Free Web NovelChapter 61: Chapter 61: Sorry, I Was Too Heavy-Handed Just Now (Part 2)
He took a step forward, reaching out. He wanted to caress Georgia’s cheek, to tell her, ’Georgia, don’t be afraid. It’s me.’
But in her fiercely trembling eyes, he saw a powerful resistance to his approach.
With a turn of his wrist, his hand slowly drifted down from her face, gently stroking the tiny kitten in Georgia’s arms instead.
Georgia was resisting his advance. It wasn’t just because he was, nominally, her uncle—it was also because he was Selena Sheridan’s boyfriend.
Those two roles were a chasm between them, enough to sever any lingering hope he had for her.
When he heard her call him "uncle," Justin Sullivan felt his numb heart begin to ache all over again.
He had been so eager to visit the Thorne family, but it certainly hadn’t been to hear her call him uncle.
His gaze darkened as he looked at the Georgia before him, his eyes filled with a deep, unshakable sorrow.
"Georgia, it really likes you. Do you want to adopt it?"
Georgia was a soft-hearted person, and her heart went out all the more to the little kitten she’d taken a liking to. freёwebnovel.com
She agreed to adopt the poor little kitten.
She cooed softly and prodded the kitten’s mouth with her finger. The little kitten cried out, "MEW, MEW."
Amused, Georgia looked up, and her eyes inadvertently met Justin Sullivan’s tender gaze.
She froze for a moment, holding his gaze. The lingering tenderness in his eyes immediately made her heart grow heavy.
An awkward silence fell between them.
"I’m sorry. Did I frighten you?" Justin Sullivan finally said after a few minutes.
Sometimes, the most awkward part isn’t the silence between two people, but having to find an unrelated excuse to be the first to speak.
Just like them, right now.
’It wasn’t a matter of being frightened or not. A person’s eyes can’t lie.’
’Even if you put on an indifferent expression, your eyes betray whether or not you truly care.’
Georgia handed him the jacket that had been draped over her arm. "This is your jacket."
"Okay."
As Justin Sullivan took the jacket, Georgia’s gaze shifted toward the house.
"We should go in now."
’If we don’t go in soon, Hayley Sullivan will think I’m trying to seduce my own uncle again.’
The two of them entered the house, walking side by side.
Unbeknownst to them, from the moment Justin Sullivan had stood behind Georgia, someone had been watching them from upstairs.
Once inside, she saw Elliot Sheridan and Amanda Thorne coming down the stairs together.
Elliot Sheridan didn’t look very happy. Not long after coming downstairs, he left.
Georgia saw Amanda Thorne kiss Elliot Sheridan’s cheek, then watch him get into his car.
’I was thinking of leaving just to avoid him.’
’But as it turned out, we didn’t even exchange a single word.’
’The whole time, it was as if we were complete strangers.’
’This is exactly how I hope we’ll interact from now on.’
’Even if Elliot Sheridan does end up marrying Amanda Thorne, this is how it should be between us.’
For some reason, though, she still felt a prickle of unease, an indescribable feeling churning in her chest.
Justin Sullivan stayed very late, talking with Jared Thorne in the study the entire time.
Something had been mentioned at the dinner table earlier: Justin Sullivan’s status was different now.
The sole reason Justin Sullivan had returned to the country was that their father, Silas Sullivan, was in failing health.
Before the end, he wanted to hand over the company for Justin to manage for a while.
At the very least, Silas Sullivan needed to see the Sullivan Group thriving under Justin’s management before he could rest easy.
Silas Sullivan’s health had declined over the last two years, and as his daughter, Hayley Sullivan often visited him in the hospital.
Every time she went, she always insisted on bringing Jared Thorne with her.
She had her own selfish motives. Even though Justin Sullivan was her half-brother, sharing a father, that’s all he was—a half-brother.
Her only future support was Jared Thorne. Only if he prospered would she live well.
While Silas Sullivan was in the hospital, Hayley visited frequently to play the part of the filial daughter, hoping that when the time came for her father to write his will, he would leave her a larger portion of the shares.
Fawning over Silas Sullivan on one hand while simultaneously working on Justin Sullivan on the other—it was a two-pronged attack.
Georgia carried the tiny kitten back to her room.
The kitten was filthy, so Georgia got some warm water and wiped down its fur, making it look a little better.
Its fur hadn’t fully grown in, and she could still see the pink skin underneath, with fine veins visible from the cold. She wondered how long the little thing had been out there, cold and hungry.
After cleaning the little creature, she used a hairdryer to dry its fur.
It seemed a little frightened, constantly dodging the hairdryer, yet it also seemed to find the warm air comforting and would try to get closer again.
Georgia wasn’t sure if a kitten this young could drink cow’s milk, so she just gave it some water.
That night, Georgia couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed, looking up information online.
While she was at it, she ordered a few things the kitten would need.
’It seems kittens are supposed to live with their mothers and drink their milk,’ she thought.
’To lose its mother when it’s so young... The poor little thing.’
Georgia ended up buying quite a few things online.
Everything was from local sellers, and she had specifically requested the fastest possible shipping the night before.
So, the next day, before Georgia had even made it back to her apartment, she got a call from Nancy Hughes, asking why she had bought a mountain of pet supplies.
Inside their apartment, Nancy Hughes was leaning over the coffee table, watching the tiny kitten sleeping in a box.
The little thing was truly tiny; a small cardboard box was plenty of space for it.
Worried the kitten might get cold, Nancy had even lined the box with a scarf.
Nancy couldn’t resist stroking the kitten’s head, and the little creature kept nuzzling her finger in response.
Amused, she turned to Georgia, who was preparing some goat’s milk. "Georgia, where on earth did you get this kitten?"
"My uncle found it. I heard its mother and siblings all died, leaving it as the only survivor. I felt so bad for it, I just had to bring it home!"
"Your uncle?" Nancy’s eyes lit up. "How come I’ve never heard you mention having an uncle before!"
"He’s been abroad for the last six years, so he doesn’t really come up."
"Oh, so he’s worldly. Is he handsome?"
"He is."
Georgia’s reply was perfunctory; she didn’t want to discuss Justin Sullivan with Nancy.
She took a syringe and slowly squeezed the milk into the kitten’s mouth.
Like Georgia, this was Nancy’s first time being so close to a newborn kitten. "Its tongue is so pink! It’s adorable."
The two women’s hearts were instantly melted by the tiny, adorable creature.
Strictly speaking, Georgia couldn’t keep a cat.
Both she and Nancy worked during the day, so there was no one to look after it. By the time they got home at night to feed it, the poor kitten would have starved all day.
She wondered if she should give it away.
Just as she was wrestling with the decision, the old woman who lived next door opened her door.
Georgia had lived here for a while but had never socialized with her neighbors, so she didn’t know that an elderly woman lived alone next door.
"You must be the young lady from next door!"
"Yes. Can I help you with something?"
"Do you have a cat? One that cries in the middle of the night?"
"..."
Georgia braced herself for a complaint. The kitten did, in fact, cry at night.
Its cries were sharp and loud enough to wake her up.
’But the soundproofing in this building isn’t that bad, is it? Could it really have disturbed the neighbors?’
But as it turned out, the old woman was a fellow cat lover.
She had two adult cats at home herself. One of them had slipped out for a wild night on the town, and a few months later, her belly started to swell. She had just given birth to her own litter of kittens two days ago.
