Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”I came back just to ask you something, Mrs. Grant.” He struggled to contain his rage. ”What gives you the right to blacklist Nora Ainsworth nationwide?”

Mrs. Grant sat across from him and said resentfully, ”Because she pesters my son relentlessly and shows me no respect. That’s why I’m doing this to her. For the rest of her life, she can forget about making any waves in the entertainment industry here!”

”No, you’re wrong. I’m the one pestering relentlessly, not her. And respect you? For what? What have you ever done to earn anyone’s respect?”

Catherine Callahan couldn’t stand it any longer. ”Quentin,” she interjected, ”no matter what, she’s still your mother. Is she less important than some woman?”

Quentin Grant’s icy gaze fell upon her. ”I’ll let you prance around my house for a couple more days. Don’t think that just because I’m ignoring you now, I’m going to let you give birth to that bastard. I know for a fact you won’t be able to.”

A pang shot through Catherine Callahan’s heart. ”Quentin, this is your child. How can you bear to prevent him from even coming into this world?”

He stood up. ”You two just keep stirring up trouble. I want to see who comes out on top in the end. Mrs. Grant, your actions will guarantee you a miserable end. Conspiring with a woman who isn’t even your own flesh and blood to sabotage your son... ’low’ doesn’t even begin to describe your intelligence.”

He left, every word striking a chord deep within Mrs. Grant.

’She knew, of course, that nothing was more important than her son. But she felt she was doing this for his own good. He would understand one day. Sometimes stubbornness leads you down the wrong path, inevitably resulting in a sudden, unexpected failure.’

’Did I do something wrong?’ She never believed she was truly wrong.

Perhaps she didn’t realize it yet, but she was straying further and further down this path.

Quentin Grant sat back in his car, his temples throbbing painfully. He leaned against the seat, closed his eyes, and a single tear escaped from the corner of his eye.

His heart was aching. He had always been afraid of this feeling.

But he was still powerless to stop it.

’Losing her is destined to be my loss.’

That evening, Quentin Grant went to Tempting Lips.

Herman Hawthorne and Ethan Ellsworth had been waiting for a long time.

The three of them hadn’t been to this old haunt in quite a while.

Quentin Grant sat on the sofa and propped his legs up on the coffee table.

He laced his fingers together.

Herman Hawthorne took a sip of red wine. ”You two are both in the same boat. How about I fund an overseas trip for the pair of you?”

Ethan Ellsworth grunted. ”Two grown men like us going on a trip? Don’t you think people would start gossiping? You’d be handing the gossip rags a real story.”

Herman Hawthorne laughed. ”The gossip is a small matter, but it would damage your reputations. The internet is a cesspool. Haven’t you seen that popular new actress who just debuted? People are either saying she had plastic surgery or that she’s a diva. With all the negative press, the public can’t even tell what’s true or false anymore. For figures like you two, don’t you think netizens would assume you’re actually a couple? A lot of them love to stir the pot. A headline might even pop up: ’Grant Group’s Leader and Hawthorne Corporation’s Heir in a Power Couple Merger—They’re Together!’”

Ethan Ellsworth couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ”It used to be you and me they gossiped about. Now that you’re married, it’s switched to the two of us? Can we even hang out in peace anymore?!”

Quentin Grant said lazily, ”Being linked to me in the news is a blessing you’ve accumulated over many years. What’s there to complain about?”

Ethan Ellsworth rolled his eyes. ”Right. And who is our Young Master Grant? A man so charming that people love him, flowers bloom for him, and car tires burst in his presence.”

”If only that were true. At least then, Nora wouldn’t have left me.” He drained the red wine in his glass.

Herman Hawthorne refilled both their glasses and said comfortingly, ”If she leaves, can’t you just drag her back? Isn’t that what you’ve always done?”

”If it were me, I’d keep her by my side even if I had to die for it,” said Ethan Ellsworth.

A bitter smile spread across Quentin Grant’s lips. ”I’m the one who wronged her. What right do I have?”

Herman Hawthorne’s expression turned cold. ”Catherine went too far with this. Quentin, I don’t think you need to be lenient with her at all. At first, I thought she was making some grand sacrifice, but later, one thing after another has shown that she’s completely lost her mind.”

”Young Master Grant, what are you going to do? Are you going to let her have the baby?” Ethan Ellsworth asked.

”You think she has what it takes to actually give birth?” Quentin Grant snorted. ”What I’m going to do will be something she’ll never forget for the rest of her life. Let her be pregnant for now. Let her enjoy her moment of triumph. The longer it goes on, the better the taste of falling into hell will be.”

Ethan Ellsworth’s eyes widened. ”You’re planning to—”

Herman Hawthorne nodded. ”Eradicate the problem at its root to prevent future trouble. Now really isn’t the right time, you know? The way to torture someone isn’t to put a bullet in their head, but to let them die slowly. It might be cruel to her, but right now, I actually think she deserves it.”

Quentin Grant swirled the red wine in his glass and said slowly, ”There’s plenty of time. What’s the rush? As long as I want to, I will get back everything that is owed to Nora, piece by piece. My godfather said he was coming back last year, but he still hasn’t. We’ll just wait for him. If it’s his child, he can take it away and never come back. If it’s not his child... then there’s nothing to be done.”

