Free Web NovelChapter 182: Chapter 172: With Someone Suppressing, There’s No Winning
She’d already had quite a bit to drink, and after a few more glasses, her head was spinning.
Her fair cheeks were red and hot. Perhaps the alcohol was kicking in. She reached up and touched them.
They were playing the guessing game again. A rush of warm breath brushed against the back of her ear. "I guess four."
Georgia Thorne’s head was swimming. She tilted her neck back to look at the handsome face so close to hers and called out the same number.
She didn’t know if it was her imagination or not, but she felt as if she and Elliot Sheridan were pressed closer and closer together. She felt hot all over.
So hot she wanted to strip off her clothes.
Georgia wanted to tell Elliot to move away a little, to not be so close. It was just too hot.
But then she remembered that they hadn’t said a single word to each other all day. Elliot had even pretended not to know her.
She pursed her lips in anger and said nothing, consciously shifting closer to Nancy Hughes.
Elliot noticed Georgia’s subtle movement.
His dark eyes instantly filled with deep displeasure. ’Does she want to get away from me that badly?’
They played a few more rounds. Elliot won most of the time. Whatever number he called, Georgia would echo it.
And just as she’d hoped, she didn’t have to drink another drop.
’Why is it getting so cramped!’
Georgia shot to her feet and looked around. They had started in the center of the sofa, but at some point, they’d all ended up crammed onto Nancy’s side.
Her furious gaze landed on the culprit, Ethan Fletcher. ’It had to be him.’
’I wasn’t thinking clearly just now. I let my guard down.’
Georgia grabbed her bag. "Sorry, I’m going to the restroom."
With that, she lowered her head and hurried out.
Two gazes from behind followed Georgia as she left.
Inside the restroom, Georgia recalled the unintentional moments of intimacy with Elliot while they were playing dice and slapped her forehead in frustration.
’Georgia, how could you let your guard down so easily!’
She tapped her head forcefully, trying to make herself face reality.
’Georgia, you’re about to get married, and he’s going to be engaged soon. How can you let things get so ambiguous between you!’
She cupped her hands and splashed cool water on her face, washing away the heat. She warned herself once again: stay away from Elliot Sheridan.
As she was leaving, the phone in her pocket rang.
It was a call from Zane Lennox.
"Are you in bed yet?"
"Not yet. You?"
"Me neither." A weary voice came through the phone.
Suddenly, they both fell silent. The line went quiet.
"What are you doing?"
"Where are you?"
Perhaps feeling the silence was too awkward, they both spoke at once, then immediately fell silent again.
Neither had caught what the other said.
This was their first conversation since the wedding photoshoot. It was exceptionally awkward.
"About the wedding photoshoot, I’m really sorry. Something came up suddenly at the company."
"Zane..." Georgia hesitated for a moment, then said, "It’s okay. The company is more important. Is the problem solved now?"
"More or less," Zane said vaguely. "You should get some rest. How about we have lunch together tomorrow?"
"Okay. You get some rest too. Take care of yourself," Georgia said with concern, then said goodbye and ended the call.
Although Georgia didn’t understand what had happened at his company, she could tell from his voice that he was exhausted, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.
She glanced at the time. It was almost eleven o’clock without her realizing. She should be heading back.
She put her phone away, and as she turned to go back, she was startled by a tall figure standing behind her.
In the corridor, the warm, hazy yellow light spilled across the man’s broad shoulders. His handsome face was obscured in shadow, a cold sneer playing on his lips.
He had overheard Georgia’s call with Zane, and it had infuriated him.
Georgia didn’t know when he had appeared behind her, how much of her conversation with Zane he had overheard, or if he had heard all of it.
’None of that matters anymore. We’re walking different paths now.’
Georgia lowered her head, avoiding his gaze, and walked past him.
As she passed, Elliot spoke coldly, "Tell me, if Zane Lennox knew his fiancée was out this late with another man, do you think he’d come rushing over in a rage?"
Elliot Sheridan always had a way of stirring up a thousand waves in the calm lake of Georgia’s heart.
She turned her head indignantly, her hand clenching into a tight fist behind her back. "You wouldn’t do that."
’He was always too proud; he would never deign to compete with someone.’
Seeing Georgia’s angry expression, Elliot found it rather cute. With one hand in his trouser pocket, he said leisurely, "Who knows!"
"You!" Georgia was so angry she bit her lower lip, unable to speak.
Under the light, Georgia’s chestnut hair looked even more striking. Elliot found the sight glaring. "Oh, right. I forgot Zane Lennox is currently at his wits’ end over company matters. How would he have time to rush over?"
A brilliant smile spread across his lips as he raised an eyebrow. "What do you think? Will the Lennox Group’s stock plummet tomorrow?"
