Chapter 387 - 367: I Promise I Won’t Come Home Late Anymore, Really (Part 2)

She also listened to Sheridan’s voice; Sheridan was on the other end of the line, babbling and calling for her mommy.

Georgia Thorne listened for a bit, then Sharon Ennis took the phone. "How about I let Sharon talk to you?"

"O-okay!"

There was silence on the line. Georgia Thorne guessed that Sharon Ennis had given the phone to Elliot Sheridan, and she felt her heart start to race.

After a moment, there was still no sound. She said an uncertain, "Hello?" Elliot’s soft voice came from the other end. "I’m here."

In that instant, Georgia Thorne’s heart filled with a sense of grievance, and her nose began to tingle.

A flood of longing washed over her. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but the words wouldn’t come out.

They had been giving each other the silent treatment before, but now the quiet felt different. She fiddled with her fingers, feeling lost as her heart constricted.

Elliot didn’t say much on the phone, only, "Take good care of yourself."

Georgia Thorne gave a soft "mhm," and then the line went dead.

After the call ended, Georgia Thorne stood blankly at the window, gazing at the distant skyscrapers.

The scenery was unfamiliar, and she was starting to miss Portmire. She desperately missed him and Nina.

’Actually, two months isn’t as long as I imagined.’

Georgia Thorne silently tried to comfort herself.

But to Georgia Thorne’s surprise, the two months didn’t feel as short as she’d hoped, either.

The training schedule was packed. Besides classes, she often had to go on tours with her instructors. She was busy with the training, and in her spare time, she had to complete the designs they assigned.

She was so busy she barely had time to catch her breath.

Every busy day ended in the early hours of the morning.

She missed Elliot and Sheridan, but when she looked at the time, she was afraid she would disturb them.

Whenever her longing became overwhelming, Georgia Thorne would be filled with immense regret over her decision.

Since getting together with Elliot, they had rarely been apart for so long. And then there was Nina.

’When I go back in two months, will Nina even recognize me as her mother?’

She was beginning to miss them like crazy. The unfamiliar environment, everything here felt foreign to her.

Half a month into her training, Georgia Thorne could no longer bear the longing. Late on a Friday night, she bought a plane ticket to Portmire.

She barely slept a wink, staying up until dawn before hastily packing her things and heading to the airport.

The moment she boarded the plane, her emotions surged, growing more intense as the aircraft rapidly ascended.

It had only been two weeks, but to her, it felt like half a year.

The flight to Portmire would take two and a half hours, at best.

After getting off the plane, she hurriedly took a taxi to the Sheridan residence.

Georgia Thorne had been calling Sharon Ennis regularly. Elliot had to work on weekdays and couldn’t take care of the baby, so he and Nina were staying at the family home during this time.

Her heart pounding wildly in her chest, she arrived home.

Sharon Ennis was watering the flowers and plants in the front yard when she saw Georgia Thorne. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until Georgia called out, "Mom." Sharon dropped the watering can she was holding. "My dear girl, why are you back all of a sudden?"

Georgia Thorne hadn’t called the night before, so Sharon Ennis had assumed she was swamped with work.

"You’ve only been gone two weeks, how have you gotten so thin?"

Georgia Thorne didn’t care whether she’d lost weight or not. She had just crossed half the country; the only people she wanted to see were Elliot and Nina.

"Mom, where are Elliot and Nina?"

"Oh, what bad timing. This morning, Sharon suddenly said she was taking Nina out for a bit, and they left a while ago!" Sharon Ennis pulled Georgia Thorne inside by the hand. "Come in and have some water first!"

She had rushed all the way back, but the people she most wanted to see weren’t there.

To say she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie.

Disappointment washed over Georgia Thorne’s face. She hadn’t slept at all the previous night, running on pure excitement until now.

She listened distractedly as Sharon Ennis talked about what Sheridan had been up to, and she pulled out her phone to send a text to Elliot Sheridan.

She sent the text and waited for a long time, but there was no reply.

’He’s probably busy with the baby and didn’t notice his phone,’ she told herself.

After Sharon Ennis finished speaking, Georgia Thorne made an excuse to go upstairs.

Once in the room, she tried calling Elliot Sheridan, but his phone was off.

’What’s going on? He rarely ever turns his phone off.’

Unable to reach Elliot Sheridan, her mind was in turmoil.

Georgia Thorne felt uneasy. Lying on the bed, she tried to think of where Elliot Sheridan might have taken Nina.

’A person like him... where would he take Nina? Did he go alone, or was someone else with him?’

The more Georgia Thorne thought about it, the worse she felt. An inexplicable frustration filled her, and she tossed and turned on the bed.

She took a deep breath, telling herself not to overthink things.

After calming down, Georgia Thorne got undressed and climbed into bed.

The blankets were full of his scent. Holding them felt like falling asleep in his arms.

Gradually, sleepiness washed over her. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she slowly drifted off.

Elliot Sheridan had taken Nina out for a stroll. The little one was thrilled, curious about everything and waving her arms and legs excitedly.

