Free Web NovelChapter 58: Chapter 58: You Just Said You Don’t Like Me
It was jealousy, envy, indignation, and hatred.
The hands behind his back clenched into fists. His gaze, when it fell on Selena Sheridan, was utterly cold.
Selena Sheridan didn’t care. She was already used to his cold gaze.
She coquettishly wrapped her arms around the man’s waist. "What a shame. My uncle and Georgia must still be busy with work. I guess they can’t join us for dinner tonight!"
Justin Sullivan grunted in acknowledgment. "Are you two close?"
"Who? You mean my uncle?" Selena Sheridan blinked. "Of course we are! My uncle dotes on me!"
"It’s time for dinner. Let’s go." Justin Sullivan pushed her hands away and turned toward the dining room.
In reality, the person Justin Sullivan wanted to ask about was Georgia Thorne.
Selena Sheridan felt a little uneasy. Ever since they got off the plane, she felt his attitude toward her had reverted to its usual state—hot and cold.
She hated this feeling more than anything, yet it was precisely this distant, cold demeanor of his that had drawn her in so irresistibly in the first place.
She patted her own cheeks, forced a smile back onto her face, and cheerfully chased after him.
She clung to him. "Jean, let’s go out tomorrow!"
"No. I have to go home tomorrow," Justin Sullivan refused flatly.
Selena Sheridan pouted. She understood.
The fact that Justin Sullivan was willing to come to the Sheridan Family home right after getting off the plane was already a concession.
Slightly deflated, she said, "Alright then. We can go out together some other time!"
"Mm," Justin Sullivan replied distractedly to Selena.
His mind was filled with images of Georgia Thorne and Elliot Sheridan’s intimacy.
Especially that scene he’d glimpsed in the rearview mirror. If reason hadn’t been holding him back, he didn’t know what impulsive thing he might have done.
「Meanwhile, at Elliot Sheridan’s private apartment.」
Elliot Sheridan hung up the phone and looked down at the woman clinging to him like a koala.
A hint of a smile touched his eyes. "Didn’t you get enough hugs this afternoon while we were sleeping?"
Elliot’s teasing words finally made Georgia Thorne realize what she was doing.
A moment ago, she had lunged at him instinctively to snatch her phone back, not even processing the action herself.
Her face flushed red. Like a startled rabbit, she quickly pushed him away and was speechless for a long moment.
She took a step back, and Elliot advanced a step, pressing a hand against the glass behind her, trapping her in his embrace.
Georgia Thorne gasped, grabbing his scorching fingertips. "Elliot Sheridan, what are you trying to do?!"
"I want to dote on you properly."
The man answered in all seriousness, a smirk playing on his lips.
Georgia Thorne’s struggles were as futile as an egg hitting a rock.
Elliot Sheridan twisted his wrist, easily grabbing both her small hands, raising them above her head, and pinning them against the clear glass behind her.
Georgia Thorne bit her lip. She couldn’t possibly say it again.
She just didn’t want Elliot to touch her. In her nervousness, she didn’t even know what she herself had said.
"Georgia, why do you always make me angry?" Elliot lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
Georgia Thorne collected her thoughts. She felt their current relationship was a mess.
Georgia Thorne spoke up. "Elliot Sheridan, I don’t want the mistake from that night to happen a second time."
At the very least, she would absolutely not allow this to happen while she was sober.
Elliot Sheridan seemed not to have heard her, still fixated on her previous sentence. "You just said you don’t like me. Then tell me, who do you like?"
Georgia Thorne, "..."
She didn’t want to answer, but the man was forcing her to.
"What, is it Justin Sullivan?" Elliot watched the young woman’s tense face as he slowly uttered the name.
Hearing that name emerge from Elliot’s throat, Georgia Thorne’s heart gave a violent thump.
Her eyes instantly widened as she looked at Elliot, her clear irises trembling slightly as if in shock that he could possibly know.
Elliot Sheridan gave a shallow smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his voice icy. "Looks like I was right!"
’It wasn’t a guess; he said he was right. He must have known all along that I like Justin Sullivan.’
’It must have been Amanda Thorne. Besides her, no one would mention such a trivial matter to Elliot.’
Georgia Thorne bit her lower lip hard and lowered her gaze, remembering the image of Justin Sullivan and Selena Sheridan arm in arm earlier today.
The thorn piercing her heart dug even deeper, and now Elliot was rubbing salt in the wound.
"Georgia, Justin Sullivan is Selena’s boyfriend now."
The well-intentioned reminder made Georgia Thorne’s heart ache even more.
"But I like him. I can’t control it."
Georgia Thorne murmured, but Elliot heard her loud and clear.
Any warmth between them was instantly obliterated by that one sentence.
Elliot’s face turned cold, and he let her go.
"It’s late. I should go home," she said faintly.
Elliot stood motionless as Georgia Thorne picked up her bag, grabbing her phone along with it.
Georgia Thorne left, and Elliot didn’t say a single word to stop her.
He wasn’t the type to ask people to stay; it was always an endless stream of others trying to make him stay.
Because he was the golden boy of Portmire, and there was no shortage of people who wanted to curry favor with him.
Only after leaving the apartment did Georgia Thorne finally let out the stifled breath she’d been holding in for so long.
Before, it was impossible for her to be with Justin Sullivan. Now, it was even more impossible.
Even if she dared to cross that moral line, she didn’t want to hurt Selena.
She sat sullenly on the bus, returning home on an empty stomach.
She found the lights on at home and knew that Nancy Hughes was back.
"Georgia, did you miss me?!" Nancy Hughes hugged Georgia Thorne enthusiastically, too happy to notice that something was off with her.
Georgia Thorne managed a smile. "How come you’re back early?"
"The collaboration went smoothly, so I came back early! But enough about work, look what gifts I bought you!"
Nancy Hughes told Georgia Thorne all about the interesting things that had happened during her days in Solara and showed her the many gifts she had bought.
It was nearly ten o’clock by the time Georgia Thorne finally got back to her own room.
She lay exhaustedly on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
She spaced out for a whole hour.
Glancing at the time, she saw it was already past ten. Remembering she had work tomorrow, she got up and went to the bathroom.
Usually, after a shower, she would fall asleep before her hair had a chance to air-dry. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
But perhaps because she’d slept too much with Elliot that afternoon, she was wide awake now, lying in bed without a hint of sleepiness.
She got up, unlocked a cabinet, and took out the letters Justin Sullivan had written to her.
She unfolded them, one by one, and read through them all again.
Then she recalled the unfamiliar way Justin Sullivan had looked at her, as if they were complete strangers.
In the letters he wrote her, every line revealed that he liked her. So why, in the blink of an eye, had he become Selena’s boyfriend?
There had been no warning signs. It had happened so suddenly, catching her completely off guard.
Seeing the intimate way Selena Sheridan held onto Justin Sullivan’s arm... to say her heart didn’t ache would be a lie.
In the past, Georgia Thorne had felt happy too, because her mother and Justin Sullivan were both by her side.
She once naively believed things could stay that way forever. She thought that when she was a little older, she could confess her feelings to Justin Sullivan. They would date, get married, and walk down the aisle. She would have many children for him, and they would grow old together.
But in the end, she discovered it was all a dream—a beautiful, beautiful dream.
Her mother’s death was a heavy blow, leaving her to believe that from then on, the only man in her world would be Justin Sullivan.
But not long after, even Justin Sullivan left without a word. By the time she chased after him, he had already flown to the other side of the ocean.
