Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

From playing with Georgia Thorne’s fingers to her hair, he didn’t want to let go of a single part of her.

He asked softly, "What about Nancy Hughes?"

The mention of her friend made Georgia Thorne nervous. "That friend of yours, Dylan Heston... is he a good person?"

Nancy Hughes was her best friend, after all; she had to be sure.

Elliot Sheridan knitted his brows and offered two words, "He’s okay."

"Sigh... with Nancy Hughes dating him, I’m always worried she’ll get hurt. Dylan Heston seems like a tough character."

"You can barely take care of yourself, and you have the energy to worry about others?" Elliot Sheridan patted Georgia Thorne’s behind, a light tap meant as a small punishment.

’He hit me again!’

Georgia Thorne swatted his hand away and got up, heading for the kitchen.

She drank a glass of water, not forgetting to take her birth control pill.

With Nancy Hughes away, Elliot Sheridan naturally stayed the night.

Georgia Thorne sent Selena Sheridan a text, lying that she had been busy that afternoon and hadn’t seen her phone.

Selena Sheridan was staying with Mrs. Sheridan and kept early hours, going to bed and waking up early.

She was lying in bed, bored, when Georgia Thorne’s message came through.

Seeing her engrossed in her chat with Selena Sheridan, ignoring him—her husband—Elliot Sheridan simply snatched her phone away.

"I’m not done talking to Selena!"

"And when do you plan on telling our niece about us?"

Elliot Sheridan raised an eyebrow at her. Georgia Thorne, who had just been defiantly demanding her phone back, instantly wilted like a blade of grass and burrowed under the covers.

Elliot Sheridan rolled over, gathering Georgia Thorne’s small frame into his arms.

After a few days, holding Georgia Thorne as he fell asleep again, the emptiness in his heart finally felt full.

In the middle of the night, Elliot Sheridan felt thirsty and got up for some water.

As he poured a glass of water, he noticed a pill bottle on the dining table and curiously picked it up.

His brow furrowed instantly. ’She’s been taking birth control pills this whole time?’

An unpleasant feeling settled in his heart. ’Does she not want to have a child?’

’Taking them before marriage was one thing, but we’re married now. It’s time to have a child.’

Frowning, Elliot Sheridan called a friend of his who worked as a school doctor.

His friend, who had just fallen asleep, shot up in bed, shocked by the request. "I’m a school doctor! Where am I supposed to get something like that for you?!"

"A school doctor is still a doctor. Yellow pills, vitamins, anything like that will work. Just get some for me!"

The school doctor was dumbfounded. Finally, he asked, "Who’s the woman you’ve set your heart on?"

Elliot Sheridan raised an eyebrow. "Who do you think?"

The school doctor thought for a moment. ’It could only be that one girl.’

After hanging up, he took a photo of the pills to send to his friend, then dumped the entire contents of the bottle down the drain.

Back in the bedroom, he looked at the peacefully sleeping Georgia Thorne.

His warm lips pressed against the side of Georgia’s face. "Georgia, let’s have a baby."

Elliot Sheridan’s friend, the school doctor, was highly efficient. ’Elliot isn’t getting any younger,’ he thought. ’It’s about time he had a child.’

’But then again,’ he mused, ’is it because the girl doesn’t want a child that Elliot has to resort to something like swapping her pills?’

Owen Sawyer made a special detour to pick up the pills from Elliot Sheridan’s friend before heading to Georgia Thorne’s apartment.

When he knocked on the door, Georgia Thorne was still asleep.

Elliot Sheridan opened the door, and Owen Sawyer handed him the files along with the vitamins.

"President Sheridan, are you attending the company’s bid this afternoon?"

"Yes. It’s been a while since I’ve made an appearance." Elliot Sheridan turned back inside, instructing Owen Sawyer, "This afternoon, send a couple of people over to move her things. You stay here and oversee it."

"Yes, understood."

Owen Sawyer had been to Georgia Thorne’s apartment several times. ’The president has really fallen for her,’ he thought. ’It’s like I want to pull him out of the fire, but he refuses to even extend his hand.’

’And now he’s having her move in. Are they living together?’

Elliot Sheridan poured the vitamins into Georgia Thorne’s birth control pill bottle. ’It would be best if she gets pregnant before the end of the year.’

’If it doesn’t work the first time, we’ll just have to try a few more times.’

’My parents have always been soft-hearted. Once they see I have a wife and a child, how could they possibly have the heart to break us up?’

Before leaving, Elliot Sheridan returned to the bedroom. He looked at her peaceful, sleeping face and couldn’t resist waking her.

"So sleepy..." Georgia Thorne cracked open her drowsy eyes, glanced at him, then burrowed back under the covers to sleep.

"Someone is coming this afternoon to help you move. I’m going to the office now."

Huddled under the covers, Georgia Thorne mumbled an acknowledgment. Elliot Sheridan didn’t tease her any more and left the room.

Georgia Thorne slept straight through until noon.

When she woke, she didn’t see Elliot Sheridan and remembered that he had gone to work.

She lazed in bed playing on her phone for a while before finally getting up.

She had some porridge, and a short while later, someone came to the door.

"Who are you?" she asked, bewildered, looking at the men in work uniforms at her door.

"Mr. Sawyer hired us for a move."

"Mr. Sawyer?" Georgia Thorne murmured, searching her memory. ’I don’t think I know many people with the surname Sawyer.’

