Chapter 308 - 295: He’s an Adult Now
Georgia angrily pushed him away and stalked into the house. This was just so unbelievably embarrassing.
The moment she stepped inside, she felt an intense, burning stare from the living room. Georgia looked up to meet Aidan Sheridan’s eyes, which were filled with a mix of anger, resentment, and more.
Her face flushed beet-red. Pretending not to have noticed him, she averted her gaze and headed for the kitchen.
’This is a nightmare.’
The two of them entered one after the other from outside, Elliot looking completely unfazed.
With his hands in his pockets, he strolled leisurely over to Aidan.
Aidan had scowled at Georgia in the living room, his words dripping with sarcasm.
Georgia was his sister’s enemy, which made her his enemy, too. Watching her figure run out, he had felt an inexplicable sense of glee.
But after the glee faded, a wave of regret washed over him.
’What if Georgia runs and tattles to Elliot? What if she tells him I bullied her?’
’My brother already favors Georgia. If she starts whispering poison in his ear, Elliot will never forgive me.’
In Aidan’s mind, he was a bastion of righteousness, while Georgia was a wicked woman sowing discord and destroying the brotherly bond he shared with Elliot.
’If only my sister were here.’
Terrified that Georgia would go crying to Elliot, Aidan dropped his book and ran to find him.
After a quick search of the house, he found the front door ajar and two pairs of shoes missing from the entryway.
Guessing they were outside, Aidan didn’t even bother with a jacket before pushing the door open and rushing out.
And of course, that’s when he saw it.
Elliot was bent slightly, cupping Georgia’s face with one hand. They were locked in a passionate kiss, Georgia’s flushed cheeks pressed against his handsome face.
He truly hadn’t expected to witness such a heated display, nor had he expected to see an Elliot so drastically different from his usual self.
Aidan was a grown man now; he understood perfectly well what he had just seen.
What shocked him to the core, however, was that the man radiating such passion was his own brother.
Elliot had dated Quentin Chase in the past, but their relationship had always been lukewarm and placid.
He rarely saw any other expression on Elliot’s face. As for the emotions unique to being in love, he could only ever catch glimpses of them on Quentin’s face.
Even a casual glance from Elliot would make Quentin’s face turn inexplicably red, rendering her shy and silent.
The way Georgia looked at Elliot was exactly the same as the way Quentin used to.
But Elliot’s reaction to the two women couldn’t be more different. With the former, it was like a stagnant pond; with the latter, a vast ocean.
Or perhaps they looked similar on the surface, but beneath that vast ocean, who knew what turbulent currents were hidden.
Aidan felt a faint flicker of worry for his sister. If Elliot had truly fallen for Georgia, then what would happen to his sister and Miles?
"Elliot, you should move back home!" Aidan said, swallowing his pride.
"Is that what this is about?" Elliot frowned. Aidan nodded vigorously. "Elliot."
"Go ask your sister-in-law. If she agrees to move back, then I’ll agree."
The reason Elliot had moved out in the first place was because of Aidan.
He had watched Aidan grow up; he knew how stubborn his brother could be. And he understood Georgia’s personality as well.
If Aidan said something harsh or, worse, bullied Georgia, she probably wouldn’t say a single word of complaint to him.
He couldn’t bear to see Georgia treated unfairly, so they had simply moved into their old apartment. Even then, he worried it wasn’t fair to her.
"Elliot!" Aidan snapped, clearly rejecting his brother’s terms.
’Georgia is not my sister-in-law! And there’s no way I’m going to ask her.’
"Elliot, I just got out of the hospital. I might not have much time left. Can’t you spend more time with me?"
Aidan knew his own condition. His body was a wreck. It was precisely because he knew he didn’t have long that he wanted to be at home, so he could fulfill his final wish.
His final wish was to see Elliot and Quentin Chase together, a happy family of three.
"I’m going to be busy for a while," Elliot said. "If you want company, you can ask your sister-in-law to come over. In fact, she was just saying you both love to read. It’d be a good chance for you two to connect."
Aidan was speechless.
’As if I’d ever read the kind of books Georgia likes.’
After lunch, Mrs. Sheridan took Georgia’s hand, asking how she’d been the past few days.
She insisted that if Georgia was feeling overwhelmed, she should move back in with them. With more people around, they could all look after each other, and it would be much livelier.
Georgia was struggling to fend off Mrs. Sheridan’s barrage of questions and kept shooting desperate glances at Elliot for help.
"Mom, you need to give us some privacy!" Elliot said, sitting down next to Georgia.
"Privacy? I know what you’re up to, you little rascal!" Mrs. Sheridan huffed, annoyed that her chance to bond with her daughter-in-law was being cut short.
