Accidentally Texted the A-Lister

My social media account got hacked, but the scammer didn't just ask for cashthey texted my ten-year secret crush: Hubby, you there?

My ten-year secret crush was laid bare. All the blood drained from my face, my stomach dropping straight to the floor.

Chapter 1

My social media account got hacked.

Zoe had to call and tell me about it.

The scammer used my profile to hit up every single person on my friends list for money. Some had already fallen for it.

To stop the bleeding, I scrambled to recover the account.

After frantic clicking and typing, I finally logged back into the old messaging app I hadn't used in years. The screen was flooded with chat logs that made my stomach churn.

I scrolled down line by line, jotting down the scammed amounts on a notepad, wondering if calling the cops could recover any of the losses. Then, out of the corner of my eye, a specific contact name practically burned a hole through my screen.

Hubby.

Even though I hadn't touched this account in forever, I knew exactly who was behind that nickname.

Silas.

The hottest A-list star in the country right now. He just bagged Best Actor for his billion-dollar box office hit, crowning him a triple-crown winner. His career was untouchable.

I swallowed hard, took a few deep breaths, and braced myself before clicking on his chat window.

On the blank white screen, a single line of text screamed at me:

"Hubby, you there?"

My heart dropped. My jaw locked. I couldn't believe my account actually sent that to him.

That bastard of a scammer!

Out of everyone on the planet, they targeted Silas! How the hell was I supposed to clean this up?!

I stared at that "Hubby, you there?" message, my blood running cold as I desperately tried to rationalize the situation.

I added him back in freshman year of high school. He definitely didn't remember who I was.

Plus, everyone knew celebrities scrubbed their pre-fame social media to avoid PR disasters. He had to have abandoned this account ages ago.

On top of that, he was a massive star. The guy probably barely had time to sleep, let alone check some ancient messaging app.

Right as I was managing to talk myself down from the ledge, Zoe called me again.

"June, look at the trending topics!"

I clicked on the trending topics. Dominating the global number one spot was the hashtag Silas Secret Marriage. Right behind it was a glaring, blood-red explosion icon!

My heart slammed against my ribs. My fingers shook as I tapped on the hashtag. Those exact words"Hubby, you there?"were blown up and plastered across every single post.

As it turned out, the exact moment the scammer messaged him, Silas was live.

The screen recordings showed it all: Silas was doing a live interview broadcast to tens of millions of fans. The exact second he cast his phone screen to the giant monitor to show a fan giveaway, "Hubby, you there?" hijacked the very top of his screen.

Through that disastrous recording, I also saw the contact name Silas had saved me under: "57".

The number 57.

I had no idea what it meant. Maybe to Silas, nobodies like me were just assigned numbers. Quick and easy.

That single message from "57" detonated the live stream in an instant.

Even though his team yanked the cord and severed the connection to the big screen immediately, the damage was done. Die-hard fans had already screen-recorded the glitch and plastered it all over the internet.

Within minutes, rumors of Silas's secret marriage were spreading like wildfire.

I buried my head in my arms, my nails digging into my own skin. Only three words echoed in my skull:

I screwed up!

I didn't know how to handle this, but I knew if I didn't take immediate action, my ten-year secret crush wouldn't just become a worldwide jokeit would ruin his career. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.

Chapter 2

The scammed money was the least of my problems right now.

Ruining Silass reputation was a catastrophic disaster. Even though I was a nobody outside the entertainment industry, I knew exactly how devastating this fallout could be. One wrong move, and his entire acting career would be wiped out.

We had zero relationship, yet my stupid account just dragged him into a messy marriage scandal. He was going to despise me for the rest of his life.

Right as I was pacing the floor in a full-blown panic, my ancient messaging app pinged.

I snapped my head up. At the very top of the screen was that glaring contact name.

[ Hubby: Available to talk? ]

The person messaging me was Silass manager. She wanted to negotiate a way out of this mess. Since an in-person meeting was best, I texted her my apartment address without a second thought.

