Free Web NovelChapter 132: Chapter 128: I Will Pay You Back for the Room
’He’d wanted to book two adjoining rooms, but who knew...’
"Alright, this one will do!" Zane Lennox said, pointing to the room closest to his own.
In reality, it wasn’t close at all. Zane Lennox’s room was on the fourth floor, while Georgia Thorne’s was on the sixth. His was at the far left end of the hall, and hers was at the far right.
Zane Lennox paid for the room and accompanied her there.
Standing at the door, Georgia Thorne turned around. "Thank you. I’ll pay you back for the room."
Georgia Thorne didn’t like being indebted to anyone. She had glanced at the price earlier; a single night here cost over three thousand.
That was almost her entire monthly salary. The cost was physically painful.
"Georgia Thorne, do you really think I care about that paltry sum of money?" A sudden anger surged in his chest as he saw the cold indifference in her eyes.
Georgia Thorne said nothing. She swiped her key card, walked in, and shut the door right in Zane Lennox’s face.
She completely ignored Zane Lennox as he knocked on the door from the outside.
The weather was growing colder, and the heat was already on in the room.
She took off her jacket and pulled out her phone, wanting to call Nancy Hughes. She pressed the power button several times, but the screen remained black.
She pressed the power button, but the phone was out of battery.
Georgia Thorne had sought out Zane Lennox to discuss business; she’d never imagined he would bring her to a place like this.
She hadn’t brought anything with her and could only stare blankly at the dead phone.
Night gradually fell. A slender crescent moon hung in the sky, its clear, silvery light spilling into the room.
She stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the distant sea. Along the road that followed the beach, a row of twinkling lights had been strung through the trees.
There were fiery red lights on the beach, and in the distance, a lighthouse beam swept across the water.
’A three-thousand-a-night hotel is expensive for a reason. At least the view is beautiful.’
At a quarter past six, the doorbell rang. Georgia Thorne went to answer it.
She assumed it would be Zane Lennox, but was surprised to find Joanne Donovan at her door.
"Miss Donovan, hello," Georgia Thorne greeted her evenly.
"Zane Lennox asked me to come over," Joanne Donovan said. "He figured this was your first time at this kind of gala and you wouldn’t have an evening gown, so he asked me to lend you one."
Joanne Donovan carried herself with a gentle elegance. With a simple glance at the maid behind her, the woman brought a complete outfit into the room and laid it out.
"Thank you," Georgia Thorne said with a smile. Joanne Donovan, however, frowned slightly. "To be honest, our builds are quite different. I’m a bit worried my clothes might not fit you."
Georgia Thorne and Joanne Donovan were polar opposites.
Joanne Donovan was meticulous about maintaining her figure, working out at the gym on a strict weekly schedule. As a result, she was tall and slender.
Georgia Thorne just smiled. "Thank you for your concern, Miss Donovan."
Seeing that Georgia had nothing more to say, Joanne Donovan bid her farewell and left.
Before she left, she reminded Georgia to be on time for the banquet.
Joanne Donovan’s words were laced with poison, a veiled insult about her supposed poor figure, implying she’d never fit into the dress.
She closed the door and looked at the dress on the bed. ’It must have been custom-made for Joanne Donovan by a designer.’
It was an aqua-blue, strapless, floor-length gown. The design was simple, without fussy patterns, and clearly meant to be form-fitting.
’Without a tall, willowy figure like Joanne Donovan’s, you really couldn’t pull it off.’
’But let’s not forget what I majored in.’
Georgia Thorne had always loved designing clothes. The pieces she created in school had earned praise from even her professors.
She called the front desk and asked for a pair of sharp scissors, some blue thread, and, while she was at it, a phone charger.
It was a five-star hotel; even if they didn’t have such items on hand, they would go out and buy them upon a guest’s request.
The front desk attendant arrived with the scissors and thread just twenty minutes later.
The banquet started at seven-thirty. She had forty-five minutes to prepare.
Georgia Thorne thanked the attendant and took the items.
She spread the dress out on the bed, cupping her chin in her hand as she assessed its style. Then, her slender fingers picked up the scissors.
She cut into the bottom of the skirt without hesitation. The sound of ripping fabric followed the scissors all the way up to the waist.
Time ticked by. In what seemed like an instant, a simple, long gown was transformed into a knee-length skirt.
It was now styled like a historical wrap dress, with layers of the aqua-blue fabric cascading down and a short train trailing from the back.
For someone of Georgia Thorne’s shorter stature, the new length was perfect.
She took the leftover fabric, cut out a series of floral shapes, and sewed them onto the waistline, cinching it to fit her perfectly.
The project took half an hour. Success.
It was elegant, not ostentatious; modest, not revealing.
Georgia Thorne was always her own harshest critic. To her, the dress was still riddled with flaws.
But given the emergency, it would have to do.
Georgia Thorne changed into the altered dress and looked at herself in the mirror. The transformation was dramatic.
At nearly seven o’clock, a knock came at the door. It was Zane Lennox.
The moment she opened the door, Zane Lennox felt as if he were seeing a fairy.
’The Georgia Thorne I know usually dresses so stiffly,’ he thought. ’Her only redeeming feature was probably her fair skin.’
’He’d compared her to other beautiful, captivating women before, and by those standards, Georgia had few advantages. And yet, he’d still fallen for her.’