"Mom, if you want a grandchild anytime soon, you’ll stop pressuring us to move back. Once Georgia’s pregnant, we’ll come back on our own," Elliot said, toying with Georgia’s small, soft hand. It felt wonderful in his palm.
Mrs. Sheridan wanted both a grandchild and for Georgia to live with them, but Elliot was deliberately forcing her to choose.
"Don’t you try any of your tricks on me, young man. You married so late, who knows when you’ll finally decide to have kids!" Mrs. Sheridan wasn’t falling for it.
"Mom, how can you say that? Georgia and I are trying our best!"
Elliot had, in fact, already brought up the topic of children with Georgia. They both wanted a girl.
Their plan was simple: live as they always had, just without contraception, and let nature take its course.
Elliot said this without a trace of embarrassment, his expression completely serious. Mrs. Sheridan could only relent. "Well, it’s good that you’re thinking about it. A big oaf like you can’t possibly take proper care of a pregnant woman. It’s incredibly hard on them. The moment she’s pregnant, you move back home, and I’ll take care of her!"
Speaking of which, Mrs. Sheridan was genuinely heartbroken about the baby Georgia had lost. She wondered how Georgia’s health was now.
She’d heard that a miscarriage on the first pregnancy could lead to recurrent ones in the future.
Elliot gave a noncommittal "Okay," his eyes glancing toward Georgia.
Georgia’s face went crimson. She pinched Elliot’s palm hard. ’They had agreed to let nature take its course! Now that he’d announced it to his mother, what would happen if she couldn’t get pregnant right away? The pressure would be immense!’
This small, intimate moment between them didn’t go unnoticed. Aidan, sitting nearby, took it all in.
Aidan slammed his book shut and stormed off to his room.
He grabbed his phone and called Quentin Chase.
The phone rang and rang before the call was dropped. Undeterred, he tried again, but the result was the same.
Frustrated, he called William. "William!"
Fuming, and not wanting to witness any more of Elliot and Georgia’s lovey-dovey behavior, Aidan holed up in his room all afternoon, refusing to come out.
When it was time for dinner, Mrs. Sheridan had to call him several times before he finally emerged sluggishly from his room.
James Sheridan sat at the head of the table. Georgia and Elliot sat on one side, while Aidan resentfully took a seat next to Mrs. Sheridan.
Dinner was pleasant enough. Aidan kept his head down, silently pushing rice around in his bowl, his eyes flicking furtively toward the couple across from him from time to time.
’Elliot has really changed,’ Aidan thought. ’He’s become so considerate. He doesn’t even frown when Georgia acts spoiled. Instead, he just gives this contented little smile, the corners of his lips turning up.’
’Sometimes he even says things that make her roll her eyes at him, but Elliot doesn’t care at all.’
’It’s like he’s a completely different person.’
Aidan couldn’t help but remember what it was like when Elliot was with Quentin Chase. Quentin was timid and would never have dreamed of acting petulant with Elliot. He had liked having her quietly by his side, and the conversation between them was pathetically scarce.
He had never, ever seen Elliot act so affectionate and attentive.
After dinner, regardless of Mrs. Sheridan’s protests, Elliot took Georgia and left.
Aidan stood at the window, watching as Mrs. Sheridan slipped something into Georgia’s hand. It seemed like everyone liked Georgia—everyone except him.
’She’s so good at winning people over.’
Georgia had eaten a little too much at dinner and was feeling uncomfortably full. After Elliot parked the car in the garage, he took her out for a walk.
Their walk eventually led them to a nearby supermarket.
Georgia linked her arm with his, playfully slipping her hand into his trouser pocket. "Your brother really seems to dislike me. What am I going to do?"
"Why do you need his approval? You have my love, and that’s all that matters." Elliot pulled her into an embrace as they entered the apartment building.
Georgia let out a soft huff, tilting her head. "Don’t speak so close to my ear," she chided playfully.
The workday was a flurry of activity. Georgia took her preliminary sketches and went to meet with Shirley Summers.
The wind outside was bitingly cold, but it was so warm inside the exclusive club where Shirley was that Georgia had to take off her coat the moment she walked in.
It was a high-end club for leisure and entertainment, and its clientele was almost exclusively female.
In one of the dance studios, Shirley Summers was dancing, clad in a sheer, gauzy skirt.
The attendant at the door said, "If you two ladies would please wait here for a moment. Miss Summers will be finished shortly."
"Alright."
Georgia didn’t know much about dance, but she watched as Shirley moved to the rhythm of the music.
Shirley was a fantastic dancer. She executed the difficult choreography flawlessly, performing a full 360-degree spin in the air with practiced ease, sweat flying as she moved.
It was a far cry from the classical dance of Tiana Underwood. Modern dance was much faster-paced. Still, Georgia preferred Tiana’s style—it was beautiful, filled with both profound love and a deadly fierceness, a sense of final farewell.