Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

The very mention of a ”second spring” was enough to set Herman Hawthorne off.

”I’m not dead yet, so there’s no way you’ll be a widow. We’re still in our first spring, and that’s how it’ll stay. A second spring... Don’t even think about it.”

Zoe Ellsworth turned around. ”Go home.”

She hurried back home. The moment she stepped into the Ellsworth Residence, Zoe Ellsworth froze.

Then, a smile unexpectedly touched her lips, and she slowly continued on her way.

Mrs. Ellsworth saw her come in and immediately stood up. ”Zoe, come here!”

Zoe Ellsworth walked over. The moment she sat down, a hand slapped her on the head.

She clutched her head and frowned. ”Mom, why do you keep hitting me on the head? What if you knock me silly?”

”I don’t have to; you’re already silly. How could you be so reckless? Climbing down a rope from your bedroom window? It’s so high up! What would have happened if you’d fallen?”

Zoe Ellsworth said sheepishly, ”I won’t do it again. Just don’t lock me up in the house.”

Mrs. Ellsworth snorted. ”The men who installed the security bars on the windows just left. You won’t be escaping through any windows from now on. Forget it. Hasn’t your shop been closed for a few days? You can open it again. At least it will give you something to fill your days.”

Zoe Ellsworth beamed and linked her arm through Mrs. Ellsworth’s. ”Okay, sounds good.”

”I can see Herman is trying very hard to win you back. For the sake of your child, why not give him another chance...?” Mrs. Ellsworth said, though she hesitated.

”Yeah, I think Mom’s right, Zoe,” Ethan Ellsworth chimed in. ”Young Master Hawthorne is clearly very serious about you now. Give him another chance. From a broader perspective, he’s a good man.”

Zoe Ellsworth clearly disagreed. ”From a broader perspective, yes, he’s a good man. During our marriage, he treated me very well. He never criticized me, yelled at me, or hit me, and he was very considerate. But we were always lacking that deep, mutual devotion. It was more like we were treating each other with polite respect, like honored guests. Right now, I’m enjoying being single again. I’m ready to be a single mom.”

Chloe Marshall considered this for a moment. ”This is something Zoe has to decide for herself. It’s like drinking water—only the person drinking knows if it’s warm or cold. The best scenario is when Zoe feels the time is right and that she’s ready for marriage again. I don’t agree with doing it just for the sake of the child.”

Mrs. Ellsworth thought it over carefully. ”All right,” she answered. ”After all, what’s on the inside is always more important than appearances.”

”It’s getting late. Ethan, Chloe, you two should head to bed. And Mom, Dad’s probably waiting for you in the bedroom.”

She stood up and quickly backed away.

Mrs. Ellsworth’s voice followed her. ”You little brat, learning to tease your parents now!”

Ethan Ellsworth and Chloe Marshall smiled, said their goodnights, and went off to bed.

Upstairs, Chloe Marshall peeked into Dorothy’s room to make sure she was actually asleep.

She quietly pushed the door open and saw that Dorothy was already sound asleep.

Relieved, she turned off the light, closed the door, and returned to her own room.

”Ever since Dylan came back, our Dorothy has been sleeping on time and seems much happier.”

Ethan Ellsworth took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, and stood before the mirror. ”I think Dorothy has high emotional intelligence,” he said, ”but her IQ clearly doesn’t come from me.”

Chloe Marshall wasn’t pleased. ”So she gets it from me? If my IQ is so low, why do you still love me? Hasn’t loving me dragged your IQ down too?”

He turned and booped her on the nose, his voice tinged with tipsiness. ”I just love how silly you are. But I really hope our next kid takes after me.”

Chloe sniffed. ”They’ll be just like me, just to drive you mad.”

Ethan Ellsworth stepped closer, wrapped his arms around her waist, and lifted her up. ”It doesn’t matter who they’re like, as long as it’s our baby. Chloe, tonight...”

His meaning was clear.

She knew exactly what he meant.

”Go take your shower~”

He flashed a brilliant smile. ”Yes, my lady~”

Chloe Marshall took a quick shower and came out wrapped in a bath towel. Ethan Ellsworth was going to be a while longer.

She lay on the bed and started scrolling through a popular online forum. She shouldn’t have. What she saw was enough to shatter her worldview.

She scrolled through a few pages. While she knew a thing or two about the entertainment industry, reading these anonymous gossip posts made her realize the internet was a truly wild place, full of people in the know.

When Ethan Ellsworth came out of the bathroom, he noticed Chloe Marshall’s expression was a rollercoaster—one moment she was smiling, the next she looked shocked, then bewildered, then completely blank.

”What are you looking at?” He sat on the edge of the bed, drying his hair.

Chloe Marshall held up her phone for him to see. ”Boss Ellsworth, look at this gossip thread! It’s all about celebrities. This post says XXX is into men. He’s so handsome! Have all the women in the world gone extinct or something, for him to like guys? Boss Ellsworth, is it true he likes men?”

Ethan Ellsworth was clearly unfazed. ”The entertainment industry is a cesspool. You think there are a lot of men like me out there? Silly girl. Let me tell you, a man like me comes around once in a century.”

