Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

After the song ended, Shirley Summers struck a final pose and took a towel from someone nearby to wipe away her sweat.

She turned and saw Georgia Thorne and Vivian Sawyer standing in the doorway. "Miss Thorne, hello."

"Miss Summers, hello," Georgia Thorne greeted her.

Shirley Summers was dressed in thin workout clothes. "Sorry to make you come all this way. Please wait for me a moment."

"Of course."

A staff member from the club led them to a lounge while Shirley Summers went to change.

There were other people in the lounge, gathered in groups, chatting.

Just as Georgia took a sip of water, a voice that wasn’t Shirley Summers’s spoke from above her. "Miss Thorne, do you mind if I sit here?"

Looking up at the sound of the voice, her eyes fell upon a delicate, beautiful face. It was Joanne Donovan.

Joanne Donovan had learned from Erin Irving that Elliot Sheridan and Georgia Thorne were married, and she was practically mad with rage.

She had taken every possible precaution against Amanda Thorne, but she had never expected there was Amanda’s younger sister to worry about.

And she’d been kept so well hidden that his wife’s true identity only came to light after the wedding.

Before Georgia Thorne’s name was revealed, Joanne Donovan had assumed it was Amanda Thorne. But on second thought, she had people watching Amanda around the clock; there was no way she could have had a chance to get close to Elliot Sheridan.

No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t think of any other woman in Elliot Sheridan’s circle.

Georgia Thorne was a complete surprise, someone no one had ever anticipated.

When she first heard the name, her immediate thought was of Zane Lennox’s doted-upon girlfriend.

"Sorry, this spot is alrea—"

Before Georgia Thorne could finish, Joanne Donovan had already sat down across from her, saying presumptuously, "I’m sure you don’t mind!"

’Even if I said I did, it’s not like she’d actually leave.’

"Miss Donovan, hello." Georgia Thorne had run into her a few times before, but they had never had a direct confrontation.

Strangely, she wasn’t nervous at all. In fact, she felt remarkably calm, able to greet her naturally.

"Miss Thorne, it’s been a while. I must say, seeing you after so long, you’ve really become someone to behold," Joanne Donovan said, a faint, seductive smile on her red lips as she looked at Georgia with arched brows.

Her gaze was filled with disdain for Georgia Thorne. Simply because she was Amanda Thorne’s sister, Joanne had disliked her from the very first moment she saw her.

’There’s a viciousness in her eyes. She really is Amanda Thorne’s sister, just as skilled at seducing men.’

’No, Georgia Thorne is even more formidable than Amanda. At least Elliot Sheridan never publicly acknowledged Amanda as anyone special to him. But this Georgia is different. She actually managed to become Elliot’s wife.’

’That was supposed to be my position, and this bitch stole it from me.’

"Miss Thorne, the student has truly surpassed the master, hasn’t she!" Joanne Donovan suddenly covered her mouth and laughed, the sarcastic barb in her words obvious.

Joanne Donovan’s hostility toward Georgia Thorne was so palpable that even the innocent bystander, Vivian Sawyer, could feel it, let alone Georgia herself, the target.

Georgia Thorne pretended not to understand. "Miss Donovan, what do you mean? I’m afraid I don’t quite follow."

"I’m saying, Miss Thorne, that you’re quite the ’innocent flower.’ On the surface, you were with Zane Lennox, but behind the scenes, you’d already hooked Elliot Sheridan, hadn’t you!" Joanne Donovan’s eyes grew sharp, the smile on her lips turning venomous. "Does Amanda Thorne know you were seducing Elliot behind her back?"

Joanne Donovan raised her eyebrows, glancing at Vivian Sawyer, though her words were for Georgia Thorne. "Or maybe, did Zane Lennox know you were already messing around with Elliot Sheridan back then? Tell me, do you think the deceased Zane will climb out of The Underworld to settle the score with you?"

Vivian Sawyer thought that for a woman as exquisitely beautiful as Joanne Donovan, she had a truly rotten heart.

Just look at her now, smiling so grimly, as if she wanted to kill Georgia Thorne with her gaze alone.

Frightened by that look, Vivian Sawyer glanced over at Georgia Thorne.

Georgia Thorne didn’t believe in ghosts or gods. Zane Lennox was dead, and that was that. Besides, when she started seeing Elliot Sheridan, her relationship with Zane Lennox was long over and completely resolved.

She wasn’t afraid of what anyone had to say.

"I don’t know if Zane Lennox will climb out of The Underworld, but what I do know, Miss Donovan, is that you and Zane were quite close. If he really did come back, I imagine the first person he’d look for would be you, wouldn’t it!" Georgia Thorne retorted with equal force, leaning close to Joanne Donovan’s ear to whisper, "Or have you forgotten the ’fun’ you had with Zane on your birthday night?"

"You!" Joanne Donovan’s face fell, and she stared at her, suddenly tense.

Georgia Thorne chuckled. "As I recall, you and Elliot Sheridan were still engaged at the time. To cheat on him so brazenly... do you really think he wouldn’t find out?"

"You saw? You’re the one who told him!" Joanne Donovan grew extremely agitated.

