Free Web NovelChapter 157: Chapter 153: You Still Care About This Little Money?
"Any plans for New Year’s?"
"Nope!"
Georgia Thorne answered weakly, unsure of what Elliot Sheridan wanted to do.
Elliot Sheridan grabbed her small hand. "Pack your things."
"What?"
"Didn’t you say you had no plans for New Year’s?"
Elliot Sheridan looked at her with a gentle smile. "You don’t have to pack, either. Just bring your ID."
Elliot Sheridan’s thoughts jumped around too quickly. Before Georgia Thorne could even figure out what he was planning, he had already grabbed his suit jacket and was deftly putting it on.
"Well? Aren’t you going to get your things?"
"Uh..."
Georgia Thorne looked down at herself, then quickly changed into a clean set of clothes, watching him breathlessly.
It wasn’t until she was in a car with Elliot Sheridan on the way to the Kelda airport that Georgia Thorne’s mind finally started to catch up with his.
Elliot Sheridan had bought tickets for the next flight to Kyoria.
Georgia Thorne looked at him and asked belatedly, "We’re going to Kyoria?"
"Mhm."
Getting the man’s confirmation, Georgia Thorne swallowed hard. "But I didn’t bring anything."
She had no idea where Elliot Sheridan was taking her, so she had obediently brought only her ID, bank cards, and phone.
"You don’t need to!"
At 7:40, the plane took off.
They were in economy class, and Elliot Sheridan’s refined air seemed completely out of place.
Georgia Thorne glanced at the man beside her, wondering if he was used to flying economy.
’Someone like him should be in business class,’ she thought.
"If you’re tired, you can rest your head on my shoulder and sleep for a bit."
Elliot Sheridan suddenly turned his head, meeting Georgia Thorne’s gaze as she studied him.
"I’m not tired!"
Georgia Thorne had just shaken her head when she felt a weight settle on her right shoulder.
His fluffy hair brushed against her neck and face, tickling her.
She shifted, unused to the sensation, and heard the man on her shoulder speak. "Let me sleep for a bit. I haven’t slept in a long time."
His voice was extremely hoarse and full of exhaustion.
’He lectured for a full two hours this morning. It’d be strange if his voice wasn’t hoarse.’
Still, the feeling of him leaning on her shoulder was strange. Georgia Thorne sat up straighter, letting him rest against her.
She glanced to the side and saw the way Elliot Sheridan looked as he slept with his eyes closed.
What she didn’t know was that Elliot Sheridan hadn’t slept at all since the night before last.
He had finished several days’ worth of work in advance just so he could come to Akashima to meet a client.
Owen Sawyer had been curious why the CEO was working himself to death, but when he connected it to Georgia Thorne, everything that didn’t make sense suddenly clicked into place.
He hadn’t closed his eyes for two days and one night, had rushed to catch a flight, had given a two-hour lecture, and had waited outside Georgia Thorne’s apartment for another two hours. His eyes were shot with red.
Even a man of iron couldn’t take that kind of strain.
This impromptu trip had come without any warning.
Georgia Thorne didn’t ask a single question, simply following him with complete trust.
The flight from Kelda to Kyoria was quick. In about an hour, they were there.
Elliot Sheridan had napped for a bit, but his eyes were still bloodshot as he took Georgia Thorne’s hand and led her out of the airport.
He hailed a taxi and they headed for the Corithium.
It was ten minutes to nine. Getting to the Corithium would take at least half an hour.
Back when she was a student, Georgia Thorne had dreamed of coming to Kyoria one day.
Her heart suddenly surged with excitement. She gazed out, full of longing, as the car drove into more crowded areas.
It was New Year’s Eve, and many people had chosen to ring in the new year at the base of the Corithium. The driver stopped the car in a less crowded spot.
Elliot Sheridan gripped Georgia Thorne’s hand, leading her all the way into the Corithium.
It was 9:30, so they could still go in for another half an hour.
The two of them bought tickets. The elevator was crowded, so Elliot Sheridan wrapped an arm around Georgia Thorne’s shoulders, protecting her in his embrace.
They went straight to the second-floor observation deck, which was still packed with tourists.
They were suddenly 250 meters up in the air. Georgia Thorne was a little scared of the height, but the moment she saw the beautiful night view, all her fear was forgotten.
"Wow, it’s so beautiful!"
From the glass observation deck, they could overlook the entire city of Kyoria.
In the darkness, looking down at the skyscrapers below, she had the strange illusion that she was looking at an inverted starry sky.
The countless pinpricks of light formed a magnificent and splendid radiance, dazzling to behold.
"Elliot, look!"
Georgia Thorne spun around excitedly, pointing down. "That’s the airport we just came from!"
Elliot Sheridan murmured in agreement. The view was beautiful, but in his eyes, nothing was more beautiful than Georgia Thorne.
He clasped Georgia Thorne’s fingers tightly and pulled her into his arms.
Georgia Thorne was still pointing things out, feeling like she could never get enough of the view, when she was suddenly pulled into Elliot Sheridan’s arms. She looked up at him, bewildered. "What’s wrong?"
The words had barely left her lips when the man’s hand cupped the back of her head. His long fingers threaded into her hair as he held her face and pressed his lips to hers.
Georgia Thorne’s eyes flew open in shock. ’There are so many people here...’ she thought.
