Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

She spun around and pushed at Elliot’s chest. "Get out! Don’t you dare bother me in the kitchen!"

Georgia put all her strength into it, shoving Elliot out of the kitchen and angrily slamming the door.

With the door shut, Georgia fanned her face, her cheeks burning hot.

’He’s so infuriating!’

Lunch was delayed until late in the afternoon.

Georgia brought out a dish, shot the man a look, and went back into the kitchen.

After lunch, Georgia was about to wash the dishes when Elliot caught her by the wrist. "The cleaning lady is coming tonight to tidy up."

Elliot pulled Georgia over to the living room sofa and turned on the TV.

She hugged a pillow, finding nothing interesting on TV.

"Do you have any movies we can watch?"

"In the left drawer of the TV console."

Georgia ran over to the console, pulled open the drawer, and saw a huge pile of discs inside.

But they were all very old movies.

Georgia picked out a disc for a movie she’d heard of and looked back at him. "What era are these movies from?"

The drawer was full of hit movies from over a decade ago. Georgia recognized some of them, but had no memory of the others at all.

’Over a decade ago, Elliot must have been just under twenty, while I was only about seven or eight.’

’It wasn’t just their ages that separated them, but time itself.’

’When he was in his prime, she was just a clueless child. They had never met.’

Georgia felt a surge of gratitude. She had met him in her own youth, and since then, he had become an indispensable part of her life.

They were very old discs. Georgia picked one she had never heard of and slid it into the DVD player.

’Four years, and I’m only just now noticing this old DVD player under the TV.’

The TV played a coming-of-age romance. The picture quality was dated, but Georgia recognized the two lead actors.

’They’ve both gotten married and have happy families of their own now, I think.’

Georgia returned to Elliot’s side and wrapped an arm around his. Seeing his stony expression, she giggled. "I never would’ve guessed you liked watching these kinds of movies when you were younger."

"What is all this junk? I’ll have the cleaning lady throw it all out tomorrow!"

’This stuff was clearly from his younger days. He must have packed it away at some point and just left it here.’

’And it had sat here for all these years.’

Playing these movies only served to highlight their age gap.

Elliot’s face was tense with obvious displeasure for the entire movie.

Georgia, however, slowly became engrossed, crying when the movie’s hero and heroine were separated.

The ending saw the hero and heroine meeting at a ski resort three years later. The man was married with a family and an established career, while the woman was still all alone.

When Georgia heard the heroine’s shouted line, she began to cry without even realizing it.

The film ended with the two leads meeting at the ski resort. A sudden avalanche occurred, and the hero shielded the heroine with his body as they were both buried in the snow.

It ended just like that, with no epilogue.

You didn’t know if they were dead or alive, if they ended up together or not. It was an open-ended conclusion that left everything to the imagination.

Women can be so sentimental, unable to resist a tear-jerking plot.

"It’s just a movie, it’s all fake. What’s there to cry about?" Elliot said, wrapping his arms around Georgia’s slender shoulders.

His body suddenly went stiff. A phrase surfaced in his mind, overlapping with the words he had just spoken.

Georgia, busy pulling out a tissue to wipe her tears, didn’t notice his strange reaction. "This movie was so good. I just started crying as I watched."

Georgia hadn’t meant to cry; the plot was just so tragic she couldn’t help it.

"I’ll make you cry your eyes out in bed later," Elliot said, taking the tissue from her. His words were rough, but his touch was incredibly gentle as he wiped her face, as if afraid of hurting her.

"Can you be serious for once!" Georgia said in exasperation.

"If I were ’serious,’ would you be my wife right now?" Elliot raised his voice. "You’re forbidden from watching this kind of garbage from now on."

Georgia scoffed and retorted, "You’re obviously the one who liked watching this stuff when you were younger."

Elliot said nothing. He didn’t like this kind of movie. Not one bit.

It was just... there had been someone in his life back then.

Georgia asked between sobs, "Do you think they survived?"

"Do you want them to be alive or dead?"

"Alive, of course!"

"What’s the point of surviving? They can’t be together anyway. Didn’t the man already have a wife and daughter?"

"That’s true." On second thought, Georgia agreed. If they survived, they would just have more problems to face.

The hero couldn’t possibly abandon his wife and daughter to be with the heroine.

Sometimes, death is a form of release.

Georgia suddenly recalled their conversation on the cable car in Akashima. She had asked Elliot what would happen if they were to fall.

He said he would pull her down with him.

’What must he have been feeling when he said that?’

Georgia climbed onto Elliot’s lap, straddling him and gazing directly at his handsome features.

She had never seen another man with features as exquisite, deep, and perfectly formed as Elliot’s.

Her own face was reflected in his dark eyes. Georgia reached out and slowly caressed his cheek. "Elliot, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Back in Akashima, why did you come find me? And why did you break up with me afterward?"