’No wonder it felt so sudden when Elliot Sheridan broke up with me. To think it was because of Georgia Thorne all along.’

"I did see it. But whether he knows you cheated on him, I couldn’t say," Georgia Thorne replied with a smile, though her voice turned icy. "However, Miss Donovan, if you keep looking for trouble with me for no reason, I can’t guarantee I won’t tell Elliot. You know, I’m the person closest to him now. I think he’d at least listen to a thing or two I have to say."

As the saying goes, if you don’t start none, there won’t be none.

If Joanne Donovan was going to provoke her again and again, she wasn’t going to just sit back and take it.

"Talk is cheap. Why would Elliot Sheridan believe you!"

"True. It’s just a shame I was recording video at the time, and you two just happened to be in the background. What a pickle, huh?" Georgia Thorne shrugged at her.

"You!"

Joanne Donovan was so furious she was speechless. She had wanted to humiliate Georgia Thorne, but the tables had been turned on her. And she couldn’t cause a scene here, not with so many people around.

"Miss Donovan, do try to stay cheerful. It’ll help keep the wrinkles away!" Georgia Thorne said, now in a much better mood.

Joanne Donovan’s face contorted with anger, but she was still trying her hardest to maintain a smile. She didn’t realize that in the eyes of others, the expression on her face was truly hideous and frightening.

Georgia Thorne might have looked meek, but once her temper flared, she was not someone who could be pushed around.

Having been thoroughly rebuffed by Georgia Thorne, Joanne Donovan left in a rage.

"Oh, by the way, Miss Donovan, there’s one more thing I wanted to tell you," Georgia Thorne called out. Joanne Donovan spun around, her furious eyes glaring as she waited for Georgia to continue.

Georgia Thorne curled her lips into a smile. "About me and Elliot Sheridan... he’s the one who seduced me first. If you don’t believe me, you can call and ask him!"

"..." Joanne Donovan scoffed, clearly not believing Georgia Thorne’s bullshit.

’Elliot Sheridan, seducing another woman? Does he even need to?’

’In this world, the one thing Elliot Sheridan doesn’t lack is women. If he so much as said the word, the line of women wanting to throw themselves at him would stretch beyond the Portmire city limits.’

"Georgia Thorne, are you delusional!"

"Am I?" Georgia Thorne smiled sweetly. "You can go ask Elliot. Ask him if he was the one who took his clothes off first to seduce me."

Joanne Donovan was speechless.

Joanne Donovan stormed off, and Georgia Thorne took another sip of water.

Having just witnessed that war of words between the two women, Vivian’s mind was still reeling. She was incredibly impressed with Georgia Thorne.

Especially that last line—it was a total knockout blow to that woman!

Shirley Summers returned, changed into a fresh set of clothes. "Sorry to have kept you waiting!"

Georgia Thorne smiled, took the design sketches from her bag, and handed them over. "Miss Summers, these are the designs based on your requests. Please take a look and let me know if there’s anything you’re not satisfied with."

Shirley Summers was a perfectionist who demanded that everything around her be flawless, especially her own wedding.

A person only gets one wedding in their lifetime. No matter the cost, she was determined to have the absolute best, to make it all worthwhile.

Shirley Summers had given Georgia Thorne a lot of input on the dress, mainly adding her own creative ideas and making numerous adjustments to even the smallest details.

"Miss Summers, the dress you’re describing is indeed beautiful, but it would also be very heavy. A wedding day is exhausting, and I’m afraid it would be too much for you to bear."

"It’s fine. Just make it according to my requirements," Shirley Summers said with a smile, but her tone held an unshakeable resolve.

"Alright, then. What about this next outfit? Do you have any feedback on it?"

"..."

Shirley Summers’s standards were high. It was clear how much she was looking forward to her wedding; she didn’t want anything to go wrong.

After that, Georgia Thorne had to go see Shirley Summers another four or five times to perfect all of her suggestions.

However, Shirley Summers was handling almost all the wedding preparations herself, with only Secretary York by her side to help with the arrangements.

It was strange. Aren’t wedding preparations usually handled by the groom’s side? Yet in this case, Shirley Summers was doing everything.

It felt as if it were Shirley Summers’s wedding alone.

Georgia Thorne had once curiously asked about her never-seen fiancé and why he wasn’t helping with the wedding affairs.

Shirley Summers replied thoughtfully, "He’s always very busy with work, and he’s been on a business trip abroad recently. But he’s very considerate of me. He left his personal secretary here to take care of me!"

Seeing Shirley Summers so immersed in her happiness, Georgia Thorne just smiled and said no more.

’Maybe they really are very happy together.’

One day, near the end of work, Shirley Summers suddenly called. She said there was a tiny issue with the dress and asked if Georgia could come to the Grandview Hotel right away.

Her company’s service motto was "the customer comes first," so of course she had to go.

Georgia Thorne packed her bag and said to Vivian Sawyer, who was beside her, "You can go home for the day. I can go by myself."

When Vivian Sawyer heard Shirley Summers on the phone, her face had fallen, thinking she was going to have to work overtime again.

She let out a cheer and threw her arms around Georgia Thorne. "You’re the best, Miss Thorne! I’ll love you forever!"