Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Leon Lynch had never imagined he would be treated in such a ’shameful and cruel’ manner...

But just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard Holly Wood’s mother coming in. ”What are you still dawdling for? Do you know what time it is?”

Holly Wood was so nervous she could barely speak. ”I know, Mom.”

She didn’t dare tell her mother that she had lost her job.

At the very least, she had to wait until Leon Lynch was gone.

Thankfully, Holly’s mother left right after she spoke.

Holly Wood finally let out a breath of relief, but in the next instant, her entire body went rigid.

Because there was warm breath on her......

Her face instantly flushed an impossible shade of red.

She flung off the covers and met Leon Lynch’s eyes.

His expression was grim.

”S-Sorry! I... I...”

Leon Lynch pushed himself up into a sitting position.

”You really are bold.” He slowly uttered the four words.

Holly Wood said nothing, head bowed, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into and disappear. She was so embarrassed she could have died.

”But...” he said, ”are you still a virgin?”

Her head snapped up in surprise. ”How did you know?”

”I could just tell.” He actually smiled. ”Don’t be nervous. If anything, I was the one who took advantage of you.”

Hearing him say that, she actually managed a small laugh. ”I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I’m honestly so ashamed.”

He looked at her and suddenly thought she was like a flower bud, pure and simple, with a gentle disposition.

”Do your parents have jobs?”

Holly Wood nodded. ”My mom’s a sanitation worker, and my dad’s a security guard at another residential complex. My younger brother is in junior high. They’ll all be leaving in a bit. I’m always the last one out the door.”

Leon Lynch nodded. ”And about you not having a job...”

Holly Wood took a deep breath. ”It’s okay. I’ll start looking for another job later today. I’ll tell my mom after I find something.”

”And if you can’t find one?”

She fell silent. ”I don’t have a degree or any special skills, but... I’m a very hard worker...”

”Go get a pen and some paper.”

She didn’t ask why, just found a pen and paper for him.

Leon Lynch quickly wrote an address and a phone number on the paper.

”This is my number. If you really can’t find a job, you can go to this address. I heard they’re still hiring for the front desk. It’s supposed to require a degree and experience, but really, all you need to do is smile.”

Holly Wood took the paper and looked at it, then smiled at him. ”You have really nice handwriting.”

Leon Lynch was taken aback for a moment, then his lips curved. ”Why don’t you go see if your parents have left?”

She tucked the note into her pocket, put on her shoes, and pulled the door open to check. ”They’re gone.”

Leon Lynch put on his suit jacket. ”I’ll be going then.”

”Okay.”

Once downstairs, Leon Lynch called a tow truck to take his car and then caught a ride to the Lynch Group.

Throughout the morning, he kept checking his phone.

But he didn’t receive any calls.

The afternoon was the same. ’She must have found a job,’ he thought.

*

Zoe Ellsworth needed to go restock her inventory, but unfortunately, she had a little shadow tailing her.

”You’re such an important man. Since when do you have so much free time?”

Herman Hawthorne, wearing sunglasses, said coolly, ”I’m on vacation. Health is wealth, you know. If I work myself to death, what would you do?”

”Tch!” Zoe Ellsworth said, her head down as she quickly went over her accounts. ”What does any of this have to do with you? Stop acting like you’re such a big deal.”

”But I *am* a big deal.”

She closed her ledger. ”Stop standing around in my shop. I’m heading out.” She then turned to her two employees. ”If any men come in, they’re probably here to cause trouble. Call the police immediately, no questions asked. We sell women’s clothing. Any man who comes in here to shop is either a psycho or has a screw loose.”

”Yes, ArtieZoe.”

With that, she slung her crossbody bag over her shoulder and walked out.

Herman Hawthorne followed right behind her.

”You’re going abroad? Aren’t there enough clothes in the country for you to buy?”

Zoe Ellsworth opened her car door. ”Domestic clothing styles are generally subpar. The good wholesale markets are too far away—the flight is even longer than going abroad. Why would I bother with that?”

”It’s dangerous abroad,” Herman Hawthorne said.

”Whether it’s dangerous or not is none of my business. I’m bringing bodyguards.”

”How about this: I’ll send my people to source the clothes for you. You can just wait at the shop. It’ll save you time, effort, and money. I’ll even cover the cost of the inventory,” he said, leaning his arm on her open car window.

”Stop playing the big boss,” Zoe Ellsworth rejected. ”I’ve got my own money; I don’t need your sponsorship. Besides, neither you nor your people have good taste. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, you know. Go do whatever it is you do and stop loitering in front of me. You’re clearly up to no good.”

Seeing that she was ungrateful, Herman Hawthorne didn’t press the issue. ”Fine, have your good intentions be mistaken for ill will. Suit yourself.”

Zoe Ellsworth shoved his arm off the window, rolled it up, put on her sunglasses, and drove off.

Herman Hawthorne stood there for a few minutes before arranging for someone to follow Zoe Ellsworth on her flight abroad.

He really was on vacation for a few days, and with nowhere else to go, he headed to Quentin Grant’s company to chat with his good friend.

When Quentin Grant returned from a meeting, he found Herman sitting at his desk, waiting for him.

”Look what the cat dragged in.”

Herman Hawthorne closed his eyes and propped his feet up on Quentin’s desk.

”I’m on vacation for a few days, and as soon as I have downtime, I get bored. Came to have a heart-to-heart with you.”

Quentin Grant sat down in a chair and shot him a disdainful look. ”If you want a heart-to-heart, you should find a woman. I’m hardly the right person for that. I’m a man.”

Herman narrowed his eyes. ”You heartless bastard. Just because you have a woman and a kid now, you treat your friends so cruelly. Hey, Grant, don’t you forget! Before Nora came along, who was it that was always there for you at a moment’s notice?”

Quentin Grant replied leisurely, ”Haven’t you been spending all your time fawning over Zoe lately? Still haven’t succeeded?”

”She’s Ellsworth’s sister, you know what she’s like. That temper... She doesn’t need money, she doesn’t need connections—she doesn’t need anything. All my efforts just get me scorned.”

Quentin Grant chuckled. ”You’re divorced now, so stop making a fool of yourself. Just shift your focus to someone else.”

Herman shook his head, sat up straight, and looked at Quentin Grant. ”Young Master Grant, I think something’s wrong with me. Do you think I should go to the hospital for an EKG?”

”Is there something wrong with your heart?”

He nodded. ”I think so. Otherwise, I wouldn’t keep having this... indescribable feeling for no reason.”

”Sounds to me like you’re lovesick,” Quentin Grant said cheerfully. ”It’s not like you’ve never been in love before. The feeling should be familiar, don’t you get it? Stop playing dumb with me.”

Herman Hawthorne smiled. ”Quentin, do you think... Zoe will ever get back together with me?”

”Hard to say. Didn’t Young Master Ellsworth tell you last time? Knowing his sister’s personality, it’s not likely.”

Herman Hawthorne sighed. ”My life is so tragic. Someone save me.”

”Go take a bath in a public toilet’s septic tank. I guarantee that’ll save your life,” he said nonchalantly.

Herman Hawthorne snorted. ”Can’t you say anything civilized? Is this how your precious Nora taught you to be?”