Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

A flash of red light passed before her eyes. Quincy Rhodes’s hand went slack, and the business card fell onto the car seat.

Hearing Elliot Sheridan’s voice, she hastily looked up. She saw him with his back to the car door, talking on the phone.

Quincy Rhodes hurriedly picked up the business card and stuffed it back into the suit pocket.

Elliot Sheridan hung up and opened the door. "Sorry, you might have to wait a bit."

Quincy Rhodes smiled as if nothing was wrong. "It’s fine."

Elliot Sheridan smiled, his gaze sweeping over Quincy Rhodes’s face. A flicker of panic flashed in her eyes.

He looked down, picked up the suit jacket, and felt the pocket. "Good, the card’s still here."

When Quincy Rhodes saw him pull the business card she had just seen from the pocket, her heart pounded even harder.

She wanted to ask where he had gotten that card, but the words were caught in her throat. She was afraid Elliot Sheridan would notice something.

"Excuse me, I have to call the auto shop."

Quincy Rhodes gave an unnatural laugh, completely flustered.

It was still pouring rain outside. Quincy Rhodes looked back through the rearview mirror.

Elliot Sheridan was standing in front of the broken-down car while a driver held an umbrella for him. About half an hour later, another car arrived.

By the time everything was sorted out, an hour had passed.

Elliot Sheridan got back in the car, his black shirt clinging wetly to his skin, revealing the powerful muscles beneath.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"It’s fine. What was wrong with the car?"

"Just a minor issue." Elliot Sheridan started the car and pulled back onto the road. "I just bought this car, not sure why it broke down. It just died on me out of nowhere!"

Quincy Rhodes noticed water dripping from his clothes and turned on the heat. "Cars breaking down is normal. Mine acts up from time to time, too. Do you know any good auto shops you could recommend?"

"I do know one, actually. A friend told me about it." Elliot Sheridan took out the business card and handed it to her. "This is the one."

"Sounds good. Can I have this card? I’ll take my car to their shop to get it checked out another day."

"Of course!"

Quincy Rhodes clutched the business card tightly, smiled at Elliot Sheridan, then turned her head to look at the scenery outside the window.

Her face showed unconcealable panic. ’He must have found some clue.’

’No, there’s no way he could know!’

Quincy Rhodes turned the question over and over in her mind, but even on the way back, she couldn’t find an answer.

Elliot Sheridan was acting too inscrutably, making it impossible to guess his thoughts.

What happened today was a complete accident. ’It can’t be.’

As the mayor of Portmire, Quincy Rhodes had always cultivated an image of integrity, living in a modest, mid-range residential complex. Elliot Sheridan pulled the car up to her apartment building.

"Well, I’ll be heading off then!"

"Didn’t your car break down? How will you get back?"

"I can just get a cab."

Quincy Rhodes nodded. "Thank you for tonight!"

"Don’t mention it!"

Long after Elliot Sheridan had left, Quincy Rhodes finally got out of the car.

Only after returning to her apartment did she remember her original goal for the day.

She smacked her forehead. ’So stupid. I got sidetracked by a simple business card.’

When Elliot Sheridan returned to their apartment, Georgia Thorne was still busy in the study.

She was so engrossed in sewing flowers onto a dress that she didn’t even hear Elliot call her name.

Elliot pushed open the door and saw her sitting under the lamp, threading a needle, completely focused.

"Ah!"

The moment Elliot patted Georgia Thorne on the shoulder, she jumped, and the needle pricked the pad of her thumb.

A sharp sting, and blood welled up from the fingertip.

"How could you be so careless!" Elliot Sheridan crouched down, took Georgia Thorne’s finger, and without a second thought, put it in his mouth.

"It’s all your fault!" Georgia Thorne complained.

She had meant to complain more, but when she saw Elliot with her thumb in his mouth, she immediately clamped her lips shut.

’He’s such a neat freak, how could he put my finger in his mouth without even thinking about it!’

Hearing her soft complaint, Elliot tilted his head back to gaze at her, only to see her puffing her cheeks and saying nothing.

His dark eyes glimmered with tenderness. "Why are you so timid!"

He had only tapped her on the back, and she’d gotten so scared she pricked her own finger.

Georgia Thorne blushed as she looked at him. She tried to pull her hand back, but Elliot held it fast. Her thumb was enveloped in warmth and moisture as she whispered, "My hand is dirty, let go!"

"Dirty? You’re my wife. In my eyes, you’re the cleanest person in the world!" Elliot loved seeing Georgia Thorne blush. "What, are you embarrassed?"

Georgia Thorne was indeed a little embarrassed. Elliot took her small hand. "Let me see, is the cut bad?"

"It’s just a pinprick, you can barely see it!" Georgia Thorne let him hold her hand and bring it closer to the light.

A tiny hole. After he’d held it in his mouth for a moment, it stopped bleeding.

But it did leave a noticeable red dot on the pad of her finger.

"You really have such delicate skin!"

Hearing the slightly mournful tone in his voice, Georgia Thorne let out a chuckle.

She reached out and playfully pinched the man’s cheek. "Then you must have tough old skin!"