Just as she was thinking this, the elevator opened with a DING, and Owen Sawyer stepped out.

Georgia Thorne had run through everyone she knew, completely forgetting about Elliot Sheridan’s assistant.

"Miss Thorne, President Sheridan asked me to arrange for people to help you move," Owen Sawyer explained.

"Move?" Georgia Thorne was slightly taken aback.

"What? Didn’t President Sheridan tell you?"

’Come to think of it, Elliot Sheridan did mention something about moving this morning.’

"...No! Please, come in." Georgia Thorne stepped aside to let them enter.

Georgia Thorne didn’t have that much stuff. Other than her clothes, only the easels, art supply cases, and sewing machine were heavy.

She had lived here for a year, after all, and had come to think of it as home. She felt a great deal of attachment and was reluctant to leave.

With several strong men on the job, everything was moved quickly and loaded onto the truck in no time.

At Elliot Sheridan’s private apartment, Georgia Thorne was fretting over where to put all her belongings when his call came through, asking her location.

Elliot told her to hand the phone to Owen Sawyer. After a brief exchange, Owen immediately had the men clear out the study and move all her things inside.

"Is this really a good idea?" Georgia Thorne looked at the reorganized study. One half was a sleek, modern office, while the other was filled with an artistic ambiance. It looked completely mismatched.

But the apartment didn’t have many rooms, and besides the study, there was no other place for her things.

Once everything was moved, Owen Sawyer and the men left.

Georgia Thorne looked around at her new surroundings, feeling a sense of displacement. Though, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.

At two in the afternoon, the vast room was filled with people.

As the name of the winning bidder was announced, thunderous applause filled the room.

Amidst the roaring applause, a man in a black pinstripe suit took the stage.

His handsome face bore a triumphant smile as he took questions from the reporters.

Elliot Sheridan sat in the audience, watching the spirited man on stage and subtly knitting his brows.

While being interviewed, Erin Irving’s gaze shot straight and undisguised toward Elliot Sheridan, his eyes filled with provocation.

Many had participated in this bid.

Elliot Sheridan had been eighty percent confident of winning. But unexpectedly, the Irving Group—which hadn’t even been on the original list of bidders—had suddenly emerged.

They became the dark horse that won, their bid only a few hundred off the mark.

At the auction, Erin Irving emerged as the biggest winner.

Everyone knew that the Irving Family had only one son, who was destined to inherit the family fortune.

Erin Irving’s fame skyrocketed, drawing a great deal of attention.

Afterward, Elliot Sheridan was walking ahead when someone called out, "President Sheridan, why the rush?"

The person who had called out to him was none other than Erin Irving.

Elliot Sheridan turned to see Erin Irving emerging from a scrum of reporters.

Erin Irving was quite handsome and distinguished himself, but his smile had a roguish air, a stark contrast to Elliot Sheridan.

Elliot Sheridan always carried himself like a nobleman—impassive and aloof, as if standing above it all.

Revealing neither joy nor sorrow.

With Erin Irving and Elliot Sheridan standing together, both equally striking, the reporters scrambled to take photos.

"Long time no see," Erin Irving said with a grin, extending his hand.

Elliot Sheridan’s brow slowly furrowed. ’In his years abroad, Erin Irving has gotten smarter,’ he thought. ’He’s learned how to conceal his emotions.’

Elliot Sheridan remained motionless for a long moment. Erin Irving chuckled. "President Sheridan, you wouldn’t deny me this small courtesy, would you?"

At his words, Elliot Sheridan extended his hand to meet Erin’s. "Congratulations," he said, his voice cold.

Elliot Sheridan and Erin Irving had known each other for too long. Too much had happened between them. In the blink of an eye, more than a decade had gone by.

The two didn’t exchange many words. Surrounded by reporters snapping photos and recording audio, it wasn’t the place to say much.

Some things were better left unsaid, mutually understood.

Elliot Sheridan was a private man who rarely gave interviews. On the rare occasion someone managed to snap a candid photo, it would be intercepted at once, and the offending media outlet would find itself out of business.

Over time, no one in Portmire dared to take a candid photo of Elliot Sheridan.

Among the reporters were several newcomers eager to seize the opportunity, hoping to land a big scoop on Elliot Sheridan and make a name for themselves.

One thrust a microphone forward and asked bluntly, "President Sheridan, you announced your engagement to Miss Joanne Donovan two months ago. Why has there been no movement on that since?"

The question voiced what many were thinking.

For the past two months, all of Portmire had been quiet, with everyone waiting for news of this engagement.

But the rumored date came and went without so much as a whisper.

Some speculated that Elliot Sheridan and Joanne Donovan had already married and skipped the engagement party, while others guessed they had broken up but kept it quiet to save face for their powerful families.

The rumors flew, but no one knew the truth.

Those who didn’t dare approach Elliot Sheridan tried to interview Joanne Donovan instead.

But they learned that Joanne Donovan, acting as if nothing was amiss, had gone on vacation, posting all kinds of travel photos to her social media page.

Elliot Sheridan flicked his eyes toward them. The reporters stared back, their gazes like a pack of wolves, their nerves stretched taut.

They had a feeling that whatever Elliot Sheridan was about to say would be explosive.

Elliot Sheridan’s purpose for attending the auction today was twofold: first, for the bid, and second, to clarify the matter of the engagement.

He had originally intended to save Joanne Donovan some face by letting her be the one to announce the cancellation of their engagement to the media.