The question had been weighing on Georgia’s heart for a long time.

She had thought she could let it go, but she couldn’t.

Elliot held her, threading his long fingers through her hair and cupping the back of her head to pull her closer.

「That evening, the cleaning lady arrived.」

Seeing Georgia was there, she greeted her respectfully, "Miss Thorne."

Georgia glanced at Elliot. His brow was knitted, and the tenderness in his eyes was gone.

He had been this cold ever since she asked her question.

The silence was heavy and impenetrable until Georgia’s phone rang. It was a call from Hayley Sullivan.

Georgia stepped out onto the balcony to take the call.

On the other end, Amanda Thorne didn’t say much, only asking her to come home.

When Georgia went back into the living room, Elliot was instructing the housekeeper to throw away the movie discs.

She spoke up awkwardly, "Um, I have to go to the Thorne residence."

"I’ll take you."

"That’s not a good idea. What if they see you?"

Elliot insisted on taking her, and Georgia couldn’t refuse.

The car ride was silent.

Elliot parked at an intersection behind the Thorne estate. From there, it was a ten-minute walk for Georgia.

"I’ll get going, then."

Georgia unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed the door open.

She had just set one foot on the ground when his voice came from behind her. "Georgia!"

She quickly turned back. "What is it?"

Elliot moved in close. "I went to Akashima to find you because I realized I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I had to see you, to know if you’d gotten thinner or fatter. You were so heartless, leaving without a single word. I couldn’t accept it. As for why I broke up with you later... it was because I didn’t want you to get hurt by being with me."

"Joanne Donovan is ruthless. Back then, she suspected I was seeing someone and had me followed constantly. I was worried she’d try something with you. Letting you go was the only way to protect you. And then there’s Erin Irving. Ever since he came back to the country, he’s been watching my every move like a hawk. I can’t afford a single misstep."

She knew who Joanne Donovan was, but the name Erin Irving also sounded familiar, as if she’d heard it somewhere before.

The name "Napoleon" suddenly popped into her head, and Georgia instantly remembered who Erin Irving was.

"It’s him?"

"You know him? Has he already approached you?" Elliot suddenly grew tense.

Georgia shook her head. "I’ve met Erin Irving, but it was just at a business function. I haven’t seen him since!"

"If you see him again, you stay the hell away from him. He’s a lunatic!"

’A lunatic?’

Georgia murmured the word. "Why?"

Elliot’s eyes darkened, simmering with rage. "He’s killed people."

’I knew it!’

Georgia couldn’t help but recall that day when Erin Irving, without batting an eye, ordered someone over the phone to have a person’s hands and feet chopped off and fed to Napoleon.

"In any case, don’t get close to either of them. Do you understand?"

Georgia nodded seriously. To be honest, she didn’t like Erin Irving either. She’d always found him incredibly creepy.

At the wedding, the groom had been a no-show. Not only had Georgia become a public laughingstock, but the Thorne family’s reputation had also taken a hit.

Jared Thorne had been so furious he’d practically disowned her over the phone. She had no idea why Amanda was calling her back home now.

After a short walk, Georgia saw a black car parked in the driveway.

It was Justin Sullivan’s.

Since that night, Justin Sullivan had made good on his promise to help Jared Thorne’s company.

But Justin had one condition: they had to pay back all the money Zane Lennox had invested.

He wanted Georgia to owe a debt to him and him alone—one she could never repay in this lifetime.

He had, however, overlooked one small detail: Georgia was already married to Elliot.

The Thorne family had lost face because of Georgia, so naturally, Jared Thorne was not pleased with her.

But with Justin Sullivan present, Jared put on a benevolent air and called out to her, "What are you doing standing there in the doorway? Come, sit down!"

Jared Thorne rarely showed such fatherly affection toward Georgia. She wasn’t exactly shocked, but her gaze shifted to Justin Sullivan, who was sitting nearby.

His gaze was fixed on her, open and undisguised.

He hadn’t seen Georgia in several days. She looked much healthier.

Georgia offered a polite greeting and sat down next to Hayley Sullivan.

Hayley Sullivan didn’t like her, but she still had to greet her with a smile. For tonight, at least, she couldn’t afford to show her displeasure toward Georgia.

Justin Sullivan had invested a sum of money into Jared Thorne’s company. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it wasn’t insignificant either.

It was just enough to pull the Thorne family back from the brink of bankruptcy, but not enough for them to regain their former status.

Since they could no longer rely on a powerhouse like Elliot, Jared Thorne had now set his sights on Justin Sullivan.

He had invited Justin over today to discuss the Sullivan Group’s latest project.

If they could land it, then all their problems would be solved.

At the dinner table, Georgia remained silent, listening to Jared Thorne chat with Justin Sullivan.

Georgia had no appetite. Unsure what scheme Jared was cooking up for her this time, she put down her chopsticks. "I’m full."