Free Web NovelChapter 155: Chapter 151: It’s What I Use for Video Calls with Georgia Thorne
This afternoon, when Elliot Sheridan’s secretary, Owen Sawyer, told her President Sheridan wanted to see her, she’d been scared out of her wits.
She thought it had been about the check, but never expected it would be *this*.
Heavens, what was going on!?
Nancy Hughes’s hands kept trembling, terrified she might accidentally drop the phone.
Her own big boss was sitting right beside her.
Elliot Sheridan had told her to talk as she normally would so Georgia Thorne wouldn’t suspect anything.
Even though Nancy Hughes was normally a chatterbox, in this tense moment, she was at a complete loss for words, desperately searching for a topic of conversation.
Georgia Thorne, completely unaware, told Nancy Hughes everything that had been going on with her lately.
Naturally, that included running into Byron Shaw today.
The moment Byron Shaw’s name came through, Nancy Hughes felt like she wasn’t sitting in front of a person, but an ice machine.
The temperature instantly plummeted below freezing, making Nancy Hughes shiver uncontrollably.
’I don’t know if I should keep asking,’ Nancy worried. ’What if I find out they’re dating and Elliot Sheridan kills me? What would I do then!?’
’They spent Christmas together, so they can’t be far from dating.’
Nancy Hughes rambled on about a slew of irrelevant topics until Georgia Thorne, growing drowsy on the other end, finally couldn’t take it anymore. "I have to get up early for class tomorrow," she said. "I’m going to bed!"
"Okay, go to sleep."
Nancy Hughes was about to end the video call when Elliot Sheridan snatched the phone from her hand.
On the screen, Georgia Thorne had already fallen asleep, her face nestled into the pillow, eyes closed.
The warm yellow light cast a dark shadow beneath her long, thick, curled lashes.
Georgia Thorne always looked so docile when she slept, her expression peaceful and sweet.
"Do you know how to save this?"
"Huh?" Nancy Hughes glanced at Georgia Thorne on the screen, then back up at Elliot Sheridan, and nodded frantically. "I do."
Nancy Hughes was a nervous wreck. It took her several tries before she finally managed to take a screenshot of Georgia’s sleeping face.
Then she asked, "President Sheridan, do you have WeChat? I can send it to you!"
"WeChat? What’s that?"
"Uh..." ’So, there really are people in this day and age who have no idea what WeChat is.’
’I thought Georgia Thorne was joking when she said that!’
"It’s this app, the one I just used to video chat with Georgia Thorne."
Before Nancy Hughes could finish, Elliot Sheridan tossed his phone to her. "Set one up for me."
Nancy Hughes’s hands trembled even more as she held the phone her big boss had just used.
She frantically downloaded the WeChat app for Elliot Sheridan and registered an account for him.
When Nancy Hughes tried to hand the phone back, Elliot Sheridan frowned. "What about hers!"
With the big president’s command, Nancy Hughes cast all else aside and sold out her friend’s WeChat without a second thought.
After adding Georgia Thorne, she explained, "You’ll have to wait for her to accept your friend request before you can chat."
"So when will she accept it!"
"That... I’m not sure!"
Elliot Sheridan waited all night.
He couldn’t sleep a wink until Georgia Thorne accepted his request, and he stared at his phone the entire time.
It wasn’t until the following afternoon that his phone finally buzzed with a notification.
’Rejected?’
Elliot Sheridan glared at his phone screen, his anger simmering, and sent another request.
’She dared to reject him. The nerve.’
’She shouldn’t think she can get away from him just by running off to Akashima!’
Over on her end, Georgia had just finished uploading a photo of a child’s drawing. When she backed out of the app, she saw that the stranger she’d just rejected had sent another friend request.
’Could it be someone I know?’
With that thought, Georgia Thorne hesitantly accepted the friend request.
The moment she accepted, a message came through.
It was just a simple "Hmph." Confused, Georgia Thorne sent a question mark in reply.
The other party replied with a string of exclamation points.
’How annoying. Who is this person anyway?’
Georgia Thorne was curious. She didn’t usually add strangers.
She tapped on the profile picture, but it was completely blank. There was nothing there.
"Excuse me, who is this?"
Georgia Thorne asked, but this time, there was no quick reply.
She set her phone on the table and went back to helping the child with their drawing.
The phone remained silent all the way until evening.
That evening, Georgia Thorne returned to her rented apartment and made herself some instant noodles.
After Christmas came New Year’s Day, which meant a three-day break.
Georgia Thorne planned to spend all three days resting in her apartment.
However, the arrival of one person threw all her plans into disarray.
On the last day of December, Georgia Thorne headed out early for her training class.
The moment she stepped outside, she was shocked by the deep snow piled up at her door.
The snow was already up to her calves; it had piled up that high overnight.
Snowplows were at work on the street. She trudged through the snow for a few steps until she reached the cleared pavement.
Her apartment wasn’t far from the lecture hall—about a twenty-minute walk.
With the snow on the ground, Georgia Thorne was worried about slipping, so it took her an extra ten minutes to get to the classroom.
She’d heard a very important person was giving a lecture today. When Georgia Thorne arrived, she found the classroom was packed to the gills.