But now, in this short, form-fitting blue dress, her already fair skin seemed to glow, making her look utterly bewitching. frёeωebɳovel.com
’If he didn’t know it was Joanne Donovan’s dress, he would have sworn it was tailor-made for Georgia.’
He swallowed hard. A Georgia Thorne this stunning was far too eye-catching. Suddenly, he didn’t want to take her out anymore.
’He didn’t want other men seeing this beautiful version of her, getting filthy ideas.’
Georgia Thorne, however, was preoccupied with practicalities. The dress was fine now that she’d altered it, but the shoes were still an issue.
Georgia was petite, with exceptionally small feet—a size 5. The pair Joanne Donovan had sent over were at least a size 7.
Thankfully, they had ankle straps to hold them in place; otherwise, they’d have been falling off her feet.
In the hallway, Georgia Thorne linked her arm with Zane Lennox’s. "Can we talk about the lawsuit now?"
Zane Lennox, in a surprisingly good mood, merely hummed in response. "After tonight."
"Zane Lennox, I’m just a junior employee. Give me a hard time if you must, but please, don’t drag my company into this."
Georgia Thorne stopped walking. "If you can’t stand the sight of me, I’ll quit!"
"Fine!" Zane Lennox agreed instantly, his dark eyes blazing as they fixed on her. "Quit your job and come work for my company. Then I’ll stop giving your firm a hard time."
"Ugh..." She couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes. ’It’s impossible to talk to him.’
She pulled her arm from his. "Zane Lennox, I already came to this resort with you. What more do you want?!"
"It’s simple. Leave that man and be with me!"
The smile vanished from his handsome face, replaced by a simmering anger. He forcibly took her arm and placed it back on his.
Georgia Thorne’s expression was glacial. She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him.
’That’s impossible.’
In a grand gesture, Joanne Donovan had booked the entire main hall for her birthday banquet.
Inside the brilliantly lit hall, men stood in sharp suits, looking dapper and refined. The women were a swirl of perfume and silk, each dressed to the nines, utterly captivating.
Amidst the dazzling lights, the air was filled with laughter and the clinking of glasses.
Georgia Thorne really never had attended such a grand banquet. The last time, at Silas Sullivan’s sixtieth birthday gala, she had been there for less than half an hour before Elliot Sheridan whisked her away.
Zane Lennox and Georgia Thorne arrived neither early nor late.
As they moved through the crowd, more than a few heads turned in their direction.
The unmarried socialites looked at the woman on Zane Lennox’s arm with a mixture of envy and jealousy, while the men were stunned that he’d brought a woman of such fresh, unadorned beauty.
She was likely the only woman in the entire hall not wearing a speck of makeup.
Georgia Thorne was blessed with naturally fair, smooth skin and a flawless complexion, so she held her own against the other, fully made-up women.
And often, it is precisely this kind of fresh, natural beauty that most attracts a man’s eye.
Just as Zane Lennox had feared, many men were staring at Georgia Thorne with predatory gazes.
Deeply displeased, he shifted his arm to wrap it possessively around Georgia Thorne’s slender waist, guiding her forward.
Georgia wasn’t used to being touched by men and disliked it. She instinctively tried to pull away from Zane Lennox’s hand, but he only tightened his grip on her waist.
He glanced down at her, an indulgent smile playing on his lips. "Just get through this banquet with me, and I’ll have my lawyer drop the suit."
"You mean that?" Georgia Thorne turned her head, her gaze meeting his deep, dark eyes.
Her fair, delicate skin made him lose his focus for a moment; he nearly got lost in the sight of her face.
Unable to help himself, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I mean it."
"A gentleman never goes back on his word."
Georgia Thorne wasn’t sure if she could trust his words. She didn’t know him well enough.
Zane Lennox smiled. It was rare to see this girlish, almost naive side of her.
Georgia Thorne stopped trying to pull away from his touch. Head bowed, she discreetly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand where he had kissed her. ƒrēewebnovel.com
As they slowly walked forward, they saw Joanne Donovan standing in the middle of a crowd, looking absolutely stunning.
Joanne Donovan was tall and statuesque. A far cry from the simple dress she’d worn earlier in the day, she now wore a fiery red, strapless gown that left her entire back exposed, revealing a beautiful spinal column and the faint indentation of Venus dimples at her lower back.
It had to be admitted: Joanne Donovan was an exquisite woman, flawless from head to toe.
’And that dress she’s wearing is gorgeous,’ Georgia thought.
Joanne Donovan was chatting with a friend, an old classmate who was now a fashion designer with a considerable reputation in Portmire.
Joanne made a point to patronize her old friend’s business—and besides, their designs were genuinely beautiful. She had commissioned five custom outfits in total.
One of them was the dress she was wearing now. Another was the one she had given to Georgia Thorne.
As the handsome couple approached, the old classmate, Nathan Rhodes, glanced over, his attention immediately locking onto the outfit Georgia Thorne was wearing.
’Isn’t that the evening gown I custom-designed for Joanne?’ he wondered. ’How did it end up on her?’
Moreover, the entire feel of the dress had changed completely. Nathan Rhodes raised an eyebrow, inwardly surprised.
For a moment, he even doubted if it was his own work.
It wasn’t until Georgia Thorne stood before them that Nathan Rhodes got a closer look at the dress.
A designer, if they want to create truly great work, must not only have a unique and innovative concept but must also personally select the fabric for the garment, allowing for no deviation.
