Free Web NovelChapter 148: Chapter 144: You’re Not Allowed to See Other Men
I genuinely couldn’t understand what Georgia Thorne was thinking. She was obviously head over heels for Elliot Sheridan, so why did she have to bring up a breakup?
If there was a problem, couldn’t they have just sat down and talked it out?
If it were her, she would have definitely gone along with Elliot Sheridan first, then pressed him about his relationship with that famous designer.
It seemed she was destined for a sleepless night.
Georgia Thorne barely slept all night, lying motionless in bed like a corpse.
She got up at the crack of dawn the next day.
Lynn Thorne got up at the same time as Georgia.
Today was the court date. She probably hadn’t slept well last night either.
"Morning, sis!"
"What’s wrong with your eyes?" Lynn Thorne glanced at her. "They’re all red and swollen."
"It’s nothing. I just didn’t sleep well last night."
The hearing was at three in the afternoon, but by morning, Lynn Thorne couldn’t sit still at home anymore and rushed to Everlight to see Byron Shaw.
Byron Shaw was the same as usual. After greeting her with a "Miss Georgia," he began discussing the case with Lynn Thorne.
Byron Shaw was very serious about his work. Meticulously, he laid out the pros and cons of the lawsuit for Lynn Thorne one by one.
Lynn Thorne was fraught with worry. "Attorney Shaw, can we win this case?"
Byron Shaw didn’t make any grand promises, but he gave her a probability that put Lynn Thorne’s mind at ease.
Georgia Thorne, with nothing to do on the side, quietly slipped out of the conference room.
The moment she left, the man in the chair glanced at Georgia Thorne before lowering his head to continue the discussion with Lynn Thorne.
Georgia Thorne took a sip of water and happened to run into Byron Shaw’s assistant.
"Assistant Wagner, hello."
Grace Wagner nodded at her, then entered the office holding a stack of files.
The law firm was bustling with people coming and going.
Basically, anyone who could afford to hire a lawyer from Everlight was a person of some status.
Her gaze swept around casually and happened to land on Attorney Aaron Larkin.
As for the woman beside him, she seemed to be Jasmine Larkin, the third party who had destroyed her older sister’s marriage.
A moment later, Finn Sutton came out of a conference room and shook hands with Aaron Larkin.
’So it really was the Sutton Family’s doing. Is Aaron Larkin the Suttons’ defense attorney?’
At 2:45, Georgia Thorne sat in the gallery, observing the opposing party.
Surprisingly, the Sutton Family’s defense attorney wasn’t Aaron Larkin, but another lawyer from Everlight.
Instead, Aaron Larkin was sitting with her in the gallery, with Jasmine Larkin next to him.
At three o’clock, the hearing officially began.
Byron Shaw was a smart man. While divorce cases weren’t his specialty, he was an expert at turning things to his advantage.
He positioned Lynn Thorne as a victim, making everyone sympathize with the pitiable woman.
At the same time, he displayed photos of Finn Sutton’s affair during the marriage on the projector, causing an uproar in the courtroom.
The plaintiff, Finn Sutton, paled on the spot. ’How could Byron Shaw possibly have these photos?’
’He had been so careful to erase all traces when he was with Jasmine Larkin, and they were mostly out of town.’
What was supposed to be a sure-win case suddenly made him panic with the release of so many photos and videos of his affair. "They’re fake! You fabricated all this evidence!"
The photos could be Photoshopped, but the videos and audio recordings couldn’t be faked.
Byron Shaw smiled gently, but his gaze was sharp as it landed on Finn Sutton. "Mr. Plaintiff, you claim this evidence is fabricated. Do you have any proof? Otherwise, I will sue you for slander!"
Finn Sutton’s eyes went wide, and the veins on his forehead bulged.
He wanted to refute it but was powerless to do so.
Next, Byron Shaw used the fact that Finn Sutton’s affair was the cause for divorce to argue for custody of the child.
It ended around four o’clock.
Georgia Thorne came down from the gallery and walked over to Lynn Thorne.
The entire case had been single-handedly orchestrated by Byron Shaw; the opposing counsel couldn’t even mount a rebuttal.
Although Lynn Thorne didn’t understand the legalities, she felt their chances of winning were very high.
"Attorney Shaw, thank you!" Lynn Thorne said, full of gratitude.
"You’re too kind, Miss Thorne."
This was only the first hearing. It was still unknown when the verdict would be announced, or if there would be a second hearing.
They had just left the courthouse when they saw the entire Sutton Family standing by the entrance.
Lynn Thorne looked disappointed when she didn’t see her son.
Finn Sutton took two steps forward. "Lynn Thorne, do you really have to be so ruthless? We were husband and wife, after all."
With Byron Shaw as her lawyer, Lynn Thorne’s chances of getting custody of Leah were almost one hundred percent.
"Finn Sutton, you have the nerve to say we were husband and wife?" Lynn Thorne looked at him incredulously. "When you were cheating on me behind my back, did you think about us being husband and wife then?"
Mrs. Sutton couldn’t stand Lynn Thorne. "Son, what’s there to say to her? Leah has our family name, Sutton. She belongs to the Suttons and has nothing to do with you!"
Lynn Thorne’s eyes reddened with anger at Mrs. Sutton’s words. Taking a deep breath, she declared, "I will get custody of Leah!"
Lynn Thorne was completely disheartened by the Sutton Family and its members.