The house was empty when he returned. Elliot Sheridan carried the sleeping child upstairs, planning to take a shower and change into clean clothes.

The moment he pushed open the bedroom door, he saw a lump under the covers on the bed and frowned.

Elliot Sheridan was a neat freak and didn’t like seeing the bed in disarray—unless, of course, the mess was made by Georgia Thorne.

’It can’t be her.’

’She should be in a city far away; there’s no way she’s thinking about us.’

’What a heartless woman.’

His expression cold, Elliot Sheridan strode into the room. The head of the bed slowly came into view.

It looked more and more like a person was sleeping in his bed. Long, dark hair stood in stark contrast against the white sheets. He placed the baby in the crib, his steps involuntarily becoming lighter and slower, afraid of waking the person in the bed.

He slowly approached the bed. Seeing that all-too-familiar profile, Elliot Sheridan took a deep breath, doing his best to suppress the rage in his heart.

Elliot Sheridan suddenly felt he had changed so much for Georgia Thorne. For her, he would bend his principles again and again, until he was no longer himself.

’On what grounds? She leaves whenever she wants and comes back whenever she wants, all without his permission.’

He clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to wake Georgia Thorne up and throw her out.

And yet, looking at her peaceful sleeping face, he was the one who left.

’Elliot Sheridan, you’ve really gotten pathetic. This isn’t like you at all.’

Georgia Thorne slept until past two in the afternoon.

She was woken up by Nina’s crying. The baby was wailing in her crib, and at first, Georgia Thorne thought she was having a nightmare.

It wasn’t until she picked up the child that she remembered her impulsive flight back to Portmire.

"Nina, don’t cry, Mommy’s here!" Georgia Thorne said with a smile, stroking Sheridan’s little hand.

Sheridan still recognized her mother. She buried her face in Georgia Thorne’s chest and cried for a moment before stopping. Soon enough, she was smiling again, beaming at Georgia Thorne.

Her little pink mouth babbled, "Mama..." "While Mommy was away, was Nina a good girl?"

Nina Sheridan must have been brought upstairs by Elliot Sheridan. ’Does that mean he saw me?’

It was her own fault for sleeping so soundly. She hadn’t heard a thing when Elliot Sheridan came in.

’I wonder if he was more angry or more happy to see me.’

Georgia Thorne carried the baby downstairs to find Sharon Ennis scolding Aidan Sheridan and Katherine Sheridan.

Sharon Ennis still held some authority in the family. Aidan Sheridan and Katherine Sheridan looked thoroughly chastised, glancing at each other but not daring to say a word.

It was sharp-eyed Katherine Sheridan who saw Georgia Thorne first and called out excitedly, "Ms. Thorne!"

Katherine Sheridan had missed Georgia Thorne. After all, Ms. Thorne was his dad’s wife, which also made her his mother.

"Mom, what’s going on?" Georgia Thorne asked, handing the baby to Sharon Ennis.

Sharon Ennis looked like she was about to explode, but she was afraid of scaring Nina, so she reined in her temper. "I can’t even be bothered to talk about these two!"

Aidan Sheridan and Katherine Sheridan exchanged a glance, pressing their lips together and saying nothing.

Listening to Sharon Ennis go on and on while holding Nina, Georgia finally understood what had happened.

Apparently, the two of them had gotten into an argument with someone, smashed the person’s car, and ended up at the police station.

Afraid of getting a lecture from James Sheridan, they had specifically called Sharon Ennis to come clean.

Sharon Ennis had bailed them out of the police station and had been scolding them ever since.

Georgia Thorne felt a bit awkward listening to all this. While trying to soothe Sharon Ennis, she shot a look at the two boys, urging them to say something nice.

Katherine Sheridan was the smoother talker. "Grandma, my uncle and I both know we were wrong. We’ll never do it again!"

Sharon Ennis snorted angrily. "It’s no use telling me. Just wait until your grandfather gets back and see what he has to say!"

This was something Georgia Thorne couldn’t help with. "Alright, Mom, don’t be angry anymore."

Sharon Ennis still couldn’t let it go. She took two steps, then turned back around. "Aidan Sheridan, I can forgive Katherine for being young and reckless, but you’re a grown man! Why are you still acting like a child?"

"Mom, I..." Aidan Sheridan was too aggrieved to speak.

Perhaps Sharon Ennis’s voice was too loud, because as soon as she finished speaking, Sheridan, who was in her arms, burst out crying with a loud WAH that echoed through the house.

"There, there, Nina, don’t cry. Grandma scared you!" Sharon Ennis hurriedly soothed the baby. "Grandma will stop talking, okay? Don’t cry, Nina!"

Thanks to Sheridan, Aidan Sheridan and Katherine Sheridan escaped their punishment, and the two of them beat a hasty retreat.

"By the way, where’s Elliot Sheridan?"

"You don’t know?" Georgia Thorne asked, looking around the rest of the house. "He’s not home?"

Apparently not.

"I haven’t seen him since I got back," Sharon Ennis said, holding the baby. "Did he have to go out for work again?"

"Probably."