Free Web NovelChapter 98: Chapter 98: You Dare Break Up with Me? (Part 1)
It was already past nine o’clock by the time she arrived at Elliot Sheridan’s apartment.
The housekeeper was there and greeted Georgia Thorne happily when she saw her arrive.
"Where is Mr. Sheridan?"
"He’s still sleeping in his room." The housekeeper generally didn’t disturb Elliot Sheridan; her job was simply to do her duties.
Georgia Thorne said thank you and hurried toward his room, only to stop at the door.
After hesitating for only a few seconds, she pushed the door open and went inside.
Inside, the curtains were drawn tight, making the room as dark as night.
The bathroom light was on, and she could hear the sound of running water.
Elliot Sheridan was in the shower.
Suddenly, Georgia Thorne lost the courage to face Elliot Sheridan alone. She was terrified she would burst into tears when she tried to break up with him.
She took the phone from her bag, placed it on the bed, then turned and left.
A door clicked shut. When the housekeeper came out of the kitchen, the living room was empty.
’She was sure she’d heard something.’
Georgia Thorne left the apartment building and ran.
She gasped for breath, a stitch of pain in her chest from running. Only after she boarded a bus did she dare to let out a sigh of relief.
It was the morning rush hour, and the bus was packed with commuters.
The crush of bodies made Georgia Thorne miserable. She lowered her head, and traitorous tears began to fall.
「Meanwhile, back at the apartment.」
Elliot Sheridan stepped out of the shower. He figured it was about time for Georgia Thorne to arrive.
He switched on the bedroom light and, while toweling his hair dry, noticed the phone on the bed.
’That was the phone he’d given Georgia Thorne. How did it get here?’
’Did Georgia come by?’
A conspicuous yellow sticky note was stuck to the phone’s screen.
He peeled it off the screen. A single sentence was written on it.
Elliot Sheridan, let’s break up!
The elegant handwriting showed she had written it with care. The final exclamation mark was pressed down hard.
Elliot Sheridan’s eyebrows twitched. He took the phone and went out into the living room, needing to confirm this wasn’t some kind of prank.
He looked all around but saw no sign of Georgia Thorne. He called the housekeeper out to ask.
The housekeeper looked bewildered. "Isn’t Miss Thorne in your room?"
With a furrow of his brow, Elliot Sheridan dialed Georgia Thorne’s number.
It rang for a long time before the call automatically disconnected.
He tried again, several times, but it was always the same.
A surge of anger welled up from deep inside him. ’What the hell is this supposed to mean?’
’This didn’t feel like a joke. Was she being serious?’
He tossed the phone aside and slumped onto the sofa.
CLICK. He flicked his lighter, lit a cigarette, and began to smoke in the living room.
When the housekeeper finished preparing breakfast and came out of the kitchen, she was immediately hit by the oppressive atmosphere.
Her employer sat on the sofa, his expression dark as he smoked, seemingly furious.
The housekeeper quickly gathered her things and left the apartment.
’As she rode the elevator down, she couldn’t stop guessing. Could it have something to do with Miss Thorne?’
Elliot Sheridan was waiting, waiting for Georgia Thorne to call him.
’Maybe Georgia Thorne wasn’t answering because her phone was on silent, or maybe she was somewhere too loud to hear it ring.’
As the seconds ticked by, he went through several cigarettes, each one held between two fingers, burning down to the filter before he crushed it out in the ashtray.
He’d rather believe this was just one of Georgia Thorne’s pranks.
’They’d only been dating for a few days, and she already wanted to break up?’
Gripping his phone, he sent her a text.
"Georgia Thorne, are you trying to pick a fight? Daring to break up with me? It’s been three days and you’ve already learned how to raise hell, huh!"
A "message sent" notification appeared. Elliot Sheridan forced himself to wait for about ten minutes.
He smoked his way through an entire pack of cigarettes while he waited.
By the time Georgia Thorne saw Elliot Sheridan’s missed calls, she had already arrived at the office.
