Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

"Of course, miss." The sales associate was overjoyed. She gathered the clothes and walked to the counter.

Selena Sheridan took out a card and handed it to the cashier.

The cashier took it respectfully, swiped it at the POS terminal, and found that the card couldn’t be processed.

"I’m sorry, miss, but your card isn’t working!"

"How is that possible? Try it again." Selena always used this card for her shopping; there was no way it wouldn’t work.

The cashier tried a few more times, but the result was the same.

The way the cashier looked at Selena began to change, and she started to doubt whether Selena actually had any money.

Selena had only brought this one card with her today.

"Just a minute, I need to make a call!" Selena pulled out her phone to call the bank.

Georgia Thorne took a bank card from her purse. "Here, use mine for now!"

The cashier took the bank card from Georgia’s hand.

The card belonged to Elliot Sheridan. He had tucked it into her wallet right after they got their marriage certificate, and she hadn’t used it even once until now.

Selena stepped aside to call the bank. The representative on the other end told her the card had been deactivated.

’Her uncle must have done this!’

Selena was so angry she was on the verge of tears. She immediately called Elliot.

"Uncle, how could you deactivate my bank card!" ’It’s so embarrassing in front of all these people!’

"When you come home is when I’ll reactivate your card."

"I’m not coming back!" Selena furiously hung up. ’He’s actually using money to force me to go home.’

When Selena returned to the store, Georgia had already paid for her.

"Thanks. I’ll pay you back later!" Selena said, embarrassed.

"It’s fine." ’Just think of it as a gift from Elliot to his niece.’

The bank card was in Elliot’s name, so he would know about any and all charges made on it.

The moment the payment went through, a notification popped up on Elliot’s phone.

A charge for tens of thousands.

It wasn’t that Elliot was stingy, but Georgia was a frugal person. She always chose the cheaper options when buying daily necessities, so how could she possibly spend so much money all at once?

Elliot sent her a text. "Where are you?"

Georgia looked up, stealing a sideways glance at the fuming Selena across from her, and replied, "Shopping with Selena."

Selena looked ready to explode. Even drinking herbal tea couldn’t extinguish the fire of rage in her chest.

"So Selena spent the money?"

"Yes. You’re not mad, are you? You’re her uncle, after all. Just think of it as a gift for her!"

Elliot replied with a single "Hmph" and nothing more.

Selena was in an extremely foul mood because of the deactivated card and was desperate to find a place to blow off some steam.

The two of them went to a karaoke bar. Selena, in a grand gesture, ordered twenty bottles of beer. "Oh, right, Georgia! Let’s call Nancy Hughes over, too! The three of us can drink together!"

"No, don’t. She has to work today!"

"Who cares about work? If you won’t call her, I will!"

Selena had Nancy’s number and dialed it, but no one answered.

"Forget it. It’ll just be the two of us then!" Selena wrapped her arms around Georgia. "We’re not going home until we’re drunk!"

Selena was still fuming, and nothing Georgia said could get through to her.

She sat down, grabbed a bottle of beer, and shoved it into Georgia’s hand. "If you don’t drink, we’re not real friends!"

Georgia helplessly took the bottle. Only after Selena saw her take a sip did she happily take a drink herself.

Selena had always been a lightweight. After just a few bottles, she was already grabbing the microphone and caterwauling, clearly drunk off her rocker.

The piercing sound made Georgia’s ears ache. She sat there, drinking helplessly.

An hour later, Nancy called her and asked where she was.

Nancy had just gotten out of a meeting. As she stepped out of her office, she was startled by the caterwauling on the other end of the line. "Are you guys singing?"

"Yeah, Selena’s in a bad mood!" Selena’s wailing was so loud that Georgia had to cover her ears and shout.

The woman dancing on the coffee table to the music turned around. "Who says I’m in a bad mood! I’m in a great damn mood!"

"Yes, yes, your highness is in a good mood!" Georgia covered the phone’s receiver and stepped out to take the call.

Standing outside, where she could no longer hear Selena’s voice, was a huge relief.

"Where are you?"

"Are you coming?"

"I’m about to get off work anyway!" Nancy said with a wicked grin as she packed her bag. "And I can take the opportunity to ask if you’re... *satisfied*... with married life?"

Georgia playfully scolded her before giving her the address.

Georgia returned to the private room to find that Selena, who had been dancing on the coffee table, was now sitting on the sofa, holding a half-empty bottle of beer.

She snatched it away. "You should drink less! It’s bad for you!"

"Don’t take my beer!" Selena snatched it back and hugged it to her chest. "This is my precious! None of you are allowed to take my precious!"

"Fine, fine. You protect your ’precious’ then!" Georgia said, giving in helplessly.

’She’s clutching an ordinary bottle of beer like it’s actual treasure.’

