Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”Go on.”

He began to speak slowly. ”Jonathan Bancroft and I are full-blooded brothers. I’m two years older than him, but my father never announced my birth to the nation. This is all what my nanny told me. For some reason, I grew up in the Imperial Palace without anyone paying me any mind. That is, until my younger brother was born. My father held a grand celebration, and news outlets all over the world reported it. He was then successfully named Crown Prince. We rarely interacted. My nanny said we look very much alike. I was seven when my nanny helped me escape from the Imperial Palace. My own mother had personally ordered the three of us to be poisoned, so my nanny took me and ran.”

Upon hearing this, Chloe Marshall’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. ”Are you sure that was your real mother?”

”Yes.”

”That’s despicable! How can there be such a vicious woman in the world? You’re her own son! It’s one thing not to give you official recognition, but to actually try and kill you? Why wait until you were seven? Why not before?”

He replied coldly, ”I don’t know the answer to that either. I’ve been on the run all these years, and I’ve made a lot of preparations to ensure I can go back.”

”She tried to kill you, and you still want to go back? Isn’t that a death wish?”

His coldness subsided, and he smiled at her. ”You don’t understand. A person must first have great power to be able to protect the people they want to protect. Besides, I don’t want to spend my whole life hiding. That’s not my style.”

Chloe Marshall nodded. ”You have to find out why she would do that to you, what the reason is. I can hardly believe what you’re saying. If it were me, I could never bring myself to do it.”

”That’s why, my wife, I longed for a warm home. You’ve given me one, and you’ve given me a child. I’m truly happy now.”

Chloe Marshall grew uncomfortable again. ”I don’t think you’re silly at all. Not only are you not silly, you’re very smart. For someone as smart as you, why must you—”

He reached out, picked up some food with his chopsticks, and brought it to her lips, cutting her off. ”Hurry up and eat, it’s getting cold. After we’re done, I’ll take you to the stadium. That celebrity you were so desperate to see is having a concert tonight. I heard he’s leaving Harrowin tomorrow. Since you like him so much, how could I not grant your wish?”

The sparkle in Chloe Marshall’s eyes vanished without a trace.

’I know I can only watch from a distance. I can’t get close to him.’

’Silly won’t let me leave.’

She was very clear on this point.

But she still had to go.

’This chance to see him was hard-won, a rare opportunity.’

”Okay, hurry up and eat.”

After they finished their meal, they both put on hats and masks. He warned her repeatedly, ”You’re not allowed to take off your mask. Promise me.”

”Okay.”

They walked to the stadium together and bought tickets.

It was completely packed inside.

They stood at the very back. From such a great distance, he, shining like a star on stage, was a bit of a blur.

But this was enough.

’I never thought that being by his side every day would become such a luxury now.’

Cheers and the sound of his singing from the stage filled Chloe Marshall’s ears.

’So familiar, yet so far away.’

After watching for a while, the man on stage held the microphone and suddenly said, ”There’s one last song, and then tonight’s concert will be over.”

The fans screamed, not wanting it to end.

He continued, ”This next song is one I composed recently. You might have heard about it. Quentin Grant and I are very good friends—he wrote the lyrics, and I composed the music. The title is ’Is There Anyone Who Loves You Like I Do’!”

The music began, the melody gradually unfolding.

He was dressed all in black, leaning against a piano with an earpiece in, holding the microphone. He closed his eyes and began to sing softly:

A joke can’t take a jest

You and I couldn’t pass the test

All the heart I gave

Vanished in an instant

Losing this love

I accept this irreversible loss

I never thought

We would fall apart

How I wanted

To dote on you

To love you with all my heart

If only you wouldn’t say we’re through

We loved for so long

For tragedy to be our end

We’ve reached the finish line

It’s too late to turn back again

The song went on, and behind her mask, Chloe Marshall’s face was already streaked with tears.

Lillian Bancroft, standing beside her, had already heard her soft sobs.

He watched the extraordinary man on stage, unable to relax in the slightest.

With her eyes blurry with tears, Chloe Marshall clenched her fists, her gaze fixed forward.

When the last note of the song faded, he bowed to the crowd, said a few more words, and left.

His figure slowly faded until it completely disappeared from her sight.

She finally lost control and burst into tears.

Lillian Bancroft supported her. ”Let’s go.”

She nodded, and he took her hand, leading her out of the stadium’s main entrance.

The two of them were walking down the street when Ethan Ellsworth’s van pulled out. He happened to glance behind him and thought he saw a familiar figure. But when he saw she was heavily pregnant and being supported by a man who looked like her husband, he turned his head and looked away.

Sometimes, a missed connection happens in the blink of an eye.

「While Chloe Marshall was over eight months pregnant, Nora Ainsworth was now four months along.」

At first, she thought her period was just irregular, but after two or three months passed, she had to suspect otherwise.

She went to the hospital, where the doctor gave her a test and confirmed that she was pregnant.

Faced with this sudden news, Nora Ainsworth was both happy and a little sad.

She was happy because this child was a hard-won blessing, but sad because it had come at the worst possible time.

Despite her many worries, her joy was clearly greater.

She had been working as a background actor in Harrowin. Even though she had been a leading actress in Fravia, she had left her home country and had to start over from scratch, a complete nobody.

After working as an extra for two or three months, she found out she was pregnant.

Nora Ainsworth immediately quit all her work to focus on her pregnancy and rest in her rented apartment.

Whenever she thought of Chloe and Zeke, her heart would ache, and she would cry her eyes out. After crying, she would buy lots of food she craved and eat to her heart’s content.

Sometimes, she would cry while she ate.

This had been her life for some time now.

She also kept up with the news from Fravia and knew about the Grant Family’s situation, but she mostly remained silent.

The only person she kept in contact with was probably Leon Lynch.

However, he didn’t know she was pregnant.

Every time he offered to visit her, she turned him down.

’I don’t want anyone to see me like this.’

The neighborhood where she rented was not very nice. The people who lived there were all laborers working nearby.

Every evening, it was filled with all kinds of sounds and was very noisy.

Nora Ainsworth lived on the third floor. Luckily, if she closed the balcony door, the dark, damp room could block out a lot of the noise.

It was a rare moment of peace.

She had just dozed off for a bit when the doorbell woke her. She had been living here for a while, and no one had ever come to visit. She wasn’t used to having a sudden visitor.

Nora Ainsworth got up, still in her nightgown, and opened the door.

She was immediately met with a pair of deep, dark eyes.

Nora Ainsworth took a step back. ’How did he find me?’