Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

The host clapped. Then, Chloe Marshall took the microphone and said, ”I’m Chloe Marshall, and I’m back. The one person I can’t stop worrying about is my younger brother, Zeke Marshall. He left right after I was kidnapped and has been missing ever since. I hope he sees this interview and comes back soon. Zeke, I miss you. Please come home.”

The host looked at the camera. ”The photo you see on the big screen is of Zeke Marshall. If anyone has seen him, please tell him that his sister is back and ask him to return immediately.”

After she finished, she asked, ”Were you kept at sea the entire time?”

Chloe Marshall nodded. ”Yes. I don’t know how long it was, but they eventually went ashore and abandoned the ship. Then they tied me to a tree, hanging me upside down for an entire night. It was Lillian Bancroft who saved me...”

Perhaps out of gratitude for being saved, Chloe Marshall said very little about Lillian Bancroft. She didn’t mention a single word about his caregivers or any of his family’s secrets.

After the interview, Chloe Marshall got in the car, her spirits low. ”Boss Ellsworth,” she said, ”where on earth do you think Zeke could have gone?”

Ethan Ellsworth comforted her, ”If he sees the news, he’ll come back. If he doesn’t, we won’t give up looking for him. No matter where he’s gone, we will find him.”

The family of three had just returned to the Ellsworth Residence when Mrs. Ellsworth approached them, a worried look on her face. ”Chloe, a package just arrived. It says you must be the one to open it, or else you’ll be responsible for the consequences.”

Chloe Marshall asked hurriedly, ”Mom, where is it?”

”In the living room.”

Hurrying into the living room, Chloe Marshall strode forward, picked up the package from the table, and tore it open. Inside was a single sheet of paper.

It was handwritten, and she recognized the script instantly.

”This is Lillian Bancroft’s handwriting.” She read the note, and her face instantly turned pale. ”So, he’s had Zeke locked up this whole time.”

Ethan Ellsworth’s expression grew heavy. ”Most likely, when the news about you first came out in Harrowin, Zeke saw it and went looking for you. And then...”

Chloe Marshall looked at the last sentence, a pang of pain in her heart. ’It’s already come to this, so what is he still clinging to?’

It was obvious to anyone that the matter was common knowledge.

Only he stubbornly refused to believe it, holding on with such misguided persistence.

The paper fell from Chloe Marshall’s hand. Her body went limp, and Ethan Ellsworth caught her by the waist. ”Chloe, calm down.”

’I know what Lillian Bancroft is capable of,’ Chloe thought. ’He wanted me dead back then for revealing the truth. Now that my brother is in his hands, I’m afraid he won’t make it out alive.’

Her emotions surged, her heart leaping into her throat. ”Boss Ellsworth, I can’t calm down! I have to go to Harrowin and save him...”

”Of course we have to save him. But before we do anything, we must confirm that Zeke is actually there. Then we can figure out a plan. Otherwise, if we go rushing in blindly, we won’t just fail to save him, we’ll end up getting trapped there ourselves...”

Though Chloe was desperate to save her brother, she knew Ethan was right. ’She and Dorothy had only managed to escape the Imperial Palace out of sheer desperation, taking an enormous risk. The waterway they’d used would surely be heavily guarded by now.’

’Even if we confirm Zeke is inside, getting in would be next to impossible. And if he isn’t, and we charge in anyway... it would be a suicide mission...’

”So, when are we going?”

Ethan Ellsworth looked at her. ”You are to stay right here at home. I won’t allow you to take any more risks. I’ll handle this myself; I’ll take a few of Young Master Grant’s men with me. You and Dorothy are not to go anywhere. These are dangerous times, so don’t go out on the streets. If you absolutely have to, you must take our mom and Zoe with you, along with some of our staff.”

Chloe Marshall couldn’t help but worry. ”Boss Ellsworth, will you be safe?”

”I’ll be fine. Tonight, I’ll set up a meeting with a couple of the guys and hear their thoughts.”

After returning from the mountain, Herman Hawthorne had put on a pair of sunglasses. Even so, it was still obvious that his eye had been the victim of some ’violence’.

In the afternoon, he went to the university to teach his class.

As soon as he arrived at his office, a colleague noticed something was amiss.

”Professor Hawthorne, why are you wearing sunglasses indoors? Isn’t it hard to see?”

He gave a faint smile, sat down at his desk, and began to prepare for his lecture. ”Not at all. A guy’s gotta look cool every once in a while.”

A female professor at the neighboring desk chimed in, ”You’re already cool without even trying. Are you seeing anyone new, Professor Hawthorne?”

Herman Hawthorne didn’t look up. ”No.”

Hearing this, she pressed on, ”A prime catch like you, Professor Hawthorne... I bet you have women throwing themselves at you all the time.”

Herman Hawthorne’s gaze remained fixed on his textbook as he said impassively, ”I’ve never been a ’prime catch’.”

Then, he glanced at his watch, picked up his textbook, and stood up. ”I’m heading to class.”

He arrived at the classroom door.

He found the lecture hall packed with students, most of them female.

He walked to the lectern, textbook in hand, and the room was surprisingly quiet.

”My eyes are a little irritated, so please excuse the sunglasses.”

”Don’t worry about it!”

”Whatever you’re comfortable with, Professor.”

”You look even more handsome like this!”

”...”

He scanned the students in attendance, and suddenly, his gaze locked onto a figure in the very back row—a ’suspect’ wearing a hat, a face mask, and sunglasses.

’The culprit who beat me so badly I can barely stand here and teach actually has the audacity to show up at my lecture.’

A smile glinted in Herman Hawthorne’s eyes.

Hidden behind the sunglasses, no one else could see it.

”Alright, time for roll call. Yvette Zane.”

”Here.”

”Evan Flynn.”

”Here.”

”...”

After he had called out all the names on the list, there was still one person unaccounted for.

Herman Hawthorne didn’t call any more names, nor did he expose her.

He simply began his lecture.

”Today, we’re going to have a more open-ended discussion on the topic of men’s and women’s perspectives on love.” He glanced at his textbook, then looked forward and said, ”Men and women view love differently. Some say that for some men, love comes after sex, whereas for most women, love must come before sex. This is a fairly open topic with no single right answer. However, in my opinion, men have a powerful fixation on two things: their first time and their first love. If they don’t end up with the woman they love most deeply, they tend to hold on to the memory of those two ’firsts’...”

The students below stared wide-eyed at the lectern. It seemed their focus wasn’t on the topic of the lecture, but rather on the professor’s face.

Just as Herman Hawthorne finished that thought, a female student raised her hand.

”Yes, do you have a question about the topic?”

The student stood up. ”Professor, I was just wondering... did someone punch you in the eye? Because from the side, it looks like you have a massive bruise...”

Herman Hawthorne nodded. ”It is bruised, but I wasn’t punched. When I got home last night, my mischievous cat tripped me, and I fell and hit it on the ground...”