Free Web NovelChapter 185: Chapter 175: Standing at the Door, Are You Waiting for Me to Carry You In? (1)
On the other end of the line, Zane Lennox suddenly fell silent. The company’s situation was far, far more serious than Georgia Thorne had realized.
She might very well be marrying a Zane Lennox who had nothing left to his name, a man with absolutely nothing.
The next day, Zane Lennox had his people deliver the wedding invitations, along with a beautiful, pristine wedding dress.
For Georgia Thorne, the three days passed in the blink of an eye. But for Zane Lennox, it was a long century.
The Lennox Group was going from bad to worse.
Zane Lennox was at the office day and night handling business. Several times when he called Georgia Thorne, he was interrupted by the sounds of other people on his end.
Things were even worse than she had anticipated, and Georgia Thorne’s heart slowly sank.
Zane Lennox’s voice on the phone sounded increasingly weak and exhausted.
Georgia Thorne spent a day handwriting all the invitations before sending every single one out.
Only one remained on the table.
This invitation bore Elliot Sheridan’s name.
She watched the sun gradually set outside, dyeing the white clouds on the horizon red.
Only a few hours remained before Elliot Sheridan’s deadline.
When Nancy Hughes returned home, she found Georgia Thorne busy in the kitchen.
"You know, you’re getting married tomorrow, and I still can’t quite wrap my head around it!" Nancy Hughes sighed, slumping over the table.
Georgia Thorne brought the last bowl of soup out from the kitchen. Nancy Hughes took a bite of a chicken wing. "By the way, after you’re married, are you going to move in with Zane Lennox?"
"I guess so."
This morning, Georgia had gone to the hospital to deliver an invitation. Remembering how Zachary Lennox had furiously thrown it down, she figured she wouldn’t be living with them.
"Aww, I guess I really won’t get to eat your cooking anymore!"
Nancy Hughes was a little disappointed. She had hoped Georgia Thorne and Elliot Sheridan would rekindle their romance, especially after how intimate they’d seemed that one night.
But in the end, nothing had changed. Georgia Thorne was still going to marry Zane Lennox.
After dinner, the two of them sat in the living room for a while and watched some TV before Nancy Hughes returned to her room to get back to her unfinished work.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already nine.
Back in her room, she glanced at the invitation on her desk.
After some hesitation, she picked it up, slipped it into her purse, threw on a cardigan, and walked out.
’Zachary Lennox had been right about one thing this morning. She was the one who owed Zane Lennox, not the other way around.’
Standing downstairs from the private apartment building, Georgia Thorne hesitated, unsure if coming to find Elliot Sheridan like this was the right thing to do.
She hesitated for more than ten minutes, and the time slowly ticked toward ten-thirty.
Gritting her teeth, she stepped resolutely into the elevator.
As the elevator ascended, her heart began to race. When it came to a stop, her heart leaped into her throat.
At the door to the apartment, Georgia Thorne was about to ring the doorbell when she noticed the door was already cracked open.
Georgia Thorne pushed the door open and walked inside.
She hadn’t been here in a very long time, but the decor before her was just as it had always been, completely unchanged.
Strange, yet familiar.
Georgia Thorne stood in the entryway and saw a pair of women’s slippers placed neatly beside a pair of men’s leather shoes.
"Are you going to stand in the doorway, or are you waiting for me to carry you in?" Elliot Sheridan’s voice suddenly rang out.
He was wearing a set of gray loungewear, his black hair was soaking wet. He had clearly just finished a shower.
Georgia Thorne moved her stiff body and changed into the slippers.
"What exactly do you want me to do for you to agree to let Zane Lennox go?" Georgia Thorne asked, standing stiffly in the living room and staring at the man on the sofa.
"Simple. You agree to three conditions," Elliot Sheridan said, picking up a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table and pulling one out.
He picked up a lighter and lit it.
"How do I know you won’t make unreasonable demands!" Georgia Thorne said, clenching her fists in anger.
"Whether you agree or not is your business." Elliot Sheridan leaned back lazily on the sofa, smoking. He looked at Georgia Thorne sharply through the white haze, his eyes narrowed.
He flicked off some ash. "Don’t forget why you came here."
Georgia Thorne was at a clear disadvantage. No matter how proud she was, she had to bow her head.
"If I do everything you ask, will you let Zane Lennox go?"
Georgia Thorne asked again, uncertain, wanting to get a promise from Elliot Sheridan’s lips.
"That’s right."
"Then what are your conditions!" Georgia Thorne asked, resentful.
"Dry my hair for me."
"..."
"You know where the hairdryer is."
For a moment, Georgia Thorne thought Elliot Sheridan was joking.
The condition was far simpler than she had imagined.
Georgia Thorne retrieved the hairdryer from a cabinet in the bathroom. Everything was still kept in the same place as when she was here before.
When she returned to the living room, she saw the man lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting.
She walked over and plugged it in. The cord was very short. Georgia Thorne glanced at the man lying on the sofa. "Can you sit on this side of the sofa? The cord is too short."
Georgia Thorne said awkwardly, pulling the cord taut. It was only about three feet long.
Elliot Sheridan opened his eyes and moved over.
Georgia Thorne stood behind him, slowly drying his hair with the hairdryer.
It wasn’t as if she had never dried his hair for him before, but it had been a rare occurrence.
