Free Web NovelChapter 189: Chapter 179: Didn’t I Tell You to Marry Me! 2
Justin Sullivan was in a foul mood. To be precise, his temper had been volatile ever since he returned to the country.
"You’re hurting me!" Georgia Thorne frowned, prying Justin Sullivan’s fingers off one by one and taking a step back. "When did you get such a bad temper? You’re not the Justin Sullivan I remember."
"I’m sorry. I got emotional," Justin Sullivan said, looking at her with remorse.
’A year is enough to change so much.’ Looking at Justin Sullivan’s successful appearance now, she could no longer see the man from back then, the one who held a paintbrush and dreamed of the future.
"Justin Sullivan, I went to Zane Lennox for help, not you, because you’re my uncle. No one in this world would approve of us getting married."
"But we’re not blood-related! Why can’t we be together?" His temper, which had just subsided, flared up again. He looked at Georgia Thorne with deep affection. "I don’t care! I don’t care if people call it incest!"
"But I care!"
Justin Sullivan’s expression faltered, as if he couldn’t believe those words had come from Georgia Thorne.
’She actually said she cares!’
"Justin Sullivan, I care!" Georgia Thorne looked at him seriously. "I want to get married openly. I want everyone’s blessing. I want to marry the man I love. You can’t give me any of that."
"Nina, the man you love now... who is it?"
’An answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare admit it. Could it be him?’
"Justin Sullivan, I admit I used to like you, but that’s in the past. I can’t be sure who I’ll like in the future or what kind of man I’ll marry. In any case, there’s no longer any possibility between us. I hope you’ll stop pestering me from now on!" Georgia Thorne said, hardening her heart.
’She didn’t understand. She had already made things clear to Justin Sullivan before, yet he still didn’t seem to get it.’
"You’re saying I’m pestering you?"
"What else would you call it?" Georgia Thorne retorted with a smile. "When ’like’ becomes a burden, a weight on my shoulders, it turns into pestering—disgusting pestering. Let’s stop this here, before I start to despise you."
"..."
Justin Sullivan stared at her, dazed, his dark eyes filled with disbelief.
’She actually said his love had become a disgusting burden.’
"Drive safe. I’m going back inside."
Georgia Thorne ignored Justin Sullivan’s dejected gaze, offered him that last piece of advice, and entered the apartment building.
Upstairs, Nancy Hughes was leaning against the window, peeking at the situation below.
The two hadn’t done anything out of line. Seeing Georgia Thorne enter the building, Nancy scrambled to sit on the sofa and pretended to be flipping through channels with the remote.
A moment later, Georgia Thorne walked in as if nothing had happened. "What did you say you wanted for dinner tonight?"
"Chicken wings!" Nancy Hughes studied Georgia Thorne carefully, but she didn’t seem any different than usual.
After dinner, Georgia Thorne logged into her email and saw a message from her professor. It was about the competition he had mentioned that morning.
She glanced at the contents and was surprised to find that the competition was organized by Archetype Company.
The top three winners of the competition would be offered jobs at Archetype Company.
For Georgia Thorne, this was undoubtedly a huge opportunity.
Overjoyed, Georgia Thorne called her professor. A million words couldn’t express her gratitude.
"You’re the student I recommended. Do your best!"
"Thank you, Professor!"
Georgia Thorne felt incredibly lucky. Her current professor, Preston Larkin, was the very same teacher who had recommended Nathan Rhodes to Archetype Company all those years ago.
In class, Preston Larkin would always use Nathan Rhodes’s work as an example.
He was a student whom he had personally mentored, and whenever he spoke of Nathan Rhodes, his face would beam with pride.
Georgia Thorne said gratefully, "I will definitely work hard."
The preliminary selection round closed on July 10th. With over ten days left, she had plenty of time.
The theme for the preliminaries was "Black and White." The scope was broad, allowing for free-form design.
But the more general the theme, the harder it was to create something unexpected.
Georgia Thorne thought for days but couldn’t come up with any innovative designs. Her mind felt empty, completely devoid of inspiration.
When Nancy Hughes found out she was entering the competition, she was encouraging, but she also saw that Georgia was making no progress.
She suggested, "Why don’t you go out and clear your head? Get a change of scenery. Maybe inspiration will strike!"
Nancy Hughes remembered she had two concert tickets in her bag. "These are for a concert tomorrow night. Why don’t you find someone to go with you?"
Georgia Thorne glanced at them. They were for a concert by an Akashiman band.
Their music was very popular in Akashima. Georgia Thorne had heard their songs before and really liked them.
The band had been around for ten years, though they had unfortunately broken up for four or five years in between. Now they had reunited for a concert tour.
For that reason alone, there were probably tons of fans going to see them.
"Aren’t you coming with me?"
"I have a dinner date with Dylan Heston tomorrow, so I can’t go with you. Sorry!" Nancy Hughes said with a giggle.
Georgia Thorne held the tickets. ’Going to a concert alone would be so boring.’
The next morning, Georgia Thorne sat before her drawing board, still completely stuck. She picked up her pen, but no inspiration came.
Hearing a knock at the door, she put down her pen and hurried to open it.
"Excuse me, are you Georgia Thorne?"
