Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”We really like it, thank you. We’re a low-key couple, I hope you understand.”

The saleswoman covered her mouth with a smile. ”I can tell. You two are incredibly low-key. Well, the payment has been made in full, so I’ll be on my way. If you need to buy furniture, there’s a furniture store not far from here where you can go pick some things out.”

”Thank you.”

Silly nodded. ”We need to go buy furniture. There’s a lot to do, so you don’t have to come. I’ll bring you a stool; you can just sit here and wait for me. I’ll go to the furniture store to pick things out. What style do you like?”

”You can pick it out yourself. As long as it’s comfortable, it’ll be fine.”

Silly nodded, went to the sales office to bring a chair up, and then went to pick out furniture.

Chloe Marshall was truly exhausted.

Sitting there, she didn’t want to get up.

She looked down at her large, round belly, feeling the strain.

Her feet were already swollen from walking so much.

Thinking about what had just happened, Chloe Marshall calmed down.

’How could I appear before him like this?’

’Let alone the fact that I can’t get close to him right now, how could I possibly leave Silly at a time like this?’

Chloe Marshall sat there, lost in thought.

After a while, she stood up, grabbed a broom, and started sweeping up the construction debris left in the room.

An hour later, the furniture company arrived. What was once an empty three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was instantly transformed into a warm and cozy home.

Seeing all the baby furniture, she went over. ”Did you buy this for the baby?”

He nodded. ”A nursery for the baby. Once the furniture is set up, we’ll need to buy household supplies, plus food and drinks. We can’t be short on anything.”

Once the furniture was in place, she sat on the bedroom bed, not wanting to move an inch.

Silly, on the other hand, seemed to have endless energy. He bought a four-piece bedding set and made the bed. When he saw that she had fallen asleep, he gently covered her with the blanket.

He even took it upon himself to buy and hang up dozens of new outfits for her in the closet.

The walk-in closet was now full to the brim.

Finally, he took a shower, put on a fresh set of clothes, and his flawless face was completely revealed.

After putting on a mask and a hat, he went downstairs in a suit to buy groceries from the market.

He then returned, put on an apron, and started cooking. He had always been the one to cook back when they were in the cellar.

The sky gradually darkened.

He prepared a table full of food and had even bought a bottle of red wine.

Then he went to wake Chloe Marshall for dinner.

”Honey, it’s time to get up and eat.”

”Mmm, okay.” She slowly sat up, then froze. Staring at him, her mouth fell open in disbelief.

”You... why did you wash your face? Didn’t your nanny tell you not to—”

Silly helped her up. ”Seeing how obsessed you are with handsome men, I figured I had no other choice.”

Chloe Marshall’s heart sank a little. She wanted to tell him it wasn’t about his face.

”But... won’t this put you in terrible danger?”

He shook his head. ”It’s fine. Do you want to take a shower and change into clean clothes first?”

”Okay.” She pulled her hand from his. ”I can wash up on my own.”

”Okay, I’ll get you some clothes.”

She slowly walked towards the bathroom.

She turned on the hot and cold taps, adjusting the temperature until it was perfectly warm.

She took the shopping bag he brought her, didn’t think much of it, and closed the bathroom door.

She slowly slipped out of her skirt and top, letting them fall to the floor.

Sitting on the edge of the tub, she lifted both her legs and placed them inside.

Using shampoo after so long, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

After her shower, she dried herself off.

When she took the clothes out of the bag, she realized it was a complete set, from underwear to outerwear.

It was a little embarrassing, but Chloe Marshall put everything on. She had to admit, everything from the underwear to the dress fit her perfectly.

The dress was a one-piece with a loose-fitting bottom—a maternity dress.

She dried her hair, combed it out, and let it fall over her shoulders before finally stepping out of the bathroom.

Seeing her come out, Silly’s face lit up with a huge smile. ”It looks beautiful on you.”

Chloe Marshall felt a little self-conscious. ”How did you manage to buy clothes that fit so perfectly?”

He helped her over to the dining table.

His smile never faltered. ”I could tell just by looking.”

”Are your eyes made of measuring tape? How were you so accurate?”

He smiled but didn’t answer.

In reality, he had used his hands to size her up while she was fast asleep.

’To Chloe Marshall, it felt like a classic underdog story—he’d gone from zero to hero in an instant, a complete transformation into a tall, rich, handsome stud.’

”Where did you get all this money?”

He handed her a pair of chopsticks. ”The card was always mine. My nanny was just holding onto it. Hiding out there these past few years, we lived in poverty, so there was no way to spend money anyway.”

”Haven’t you been on the run for over a decade? You only went there a few years ago?”

”Yeah. I was somewhere else before. I never thought they’d find me there, too.” Silly spoke with complete honesty, holding nothing back.

”Are you...” Chloe Marshall paused. ”Are you the Crown Prince of this country?”

Silly froze for a moment, then smiled. ”A good guess. But while I was sent away as a child, the title of Crown Prince... is not mine.”

”Then whose is it? A half-brother from another mother?” ’This is no different from the ancient Royal Family’s dramas,’ Chloe Marshall thought. ’So cliché.’

But to her surprise, he shook his head. ”No. It’s my full-blooded younger brother.”

Chloe Marshall’s eyes lit up. ”Your biological brother?”

He nodded. ”I’ve kept this buried in my heart for over a decade and have never told a soul. Do you want to know? If you do, I’ll tell you. But you must be the only one who knows. You can’t tell anyone else. This is a serious matter. If word gets out, it’s punishable by death.”

Chloe Marshall flinched, but she still wanted to know. ’I have to know the whole story to understand the bigger picture,’ she thought.

”Tell me,” she said. ”I promise I won’t tell another soul. I keep my word. If you tell me not to say anything, I’ll take the secret to my grave.”

He took her hand. ”I trust you. Because you’re my wife.”

Chloe Marshall chuckled. ”What happened to your country accent?”

He pouted. ”You mean that folksy way of saying ’I’? My nanny made me say it. It wasn’t part of any dialect I grew up with.”

”You should stop using it, then. You switch back and forth between that and the normal ’I’, and it sounds strange.”

”Okay.”

”So, what’s your real name?” ’Silly couldn’t possibly be his actual name,’ Chloe Marshall thought.

”Lillian Bancroft.”

Chloe Marshall shuddered violently.

’A member of the Bancroft Clan!’

As far as she knew, while people with the surname Bancroft could be found far and wide, in Harrowin, Bancroft was the royal surname. Aside from the Royal Family itself, no one in Harrowin had that name—unless they had been stricken from the royal genealogy.

”Lillian Bancroft?” she asked, her heart pounding with anxiety. ”That name is so long. I think I’ll just keep calling you Silly.”

”Suit yourself. I don’t like the name anyway.”

’Chloe Marshall was speechless, wanting to ask the heavens what she was supposed to do. She didn’t dare to casually call him ’Lillian Bancroft’ every time she addressed him. She’d seen the news reports before.’

When it came to the Royal Family of the Bancroft Clan in Harrowin, even the president of Fravia couldn’t address them by their given names. You had to add ’Sir’ or ’Mister’ after their name.

In a country with a hierarchy as strict as Harrowin’s, it was an act of extreme disrespect.

Let alone someone like her.