An hour later, the doorbell rang.

I yanked the door open, my eyes glued to the floorboards as the apologies spilled out of me. "I am so, so sorry. This is entirely my fault. My account got hacked, and the scammer was trying to hit up my friends for cash."

"I never meant for any of this to happen. I am so sorry"

By the end of my frantic rambling, the overwhelming guilt made my throat tighten, a hot sting prickling the back of my eyes.

"It's okay," a smooth, professional voice said. A warm hand gently patted my shoulder. I followed the movement and slowly lifted my head, meeting the gaze of a striking, poised woman.

And right beside her stood a towering figure. Even hidden behind a dark face mask and sunglasses, Silass imposing presence and sharp jawline were unmistakable.

I choked on my breath. "Si Silas?"

He gave a stiff, barely-there nod.

My heart slammed against my ribs. It pounded a frantic, deafening rhythm in my chest, completely out of my control.

The elite PR team of five, all clad in sharp, custom-tailored suits, instantly swallowed up every inch of my cramped, cheap rental apartment. Their suffocating aura made the brutal collision of our two entirely different social classes hit me right in the face.

I sat stiffly on my own thrifted sofa, feeling like I was sitting on a bed of nails. I nervously twisted my fingers together. "I really haven't used that account in years. The security was basically nonexistent, giving that hacker an easy target."

I looked up, meeting the managers eyes. "Look, this is all my fault. Whatever you need me to do to fix this, I'll cooperate. I will do whatever it takes to make this right."

His manager, Kendra, offered a perfectly calculated smile. "Relax. We're actually here to run a proposal by you."

She leaned forward slightly. "We need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement and play the role of Silass contract girlfriend for the next three months to kill this PR crisis."

My breath hitched. I stared at her, convinced my ears were malfunctioning.

Kendra raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Hey, since you saved him as 'Hubby' in your contacts, you must have a thing for him, right? Don't you want to take your 'husband' for a test drive?"

The mortification of having this discussed right in front of the man himself made heat rush up my neck. I waved my hands frantically. "Thatthat was a long time ago!"

I risked a quick, terrified glance at Silas, who hadn't uttered a single syllable. I swallowed hard. "And like I said, I haven't logged into that app in years. If I had, I swear I would have changed it."

"I'm just messing with you," Kendra chuckled, waving it off. "We will compensate you handsomely for your time. The only condition is absolute, ironclad silence about the nature of this arrangement."

Static buzzed in my ears. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision. I had just triggered a catastrophic, career-ending scandal, and somehow, within an hour, the universe flipped the script into a scenario I wouldn't even dare to fantasize about.

"We've already drafted the paperwork. If you're on board, we can sign right now."

Kendra slid a thick, heavy stack of documents across my cheap coffee table, dropping a sleek, solid metal black card right on top of it. The card practically reeked of cold, hard wealth. She shot a look to the side, and the assistant, Heidi, immediately pulled two identical copies of the contract from her designer bag.

I stared at the black card, my throat suddenly bone-dry.

My fingers hovered over the contract. Hesitating, I shifted my gaze back to Silas, who had been a silent statue this entire time. I had no idea where the nerve came from, but I asked him directly.

"Are you actually okay with this?"

He still had the mask on. A few messy strands of dark hair fell across his forehead, leaving only his eyes visible.

Those piercing, magnetic eyes were locked dead onto mine.

Chapter 3

My heart hammered against my ribs, an uncontrollable, frantic rhythm.

When he finally spokehis first words to me in yearsthat low, husky timbre sent a shiver straight down my spine.

"I'm in."

I grabbed the pen and slashed my signature across the dotted line without a second of hesitation. There was zero reason to refuse. Getting paid to fake-date the man Id been secretly crushing on for a decade? Id just hit the jackpot.