Selena’s hair was a mess. She hugged the bottle, stared down at it for a moment, and then started to cry.

At first, Georgia thought she was imagining things, but then Selena’s sobs grew louder.

"What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly crying?" Georgia watched as tears streamed down Selena’s face.

"Georgia..." Selena looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and called her name before throwing her arms around her and bursting into tears.

"What is it?" Georgia, at a loss, wrapped her arms around her friend and patted her back.

Selena rarely cried. Georgia could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen it.

"Georgia, I don’t have a home anymore!"

Selena buried her face in Georgia’s shoulder, her tears flowing in an unstoppable stream.

Georgia had never seen her cry so heartbrokenly.

’A happy family of three, suddenly gone in a day. If it were her, she wouldn’t be able to accept it either.’

Even though Selena wasn’t a child, her parents’ divorce was still having a huge impact on her.

She wanted to cry, but she didn’t dare.

She knew that if she cried, others would just mock her for being weak.

Selena had been holding it all in, but even today, her father still hadn’t come to see her.

"Selena, you still have me! You have your grandparents who love you, and your uncle... We all love you!" Georgia said, her own voice choking up, unable to bear seeing her so heartbroken.

Perhaps moved by her friend’s tears, Georgia thought of her own deceased mother and began to cry as well.

When Nancy came in, she found the two of them clutching each other and sobbing. "What’s wrong with you two? Weren’t you supposed to be singing? Why are you crying?!"

Georgia wiped her tears. "You’re here!"

Selena stopped crying, too. With red-rimmed eyes, she managed a smile. "Are you here to congratulate me on finally breaking free?"

Her hand accidentally brushed against Georgia’s left hand, and she spotted a ring on her finger. "Georgia, are you wearing a ring on your ring finger?"

Georgia instinctively pulled her hand behind her back and denied it. "What? No! You must be seeing things!"

Nancy stepped forward and sat down between them. "Georgia’s not getting married or anything, why would she wear a ring? You must be drunk!"

"Who’s drunk? I’m perfectly sober right now!"

"Not drunk? Then who was that screaming like a banshee on the phone earlier?"

Selena would never admit that was her, not even on pain of death.

She huffed and said proudly, "Even if you get drunk, I won’t."

The two of them started a drinking competition, and after they were done drinking, they went back to singing.

It wasn’t just Selena who was caterwauling now; Nancy was just as bad.

Georgia couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Nancy had created a diversion for her. Otherwise, Selena would have definitely found out.

She had been so careful to hide it during the last few days she’d spent with Selena, terrified she would notice.

Elliot had deliberately had the ring made smaller.

His reasoning was: easy to put on, hard to take off.

She’d tried to take it off in private a couple of times, and it really was difficult.

Selena was singing with Nancy when she turned to grab another drink and happened to glimpse Georgia, head bowed, stroking her ring finger.

A ring, glinting on her finger. ’She knew she couldn’t have been mistaken.’

’That’s strange. She’s clearly wearing a ring, so why lie and say she isn’t?’

Puzzled, Selena looked away. She had a feeling Georgia was hiding something from her.

At nine o’clock, Georgia stared helplessly at the two figures passed out on the sofa.

’They’re both such lightweights, but they insisted on drinking so much.’

Now they were sleeping more soundly than anyone, giving Georgia a massive headache as she fretted over how to get them both home.

At a quarter past nine, Elliot glanced at the clock on the wall for what felt like the hundredth time.

’It’s so late, and she’s still not back!’

’Is she having that much fun out there with Selena and Nancy?’

’Does she even remember she has a husband!’

Unable to hold back any longer, he called Georgia.

On the other end, Georgia was trying to rouse the two drunks, Selena and Nancy.

"Where are you!" Elliot demanded sharply.

’I need to set a curfew for Georgia. She has to be home by seven from now on.’

When Georgia heard Elliot’s voice, it was like hearing a savior. At that moment, she couldn’t care less about his fierce tone.

"Honey, you have to come quick! Selena and Nancy are both drunk!"

She couldn’t possibly get them home by herself.

Georgia gave Elliot the address. He replied with a curt "Wait there," and hung up.

A chill ran down Georgia’s spine. She had a bad feeling about this.

Twenty minutes later, it wasn’t Elliot who arrived first, but Dylan Heston.

"I’m here to pick her up." Dylan nodded at Georgia.

"Oh, right. She’s asleep inside," she answered, a little stunned.

Georgia didn’t have a good feeling about Dylan. Perhaps because she didn’t know him well, she was worried about his intentions toward Nancy.

However, the fact that he came to pick Nancy up right away meant he must like her.

Georgia stepped aside, and Dylan patted Nancy’s cheek.

She didn’t wake up. She mumbled a few times, grabbed onto Selena, and clamored for more to drink.

Dylan frowned, pushed her hands off Selena, and lifted her into his arms.