Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

Chapter 110: Chapter 110: But What Can I Do?

He finished the cigarette quickly.

Although James Sheridan had been enjoying his retirement at home these past few years, he hadn’t missed a single piece of important news.

The mayoral election was coming up, and if she could secure the Sheridan Family’s financial backing, her chances of reelection would be ninety percent.

She would be a shoo-in for this year’s mayor of Portmire.

If he remembered correctly, the election for the municipal party secretary would be held this time next year.

Quincy Rhodes was an ambitious woman; the mayorship alone was no longer enough to satisfy her.

"But this engagement was formally arranged back then. Is it really a good idea to just break it off like this?" James Sheridan hesitated. Quincy Rhodes wouldn’t let them off the hook so easily.

"An engagement? It was just a verbal agreement. Besides, Connor Donovan is dead. If our family flatly denies it, they’ll have no way to prove it even if they try to investigate. It’s a dead end!" Elliot Sheridan said dismissively.

Elliot Sheridan did indeed have an engagement with Joanne Donovan, but it was merely a verbal agreement; no formal engagement ceremony had ever been held.

Back then, the Sheridan and Donovan families were on good terms. Mr. Sheridan was very fond of the young Joanne Donovan. Seeing her follow Elliot around every day, he thought the two children were a good match and made a verbal promise to Connor Donovan that they would be engaged in the future.

Later, when Connor Donovan died instantly in a car accident, Quincy Rhodes shifted all the blame onto Elliot, threatening to call the police and have him jailed if the engagement was called off.

James Sheridan sighed. Everything back then had happened so fast; no one could have predicted it.

One moment, the person was laughing and joking with you; the next, they were gone.

Elliot Sheridan had laid his cards on the table, making it clear he would not get engaged to Joanne Donovan. It was useless for anyone to force him.

He would naturally marry the woman he wanted to marry. As for the one he didn’t, even looking at her for an extra second was repulsive.

Elliot Sheridan went upstairs to his room and took a hot shower.

Lying on his own comfortable, spacious bed, he suddenly found himself missing Georgia Thorne’s narrow little one.

It was fine when Georgia slept alone, but adding him to the mix made it incredibly cramped for two.

And yet, he loved sleeping squeezed together with Georgia. Holding her felt so comfortable; she felt so good in his arms.

He couldn’t sleep. Tossing and turning, his mind was filled with thoughts of Georgia.

He picked up his phone and glanced at the time. It was only nine o’clock.

’She probably isn’t asleep yet.’

He dialed her number. The phone rang several times before she picked up.

Her breathless voice came through the receiver, tinged with a hint of shyness as she whispered a quiet "Hello?"

"What are you doing?" Hearing Georgia Thorne’s voice lifted his gloomy mood a little.

"I just got out of the shower when I heard the phone ring."

’Just got out of the shower?’

Elliot Sheridan raised an eyebrow, his imagination painting a picture of Georgia fresh from her bath.

Her fair skin, steamed by the hot water, would be flushed a tender pink and feel especially soft to the touch. Just the thought was already becoming hard to control.

"What about you?" Georgia asked softly.

"Same as you. Just got out of the shower," Elliot said with a laugh. "But I’m not like a certain heartless someone who doesn’t know to miss me and doesn’t even bother to call."

Georgia was left speechless. Sitting on her bed and drying her hair with a towel, she said, "We’ve only been apart for a few hours."

’A few hours isn’t long enough to miss someone this much!’

The two of them chatted about other things for over an hour before finally hanging up.

On the first day back at work after the holiday, just as Georgia Thorne arrived at the office, she saw a delivery man standing at the entrance.

He was holding a huge bouquet of vibrant, dew-kissed roses—way more than ninety-nine, it seemed.

Her female colleagues passing by couldn’t help but crane their necks, curious to see who the lucky recipient was.

A bouquet that big was truly enviable.

"Excuse me, where can I find Miss Thorne?" the delivery man asked.

Georgia, who hadn’t noticed him at the entrance, was busy texting with Elliot. Hearing her name called, she instantly raised her hand and stood up. "That’s me."

The delivery man walked toward her, carrying the bouquet that would make any woman’s heart flutter. "Miss Thorne, please sign here."

"Oh, okay!" Georgia had never received such a huge bouquet of flowers before. She dazedly took the pen and signed her name.

As she took the bouquet, her heart sank. She called out to the departing delivery man, "Wait, can I ask who sent these?"

"It’s on the card inside. Have a nice day."

Georgia held the bouquet and pulled out the small card tucked inside—’I’ll pick you up after work today.’

There was no name.

But the handwriting was flamboyant and elegant. Georgia’s delicate brows furrowed as she recognized it. It was Justin Sullivan’s.

He had sent the roses.

Her female colleagues watched her with a mixture of envy and jealousy.

They’d heard she’d recently hooked up with a new man. ’What kind of man has such bad taste, to actually fall for someone like her?’

Georgia liked flowers, but it depended on who sent them.

Justin Sullivan was clever. He knew she wouldn’t accept flowers from him directly, so he used a delivery man.

Georgia placed the roses on her desk. A female colleague in the next seat said enviously, "Are those from that new boyfriend of yours?"

Her tone was dripping with envy. Just as Georgia was about to deny it, her phone rang.

She picked it up. It was a call from Justin Sullivan.

’Speak of the devil.’

Georgia hurriedly took the call and walked outside.

Once she found a less crowded corner, she answered, whispering into the phone, "Justin Sullivan, are you crazy?!"

Hearing her heavy breathing, Justin Sullivan’s voice came slowly through the line. "The roses... do you like them?"

"I remember you loved flowers when you were little. You always used to mistake Chinese roses for real roses and put them in your vase."

"..."

Hearing Justin Sullivan bring up the past made her feel dazed. Time had passed so quickly.

The past couldn’t be relived, just like her feelings for him.

Georgia was now absolutely certain that the one she liked was Elliot Sheridan. So even if Justin Sullivan begged her to come back, she couldn’t.

In love, there’s no such thing as waiting for someone. Too late was too late; there were no excuses.

Because she liked Elliot, she wasn’t willing to settle for any other man.

Justin Sullivan had officially become a passerby in her life. They wouldn’t have much interaction in the future. At most, if they met, she would call him "Uncle." And that would be all.

"Justin Sullivan, I’ve grown up. Your memory of me is still stuck six years in the past. Six years ago, I liked roses, and I liked you. But I’m mature now. I know what’s right for me. As for your roses, I think you should give them to someone else. I can’t accept them."

’When I was a child, I was too naive. If I liked something, I wanted it; if I disliked it, I hated it. But a person has to learn to grow up. And in the process, you realize that what you like isn’t always what’s right for you.’

"There are so many beautiful women in this world. You could pick any one of them, and she’d be happy to have your attention!"

"But what can I do, Georgia? In this whole wide world, you’re the only one I like!"

Georgia’s voice hitched, an indescribable bitterness welling up in her heart.

"Don’t send me flowers anymore!" Without waiting for Justin Sullivan to reply, she hung up. freeweɓnovel.cøm

She stood quietly in the corner, lost in thought for a few minutes. Just as she was about to head back, Justin Sullivan’s call came through again.

’Does he ever give up?!’

She took a deep breath. "Justin Sullivan, will you ever stop? I told you, there’s no chance for us! Stop pestering me!"

"Georgia?"

When did Georgia first meet Selena Sheridan? The memory traced back a long, long time ago.

She couldn’t even remember how they’d met. By the time she realized it, Selena Sheridan had already become her best friend.