Heidi quickly logged my phone number and banking details into her tablet. Kendra pulled out her sleek smartphone. "Let's exchange contacts. We're business partners now."

I added everyone in the room to my contacts, including Silas. Burning with curiosity over that bizarre "57" nickname, I risked a peek at his screen as he typed my name into his phone.

A single uppercase letter: A.

What a bizarre coding system. First numbers, and now a random letter. Was this just how A-listers categorized the nobodies in their phones? My brain spun in circles trying to make sense of it.

Feeling the heavy weight of Silas's gaze on me, I carefully typed out his contact name. Just a neat, proper Silas.

"By the way," Kendra broke the silence, "do you need our legal team to handle the hacker situation? That's Winston. Any issues, you run them straight through him."

I shook my head, waving my hands. "No, I've got it covered."

"The transfer went through," Heidi announced, looking up from her tablet.

"Perfect," Kendra said, snapping her designer bag shut. "Since we're all set here, we'll get out of your hair. Check your account for the deposit. We'll wire the rest in monthly installments."

"Pleasure doing business." She extended a manicured hand.

I scrambled to shake it. "Yeah, definitely. You too."

I went down the line, shaking hands with the entire PR strike team, ushering them toward the door.

Silas was the last one out. His hand hit the doorframe, bringing his imposing frame to a dead halt. He glanced over his broad shoulder, his dark eyes locking onto mine. "June."

"Yeah?" A sudden jolt of electricity shot straight to my chest.

"Pleasure doing business," he murmured. That low, raspy voice practically turned my knees to water.

Maybe the sheer proximity short-circuited my brain, because instead of spitting out a standard corporate response, the truth just slipped past my lips. "Yeah. It's it's a real pleasure."

The corners of his eyes crinkled into the faintest hint of a smirk before he turned and walked out.

I shoved the door shut and leaned against the cheap wood, my pulse still racing a mile a minute. It took a solid five minutes for the adrenaline to fade enough for me to drag myself back to the coffee table and deal with the hacked account.

I grabbed my phone, opening my banking app. The screen flashed a pending deposit: 0-000,000.

I stared at the screen, paralyzed. I refreshed the app three times. The six zeros stared back at me. It was a hundred grand.

The sheer whiplash of the last two hours completely shorted out my brain. Did I just save a galaxy in my past life? How the hell did I get this lucky?

Once the shock finally wore off, I forced myself to sit down and calculate the actual damage from the scam. Seven people had actually transferred moneyold high school friends I hadn't spoken to in years, which explained why they fell for the hacker's sob story.

The total came out to just under two thousand bucks. I went down the list, wiring the exact amounts right back to them. A few tried to decline the refund, and practically all of them spammed my inbox begging for the inside scoop on Silas. I ignored every single message.

I collapsed back onto the sofa, letting out a long, heavy exhale. At least the immediate fire was put out. I closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion wash over me, right as my phone vibrated with Zoes third call of the day.

"June, you and Silas just went official!!"

I instantly opened my social feed. Pinned to the very top of Silass official profilea page usually reserved strictly for high-end endorsements and movie trailerswas a brand-new post.

[ Silas V: She is my girlfriend. Please stop the wild speculations. ]

My heart slammed against my ribs all over again.

Chapter 4

Even though I was the literal epicenter of this massive scandal, I felt like I was floating outside my own body, watching a movie unfold.

I tapped the comment section, morbidly curious to see how the internet was tearing this apart.

[ OMG hubby how could you do this to us I've slid into your DMs calling you 'hubby' a million times and you never claimed me as your girlfriend! ]

[ Feels totally staged. Didn't his team say he abandoned that account years ago? And a message just magically pops up during a massive live stream? Definitely a PR stunt for his new movie. Waiting for the truth to drop. ]

[ 57? Wait, doesn't 57 mean 'my wife' in that old internet code? I AM LITERALLY SCREAMING! ]

[ I don't get it. Why just casually admit it this time? He's been linked to so many A-list female stars and his team always denied it immediately. ]

I blinked, my thumb hovering over the screen. I expanded the replies under that last comment.

