Free Web NovelChapter 86: Chapter 86: Elliot’s Gaze
Georgia Thorne returned to her apartment and subconsciously fumbled for her bag, only to remember that it had been stolen.
The keys were in the bag. Without them, she could only sit helplessly by the door.
She knocked on her door, then went next door.
An old woman was knitting a sweater. A ball of yarn had rolled over to a kitten, which was batting at it playfully, intrigued by the new toy.
She glanced at the time. Nancy Hughes never had a set time for getting off work. Georgia had heard her boss had recently taken on a new project, and the whole team had to work overtime.
’Should I go to Elliot’s place?’ she wondered.
Georgia Thorne asked the old woman to lend her some money, assuring her she would pay it back upon her return.
It was six o’clock now. By the time she got to Elliot Sheridan’s private apartment, he should already be back.
Georgia Thorne hailed a taxi and went straight there.
She took the elevator straight up and went right in.
The apartment was pitch-black. When she turned on the lights, it was cold and empty, devoid of any human presence.
Georgia Thorne shivered from the cold. The weather was getting colder and colder.
The housekeeper must have come this morning. The refrigerator was fully stocked with food, but one look was enough to tell her she had no appetite.
She’d probably gotten a little soaked in the rain this afternoon. Now her head felt fuzzy and all she wanted to do was sleep.
She turned off the living room lights, walked into the bedroom, took a hot shower, and slipped under the covers to sleep.
The bed was filled with Elliot Sheridan’s scent. She curled up, pulling the comforter around herself. It felt as if she were falling asleep with him right there.
Georgia Thorne was overcome with drowsiness. Soon after her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.
That afternoon, Elliot Sheridan had been in a state of near-paralysis at work, all because of Georgia Thorne.
It was unimaginable. One woman, Georgia Thorne, had made it impossible for him to read his documents. Even when he forced himself to concentrate, his thoughts only drifted back to her.
In the end, he gave himself the afternoon off. As quitting time approached, he called up Dylan Heston and Ethan Fletcher to go drinking.
Dylan Heston and Ethan Fletcher thought Elliot Sheridan had finally seen the light, actually asking them out for drinks.
But when they got to the private room, they found Elliot Sheridan drinking in morose silence.
Dylan Heston and Ethan Fletcher exchanged a look. Although they didn’t know what had happened, they were eighty percent sure it was a matter of the heart.
Problems at work wouldn’t make Elliot Sheridan waste time drowning his sorrows; he would just crush them with brute force.
When it came to matters of the heart, the only girl who had truly been with Elliot Sheridan in recent years was Georgia Thorne.
Both of them knew this. Ethan Fletcher patted Elliot Sheridan’s shoulder. "Had a fight with your little lady? Want me to suggest a good solution?"
Elliot Sheridan shot him a cold glare, a silent warning to shut his mouth.
Ethan Fletcher sat back, shaking his head with a TSK. "Such a boring man. What kind of young girl would ever fall for an old guy like you!"
Those words were, without a doubt, adding fuel to the fire.
Elliot Sheridan immediately slammed his beer bottle down and stood up. "I’m leaving!"
"So sensitive! Can’t even take a single joke!" Ethan Fletcher was speechless when he saw that Elliot was actually leaving.
Elliot Sheridan had had a few beers that night, which wasn’t much for him.
He got in his car and sped the whole way.
He ran several red lights before slamming on the brakes at an intersection.
It was a green light. The driver behind him honked his horn in frustration. Elliot Sheridan took a deep breath, then stepped on the gas and sped off.
’I must be going crazy over Georgia Thorne,’ he thought. He’d actually driven to the apartment building she rented.
Her room was dark. ’Is she already asleep, or is she out with Justin Sullivan and still hasn’t come back?’
He picked up his phone and tried calling Georgia Thorne again. The prompt still said her phone was off.
He threw his phone into the storage compartment and slammed his fist hard onto the steering wheel, letting out a piercing HONK.
’I’m really losing my mind.’
He had explicitly warned himself he wouldn’t bow his head to Georgia Thorne a second time.
