Free Web NovelChapter 22: Chapter 22: It’s Getting Late, Let Me Stay the Night
Selena Sheridan only had a faint memory of the previous night, though she recalled getting back very late.
"Sorry, I drank too much."
Selena Sheridan believed her, but Georgia Thorne felt a pang of guilt.
To be honest, Selena Sheridan found it hard to believe that her Second Uncle was the type of person to get involved in others’ affairs, let alone proactively ask Georgia Thorne to stay the night.
So, at the breakfast table, she made a point to ask, "Second Uncle, was it really you who told Georgia to stay over last night?"
The entire Sheridan family was dining at the same table. After Selena asked her question, all eyes fell on Georgia Thorne and Elliot Sheridan.
It was a well-known fact that Elliot Sheridan never involved himself in others’ business, especially not when it came to women.
Georgia Thorne, however, was an exception—one that took them all by surprise.
Georgia Thorne kept her head down, feeling as if everyone’s stares were about to bore a hole through her skull.
Not until the man in question, Elliot Sheridan, finally spoke. "If you hadn’t come home last night, drunk as a skunk and banging on my door, how would I have known? Miss Thorne personally escorted you home, and you were clinging to her for dear life. Was I supposed to *not* let her stay over? Should I have just thrown her out?"
"I did?"
Selena Sheridan scratched her head, glancing over at Georgia Thorne from the corner of her eye.
Georgia nodded. ’She really can’t handle her liquor.’
Everyone knew Selena Sheridan was a lightweight, and it was typical for her to grab someone and talk their ear off.
With that explanation, Elliot Sheridan asking Georgia Thorne to stay over suddenly seemed perfectly normal.
Instead, Selena was the one who got an earful from her parents. How could a young woman be so intent on getting into trouble? It was one thing to be a bad influence on herself, but to drag another young lady to a chaotic place like a bar was another matter entirely.
Selena protested, aggrieved. "But it was Georgia’s birthday yesterday!"
Georgia kept her head down, secretly sneaking a sidelong glance at Elliot Sheridan.
He was staring intently at his phone, not looking in her direction at all.
Hiding the fact that she had slept with Elliot Sheridan from everyone at the table... ’For him, this is probably just another Tuesday, something he’s long grown accustomed to. But for me...’ It felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, unable to stay still.
After breakfast, she said her goodbyes to the Sheridan family and rushed to leave.
Selena grabbed her. "You didn’t go home all night. That stepmother of yours is definitely going to lay into you. I’ll go with you."
Just then, they saw Elliot Sheridan walking out of the house in a black suit.
She pulled Georgia along and hurried over to him. "Second Uncle, can you give us a ride?"
Elliot Sheridan’s eyes swept over them. Georgia, her heart fraught with guilt and terrified of giving herself away in front of Selena, kept her head down, not daring to meet his gaze.
"Second Uncle, please, be a dear and drive Georgia home."
"Get in," Elliot Sheridan said, unlocking the car.
Selena let out a quiet "Yes!" and pulled open the car door, hopping inside.
’Her uncle was like a completely different person today,’ she thought. He had never once agreed to give her a ride before.
As Georgia turned to get in, Elliot Sheridan’s fingers brushed against the back of her hand—whether it was intentional or not, she couldn’t tell.
By the time she looked up, he had already rounded the front of the car, his face an emotionless mask.
With Elliot Sheridan himself driving Georgia home, the Thorne family naturally wouldn’t dare give her any trouble.
Especially not with a spoiled, doted-on young lady like Selena Sheridan there as well.
Hayley Sullivan’s attitude toward Georgia underwent a complete one-eighty.
In Georgia’s room, Selena stood by the window and huffed. "That sister of yours! Just looking at her is irritating!"
Peeking out the window, they saw Amanda Thorne’s curvaceous body pressed tightly against Elliot Sheridan. Her pale hand gripped his arm, and he, in turn, seemed to oblige by pulling her into his embrace.
Amanda’s damsel-in-distress act was enough to make Selena fume.
Georgia had only taken a curious peek when Selena angrily yanked the curtains closed.