[ Because this time it's actually real. ]

[ All those other times it was just thirsty actresses trying to ride his coattails. I bet his actual girl got jealous and crashed the live stream to mark her territory. ]

[ RIP to my favorite ship. I was rooting for Silas and Marlowe so hard! ]

After doom-scrolling for another ten minutes, I locked my screen. The internet's collective imagination was absolutely terrifying.

Zoe, naturally, was losing her mind over the whole thing. "I thought you got hacked!" she practically shrieked through the phone. "How did that jump to you two being official? Have you been secretly dating Silas behind my back?!"

"I signed an NDA," I muttered, pacing my tiny living room. "If I say anything else, I'm legally screwed."

She didn't miss a beat. "Fake dating arrangement, right? Damn, his PR team plays hardball."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Silas, obviously. Look at the nickname he saved you under. That man has totally been harboring a secret crush on you too."

My jaw dropped. "You are literally delusional!"

I had been crushing on Silas since freshman year of high school. I watched him evolve from the untouchable campus god into a household name, a bona fide superstar. If the high school version of him was out of my league, the A-list actor version of him was in an entirely different galaxy.

I had buried those feelings so deep, never daring to breathe a word of it to anyone. Dreaming about him was pathetic enough; saying it out loud would just make it embarrassing.

"Just you wait and see," Zoe said, her tone smug.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, choosing to ignore her insanity.

She abruptly pivoted. "So what are you doing about the hacker?"

"I wired the money back to everyone. I'm not going to the cops. If they actually catch the guy, this whole fake-dating cover-up gets blown wide open."

"Right," she hummed, instantly steering right back into the danger zone. "So, how does it feel being Silas's girlfriend?"

"I am not his girlfriend," I shot back instinctively.

"June, what exactly are you denying here? You literally are his girlfriend right now!"

Her voice took on that fierce, no-nonsense tone she always used when giving me a reality check. "The entire universe is handing you the ultimate jackpot. Your connection with this gorgeous man is basically welded together at this point. If you don't grab this chance, I swear to God, I will kick your ass!"

"But I"

"You are amazing," Zoe cut me off, her voice softening. "You are completely worthy of him. Trust me, you are the best catch in the world."

I sucked in a deep breath, my fingers curling into a tight fist as a sudden wave of resolve hit me. "Yeah. I'll do it."

Step one of being Silas's fake girlfriend: staging a high-profile PDA session in the underground parking garage of his luxury condo.

Given the absolute chaos online since the official announcementcomplete with self-proclaimed PR experts dissecting his every moveKendra decided the only way to kill the conspiracy theories was with hard visual evidence.

She had already tipped off the paparazzi.

Silas and I just needed to play the part of two people madly in love and let them snap a few disgustingly intimate photos.

That afternoon, Silas came straight to my apartment to pick me up.

Chapter 5

A bulletproof, ultra-luxury black SUV pulled up aggressively outside my cheap apartment building, immediately snapping the necks of every passerby on the street. He stepped out wearing a black baseball cap, a crisp white t-shirt, and faded denim. It was a minimal look, but draped over his sculpted frame, it screamed effortless, untouchable wealth.

I tugged at the hem of my simple t-shirt dress. "Does this work?" Kendra had been extremely specificdress like an ordinary person, zero try-hard glam.

His gaze swept over me, stalling for a heavy second before he gave a curt nod. "You look beautiful."

My lips pressed together as a rush of heat climbed my neck. I slid into the passenger seat, and the SUV roared to life, tearing through the streets toward his condo.

My stomach was tied in a tight knot the entire ride. The second we plunged into the shadowy depths of his underground parking garage, my nerves completely redlined. My hand froze on the door handle. I couldn't move.

