’Does this mean he wants me back?’

Georgia Thorne wasn’t sure. Her red, swollen eyes watched Elliot Sheridan as he took off his suit jacket.

"Go take a shower." His long, elegant hands roughly tore off his tie with a feral energy.

Uncertain of Elliot’s intentions, Georgia stood up but didn’t walk toward the bathroom.

Instead, she walked over to Elliot, lowered her head, and began to unbutton his shirt for him.

Elliot lowered his head and saw her, brows furrowed in concentration, diligently unbuttoning his shirt.

His exposed Adam’s apple bobbed. "Is this a warm invitation?"

She cautiously licked her lips. "Do you want me?"

His dark eyes instantly deepened. Elliot wrapped a hand around her waist and pinched her cheek. "Together?"

"Okay."

She answered extremely quickly, afraid Elliot would change his mind.

Her soft, pale hands actively clung to his shoulders, allowing Elliot to lift her and carry her toward the bathroom.

’It’s been a year. I’ve more or less figured out his temperament. If I say no, he’ll definitely get angry again.’

’Right now, my most important task is to please Elliot.’

She sat up, wrapping the blanket around herself as she hugged Elliot’s waist. "The thing with Zane Lennox... it’s not what you think. There’s nothing between us."

"Mm, I know."

’That’s it?’

Georgia found it a little hard to believe. She couldn’t process how agreeable Elliot was being.

"What’s wrong?"

"Aren’t you going to ask me why?"

Elliot tapped her nose, amused. "When I say I know, I know."

’So, he knew from the very beginning?’

’Then why did he have Owen Sawyer give me a check and a house?’

’Could it be that he wanted to...’

An unexpected breakup, followed by an unexpected reconciliation. Suddenly, Georgia felt she couldn’t figure Elliot out at all.

’What exactly did he mean by "I know"?’

This necklace couldn’t be seen by others, just like her relationship with Elliot couldn’t be discovered.

When she came out after freshening up, the man was already sitting on the sofa, waiting for her to make lunch.

"Just make something simple. I have to go out later."

While Georgia was cooking, the man pressed up against her from behind.

The two had lunch and left together.

Elliot drove her to school. "I have something on next week, so you don’t need to come over."

"Okay, I understand!"

She unbuckled her seatbelt, but as she turned, her wrist was grabbed and she was yanked back hard.

In the dorm room, Nancy Hughes was looking at entertainment gossip.

"Georgia, you’re back!"

Georgia grunted in acknowledgment, putting the jewelry box away inside her locker.

She turned back and saw Nancy hunched over her laptop, her eyes practically glued to the screen.

"What are you looking at?"

"Quick, Georgia, come look at this!" Nancy waved at her excitedly.

"I’m not interested in celebrities, don’t drag me over to see!"

"It’s not a celebrity! This woman, look, isn’t that your sister?" Nancy pointed anxiously at the computer screen. "Wow, and who’s this guy? He’s so handsome!"

Georgia let Nancy pull her over to watch the video. She recognized the woman instantly, even just from her profile.

It was definitely Amanda Thorne.

As for the man next to her, Georgia recognized him even more easily. It was Elliot.

Today, for the first time ever, Elliot had actually explained himself to her.

He had been on a business trip abroad these past few days. The signal was bad, so he simply turned his phone off.

’So the business trip was real.’

’And he spent seven days with Amanda in a romantic foreign country.’

The good mood she had just recovered instantly plummeted. A knot of discomfort formed in her stomach.

"This guy’s suit is so sharp, he must be some kind of business elite!" Nancy said excitedly, turning to Georgia. "Georgia, you must have met this guy your sister is dating!"

’The man Amanda is dating...’

Georgia forced a casual smile and replied with two words, "Never have."

After completely making up with Elliot, Georgia’s life became smooth again.

Georgia didn’t know what methods Elliot used, but Jared Thorne and Hayley Sullivan finally stopped forcing her to meet other men, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

As for things at school, Zane Lennox suddenly vanished from her world. Even Nancy Hughes, who was always by her side, stopped nagging her about him.

Later, Georgia learned that Zane had already left right after she slapped him.

She heard the school had recommended him for a study abroad program. As for when he left, no one knew.

Thinking back on that slap, Georgia admitted she had been impulsive.

She had truly been pushed into a desperate corner to have done something so crazy.

Because of it, Georgia remained quite famous at school.

The only girl who dared to hit the campus heartthrob. Some envied her, while others were jealous.

Georgia had no interest in any of this. Aside from going to Elliot’s private apartment, she spent all her other time working part-time jobs to earn money.

The older she got, the more money she needed.

「Two years later—」

She was in her senior year of university and starting her internship.

Finding a job wasn’t as easy as she had imagined.

She sent her resume to numerous design firms, but all her applications vanished without a trace.

Nancy Hughes was very lucky. She submitted her resume to the Sheridan Group, went through three rounds of interviews, and was hired.

Next Monday, she would report to the Sheridan Group and become their intern.

Georgia didn’t apply to that company, partly because of Elliot.

Without a job, she would have to go back to the Thorne Family. With no other choice, Georgia found a job in a field that was always hiring: insurance sales.

The most desperate for people, but also the most lucrative.

The prerequisite was that the more deals you closed, the more commission you earned.

Georgia and Nancy rented a small two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment together.

After paying six months’ rent, Georgia discovered that of all the money she had saved over the past three years, only a thousand yuan was left.

And she had to make it through this month until she got paid next month.

Georgia gritted her teeth and endured it.

She squeezed onto crowded buses with a large group of people to commute every day. After just one month, she had lost a lot of weight.

In her first month, Georgia closed a few small contracts, earning only five hundred yuan in commission.

Her earnings weren’t much. Georgia used half for living expenses and saved the other half.

Nancy looked at her. "I told you to apply to my company, but you wouldn’t. Look at you, you’ve gotten so thin!"

Georgia just chuckled drily and said nothing.

The Sheridan Group was great to its new employees. Not only were meals provided, but there were also dedicated shuttle buses for commuting.

A big company’s benefits really were much better than a small company’s.

On the weekend, Georgia was forced to return to the Thorne Family home.

At the entrance, she saw Elliot’s black car and knew there was no escape for her today.

Over the past two years, Elliot had also come to the Thorne Family home for dinner, but she had always found an excuse to be absent.

Entering the house, she was unsurprised to see Jared Thorne.

Given the kind of person Elliot was, how could Jared Thorne not want to curry favor with him?

"Dad, Stepmom, Sis, I’m home!" Georgia called out. Her gaze swept around the room and finally landed on Elliot. "Hello, Mr. Sheridan."

She was a bit tired. The insurance business didn’t really have a concept of weekends. She had just finished meeting a client and had rushed back.

The client was a man, and Georgia had to socialize, drinking a few glasses of alcohol.

After squeezing onto a crowded bus all the way home, she was covered in a mix of smells. She took off her clothes and went into the bathroom to shower.

When she came out, Amanda Thorne was standing in her room with her arms crossed.

Georgia froze for a moment, then dried her hair. "Is something wrong?"

"Dad and Mom said you found a job and rented a place outside?"

"Yeah, my workplace is too far from home, so I rented a place closer to it."