No one would interrupt such a handsome couple sharing a passionate kiss, disturbing such a beautiful moment.
On the contrary, some found the scene so perfect that they took out their cameras to capture the beautiful image.
A photographer had just captured a picture of their kiss.
"I just got a shot of you two. Care to buy it? 1,000 yen per photo?" the photographer said with a grin.
"Do you have any money on you?" Elliot Sheridan murmured, leaning in close to her.
Georgia Thorne glanced at the photo. She felt a little shy about being caught kissing Elliot Sheridan, but the picture really was beautiful. She loved it.
She took out her wallet and had just pulled out a thousand-yen bill when the man beside her snatched the wallet away.
Elliot Sheridan pulled two more bills from the wallet, then handed them to the photographer along with the one in Georgia Thorne’s hand. "I’ll take all three!"
There hadn’t been much money in her wallet to begin with. After he took three bills, only a few coins were left.
"Why did you buy three? Aren’t they all the same? What a waste of money!" Georgia Thorne deliberately emphasized the last words, huffing in annoyance.
Elliot Sheridan poked Georgia Thorne’s head. "It’s just a few thousand yen. My entire being is yours, and you’re worried about a little money?"
’My entire being is yours...’
The phrase replayed in Georgia Thorne’s mind like a magic spell, echoing endlessly, impossible to dismiss.
She looked up and met the man’s gentle gaze, and her heart began to pound.
The tips of her ears burned. ’What does he mean by that?’
She suddenly felt like someone who had been trekking through a desert for a long time, her throat unusually dry and hoarse.
She averted her eyes, avoiding his searing gaze, and gave a few dry coughs.
When this man looked at you with such deep affection, he always created the illusion that you were the one and only, irreplaceable person in the world.
’Georgia, you have to control yourself!’
But what she didn’t know was that from the moment she saw Elliot Sheridan in the classroom, she had already lost control.
If she had been in control, she wouldn’t have kissed him, wouldn’t have trusted him, and wouldn’t have followed him to Kyoria without a single question.
After a few more dry coughs, she held out her small hand, palm up, and said with a huff of feigned arrogance, "Hand it over!"
She still didn’t dare look at Elliot Sheridan, afraid her blush would betray her feelings.
Little did she know, the more she acted this way, the more Elliot Sheridan liked it.
Something heavy was placed in her open palm. Her fingers brushed against it—was it real leather?
She turned her head and saw a man’s leather wallet in her hand, instantly recalling what he had said before.
Elliot Sheridan reached out and pulled her into his arms. "It’s all yours!"
Georgia Thorne’s face was burning hot. "I didn’t mean the wallet! I want the photos!"
"Not giving them to you!"
Elliot Sheridan stuffed the photos into his pocket and caught both of Georgia Thorne’s small hands to stop her from getting them.
The two of them stood before the glass, admiring the night view.
"Wow, it really is beautiful!"
At first, Georgia Thorne had been a little afraid to look down from such a height, but then a warm, solid chest pressed against her back.
Powerful arms wrapped around her slender waist, and his hand took her slim, fair one, enclosing it in his palm.
"Don’t be afraid. Look far into the distance. Take it all in, and you’ll realize you have the whole of Kyoria at your feet."
The rich, mellow voice emerged from his throat and drifted into Georgia Thorne’s ears, carrying an extraordinary weight.
’The whole of Kyoria at your feet?’
’Isn’t that a little too arrogant?’
Georgia Thorne turned her head, studying the man beside her out of the corner of her eye. His handsome face was etched with a steely determination, his eyes glinting with the certainty of one who would conquer the world.
He had always looked down upon the world with the air of a king, for whom nothing was ever a true obstacle.
She had almost forgotten that he had always been an ambitious man, which was why he could say something so domineering.
Elliot Sheridan held her, guiding her body to lean slowly forward. Georgia Thorne’s heart was a mix of nervousness and the security she felt from having him behind her.
Standing at the very edge, Georgia Thorne felt as if her heart was about to stop beating.
The man’s warm breath tickled her ear. "Is it beautiful?"
They moved one step closer. Beneath their feet was transparent glass, through which they could clearly see the buildings below.
"Deep breaths. Don’t be nervous!"
The man’s slow, steady voice sounded by her ear. Georgia Thorne did as he said, her eyes fixed below, unblinking.
It was as if they were suspended in mid-air, gazing upon the beautiful scenery.
Looking down like this, she really did feel as if she had Kyoria at her feet.
After bravely taking in the Kyoria nightscape, Georgia Thorne’s legs were weak and numb by the time they came down.
Ignoring the other people around, Elliot Sheridan swept Georgia Thorne up into his arms.
Georgia Thorne cried out in surprise and frantically grabbed Elliot Sheridan’s collar. "What are you doing?!"
Elliot Sheridan said nothing, simply carrying Georgia Thorne into the elevator.
The people around them looked on, envious of their romance. Georgia Thorne heard a medley of unfamiliar languages around her.
Most of it was Akashimanese. When Georgia Thorne heard the words for "husband" and "wife," the heat that had just faded from her cheeks flared up again.
’A married couple... him and me?’
When they reached the first floor and had taken a few steps outside, Georgia Thorne begged Elliot Sheridan to put her down.