"Yes, that’s me!"
"I have a delivery for you. Please sign here."
"Okay, thanks!"
Georgia Thorne signed for it and took the package.
It was a letter-sized envelope. She opened it and found a concert ticket inside.
Coincidentally, it was for the exact same concert Nancy had given her a ticket for.
There was no name on the envelope, but there was a return address.
It was sent from Elliot Sheridan’s company. ’Was he the one inviting her to the concert?’
She recalled how furious he’d been at the university, and a small smile played on her lips.
Just as she got the ticket, the phone in her hand suddenly rang.
She looked and saw it was a WeChat message from a stranger.
She opened it. Another string of question marks.
The username was unfamiliar; it wasn’t one of her contacts. She scrolled up through the chat history.
She noticed that most of what the person had sent was just punctuation marks.
Georgia Thorne was about to toss her phone aside when it vibrated. A new message popped up: "I’m free from this evening until tomorrow morning!"
"..."
’What was that supposed to mean?’
Georgia Thorne was speechless. ’She didn’t even know who this was. What did they mean, they were ’free’?’
She dropped her phone and went to make herself some lunch.
While frying an egg, she remembered something important. ’What time did the concert start again?’
She turned off the stove, walked into the living room, and glanced at the concert ticket. It started at 7:00 PM.
As soon as she put the ticket down, the phone on the coffee table began to vibrate.
She picked it up and glanced at the screen. It was a number with no contact name saved.
She recognized it at a glance—it was Elliot Sheridan’s phone number.
She answered the call and asked cheerfully, "Hello, this is Georgia Thorne. Who am I speaking with?"
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Elliot Sheridan gripped his phone, wondering if Georgia Thorne genuinely didn’t know who it was or if she was just pretending.
’They’d known each other for four years, and she still hadn’t memorized his phone number!’
Elliot Sheridan said, his voice tight with irritation, "It’s me!"
Georgia Thorne heard the anger in his voice and could almost picture the way he would be pursing his lips and frowning.
’The angrier older people get, the faster the wrinkles appear.’
She asked, feigning uncertainty, "Mr. Sheridan?"
The moment the words left her mouth, the line went dead. He had hung up on her.
This time, Elliot Sheridan was truly furious. Just looking at his phone enraged him, so he tossed it aside.
’It was one thing for her not to recognize his number, but now she couldn’t even recognize his voice!’
While Elliot Sheridan was fuming in his office, Georgia Thorne couldn’t help but laugh out loud in her apartment.
’It was a rare sight to see Elliot Sheridan so worked up. A pity she couldn’t witness it in person.’
Georgia Thorne was in an excellent mood all afternoon.
The concert was at seven, so she left home at six.
Before heading out, she checked her phone. The stranger hadn’t sent any more messages.
She stroked the meowing cat at her feet and sent the person a message.
"I’m heading out!"
’After thinking about it for a while, she had finally realized that WeChat account was his.’
’It could only be him!’
Georgia Thorne turned off her phone and left.
Meanwhile, Elliot Sheridan was sitting in a conference room, distractedly presiding over a meeting.
In the dark room, illuminated only by the projector, Elliot Sheridan’s attention was fixed entirely on the phone on the table.
His face was taut with anger.
The employees seated on either side of him exchanged glances, wondering what part of the presentation had gone wrong this time.
Then, his phone let out a chime. Just as everyone was wondering who had forgotten to turn off their phone during a meeting, they saw Elliot Sheridan snatch his up.
Seeing the WeChat message from Georgia Thorne, the gloomy mood that had plagued him all day finally began to lift.
When Elliot Sheridan saw the two words, "Heading out!", he shot up from his chair and bit out two more: "Meeting adjourned!"
’Meeting adjourned?’
The whole room was dumbfounded. ’The meeting had only been going for twenty minutes, and they weren’t even halfway through the agenda. How could it be adjourned already?’
Utterly baffled, everyone watched as Elliot Sheridan strode out of the conference room.
At 6:40, Georgia Thorne had just gotten off the bus.
The sky outside was already growing dark. Georgia Thorne followed the stream of people heading forward.
The crowd heading to the concert was huge, mostly made up of young women.
At 6:50, Elliot Sheridan tried calling Georgia Thorne again.
Her phone was still off. He couldn’t reach her. With so many people around, how was he supposed to find her?
He swore under his breath, his sharp eyes scanning the area, searching for any sign of Georgia Thorne.
People were coming and going as staff began checking tickets.
Elliot Sheridan stood right by the entrance. A man with such a commanding presence, he immediately drew the gazes of countless women.
’Who knew a handsome guy like that would come to this kind of concert!’
More importantly, the aura Elliot Sheridan exuded wasn’t that of a typical concertgoer. He looked more like a distinguished gentleman who belonged in a classical music hall.
There were so many people attending the concert that it took Georgia Thorne a good ten minutes to make her way to the entrance.
Without looking around, she lowered her head to pull the ticket from her bag when a figure suddenly moved close to her.
Georgia Thorne looked up and found herself facing Elliot Sheridan’s taut, handsome face. Her mouth fell open in surprise.
’With all these people, how on earth did he find me?’