Things often started this way, but rarely ended there.
The man’s coarse black hair pricked her palm, yet it was surprisingly pleasant to the touch.
The RUMBLE of the hairdryer covered Georgia Thorne’s awkwardness as she ran her fingers through his hair, carefully drying it.
The man’s hair was short, so it dried quickly. Georgia Thorne carefully finished the job and turned off the hairdryer.
She cleared her throat to rouse him. "Your hair is dry now."
His once-damp hair was now perfectly dry and giving off a soft sheen.
"Second, make me a meal."
"Okay."
Georgia Thorne agreed. ’These first two conditions from Elliot are too simple,’ she thought.
’They were all things she had done for him before.’
Georgia Thorne saw a few plastic bags on the dining table, filled with fresh ingredients.
"What do you want to eat?" She glanced at a fish in one of the plastic bags. It was already stiff; it must have been sitting there for a long time.
"Whatever you want." Elliot Sheridan turned on the TV, his gaze landing on Georgia Thorne’s back.
Georgia Thorne carried the ingredients into the kitchen. ’He wanted me to make him dinner,’ she thought. ’Does that mean he hasn’t eaten yet?’
Georgia Thorne couldn’t make anything fancy. In half an hour, she prepared a simple meal of four dishes and a soup, just like she used to.
When she finished, Georgia Thorne came out of the kitchen but didn’t see the man on the living room sofa.
She heard a sound coming from the bedroom. As she approached the door, he pulled it open.
They nearly collided. "The food is ready," Georgia Thorne said awkwardly.
Elliot Sheridan grunted in acknowledgment and sat down at the dining table.
Georgia Thorne went back and forth, bringing out the hot soup and rice for him.
Elliot Sheridan wasn’t a big eater, but he took a long time to finish this meal.
Seeing that it was almost midnight, Georgia Thorne couldn’t help but grow anxious. He still had one last condition to name.
Elliot Sheridan put down his chopsticks. Just as Georgia Thorne was about to ask him for the third condition, the crisp chime of the doorbell rang out.
’Who could be here this late?’
Georgia Thorne stood frozen, at a loss. Her eyes darted toward Elliot Sheridan, who was still sitting at the table.
He strolled leisurely to the door, glanced through the peephole, and turned around.
’Please let it be his secretary, Owen Sawyer!’
Georgia Thorne prayed internally. ’It has to be Owen Sawyer!’
"Who is it?" she asked, her voice dry and hoarse.
"Joanne Donovan," Elliot Sheridan said lightly.
’Joanne Donovan... isn’t that his fiancée?’
Georgia Thorne’s first instinct was to find a place to hide.
But the apartment was only so big. Where could she possibly hide?
Georgia Thorne looked around frantically, but Elliot Sheridan strode over, grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her into the master bedroom.
"Stay put."
Georgia Thorne looked at him nervously and nodded in obedience.
The moment Elliot Sheridan shut the door, she heard the sound of it being locked.
Outside the apartment, Joanne Donovan waited with immense patience.
Ever since returning from Atollara, Elliot Sheridan hadn’t contacted her once.
’A place like Atollara is usually for couples. Did Elliot really go there alone just for business?’
Joanne Donovan didn’t believe it. ’That Amanda Thorne woman is incredibly shrewd; who knows if she pulled the same stunt as last time.’
Joanne Donovan had secretly gone to Atollara herself, and only relaxed completely after confirming that Amanda Thorne was nowhere near Elliot Sheridan.
On her first night at the hotel in Atollara, Elliot Sheridan had sought her out to discuss their engagement.
For Joanne Donovan, this was both a shock and a delightful surprise.
After they returned, they publicly announced their engagement, yet she hadn’t seen Elliot Sheridan even once.
If it weren’t for the photographs, she would have almost suspected it was all a dream.
Joanne Donovan waited patiently. ’As long as I’m smart and don’t stir up any trouble, Elliot will have to marry me sooner or later.’
After waiting patiently for a month, she finally received a call from Elliot Sheridan this morning.
He asked to meet her tonight at his private apartment.
Elliot Sheridan had always been very private, disliking any exposure of his whereabouts or residence, so Joanne Donovan had never known where his private apartment was.
Coming here for the first time, and in the dead of night, no less, could easily let one’s imagination run wild.
Joanne Donovan was dressed to be extremely seductive in a very short, aqua-blue dress and a pair of black high heels—a particularly revealing outfit.
She had put in a great deal of effort before coming. ’I have to win Elliot over tonight.’
When the door opened, Joanne Donovan offered a seductive smile. "I was starting to think you weren’t home!"
"Come in."
As she entered Elliot Sheridan’s private apartment, she scanned her surroundings, hoping to find any incriminating clues.
Joanne Donovan had known Elliot Sheridan, more or less, for nearly twenty years. She considered herself quite familiar with his habits.
For instance, he liked a simple and clean decorating style. While this apartment was indeed simple and clean, it exuded a woman’s touch everywhere.
Her woman’s intuition told her that another woman had definitely stayed in this apartment.
Elliot Sheridan took a bottle of red wine and two stemmed glasses from the wine cabinet.
"Find what you’re looking for?"
"What?"
Joanne Donovan was in the middle of her detailed inspection when the man’s voice suddenly drifted into her ears. She turned her head, baffled.
