Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”A sheep is a type of very pretty flower. I’m just saying you’re as pretty as one,” Zoe Ellsworth explained.

Alice’s eyes lit up in understanding as she nodded. ”Oh, so that’s what you meant. I love the compliment, thank you.”

Zoe Ellsworth smiled at her. ”You’re welcome.”

Everyone else was laughing their heads off internally, but Zoe Ellsworth continued, ”So how did you end up here with us?”

Alice pointed at Ethan Ellsworth. ”This gentleman saved me. I’m homeless, so I followed him here. I’ll do anything you ask.”

”You’ll really do *anything*?” A small smile played on Zoe Ellsworth’s lips.

Alice nodded earnestly.

”Hmph,” she scoffed. ”Easy for you to say. Who knows if you really mean it?”

Alice answered hurriedly, ”I do mean it.”

”Then tell me, what can you do?” Zoe Ellsworth pressed.

Alice thought for a moment, then blurted out, ”I can do anything a woman can do. Like cooking, laundry, cleaning, bearing children, and so on.”

Zoe Ellsworth was speechless. ”Don’t tell me you’re planning on marrying my brother?”

Alice glanced at Ethan Ellsworth, her expression a little crestfallen. ”It seems he already has someone he likes.”

”Even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t be your place to marry into my family. It’s not like all the women in Alveria have dropped dead.”

”I’ll really do anything, I’m willing to do anything,”

Zoe Ellsworth lifted her teacup and took a sip. ”You said you’re willing to do anything, right? Then go eat shit. Are you willing to do that?”

At this, Herman Hawthorne finally couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. Watching his darling wife make such an unreasonable scene, he surprisingly found it heartwarming, not the least bit off-putting.

The color drained from Alice’s face. ”Of course not,” she said resentfully.

Zoe Ellsworth huffed, ”Then don’t go around saying you’ll do anything. I’ve seen plenty of women like you. When you say you’re willing to do anything, you just mean you’re willing to do anything as long as it involves getting into bed, right?”

Alice never would have imagined that this woman, who looked even younger than her, could be so sharp-tongued and merciless.

She immediately said, ”I may be homeless, but I still have my dignity.”

Nora Ainsworth chimed in, ”You were stripped naked and nailed to a cross. You call that having dignity?”

Hearing this, Zoe Ellsworth burst into laughter. ”Stripped naked?”

Alice was rendered speechless and burst into tears of frustration.

Zoe Ellsworth looked at Ethan Ellsworth and switched to their local dialect. ”Brother, let me tell you about this woman. Find her a job, but make sure it’s not too close to you, and don’t you dare let her stay in our home. You can tell just by looking at her she’s no good. Put her wherever you want, I don’t care. You’re such a busybody. Don’t see her again.”

Ethan Ellsworth considered for a moment. ”Mm, I know.”

Zoe Ellsworth then turned to Chloe Marshall and instructed her directly, ”Chloe, from now on, if any woman with ulterior motives tries to get close to my brother, you beat the hell out of her. If you can’t win, come find me. Ever since I got married and became a wife, I can’t stand seeing any scheming bitch trying to stir up trouble!”

A smile touched Chloe Marshall’s lips. ”Alright. Since you’ve said so, Zoe, I’ll be sure to do exactly as you say.”

Ethan Ellsworth scoffed. ”So you two are a team now. How are Herman and I supposed to survive!”

”Brother, you guys were on the plane for hours, and it’s already after two. You should get some rest. The guest rooms are on the second floor.”

Herman Hawthorne stood up and put an arm around Zoe Ellsworth. ”Everyone, let’s go to sleep.”

The group went upstairs one by one. Quentin Grant randomly pushed open a door, pulled Nora Ainsworth inside, and slammed it shut.

Inside the room, he flicked on the lights, then hugged her and pushed her down onto the bed. Staring at her, he said, ”I can’t believe this is real.”

Nora Ainsworth bit her lip. ”Honestly, I don’t know how long we can last. But no matter how long, I’ll try my best to hold on. Even if you don’t want me anymore, I’ll have no regrets and no complaints. Maybe it’s selfish, but I’m just so afraid that one day I’ll never see you again.”

He reached out his hand. ”I just hope you won’t leave me again. Don’t just walk away so suddenly without looking back, like you did last time.”

”Quentin, tell me, if your mom forces you to leave me, what will you do?”

”Nora, I’ll make them accept you. I mean what I say. Even if they don’t accept you, I’ll still marry you.”

Nora Ainsworth shook her head. ”You still haven’t answered my question directly.”

”I will not leave you,” he said, looking at her as he spoke those five words.

Tears welled up in Nora Ainsworth’s eyes. ”Hearing you say that is enough. Even if we can’t be together for a lifetime, I will cherish every single second we have together now.”

Her courage wouldn’t last a lifetime.

She hoped time would slow down, so she wouldn’t have to face that brutal reality again.

His expression tightened. ”Are you thinking of leaving me again? Nora, are you hiding something from me?”

She opened her mouth, then shook her head. ”No. I’m just afraid that if something comes up in the future that we can’t overcome, it will put you in a difficult position. And the last thing I want is to see you at odds with your family because of me.”

Quentin Grant grabbed her hand, captured her lips, and bit down hard.

”Ah!” Nora Ainsworth cried out, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain. ”Why won’t you ever change this old habit of biting people!”

He looked at her seriously. ”Because I need to make you understand, at all times, that this is what you do to me. When I least expect it, you suddenly make me hurt for a while, suffocate for a while, feel hopeless for a while. Nora Ainsworth, I must have done something terrible to you in a past life to be so completely in your grasp in this one, with no way to escape.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears. ”You think I want to? I was only doing it for your own good.”

”For my own good? Did you get my permission? If something’s wrong, tell me, and we’ll solve it together. Don’t just keep it bottled up, okay? How are we supposed to face things together like this?”

Nora Ainsworth fell silent. ’This infertility... even if I told him, what could he do for me? How could we face it together? It would only make him suffer along with me.’

”Nora Ainsworth, before, I said I would never again grovel and beg for you, that I wouldn’t even give you a second glance. I was going to make you taste what it’s like to have your heart lashed. But, as it turns out, I just can’t be cruel to you. I really can’t do what I said I would. I managed to do it with Catherine Callahan, but with you, I fail every single time. It’s not because I’m not ruthless; it’s because I love you too much. This love is so heavy. I tried countless ways to drive you out of my heart, but nothing ever worked. Until a few days ago—”

He paused and sighed. ”If you had come back one day later, I might have drunk that potion I spent a fortune on. Once I drank it, you would have been completely kicked out of my mind. I still have that potion. The next time you treat me like this... what do you think I’ll do?”