Ethan Ellsworth snorted. ”You really are in a tough spot. Just like me. A tough spot.”

Quentin Grant looked at him. ”You, you’re definitely in a tougher one. Young Master Ellsworth, my family has wronged you.”

”What’s the use of saying that now? My work is about to get busy again. TV series, movies, a new album, and the Harrowin concert in August.”

”Maybe being busy will help you temporarily forget the one you can’t forget. Keep working hard.”

”You too,” Ethan Ellsworth replied.

Herman Hawthorne was taken aback. ”What am I supposed to be working hard on?”

”What do you think? I’m still waiting to be an uncle.”

Herman Hawthorne chuckled. ”We’ll let nature take its course with the whole kid thing.”

”You’re an idiot!” Quentin Grant spoke up.

Herman Hawthorne looked up at the ceiling. ”What did I do now?”

”You’re already married, and Zoe is so young. If you have a kid now, you can travel with your wife later. Your kid will be getting married while you two are still young. If you wait until Zoe is thirty to have kids, you’ll be in your late thirties, almost forty, when you become a dad. Are you trying to have a child in your old age?”

Herman Hawthorne retorted, ”Lots of people in the entertainment industry and wealthy circles do it this way. What’s the big deal?”

”Then just you wait until your mom and your mother-in-law lock you and Zoe in a room together. Or maybe they’ll drug you both. It’ll be hard *not* to have a kid then.”

Herman Hawthorne sighed, helpless. ”That is also a problem. But truth be told, deep down, I don’t want kids right now.”

The other two were at a loss. ”That’s a problem for you to discuss with your wife.”

The three of them continued to chat idly, and all of them drank quite a bit.

It was the sixth day of the eighth month.

For the past few months, with each passing day, Chloe Marshall had been counting in her head. Day after day went by, and amazingly, she hadn’t miscounted once.

She had been pregnant for a full 235 days, more than eight months. In about another month, she would give birth.

Her belly was huge, making it very inconvenient to go up and down the cellar stairs.

But every night, Silly would still take her out for a walk. No one had come looking for them here recently, but the two still didn’t dare to move out.

A few days ago, Silly had tried every way he could think of to get the handcuffs off her. He was afraid she would fall.

He finally got them off last night.

After wearing handcuffs for so long, her wrists felt unnervingly light now that they were free.

But this discomfort was much better than what she’d felt before.

He brought her some new clothes that the nanny hadn’t worn. This marked the first time Chloe Marshall had changed her clothes in over eight months.

The top was fine, but the pants were a problem. In the end, Silly took out a pair of scissors and cut them open for her.

Then he brought out one of the nanny’s skirts for her to wear.

The pajamas she’d been wearing were thrown aside, completely unrecognizable.

The two of them came out of the cellar. Chloe Marshall went to the riverbank, washed her face thoroughly, and then her hair. Looking down at her reflection in the water, she could barely recognize herself.

’Is this still me?’

Chloe Marshall’s expression was complicated, but she gave Silly a smile.

”Are we leaving here today?”

”The baby’s comin’ soon. I can’t let you and the baby stay cooped up in here. Besides, I’ve got somethin’ big to do.”

Silly took her hand. ”Wife, one day I’ll give you a good life. Believe me.”

Chloe Marshall looked at him, a thousand unspoken words in her heart.

Thinking his ”big thing to do” must really be a big deal, she nodded. ”Okay, I believe you.”

As the words left her lips, Chloe Marshall chuckled to herself. After living with him for so long, she had even started picking up his country way of speaking.

The two of them walked along the small path, their figures gradually receding into the distance.

After passing through the woods, Chloe Marshall couldn’t help but look back. This familiar place, this godforsaken patch of nowhere... she was finally leaving it.

’Perhaps I’ll never come back here again for the rest of my life.’

’Life here was hard, but at least I was alive.’

By the time they were partway there, her soaking hair had dried. He carefully gathered it with his fingers and tied it up with the hair tie she’d had on her head.

Her forehead and facial features were completely revealed to him.

Silly smiled faintly. ”So pretty.”

Chloe Marshall pouted. ”You said that the first time we met. I guessed you’d never seen a woman before, and I was right.”

”You really are pretty. I’m serious.”

”I know, I know. When you’ve seen more of the world, you’ll understand. There are so many beautiful women out there, way prettier than me. I’m serious. My looks are just average, the kind you’d lose in a crowd.”

But he shook his head. ”No matter how beautiful they are, they’re not as beautiful as you. You’re all I see.”

His words sounded so full of deep affection.

”Oh, right. I keep forgetting to ask you. The longer I’m around you, the more I realize your standard Fravian is very good. It seems like you could speak it from the beginning, couldn’t you? Who taught you?”

”The nanny taught me some. Didn’t you see? When the nanny was alive, she always spoke to you in your country’s language. Besides, after being with you for so long, I’ve learned a lot, too.”

Chloe Marshall laughed. ”But I can’t speak a single word of the local dialect here.”