Elliot’s face stiffened. He placed his hands on Georgia Thorne’s waist and pulled her into his lap.

The dress, flowers, and thread on her lap all fell to the floor.

Georgia Thorne cried out, "My things!"

"Forget them!"

Elliot tilted his head back to look at the woman in his arms. She was looking back at him with a mischievous smile.

Honestly, before he met Georgia Thorne, he never cared about his age.

Everyone gets old eventually. The passage of time had made him who he was today.

He felt there was nothing wrong with being his age.

He had achieved everything he wanted through his own abilities.

The only time he lacked confidence was when he was with Georgia Thorne—a beautiful, young woman full of youthful energy.

He was afraid Georgia would fall for younger men, afraid she would mind his age.

A thirteen-year age gap wasn’t what he’d planned for.

If he had known he would spend the rest of his life captivated by Georgia Thorne, he would have done everything in his power to meet her sooner.

Or better yet, back when Selena had wanted to adopt her, he should have forced his way in and had Georgia Thorne cut ties with the Thorne Family.

Having her be a child bride for the Sheridan Family would have been nice too.

At the very least, he could have protected her from a young age.

But then Elliot thought he was overthinking it. If they had really adopted Georgia Thorne back then, she would probably just be respectfully calling him "Second Uncle" right now.

Elliot deliberately kept a straight face, not liking that Georgia Thorne called him old.

"Are you angry?" Georgia Thorne lowered her head, bringing her face close to the man’s.

Her own smiling face was reflected in his eyes.

"Alright, don’t be angry. A man needs to be a little weathered to have character!"

Georgia Thorne coaxed the older man in a soft voice, cupped his cheeks in her hands, and leaned down to kiss his lips.

As it turned out, an older person’s immune system really does weaken.

"I told you you were getting old, and you didn’t believe me!" she said anxiously. "Do you want some water?"

People with colds always want water.

Georgia Thorne stood up to get him some water, but Elliot Sheridan grabbed her wrist. "Don’t go!"

"Let’s go to the hospital. You’re burning up." Georgia Thorne held his hand; it was scorching hot.

Elliot Sheridan shook his head. He didn’t like hospitals.

After a phone call, a doctor was brought over within half an hour.

Georgia Thorne greeted him. "Hello, he’s in the room!"

"Hello!" The doctor was a bit flustered, realizing the woman by Elliot Sheridan’s side was the same one from four years ago.

The doctor took Elliot Sheridan’s temperature. Since physical cooling wasn’t working, he had to resort to pharmacological methods.

He put Elliot on an IV drip and prescribed some medication.

"Doctor, is he going to be okay?"

"Don’t worry, everyone gets a cold. He’ll be fine in no time!"

The doctor instructed Georgia Thorne on the medication dosages and advised that his meals should be light and simple.

"No spicy food at all? I thought he really liked spicy food."

The doctor had been with Elliot Sheridan for several years and knew his dietary habits more or less. "Who told you he likes spicy food?"

"No one told me. I just noticed he never seems to think spicy food is spicy, so I assumed he liked it!" Georgia Thorne said. "Actually, I don’t really know what he likes to eat. He seems to eat everything."

Whatever she made, Elliot would eat. He was never picky.

The doctor was even more shocked. ’It seems Georgia Thorne still doesn’t know about that matter.’

For a moment, he wasn’t sure if he should say anything. It wasn’t exactly a huge secret.

Besides, the woman before him had been with Mr. Sheridan for three or four years now. She must hold a significant place in his heart.

After a moment of deliberation, he said, "Miss Thorne, Mr. Sheridan doesn’t like spicy food. He isn’t a picky eater because... he has no sense of taste."

"He lost his sense of taste?" Georgia Thorne looked at him in astonishment. The doctor nodded. "I can’t go into the details, but in any case, please pay close attention to Mr. Sheridan’s diet, Miss Thorne."

Owen Sawyer left with the doctor. Georgia Thorne stood in the kitchen, simmering millet porridge over a low flame, remembering what the doctor had said.

She carefully recalled their time together. In the beginning, she didn’t know his eating habits, so she just cooked according to her own preferences. When she saw he ate it without any issue, she just kept cooking that way.

She had always thought their tastes in food were very similar, never imagining that he actually had no sense of taste at all.

’No sense of taste... was he born with it, or did it happen later?’

Elliot Sheridan had always given the impression of being perfect and outstanding. She never thought that beneath his brilliant facade, he had a flaw.

No sense of taste... didn’t that mean he couldn’t taste sour, sweet, bitter, or spicy?

Georgia Thorne’s heart ached for Elliot Sheridan. She turned off the stove and walked into the bedroom.

Elliot had just fallen asleep. Because of the cold, he was sleeping very soundly and didn’t notice her enter.

Georgia Thorne crouched by the edge of the bed, watching him quietly.

His sleeping profile was indescribably handsome, so different from his usual stern, straight-faced expression. What she loved most was seeing Elliot when he was asleep.

She reached out and touched his forehead. It was still hot. Georgia Thorne puffed out her cheeks and poked his shoulder with her finger.

’He’s so old, yet he still thinks he’s a young man. He doesn’t even know how to take care of himself.’