Jared Thorne had grown gaunt with worry.
He'd been asking everyone for help, but those who usually had a decent relationship with him were nowhere to be found.
Keith Larkin could have saved the company, but the young lady of the Sheridan Family had swooped in and ruined everything.
Selena Sheridan was very protective of Georgia Thorne.
For now, no one in the Thorne Family dared to lay a finger on Georgia Thorne.
Georgia Thorne spent every day in terror, growing more afraid of what the future held.
Every time they were at the dinner table, she could feel the cold, calculating look in Hayley Sullivan's eyes.
Hayley Sullivan was furious, but she wasn't about to give up.
If force wouldn't work, she could try a softer approach.
Georgia Thorne had no appetite and was even thinner than Jared Thorne.
She couldn't stomach any food, but she didn't dare leave the table, so she just stared down at her bowl.
Hayley Sullivan put down her chopsticks. "Georgia, you'll be an adult soon. It's about time you found yourself a boyfriend."
Georgia Thorne's head snapped up, and she tightened her grip on her chopsticks. "But I still have school."
Her timid remark was met with a cold glare from Hayley Sullivan, and she immediately clamped her mouth shut.
A cold glint flashed in Hayley Sullivan's eyes. "A girl should find someone and get married while she's still young."
Georgia Thorne didn't dare to show the slightest resistance and lowered her head even further. Hayley Sullivan continued, "As for a prospect... Amanda, you know plenty of rich young men. Take Georgia out tomorrow and introduce her to some."
Amanda Thorne had her own circle of friends and wasn't happy about taking Georgia Thorne along. "Mom, my friends don't like scrawny bean sprouts."
"Watch your mouth. She's your sister," Hayley Sullivan chided lightly, and with that, the matter was settled.
Amanda Thorne muttered a reluctant "oh," dropped her chopsticks, and went upstairs.
Hayley Sullivan glanced at Georgia Thorne's schoolgirl outfit. "When you go out with Amanda tomorrow, don't wear that cheap stuff again. You make it look like the Thorne Family mistreats its own daughter."
With the business failing, everyone in the house was on edge.
Hayley Sullivan also stood up and went back to her room, leaving Georgia Thorne all alone.
'I don't want to go, but I can't fight back.'
Georgia Thorne sat there for a long time before finally getting up and returning to her room.
Just as she was about to push her door open, the door across the hall swung open. It was Amanda Thorne.
She was wearing a revealing nightgown and leaning against the doorframe.
Her disdainful gaze swept over Georgia Thorne's generic T-shirt and jeans. "I'm taking you somewhere high-end tomorrow. Don't dress so pathetically!"
With that, Amanda Thorne threw a dress at Georgia Thorne. "I really don't know what Mom was thinking, making me take you to meet men."
"I can't imagine how embarrassing tomorrow is going to be!" Amanda Thorne turned and went back into her room.
Georgia Thorne took the dress into her room and tossed it onto the sofa.
Late that night, she took out her phone and expertly dialed a number for what felt like the hundredth time.
And for what felt like the hundredth time, she heard the cold, automated voice tell her the number was no longer in service.
The call didn't connect. Tears streamed down her small face.
The number belonged to Justin Sullivan—Hayley Sullivan's younger brother, and by extension, Georgia's nominal uncle.
No one knew that ever since she first met Justin Sullivan at the age of thirteen, Georgia Thorne had been secretly in love with her uncle for six years.