eyes.

He hadn’t been that relaxed in front of me for a long time.

I made him unhappy.

I wanted to change.

In a few days, it would be our wedding anniversary.

Maybe with a bouquet of flowers, a cake, or the coffee and stew he used to miss, I could break out of this state, tear open this barrier.

So on our anniversary, I called him and said, “Honey, I bought roses and a cake today, made soup, and brewed coffee.”

So, will you come back early for dinner?

Lucas probably didn’t expect me to be in such high spirits. He was silent for a moment before replying, “I have urgent overtime tonight, but I’ll be home before twelve.”

“I have a gift for you. Wait for me, Willow.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

I hung up and sat quietly alone in the dim candlelight.

The bright roses, the sweet cake, the rich soup on the table—none of it brought me any pleasure.

Only endless darkness, threatening to swallow me the next second.

Finally, I packed the soup and cake, grabbed the roses, and went out.

Go to him.

Maybe by his side, I could escape the darkness, the silence, the powerlessness, and the suffocation.

When I drove through the night to the underground parking garage of Lucas’s company, I saw him rushing out of the elevator.

Before I could get out, he slammed on the gas and sped away.

He was in a hurry.

He abandoned the urgent overtime.

Was there something more important?

Going home?

To drink my soup, eat cake, and spend our anniversary with me?

Or…

I drove and followed him.

I thought, if he’s going home, I can’t let him wait too long.

But within five minutes, I knew he wasn’t heading home.

The night grew darker, and the haze in my heart deepened.

Subconsciously, I guessed the truth.

But inside, I struggled unwillingly.

Maybe… maybe it’s just my illness making me overthink.

I stepped on the gas, trailing behind him.

Looking at the tail lights of Lucas’s car, I had several extreme impulses.

Why not just ram into him? Let’s end it together.

Then nothing I fear will ever happen.

Crossing an intersection, the light turned yellow.

I didn’t slow down.

A large truck was coming from the right.

If I ran the red light, maybe I could push Lucas under the wheels with me.

And pass on.

Never having to face the possibly bloody reality.

Until a loud “HONK—”

The truck’s piercing horn woke me up, and I slammed on the brakes.

“Are you crazy? If you want to end yourself, don’t drag others down!”

The driver shouted curses from the window.

I woke up.

My heart pounded violently.

Lying on the steering wheel in a cold sweat, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

I really am sick.

Even seeking the end, I involuntarily think of such vicious ways.

The green light turned on.

I suppressed all the terrifying thoughts and followed Lucas ahead.

Arriving at an apartment complex, he got out quickly.

Running past my car, he didn’t notice me.

He just rushed into a residential building while on the phone: “I’ll be right there!”

I sat in the car staring at the building for a while, then followed.

The elevator was broken.

There was a yellow “Under Maintenance” sign.

But the sensor lights in the stairwell were on.

Lucas must have run into the emergency exit and climbed the stairs.

I stood at the entrance, looking at the steps under the dim light, like a monster’s throat waiting to swallow me.

But I followed anyway.

One flight, two flights…

First floor, second floor…

I listened to the sound of Lucas running up, following the lights he triggered, climbing step by step to the thirteenth floor.

The light on the fourteenth floor didn’t turn on.

Lucas’s destination was the thirteenth floor.

I climbed a few more steps and sat in the corner between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors.

Then, I heard hurried footsteps.

Lucas’s voice was panicked: “Hold on, I’m taking you to the hospital right now.”

I slowly peeked out and saw Lucas rushing out of the corridor holding the little assistant, who was groaning in pain in his arms, running down the stairs.

I could see he was worried, desperate.

All his attention was on the pale, fragile Chloe in his arms.

So, he didn’t see me.

The sensor lights lit up one by one with Lucas’s footsteps, then went out one by one.

The surroundings fell into darkness; only the green “EXIT” sign in the corner emitted a weak glow.

I sat there, letting the darkness completely submerge me.

It seemed that something had changed long ago without me realizing it.

In Lucas’s heart, there was something more important than his company, more important than me.

My phone alarm rang.

It was twelve o’clock.

“Happy Anniversary, Willow.”

I said to myself.

4.

Going down thirteen flights of stairs was harder than climbing up.

It was like walking step by step into hell, endless.

Beneath my feet were dense steps.

Ahead was a dark, terrifying stairwell.

Malice toward myself rose from the bottom of my heart, like a demon whispering in my ear: “Why not just fall? Fall down.”

That way, it would be over immediately, no need to walk alone anymore.

When Lucas sends his assistant home, maybe he can pick up my body on the way.

Just a pity about my cake, my roses, and my soup.

I closed my eyes and lifted my foot.

Just one step into empty air…

Ding-dong!

The phone notification sound was exceptionally loud in the empty stairwell.

I froze.

Standing silently in the dark for a long time, I opened my eyes and checked my phone.

It was a message from Lucas.

“Willow, something urgent came up, I can’t make it back. Sorry.”

Looking at the name “Willow,” I finally walked down the stairs step by step.

Then I gave the cake, flowers, and soup to a homeless man by the road and went home alone.

Insomnia is my normal state since getting sick; I’m used to it.

I waited with open eyes until 2:00 AM, when Lucas returned.

He went to the bathroom first.

When he hugged me from behind, I heard him whisper “Sorry” in my ear.

Sorry for what?

Sorry for not making it back before twelve?

Or sorry for having someone more important, leaving me to climb thirteen flights of stairs alone?

Until the morning light broke, I couldn’t figure it out.

I just said to him as he got up, “Lucas, don’t let Chloe be your assistant anymore, okay? Let her leave the company.”

Lucas’s hand tying his tie paused. After a long time, he replied, “Okay.”

It was a tacit understanding.

I didn’t even need to explain why.