The bus had been too noisy, and her phone had been buried in her bag, so she hadn’t heard it ring.
’If he called me, he must have seen what I left.’
She let out a breath. Just as she was about to put her phone down, a new text message popped up.
It was from Elliot Sheridan.
As she read the text, Georgia Thorne could practically picture Elliot Sheridan’s furious expression and his pair of dark, menacing eyes.
’What right did he have to be angry? If anyone should be angry, it’s me!’
She grabbed her phone, found a quiet corner nook, and dialed Elliot Sheridan’s number.
He picked up after only two rings.
"Georgia Thorne, you’ve got some real nerve. Leaving a note to break up with me? Do you think I, Elliot Sheridan, am that easy to get rid of?" a man’s low, dark voice came through the receiver.
Every single word traveled clearly through the receiver and struck Georgia Thorne’s heart, making it tremble.
"I already made it clear. Let’s break up!" Georgia Thorne said in a rush.
"A reason!"
"Elliot Sheridan!" she screamed his name, her voice thick with anger and hurt. ’This man is just the worst.’
’The whole of Portmire knew about his engagement to Joanne Donovan, and he was still asking her for a reason!’
"I won’t be the other woman!" Georgia Thorne shouted, then angrily hung up the phone.
The moment the words were out, Georgia Thorne burst into tears.
Few people ever passed by this corner.
She cried alone, hidden away in the corner.
After she was done crying, her eyes were even redder and more swollen than before.
Georgia Thorne returned to her desk and stared listlessly at her computer screen.
「Back at the apartment.」
Elliot Sheridan threw the phone onto the sofa. His handsome face was cold and severe, his sharp brows knitted tightly together, his dark eyes clouded with a heavy gloom.
’Who said anything about her being the other woman?!’
’What the hell happened in Portmire while I was away?’
The doorbell rang. About five minutes later, Owen Sawyer, who had been waiting outside, used his own key to let himself in.
He paused, surprised to see Elliot Sheridan sitting on the sofa with narrowed eyes.
’He’d thought the President hadn’t opened the door because he was sleeping, but it turned out he was already awake.’
"Got a smoke?" Elliot Sheridan asked in a low voice.
Owen Sawyer immediately picked up on the thick displeasure in his tone. The President was not his usual self today.
Owen Sawyer wasn’t a smoker, but he always carried a pack of cigarettes for situations exactly like this one.
When Elliot Sheridan’s cravings were bad, he could go through at least two packs a day.
Owen Sawyer handed him a cigarette, which Elliot Sheridan deftly lit with a lighter.
He took a long, hard drag. "What’s happened in Portmire while I’ve been away?"
"There is... one thing," Owen Sawyer replied after a moment’s hesitation.
"What is it?!" His sharp, dark eyes shot toward Owen Sawyer.
The intense stare from his boss made the hair on Owen Sawyer’s arms stand up. The boss’s mood was seriously off today.
’He’d heard the deal had gone very smoothly, so what was...’
"Miss Donovan... on the day you left the country, she leaked the news about what happened at Grandview." Owen Sawyer racked his brain; this was the only recent event that could be considered significant.
"Didn’t I tell you to have it buried? Why was it released?!"
Elliot Sheridan slammed his lighter down on the coffee table, where it smashed into two pieces.
Owen Sawyer flinched, startled by his President’s outburst. "You were the one who personally instructed me to leave it alone."
’Why the sudden change of heart?!’
Owen Sawyer had been keeping a close eye on the news ever since it broke.
On television, Joanne Donovan had coolly confirmed the news of her engagement to Elliot Sheridan. Moreover, the angles of the headline photos were very telling.
It wasn’t just Elliot Sheridan who went to Grandview that day; he had been there as well, standing right beside him.
He had seen with his own eyes that Elliot Sheridan hadn’t so much as touched Joanne Donovan.
For Joanne Donovan to be able to orchestrate and star in such a drama under those circumstances... no one would believe it wasn’t premeditated.