A warm, calloused hand covered mine where it rested on my knee. "You're just coming over to hang out," he said, his voice a steady anchor. "Don't overthink the rest."

I swallowed hard and gave a sharp nod.

I stepped out and leaned against the cold metal of the car door, waiting while he popped the trunk to grab the groceries. It was a carefully calculated prop Kendra had prepped this morning, designed to inject a heavy dose of domestic intimacy into whatever pictures the paparazzi caught.

Silas walked over, effortlessly carrying the heavy paper bag in one hand. He stopped right in front of me, his dark eyes locking onto my face for a beat, before he let out a low sigh. "You didn't even bring a mask?"

Before I could answer, he reached up, pulled his own black cap off his head, and tugged it down over mine. A heavy wave of his body heat and the intoxicating scent of his cedarwood cologne instantly wrapped around me. My brain practically short-circuited.

His large hand wrapped around my cold fingers. "I already wore my mask," he murmured, his thumb brushing my knuckles. "Not gonna make you wear that."

He pulled me forward, and I stumbled after him, my mind completely blank. We're starting already? How the hell did he snap into character so fast?

Then again, the man was a masterclass in acting. He didn't bag those Best Actor trophies by accident. I had absolutely no idea how his female co-stars survived being on set with him without throwing themselves at him. Wed been walking for exactly thirty seconds, and my face was burning up.

I completely forgot I was supposed to be playing a role. I just let him tow me blindly toward the private elevator, my head spinning.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. He dropped the grocery bag onto the concrete and dropped down right in front of me.

I jerked my head down in a panic. He was on one knee on the dirty garage floor, his head bowed as his long fingers deftly tied my loose shoelace.

The parking structure was dead silent, but I swear my ears were ringing with the phantom sound of a dozen rapid-fire camera shutters. Talk about perfect timing for a wardrobe malfunction, I thought.

He finished the knot, stood up smoothly without even looking at the shadows around us, and shot me a devastating, crinkle-eyed smile. "You're like a little kid. Good thing you didn't trip."

I pressed a hand to my chest, physically trying to hold my ribs together so my heart wouldn't explode out of them.

We finally made it through the longest walk of my life and stepped into his massive penthouse.

When he said "hang out," he wasn't kidding. Silas carried the groceries straight to the massive marble kitchen island, telling me he was cooking us dinner before his driver took me back.

I figured it was just to run out the clock. If I bolted five minutes after going inside, it would look incredibly staged to the paparazzi camping outside. And sure, this was completely staged, but we couldn't give the internet any ammo to prove it.

Silas took total control of the kitchen. I was relegated to perching on a barstool, just watching him move. Watching this man chop vegetables and handle hot pans was a completely different kind of lethal.

I stared at the flex of his back muscles under his white shirt, utterly resigning myself to the fact that I was never getting over this crush. Not in this lifetime.

I decided to channel a fraction of Zoes unhinged confidence and shoot my shot. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He didn't look up from the cutting board. "No." He paused for a beat, then added, "But there is someone I'm interested in."

The tiny, pathetic spark of hope in my chest was instantly doused in ice water.

I spent the rest of the dinner chewing my food, trapped in a chaotic purgatory between pure bliss and crushing disappointment.

Halfway through the meal, his phone rang. He stepped away to take it. When he walked back into the dining room, he dropped a piece of news that wasn't exactly good, but wasn't entirely bad either.

"Rival paparazzi outfits just set up camp downstairs," he said, slipping his phone into his pocket. "You're going to have to crash here tonight."

I instantly understood what he meant.

Chapter 6

If I left after just an hour, the rival paparazzi camping outside would have an absolute field day. This highly scrutinized relationship would be dragged right back to the center of a media bloodbath.

After all, what couple in the honeymoon phase didn't spend the night together?

He looked at me. "If you're not comfortable, you don't have to stay."

"I'll stay." I met his gaze. "I'll stay the night