Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Mrs. Ellsworth said coolly, ”What standing do you have? You messed around abroad instead of studying, then came back and dropped out of school. I’d thank my lucky stars if you just stayed out of trouble.”

”Your Majesty, your daughter bids you farewell.” She went upstairs to sleep.

’Her heart finally calmed. No more worries. She could finally get a peaceful night’s sleep.’

Ethan Ellsworth and Chloe Marshall entered the bedroom.

The moment the door closed, his kisses rained down on her. Chloe Marshall responded, but she was gradually becoming overwhelmed.

Her body went limp.

Ethan Ellsworth held her, and she hugged him back just as fiercely.

They stumbled through the room like a single entity, clinging tightly to one another before tumbling onto the bed.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, their expressions full of meaning.

”I’m sorry.”

She placed a finger on his lips. ”I don’t want to hear those two words, Boss Ellsworth. I never once resented you. All I know is that from the day I was taken until now, not a single day has passed that I haven’t thought of you, that I haven’t wanted to be with you. Now that my wish has been granted, I would die content.”

”You silly girl. We still have a happy life to live. We need to work on giving Dorothy a little brother or sister. Don’t talk about dying. Tomorrow, I’ll announce that you’re back. Then, we’ll start planning the wedding. I want to marry you honorably and bring you home, so everyone knows you are my, Ethan Ellsworth’s, wife.”

Chloe Marshall closed her eyes as two streams of tears rolled down her cheeks. ”I do.”

He leaned down and kissed her lips lightly. Their hearts drew close as their clothes fell away, piece by piece. The temperature inside soared while snow fell outside.

In Harrowin, however, all hell had broken loose.

The First Lady had run away with the princess, killing three handmaidens in the process.

This should have been a massive scandal. However, an order was issued: if even a whisper of tonight’s events leaked out, entire families would be executed.

Throughout the night, everyone in the Imperial Palace was on edge.

A torrential downpour raged without end.

「In a pavilion at the Imperial Palace.」

A dark silhouette was seated there.

There were no lights. He sat there alone, downing glass after glass of high-proof liquor.

The biting spirit scorched his throat.

When he learned that she had escaped with Dorothy, he had actually let out a sigh of relief, followed by a torrent of countless, indescribable emotions.

He had tried everything to keep her, but in the end, he was powerless.

’He didn’t dare to think about what he would say the first time he saw her again, should that day ever come.’

He was certain they would meet again one day.

And that day might come very soon.

”Attendant.”

”What are your orders, Supreme Leader?”

He opened his mouth to speak. ”Issue a press release immediately. The First Lady and the princess are going into a three-month seclusion to pray for the nation. They will not be seeing anyone. Cancel the press conference.”

”But, Supreme Leader, haven’t the First Lady and the princess already...”

He raised his glass, his gaze striking the subordinate’s heart like a cold blade. ”Do as I say. Also, have the Prime Minister come to the Imperial Palace tonight. I have a task for him.”

”Yes, sir!”

The sound of hurried footsteps faded into the distance. He gazed out into the night, in the direction of where she and Dorothy had once lived. Where a sweet voice once called out ”Daddy” again and again. Now, his ears would never hear it again.

Her face constantly appeared before him, but it was just a phantom of his imagination.

”Boss’s phone, Boss’s phone, Boss, pick up the phone...” The jarring ringtone woke Zoe Ellsworth from her sleep.

”Damn it, who is it?” she mumbled, answering the phone.

”It’s me. Come down. I need to talk to you.” It was her ex-husband’s voice.

Zoe Ellsworth’s eyes shot open, and she fumbled for the light switch with one hand.

”Is there something you can’t say over the phone? Or are you about to run out of credit? I can call you back...”

Before she could finish, the voice on the other end said, ”Then I’m coming up...”

”Don’t! I’ll... come down...”

After hanging up, Zoe Ellsworth threw off her covers, pulled on a pair of pants, threw on a coat, and went downstairs.

When she got to the living room, she made a point to look at the clock. It was already three in the morning.

She opened the living room door. The world outside was a bright white, and the snow was still falling.

He was standing there, dressed all in black.

”What is it?” Zoe Ellsworth strode toward him with her hands in her pockets.

”I wanted to see you alone.”

”Herman, you... really need to get some help...” She turned to leave.

”Zoe.” Herman Hawthorne grabbed her arm. ”I’m taking you somewhere.”

Before she could answer, he dragged her over and pushed her into the passenger seat.

He then got into the driver’s seat himself and drove away from the Ellsworth Residence.

The car headed toward the mountain road.

”Why are you going up the mountain?”

He glanced back at her and gave a one-word reply, ”Business.”

Zoe Ellsworth tensed. ”Busi... Busi... Business? We’re already divorced. If you’re looking for a woman, I can pay to find one for you.”

He actually smiled.

Zoe Ellsworth laughed dryly. ”Well, well. It’s been a few days, and your skin has gotten a lot thicker. How many layers of plaster did you use?”

Herman Hawthorne answered with ease, ”Not that many. Only a hundred or two.”

Zoe Ellsworth pulled her coat tighter and opened the car window, letting a blast of cold air rush in. ”You’ll catch a cold. Close the window,” he said.

”It’s a little stuffy. The cold air will help me clear my head.”

He glanced at her. ”With a constitution like yours, you’ll destroy your own health sooner or later. You don’t take care of yourself at all.”

She snorted. ”Don’t worry about me. Just worry about yourself. Spending all your time at The Siren’s Call looking for girls... how can your body handle that?”

He suddenly laughed.

”I haven’t touched a single one.”

Zoe Ellsworth leaned back against her seat. ”Who knows if you have or not.”

He didn’t explain further, simply driving steadily as the car sped onward.

The car soon stopped halfway up the mountain.

Standing in this spot, Zoe Ellsworth’s initial resistance gradually began to fade.

This place was all too familiar to her.

She used to come here often for summer camp, or in the spring and autumn to watch the sunrise.

Many times, she had come with her brother, Young Master Grant, Jean, and Herman. They used to come here together as a group.

But as they got older, before she went abroad, she and Herman Hawthorne had come here alone two or three times.

It had been a long time.

This was her first time coming here in the winter.

Few people came in the winter. For one, the weather made it hard to guarantee you’d even see a sunrise. For another, it was simply too cold. And absolutely no one would come in the dead of night like this.

After they got out of the car, he shouldered a bag and held a lamp.

”Let’s go up.”

”There’s snow everywhere, ex-husband. Can you even see the path?”