She plopped down heavily on the bed. "That sister of yours is just shameless! Seducing other men is one thing, but how dare she try to seduce my uncle!"
Georgia was well aware that Amanda had an agenda when it came to Elliot Sheridan.
In truth, the thought of Elliot Sheridan being with another woman made her deeply uncomfortable.
After all, he was her first man. It was impossible for her not to mind him being with other women.
Especially when that other woman was her own sister. It felt a little too much like two sisters sharing one man.
Selena was fuming. "What kind of man is my uncle? How could a shameless flirt like Amanda Thorne possibly be worthy of him? Even if your sister manages to snag him, he’ll dump her sooner or later, once the novelty wears off!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. Having been raised in a proper household, she couldn’t bring herself to curse, so she just sat there with her cheeks puffed out in a rage.
’Anyone who didn’t know better would think Elliot was *her* man.’
Georgia gave a bitter smile. ’Then how long will his interest in *me* last?’
’A month? A year?’
Selena’s words had struck a nerve, aggravating Georgia’s own anxieties.
By getting involved with Elliot Sheridan, she was, in essence, playing with fire.
「Since that night」
The Thorne family’s business prospects had clearly started to rebound.
A look of delight had returned to Jared Thorne’s face. freewёbnoνel.com
But the happiest person in the entire family was, without a doubt, Amanda Thorne.
The Thorne Group’s recovery was being credited entirely to her.
Elliot Sheridan seemed to be doting on her, providing the Thorne Group with working capital and even steering a few contracts their way.
By latching onto a man like Elliot Sheridan, Amanda could now hold her head high—not just within the Thorne family, but in front of all her friends as well.
She walked around with an air of pride, as if she wished she could wear a sign declaring to the world that she was Elliot Sheridan’s woman.
’Is that something to be proud of?’
The university application form was due tomorrow, but the paper in front of her remained completely blank. She just couldn’t bring herself to write anything down.
She was still torn between Qinghai University and Portmire U.
It was like a case of analysis paralysis. She knew she was supposed to pick Qinghai University, but she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Portmire U.
The human heart is a conflicted thing. At that moment, Georgia truly envied Selena, who had the option to study abroad.
The sudden ring of her phone startled Georgia out of her reverie.
When she picked it up and saw the caller ID, she was so shocked she shot up from her chair.
She paced back and forth, clutching the phone, at a complete loss.
The call was from Elliot Sheridan.
They had exchanged numbers that day in his room at the Sheridan estate.
Georgia had saved his contact as "Uncle," terrified that Selena might snoop through her phone and see it.
She took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and answered. "Hello?"
For a second after she answered, time seemed to stand still. The entire world fell silent.
Then, a deep male voice came through the receiver, sending her heart into a frantic rhythm.
"Come downstairs. Owen Sawyer is waiting for you."
It was already nine o’clock, a time when the members of the Thorne family usually kept to their rooms.
’If I sneak out now and come back early tomorrow morning before anyone else is awake, it should be fine, right?’
She turned back to mess up her neatly made bed, then grabbed her bag and tiptoed downstairs.
Owen Sawyer, Elliot Sheridan’s secretary, had parked the car at a street corner in an inconspicuous spot.
"Miss Thorne, please get in," Owen Sawyer said in a gentle voice.
Georgia felt a little awkward. ’Elliot sent him to pick me up, which must mean Secretary Sawyer knows about our relationship, right?’
After getting in the car, she softly thanked him for coming to pick her up so late at night.
Owen Sawyer had met both Thorne sisters and thought they were polar opposites. Amanda was ostentatious and domineering, while Georgia was quiet and sensible.
He glanced at Georgia in the rearview mirror. "Miss Thorne, I’m just doing my job for President Sheridan. There’s no need for thanks."
An awkward smile crept onto Georgia’s face. She mumbled an "Oh" and averted her gaze, looking out the window.
Outside of the main Sheridan estate, Elliot Sheridan had his own private apartment.
He only returned to the family estate occasionally; most of the time, he preferred to be in his own private space.
The apartment complex’s security was excellent. Even in the middle of the night, guards were still on duty at the gate, inspecting every vehicle that entered.