Elliot Sheridan smoked a few cigarettes downstairs from Georgia Thorne’s apartment, then picked up his phone and called Selena Sheridan.
The phone rang several times before it was answered.
Selena Sheridan was already asleep, her voice thick with drowsiness. "Uncle Elliot, why are you calling me so late? Is something wrong?"
"Tell Justin Sullivan I’ve agreed to that dinner!"
"You agreed? Really, Uncle Elliot?" Selena Sheridan was suddenly wide awake, her voice several pitches higher. "That’s great! I knew you loved me! I’ll tell Jean the good news tomorrow!"
"Call him now!"
"Huh?"
"Call Justin Sullivan now. After you’ve confirmed with him, call me back!"
"But..." ’It’s so late, Jean must be asleep by now!’
Before Selena Sheridan could finish speaking, the line went dead.
With no other choice, Selena Sheridan did as Elliot Sheridan instructed and called her boyfriend.
Justin Sullivan had just gotten out of the shower when he heard his phone ring.
"Jean, my Uncle Elliot agreed to have dinner with you."
"Mm, I know."
"..."
Selena Sheridan talked with Justin Sullivan for a bit, chatting about other things as well.
The call lasted just over ten minutes, but to Elliot Sheridan, it felt like more than an hour.
Selena Sheridan called back, complaining, "Uncle Elliot, couldn’t this have waited until morning? Luckily, Jean wasn’t asleep yet."
The cigarette between his fingers slowly burned down to the filter. Elliot Sheridan narrowed his eyes. "He wants to inherit the Sullivan Family’s fortune. Shouldn’t he be a little more proactive at a time like this?"
Even though what Elliot Sheridan said was true, Selena Sheridan couldn’t help but grumble, "Uncle Elliot! Anyway, Jean agreed, so you can’t back out now!"
Elliot Sheridan grunted in acknowledgment and hung up the phone.
Selena Sheridan stared at her phone, muttering. ’It’s not like it’s a matter of life and death, forcing people to make calls in the middle of the night.’
Elliot Sheridan lost count of how many cigarettes he’d smoked. The pack was already empty. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
He’d always been a heavy smoker, basically never without a cigarette in his hand. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Now that he couldn’t see Georgia Thorne, it was even worse.
Elliot Sheridan started his car, left, and headed for his private apartment.
He let himself into the apartment but didn’t turn on the lights. He knew his way around, went straight to the sofa, and tossed his suit jacket aside.
He sat in silence for a few minutes, saw another pack of cigarettes on the coffee table, and lit one up.
’Even if Justin Sullivan and Georgia Thorne are together,’ Elliot thought, ’a call from Selena should be enough to knock some sense into Georgia.’
’Georgia and Selena are as close as sisters. I can’t believe she’d fight Selena for a man, especially Justin Sullivan.’
Even with that thought, Elliot Sheridan still felt uneasy.
’A man and a woman, alone in a room... If Justin Sullivan tried to force himself on her, Georgia would probably put up a token resistance and then agree.’
The moment he considered this possibility, he lost all desire to smoke. He furiously crushed the cigarette between his fingers.
He threw it into the ashtray and got up, heading to the bedroom in frustration.
He went straight into the bathroom. When he came out, he noticed something was off.
Elliot Sheridan’s gaze locked onto a lump on the bed. A flash of surprise appeared in his dark, deep eyes. That lump on the bed was clearly a person.
Elliot Sheridan’s head was spinning; he felt the alcohol hitting him. ’Am I hallucinating?’
He took a few uncertain steps forward, staring at the person on the bed. Half of a peacefully sleeping face was visible.
No other woman besides Georgia Thorne had ever been to this private apartment of his.
Therefore, the person lying on the bed had to be Georgia Thorne—it couldn’t be anyone else.
So, while he was sitting outside her apartment building like a madman, she was sleeping soundly right here.
’She wasn’t with Justin Sullivan?’
He pulled back the covers, revealing the woman’s entire face. The curtains hadn’t been drawn, and the moonlight streaming in from outside brightly illuminated the room.