People were even sitting in the aisles, a testament to how popular this speaker must be.
Georgia Thorne scanned the room, then heard someone calling her name in Chinese.
She looked toward the voice and saw a man waving at her. "Over here! Come sit."
She recognized the man waving at her; he was a colleague from her company, also here for the training.
Georgia Thorne squeezed through the crowd toward him. "Thank you," she said gratefully.
"It’s nothing. Go on, sit." The male colleague shyly scratched his head, not daring to meet her eyes as he glanced at her profile.
’To be honest,’ he thought, ’I’ve seen all the female colleagues who came to Akashima for this training. While some might be prettier than Georgia Thorne, I still think she’s the most beautiful, the kind of beauty that lasts.’
’At the very least, Georgia Thorne doesn’t wear makeup, and she still looks so pure and fresh.’
The classroom was jam-packed and noisy.
The classroom was already heated, and with the added body heat from the crowd, the room became stuffy in an instant.
Georgia Thorne felt hot. Her fair cheeks were flushed and burning, so she unzipped her down jacket.
About ten minutes later, the boisterous classroom fell silent the moment the program director walked in.
’The lecturer must be here,’ Georgia Thorne thought, and she stopped talking to the colleague beside her.
The director gave a lengthy speech from the stage before welcoming the lecturer with a round of enthusiastic applause.
Georgia Thorne had run through a list of possible people in her mind, but she had never, ever imagined it would be Elliot Sheridan.
The man was tall with a broad back, dressed in a black trench coat with a mink collar.
He entered, removed the coat, and revealed a black suit underneath.
As always, the moment he appeared, everyone fell silent, seemingly stunned by his powerful presence.
A man with such a commanding presence could silence a room with a single glance.
Her eyes grew hot and burned, her vision blurring.
A month had passed since she’d seen him, and he seemed even thinner than before.
As he stood at the lectern, cold and serious, he captured the attention of every woman in the room.
Elliot Sheridan was a mature, steady, and sensually charismatic man; she believed few women could resist him.
It took a moment for Georgia Thorne to react. Afraid he would see her, she frantically lowered her head.
’There are so many people in this classroom,’ she thought. ’He probably won’t see me.’
She tried to comfort herself, but she couldn’t tell if she felt happy or disappointed.
She stealthily raised her head to watch the man fluently introduce himself in Japanese.
Back when they were together, Georgia Thorne had heard Elliot Sheridan speak English.
When he found out she was minoring in Japanese back then, she had been so pleased, showing off the little Japanese she’d just learned.
Looking back, she realized she had been like a clown, ignorantly showing off her meager skills to a master. It was all so laughable.
Elliot Sheridan always had a beautiful voice. Its low, unhurried timbre carried his unique charm, and with just a few words, he had captivated every woman in attendance.
The lecture was two hours long with no break. Elliot Sheridan stood at the podium, speaking the entire time.
At first, Georgia Thorne only snuck glances, but eventually, she started watching him openly.
Elliot Sheridan’s gaze never once landed on her. He probably hadn’t noticed her.
When the lecture finally ended, Georgia Thorne packed her things, ready to leave.
The classroom was still buzzing. Nearly every woman had stayed behind, crowding around Elliot Sheridan.
On the surface, they wanted to ask him questions, but in reality, they just wanted to leave a lasting impression on him.
Elliot Sheridan’s eyes narrowed, his sharp, piercing gaze sweeping toward the doorway just as Georgia Thorne’s back disappeared out of the classroom.
A man’s voice called out to her from behind. Georgia Thorne turned around, and they passed something between them.
Georgia Thorne gave the man a brilliant smile, then waved goodbye and walked away.
These past few days, Georgia Thorne had settled into a routine: lectures in the morning, and teaching children to draw at an art studio in the afternoon.
When she entered the studio, she was surprised to see a man there.
"Attorney Shaw, hello," Georgia Thorne greeted him politely.
Byron Shaw acknowledged her and put down his pencil.
On the paper was an unfinished drawing of a small butterfly. With only one wing drawn, it looked broken from a certain angle.
Time always flew by when she was teaching the children. Georgia Thorne adored children—their innocence and energy, their sweet and carefree nature.
By the time Georgia Thorne had finished guiding the children with their drawings, she realized it was already dark outside.
She checked the time; it was just a little past five.
"Teacher Ford, I’m heading out now."
"Okay, I’ll stay and tidy up."
After saying goodbye to Shawn Ford, Georgia Thorne grabbed her things and headed downstairs.
It was freezing outside. Georgia Thorne hunched her shoulders, burying her face in her scarf.
This was definitely the coldest winter she had ever endured.
She had only taken a couple of steps when she heard Byron Shaw’s voice.
"I thought you’d already left!" Georgia Thorne turned to look at Byron Shaw.
"My sister asked me to drop off some clothes for my brother-in-law." Byron Shaw brandished the paper bag in his hand.
The smile faded from his face, and his dark eyes looked at her sincerely. "Georgia Thorne," he said earnestly, "Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year."
After parting ways with Byron Shaw, Georgia Thorne ambled back toward her apartment.
Seven more hours until the New Year.
Back at her rented apartment, she had just started up the stairs when her feet froze, rendering her unable to move.