As soon as Zane’s company was mentioned, Georgia asked anxiously, "Did you do something to Zane’s company?"
’Otherwise, how could Zane’s company suddenly have problems, and on the very day of our wedding photoshoot?’
Elliot had the power to make any company in Portmire disappear overnight.
Elliot sneered. "Hmph, sabotage his company? Do you think he’s even worthy of my attention?"
"Who knows!" Georgia threw his own words back at him, her expression one of clear disbelief.
Furious, Georgia stormed outside without even a word to Nancy. She hailed a taxi and went straight home.
Back in the private room, it had grown quiet ever since Georgia and Elliot had left one after the other.
Liam Sheffield rested his chin in one hand, his gaze fixed on the door. "How come my bro and Miss Georgia left and still haven’t come back?"
Ethan Fletcher thought, ’They probably went out and aren’t coming back tonight.’
Nancy Hughes had wanted to call Georgia, but considering that Elliot had also left, she dismissed the thought.
’Maybe the two of them are together right now. If I call, I’ll just be interrupting them.’
After waiting patiently for a while, Elliot came in from outside.
Nancy craned her neck but didn’t see Georgia. "Where’s Georgia?"
"She left."
"Left?" Nancy’s voice rose as she hurried out.
She called Georgia as she ran.
The call was answered quickly. "Georgia, you went home?"
"Yeah, I was a little tired. You guys have fun."
"You and Ell..."
Before Nancy could finish her question, the call was disconnected.
Georgia hung up and looked at the missed calls on her screen. There were thirteen of them, all from Zane Lennox.
The noise from the dice game in the private room had been so loud that she hadn’t heard a thing.
She dialed his number, but the phone rang for a long time without an answer.
Georgia asked the driver to change direction and go to Zane Lennox’s company.
Standing downstairs, she craned her slender neck to look up. The lights were still on.
She hesitated before entering the building.
In a black car parked at a distance, someone saw her slender figure slowly enter the building and took out a phone.
Owen Sawyer was drenched in a cold sweat as he spoke into the phone, "President, Miss Thorne didn’t go home. She went to Zane Lennox’s company."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the line went dead.
The phone had most likely been smashed by Elliot Sheridan.
The next morning, Georgia felt a vague sense of unease.
She had never seen Zane so exhausted. He had been a disheveled mess, his eyes terrifyingly red and bloodshot.
He had his secretary take her home, but then he dove right back into his work.
At nine-thirty, Georgia was cleaning the house when a news bulletin interrupted the program on TV.
Hearing the words "Lennox Group," Georgia froze and turned her gaze to the television screen.
On the screen, a crowd of reporters was camped out at the entrance of the Lennox Group, hoping to interview Zane Lennox.
After a moment, Zane got out of a car, and all the waiting reporters swarmed him.
Zane had clearly cleaned himself up. He looked refreshed and energetic as he entered the building, surrounded by security guards.
He said nothing in response to the reporters’ questions.
The screen then cut back to the host in the studio, who was providing commentary.
Georgia had never been involved in business matters, but she heard that the Lennox Group’s stock had plummeted today, just as Elliot had said it would last night.
’Did he really do it?’
At a quarter past ten, Georgia sat blankly on the sofa.
It wasn’t until the phone on the coffee table buzzed to life that she was pulled back from her reverie.
The call was from Zane. Georgia answered, trying her best to make her voice sound cheerful. "Hello?"
"It’s me," Zane’s tired voice came through. "Sorry, something’s come up today. Let’s reschedule our lunch for another day."
"Okay, I understand," Georgia said. "Work is important."
The line fell silent; he couldn’t even hear her breathing. A sense of panic seized Zane.
’Georgia had only offered to marry him because of the Thorne Family’s situation. Now that even his own company was in trouble, Georgia... she...’
Companies ran into trouble all the time. Zane usually faced such things calmly and coolly.
But the crisis had been escalating for days, and the risks were growing. A large portion of the company’s liquid capital had been invested in Jared Thorne, and without that funding, everything was uncertain.
It wasn’t until the stock plummeted this morning that his usual self-confidence was shattered, and he suddenly began to feel lost.
A deep unease filled him. ’Georgia must have seen the news.’
"Georgia, will you still marry me?" Zane asked, his voice uncertain.
"As long as you’re still willing to marry me."
Georgia’s voice was warm, like a ray of sunshine in the dead of winter, warming his cold body and soul.
Nancy texted, worriedly asking what was going on. Georgia simply replied that it was nothing and told her not to worry.
A little after one in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. Georgia came out of her room to open the door.
Outside stood a beautiful, middle-aged woman with a haggard face and red, swollen eyes.
Georgia had met Meghan Everett once before and had a fairly clear memory of her.
She and Zane were getting married this Saturday, which meant Meghan Everett would be her future mother-in-law.
