Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”I’m not planning on getting married.”

”Why not?”

Chloe Marshall smiled faintly, revealing two shallow dimples. ”Because I want to marry the person I love, but... I’ll never be able to marry him.”

”Who’s so amazing? Come on, tell me. I’m dying to know.”

Chloe Marshall shook her head. ”Alright, Boss Ellsworth, you should go get some sleep. I really need to sleep now.”

”Don’t change the subject. Hurry up and tell me!”

”I don’t want to. I really need to sleep.”

She took off her jacket, lifted the covers, and lay down on the bed, closing her eyes to show she was serious about sleeping.

Seeing this, Ethan Ellsworth had no choice but to leave and close the door behind him.

Hearing the door click shut, Chloe Marshall opened her eyes, a look of bleak disappointment on her face.

***

”Tell me, why do women have to get periods? It’s so uncomfortable and painful.” In the middle of the night, Leon Lynch, who had already been asleep, suddenly knocked on Nora Ainsworth’s door again to lament this fact.

Nora Ainsworth sat on the edge of her bed in her pajamas. ”I’ve been asleep for two hours, and you knocked on my door just to tell me this? You really have the face of Mr. Perfect but the heart of a dork. You’d make the perfect male bestie, though. You’ve even done in-depth research on how uncomfortable it is for women on their period.”

Leon Lynch shook his head. ”Nora, women have it too tough. When their period comes, it’s just... it’s so painful!”

Nora Ainsworth was completely baffled. ”I have to ask, how do you know it’s so painful and miserable? It’s not like you get one.”

Leon Lynch fell silent. After a long moment, he finally stammered, ”I just saw how much you were suffering. Thank god I’m a man and don’t have to experience that.”

”You should get reincarnated as a woman in your next life, then you’ll get to experience this feeling for yourself. Mmm, that would be great. But still, don’t you think it’s a little out of character for a grown man like you to be talking to me about this?”

Leon Lynch stood up, his expression utterly mortified. He felt he had just made a huge fool of himself in front of Nora Ainsworth.

”Leon! Hey, hey, hey, let’s keep discussing it!”

Leon Lynch walked away even faster. Soon, she heard the sound of the door to the opposite room closing.

Nora Ainsworth doubled over with laughter, almost laughing until she cried.

She never would have imagined that Leon Lynch, a graduate from a prestigious university, would actually be curious about something like this.

’If word of this got out, what a huge joke that would be. Does this count as having something on him?’

At that thought, Nora Ainsworth felt even more delighted.

She slept until the sun was high in the sky. Just as Nora Ainsworth was about to move, a gushing sensation from below made her quickly open her drawer and swallow two pills to stop the bleeding.

Only then did she get out of bed and go to the bathroom.

When she pulled down her pants, the entire small diaper she was using as a pad was completely soaked through. The dazzling red made her already pale face even whiter. She had already lost a lot of blood, and seeing this, Nora Ainsworth’s mood suddenly plummeted.

She gently peeled off the diaper, threw it in the trash, replaced the sanitary napkin on her underwear, and finally placed a new diaper over the napkin before pulling up her pants.

After washing up, she got dressed and went out.

Leon Lynch was standing in the hallway, holding a carton of milk, two eggs, and a piece of cake.

”Breakfast. Eat on the way. Nora, why is your face so pale?”

Seeing that he had moved past last night’s embarrassing moment, Nora Ainsworth decided not to poke at his sore spot. ”I’m in a bad mood,” she said simply.

He nodded. ”I get it.”

Nora Ainsworth took a sip of milk and asked, ”What do you get?”

”Women are always in a bad mood when they’re on their period. How about this, Nora, let me tell you a joke.”

Nora Ainsworth reached out and pressed the elevator button, then stepped inside. ”You know how to tell jokes?”

Leon Lynch pressed the floor button and scoffed. ”You underestimate me. I’m a master joke-teller.”

”Then go ahead. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

”Let me think. I’ve seen a lot of jokes online before, I need a second.” He pondered.

Then he suddenly said, ”Two women at a party are talking about their blind dating experiences. One woman asks, ’I heard you went on a date with a super-rich businessman last time. With your looks, you couldn’t even land him?’ The other woman shakes her head. ’It wasn’t my fault. It’s because he was so ugly I couldn’t open my legs.’”

Nora Ainsworth burst out laughing. ”Anymore?”

Leon Lynch chuckled. ”Of course!”

Seeing her laugh so happily, he instantly felt that his hard work of reading countless jokes all night was worth it, just to see her smile.

”There was a man who kept hearing gossip from his neighbors about his wife cheating on him. He decided to find out for sure. One day, he told his wife he was going on a business trip and would be back in ten-odd days. But that very night, he secretly snuck back to a spot not far from his house and saw more than ten men standing at his door. Confused, he tried to climb the wall to get in, but he got yanked down.”

Nora Ainsworth immediately asked, ”Why? It’s his own house, why would he get pulled down?”

”Because the man who pulled him down said, ’Trying to cut in line? It’s not even my turn yet! What makes you think you can go? Get to the back of the line!’”

Nora Ainsworth’s mouth split into a wide grin. ”That guy was probably furious, right?”

Leon Lynch nodded. ”It’s just a joke.”

The elevator doors opened, and the two of them wiped the smiles from their faces, their expressions becoming mild and harmless.

Two or three reporters swarmed them.

”Young Master Lynch, could you please confirm if last night’s reports were true?”

Leon Lynch beamed. ”What report?”

”The news about you and Nora Ainsworth having a child.”

”Oh, that. Let me clarify here, that’s not true. So, please don’t speculate wildly. I’ll make an announcement when there’s good news to share.”

If the first half of that statement was a clarification, the second half was adding fuel to the fire.

Nora Ainsworth’s mouth twitched. She walked straight past the reporters and headed forward.

Leon Lynch smiled, waved at the reporters, and hurried after her.

”Are you angry?”

”No!”

”You’re definitely angry.”

”I am not!”

Nora Ainsworth huffed, ”Leon Lynch, I’m telling you, if you don’t want me telling everyone in public about you and ’that thing,’ then you’d better watch what you say.”

Leon Lynch, however, was unfazed. ”Go ahead and tell them. I’m not afraid of embarrassment. Besides, if I’m embarrassed, you’ll be embarrassed too. Everyone knows you’re my fiancée.”

”You—”

Just as the word left her lips, Nora Ainsworth froze.

Standing at the hotel entrance was a man in a suit under a black overcoat. As for who it was, only Quentin Grant could pull off that look with such flair.

He wore sunglasses, and a scornful smile hung on his lips.

Leon Lynch recognized him too and sneered, ”President Grant, long time no see.”

Quentin Grant snorted. ”Even if we never saw each other again for the rest of our lives, it would be fine by me.”

Leon Lynch didn’t say any more and took Nora Ainsworth’s hand. ”We’re going to be late.”

The two of them walked past Quentin Grant. Only after they were a good distance away did Quentin turn his head. Staring at their rapidly shrinking figures, God only knew how much painful restraint he had just been forced to endure.