Chloe’s worldview was in shambles. ”So you’re saying... he really does like men?”

”Everyone in the industry knows. It’s no secret. That guy ran into me at a club called ’Lips in Motion’ once and asked for my number. I knew what he was after. Young Master Hawthorne beat him half to death right then and there. Heh.”

”What!” Chloe Marshall stared at her phone. ”That @#￥$%&*!!!!”

”Alright, stop cursing. The guy’s just an idiot with a pretty face. He doesn’t just go after men, he also sleeps with his fans. All those naive fangirls are crazy about him, but how many of them actually know what he’s really like?”

”That’s horrible,” Chloe Marshall said, filled with righteous indignation. ”It’s a good thing Young Master Hawthorne beat him up! He deserved it!”

”Young Master Grant almost had him blacklisted. I said we shouldn’t bother with someone like that, that he wouldn’t dare try anything again. And I was right. He never did. Now, whenever he sees me, he runs like a mouse from a cat.”

Chloe scrolled to the next post. ”What about this actress? I used to love her shows, I was a huge fan. This anonymous poster says she slept her way to the top. Is that true?”

Ethan Ellsworth’s answer was blunt. ”Young Master Hawthorne and I talked about this before—why so many men in the entertainment business are gay. It’s because most of the women in this industry have been around the block. They’re filthy. Nine times out of ten, the stuff posted on these forums is true. Otherwise, why would the stars scramble their PR teams to delete the posts the second they see them? It’s a classic sign of a guilty conscience. I went to Haleport for a ribbon-cutting ceremony once and met this actress. Honestly, she’s really ugly in person. Terribly plain. Her photos only look good because of lighting, makeup, and photoshop. You really think there are that many natural beauties out there? From their faces to their chests, they’re a bunch of fakes.”

Chloe was starting to get it. ”You never told me any of this back when I was your assistant.”

”Some things are better left unsaid. If I had told you and you let it slip, you would have just made enemies. As long as they don’t mess with me, I usually just turn a blind eye.”

His attitude made Chloe Marshall fall in love with him all over again. She immediately hugged his arm. ”Boss Ellsworth, I love you so much.”

Ethan leaned in, offering his cheek. ”Kiss me first, and I’ll give you the grand tour of the entertainment industry.”

Chloe’s interest was piqued. She immediately leaned in and planted a few sweet kisses on him.

”It’s probably for the best that I tell you,” Ethan began. ”That way you won’t be looking at other celebrities with those worshipful eyes, thinking they’re all so wonderful.”

He took the phone from her, glanced at a few posts, and pointed to one. ”See what this user posted? The celebrity’s name is just initials. They don’t even dare to use the full name. But I don’t need the name. Just from the story, I know exactly who it is.”

”Boss Ellsworth, I want to know... when you were filming on set, did any actresses...”

He pulled her close. ”Of course, there were...”

Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. ”And you...”

”Of course, I turned them down,” Ethan continued. ”For two reasons. First, I don’t mess around with women I don’t love. Second, I think they’re too dirty. A woman has to respect herself. A woman who cherishes herself will be cherished by a man. If you degrade yourself and sell your body for money, no one is going to look up to you.”

Chloe wrapped her arms around his waist. ”Back when I was your assistant, I heard other people at the company gossiping about the artists. They said that Madam Shaw had gotten seven or eight abortions and basically can’t have children anymore.”

”It would be a miracle if she could still have kids. It’s no surprise she can’t. She’s just a high-class escort. Our President Harding, producers, directors... she’s made her way through the entire list, from top to bottom. Not to mention people at her own agency and on her team. She won’t even pass up a good-looking young actor if she sees one. She’s famously insatiable.”

”Now she’s stuck doing gigs in small towns. Her fame has faded in the last couple of years. And to think she was your female lead in that one show.”

Ethan grimaced in disgust. ”Co-starring with her in that drama was a complete humiliation. Her breath was foul. Forget the kissing scenes—even in simple dialogue scenes, just getting close to her was torture. Now, I can’t even be bothered to be in the same room as her.”

”You know, they call it the entertainment circle, but it’s really more of a pigsty.”

”That’s why I’m dead set against our Dorothy ever entering this business. Not unless I can assign her an agent and a whole team, and we get to pick her scripts. Otherwise, it’s absolutely non-negotiable.”

Chloe couldn’t help but smile. ”I don’t think she has any interest in acting anyway. She’s a total tomboy, and sometimes she’s completely out of it. Someone like her wouldn’t make it in that world when she grows up.”

Ethan turned over and put the phone on the nightstand. ”We’ll respect her wishes in anything else. Whatever she wants to be when she grows up is her choice. It’s getting late, honey. Shouldn’t we... get started...?”

Chloe was in an excellent mood. She buried her head in his chest and murmured, ”Whatever you want, darling...”

”Alright, then I’m going to start~” He reached out and began to undo her clothes, peeling them off layer by layer like the shell of an egg, until she was completely bare.

He reached out and turned off the lamp.