All she wanted now was Leah.
Georgia Thorne pursed her lips. She disliked the Suttons from the bottom of her heart and had no idea how her sister had tolerated them for the past ten years.
Byron Shaw spoke calmly, "Attorney Larkin, you should keep a better eye on your sister. Seducing a married man is truly a shameful thing to have get out."
Aaron Larkin’s expression turned awkward, but he couldn’t find any words to rebut.
’Aaron Larkin is Jasmine Larkin’s brother?’
’No wonder!’
The lawsuit against the Sutton Family was a closed hearing.
Therefore, the Thorne Family didn’t know about the lawsuit for custody.
Jared Thorne was already so angry he was ready to disown Lynn Thorne; how could he possibly know about this?
The Sutton Family, afraid that Lynn Thorne would actually win the case and take custody of Leah, had no choice but to call the Thorne Family.
Back then, Lynn Thorne and Finn Sutton had gotten married for the sake of mutual benefit.
Now, their two family businesses had been intertwined for ten years.
The Sutton Family called to demand that Lynn Thorne drop the lawsuit. Only if Leah remained with the Suttons would they continue their business partnership.
In recent years, Jared Thorne’s company, which had been on the verge of bankruptcy, was revitalized thanks to a capital injection from Elliot Sheridan.
Furthermore, the company had grown three to four times its original size, and its performance had increased by several dozen percentage points compared to previous years.
Jared Thorne’s mindset was completely different from before; he had grown proud and arrogant.
He was extremely dissatisfied with Mr. Sutton’s demanding tone.
He snapped, "If you don’t want to cooperate, then let’s never cooperate again," and angrily slammed down the phone.
Then he summoned Lynn Thorne back to the Thorne residence.
Georgia Thorne didn’t go with her, waiting at home for news from Lynn.
That evening, Lynn Thorne called and said, "Don’t worry, Mom and Dad have calmed down. I’ll be staying at home tonight, so I won’t be coming back."
Georgia Thorne hummed in acknowledgment, hung up, and lay down in bed.
’As long as things were fine, that was for the best.’
The next day was the weekend.
There was no sun. The sky was gloomy, and a cold wind was howling.
It was the kind of weather that was perfect for burrowing under warm blankets and sleeping all day.
But Georgia Thorne couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed, staring blankly, and finally just got up around nine.
Nancy Hughes, who usually loved to sleep in, was up bright and early for a weekend.
She was wearing a pink coat and had put on makeup, clearly having taken great care with her appearance.
"I have a company event today, so I won’t be back tonight." Nancy Hughes frantically grabbed her bag and put on her shoes at the door, not forgetting to talk to Georgia Thorne.
"Have fun."
Nancy Hughes glanced at the time, muttered, "Crap, I’m going to be late," and dashed out the door.
Georgia Thorne heated herself a glass of milk and nibbled on some bread to get by.
’Being alone was actually quite nice.’
’At least it was quiet.’
After spending a quiet afternoon cleaning the apartment, she took a shower and lay in bed watching TV.
At first, Blue slept curled up by her legs. Later, probably feeling cold, he moved up to Georgia Thorne’s pillow, resting his upper body on her shoulder and squinting his blue eyes, as if he were watching TV with her.
She was too lazy to cook for one, and besides, she wasn’t hungry, so she just picked a movie to watch.
After three movies, it was already past ten o’clock.
Blue, cuddled against her, was fast asleep, letting out soft purrs.
’Little guy.’ She reached out and stroked Blue’s white fur.
She didn’t feel sleepy at all, so she browsed through the movies, preparing to watch another one.
She had just started it when her phone, placed by her pillow, rang.
She picked it up and saw that the call was from Nancy Hughes.
"When are you coming back?"
"You must be Nancy Hughes’s roommate." The voice on the other end wasn’t Nancy’s. "I’m a colleague of hers. She’s had too much to drink. Could you come pick her up?"
"Where are you? I’ll be right there."
The person on the phone gave her the address. Georgia Thorne hung up and threw back the covers.
Blue, who had been lying on her stomach, was startled awake. He let out a displeased MEOW, opening his beautiful blue eyes to look at Georgia Thorne.
「Forty minutes later」
Georgia Thorne arrived at the bar where Nancy Hughes’s company party was being held.
It was a large private room, holding a lot of people.
When Georgia Thorne went over, the party was still in full swing, with many people still playing dice and drinking.
Someone saw Georgia Thorne standing at the door. "Excuse me, who are you looking for?"
A man enthusiastically sidled up to her, red from the neck up. A foul stench of alcohol washed over her.
"I’m Nancy Hughes’s roommate. Where is she?" Georgia Thorne scanned the large room; there were about twenty or thirty people left.
Men and women sat together in the dark, the dizzying red and green neon lights flashing across everyone’s faces.
The man laughed and shouted to the people in the room, "Where’s Nancy Hughes? Get out here, your roommate is here to take you home!"
A female colleague sitting with Nancy Hughes nudged the woman sleeping on the sofa, but there was no response.
She raised her hand and said, "She’s over here!"
Someone was still singing in the room, the passionate, intense rock music blasting everyone’s ears.
Unable to hear over the din, Georgia Thorne hurried toward the woman who had raised her hand.
Nancy Hughes was completely drunk, passed out on the sofa.
Georgia Thorne turned her over and patted her cheek. "Nancy, wake up!"
