Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Mr. Grant sat up and put on his shoes. ”You can sleep here. I’ll go to the guest room.”

”Are you saying you want us to live in separate rooms?”

He turned his head. ”What do you think?”

With that, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Mrs. Grant was left sitting there alone in the strangely silent room.

Quentin Grant and Nora Ainsworth arrived at the upscale residential complex.

Once again, they stood before the familiar main gate.

Nora had never felt such a sense of nostalgia.

The time between her first arrival at this gate and her return today had been a long journey.

The gate opened slowly.

As soon as they entered, they saw all the Men in Black standing in formation. In a booming, unified voice, they shouted, ”Welcome back, Young Master, Young Madam, and young masters!”

The two boys’ eyes widened in excitement. Staring at the large crowd, they clapped their hands. ”Whoa! This is so grand!”

”If you boys like them,” Quentin Grant said proudly, ”they’ll be at your command from now on.”

Elmer Grant was ecstatic. He said to Dylan Grant, ”Big bro, our dad is so badass! We don’t even have to lift a finger; we’ve got a ready-made army.”

Dylan Grant was overjoyed. He waddled over on his chubby little legs and threw himself onto Quentin Grant. ”Daddy, Daddy, I love you, like a mouse loves rice!”

Quentin beamed, hoisting him up by his little bottom with both hands. ”Daddy loves you, too.”

Elmer, meanwhile, trotted over to the captain. He looked the man up and down and said, ”My daddy said that from now on, you all have to listen to my big brother and me. Are you going to listen or not?”

Faced with such an adorable child, the captain, of course, said he would.

Elmer clasped his little hands behind his back and said, putting on an air of importance, ”Alright then. Give this young master a smile.”

Instantly, all the men broke into wide grins, showing two rows of white teeth.

Elmer grunted in satisfaction, his chin held high. ”Not bad. I hope you’ll be just as quick when I have need of you in the future.”

Nora Ainsworth walked over and extended her hand. ”Captain, long time no see.”

The captain, flattered, quickly shook her hand. ”Young Madam, long time no see.”

Nora smiled. ”You don’t need to be so formal. Just be like you were before.”

The captain nodded.

Watching the family of four walk into the living room, the captain said with immense gratification, ”This is wonderful. The Young Master has finally found his happiness.”

Another Man in Black nodded in agreement. ”Yeah, he’s finally getting his happy ending. Did you see that smile on the Young Master’s face? It was absolutely radiant.”

”Oh yeah! And do you guys remember that time ages ago,” another Man in Black chimed in, ”when the Young Master stood on the third-floor balcony with a megaphone, shouting for our Young Madam?”

”Of course I remember,” the captain said with conviction. ”You could say I’ve witnessed everything between those two, from the very first time the Young Madam came here to this day.”

He finished, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. ”It really hasn’t been easy.”

”Captain, are you crying?”

”Are you sad?”

”What’s wrong, Captain?”

The barrage of questions made the captain snap. ”Who said I was sad? Huh? Step forward! Which one of you saw me crying because I’m sad? I’m happy! You get it? With the Young Madam back, they’re not in trouble, which means we should be celebrating! Because this way, the Young Master won’t take his frustrations out on us! You guys want to go back to doing push-ups and running until you cough up blood? Do you?! Huh?!”

”The captain is mighty!”

”The captain is wise!”

”We’ll all listen to the captain!”

”Let’s all cry together! Tears of joy!”

”...”

Nora made the bed for her two boys. Seeing they were still full of energy, she lay down beside them. ”Mommy will stay with you. Now, go to sleep.”

Dylan wrapped his arms around her waist, while Elmer held onto her hand.

”Mommy, to be honest, I was really, really angry tonight,” Dylan said with a frown.

”This is a matter for adults. You two are too little to handle it. Darlings, Mommy is very strong now. Trust that I can handle this.”

Elmer piped up, ”That woman is so hateful! She has the face of a mistress, but she does the work of a fourth, fifth, and sixth mistress! It’s disgusting!”

Nora soothed them. ”You’re still little. The world can be a vicious place. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

”But I just can’t stand seeing someone bully you!”

”Alright, alright. Your daddy is here, so no one will bully Mommy. It’s been a while since I gave you a brain teaser, hasn’t it? Come on, Mommy will give you one now.”

Nora began in a calm voice, ”There are three little pigs in a pigpen. One little pig eats a lot. The second little pig eats more than the first. The last little pig eats more than the other two. So, who eats the most?”

”Mommy ate the most!” Elmer blurted out.

Dylan smacked him on the head. ”You idiot. It’s such a simple question. I bet even a newborn baby would know the answer.”

Then, he gave his mother a speechless look. ”Mommy, are you doubting my intelligence? Obviously the last pig ate the most. You said so yourself—it ate more than the other two. Mommy, you’ve been asking me these kinds of boneheaded questions hundreds of times since I was one year old.”

Nora’s eyes darted about. She gave an awkward laugh and rubbed her nose, trying to hide her embarrassment. ”Is that so? But Elmer, what was that answer you just gave?”

Elmer said with a wide grin, ”Actually, Mommy, I did it on purpose. Hehe.”

”I really don’t have any stories for you guys,” Nora said, sitting up. ”Every time I try, Dylan calls me out on it. You two get some sleep. I’m going back to my room, or else your daddy will get grumpy.”

Dylan pulled the covers up. ”But I have to admit, Daddy was totally awesome tonight for once. You should hurry back, Mommy. Elmer and I need to sleep now.”

”Alright. Goodnight, sweethearts.” She stood up, turned off the light, and headed for the door.

Quentin, who had been standing outside the door listening the whole time, was already incredibly moved. When he heard her coming out, he quickly stepped back a few paces, feigning that he had just arrived.

Nora came out from inside. He was just about to speak when she put a finger to her lips. ”Shh. The kids are trying to sleep. Let’s go back to our room to talk.”

He nodded, and the two of them turned and went back to the bedroom.

It was the same bedroom as before.

Nora always found this place exceptionally comforting.

So familiar.

As he closed the door, he said, ”Nora, let’s get married.”

Without a second thought, Nora Ainsworth replied, ”Not right now.”

”Why?!” he roared, exasperated. ”Everything has fallen into place! The storm has passed! Why won’t you marry me?”

She looked at him, a charming smile playing on her lips. ”Look at you, getting so worked up. I just don’t think it’s the right time to get married. And while we can’t legally register the children without a marriage certificate, I’m sure you can find a way to get them registered under your name.”

He gently caressed her face with his fingers. ”I told you I’d respect your decision. In any case, married or not, you are my woman—Quentin Grant’s woman. No one else can even dream of laying a finger on you.”