Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Jean Grant lay in the bathtub, her body sliding down. The water rose to her nose, about to submerge her completely.

She flailed her arms, and a moment later, she choked on the water.

Mr. Ainsworth rushed over, grabbed her by the arm, pulled her up, and turned off the faucet.

She gasped and coughed violently.

”Are you all right?”

Jean Grant shook her head. ”I’m fine. Where’s Nicholas?”

”He changed his clothes and said he was going to sleep at the office.”

”Oh. You should go to bed.”

”Alright. You get some sleep too.”

Mr. Ainsworth left the room and walked toward his own.

Jean Grant climbed out of the water and realized she was completely naked. ’Just thinking about what happened makes me want to die,’ she thought.

She dried herself off, climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over her head. As she replayed the night’s events in her mind, she began to sob uncontrollably.

’He said he wouldn’t look for other women anymore. It was all a lie.’

’Why is my luck so terrible? I’ve been married twice, and both husbands turned out like this.’

’Why?!’

First thing in the morning, Chloe Marshall dropped Dorothy off at Nora’s Home and then went to visit the film set.

Ethan Ellsworth was in makeup when he saw her arrive, and a wide smile spread across his face.

His eyes lit up when he saw the food container in her hand. ”Are those the dumplings you made?”

”Honey, how did you get so smart?”

”Well, look who your husband is,” Ethan Ellsworth said smugly.

Besides the makeup artist, there was no one else in the dressing room.

Chloe Marshall opened the container and said to him, ”You can finish your makeup later. Eat first.”

The makeup artist immediately agreed. ”Okay.”

Chloe Marshall said to the makeup artist, ”Could you grab a bowl? Boss Ellsworth won’t be able to finish all this.”

”That’s alright, Mrs. Ellsworth.”

”Go on.”

”Really, I’m fine.”

Chloe Marshall got up, found a disposable bowl herself, filled it, and handed it to the makeup artist. ”You’ve been with Boss Ellsworth for a long time. There’s no need to be so formal with me. Here, take it.”

The makeup artist smiled shyly. ”Well, thank you, Mrs. Ellsworth.”

Chloe Marshall handed him a pair of chopsticks. ”Don’t mention it.”

Then she handed another pair to Ethan Ellsworth.

After they finished eating, Chloe Marshall took the container out to wash it while Ethan Ellsworth resumed his makeup session.

When she returned, another actress had arrived in the dressing room: the newly popular ”Pure Goddess,” Nicole.

”Chloe, in a little while, Ellsworth and I have a kiss scene. You don’t mind, do you?”

Chloe Marshall smiled. ”Since you’re just using camera angles and it’s for the movie, of course I don’t mind.”

”Camera angles?” Nicole’s expression changed. ”The director didn’t tell me that.”

”It’s a small enough detail that I can decide on my own,” Ethan Ellsworth interjected. ”Telling the director would be making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Hearing this, Nicole pressed on. ”Ellsworth, are you going to do this for all the kiss scenes and the few bed scenes in the show? The audience wants to see us do it for real. Besides, how can you fake a close-up kiss?”

Chloe Marshall said nothing.

Ethan Ellsworth spoke up. ”You don’t need to worry about that. When it’s time to film, I’ll show you how we’ll fake it.”

”No, I mean for a close-up shot where our lips have to touch. Didn’t you always do real kisses in your old idol dramas, Ellsworth? Has getting married changed your professional boundaries?”

Ethan Ellsworth was quite calm. ”Of course it has. This way, at the very least, whenever my daughter asks why Daddy is kissing another woman, I can tell her with a clear conscience that it was fake.”

”Well, then I have nothing more to say,” Nicole said, her tone sharp.

Once his makeup was done, Ethan Ellsworth checked the time and said to his wife, ”Honey, I know a great barbecue place not far from here that’s open during the day. Why don’t you go buy some later to bring back for our daughter?”

”Okay.” Chloe Marshall stood up with the food container. ”Boss Ellsworth, should I head back now?”

”You just got here and you’re already leaving? It’s still early.” He lowered his voice. ”Don’t you want to stay with me a little longer?”

Chloe Marshall murmured, ”Mm,” and then said, ”Okay.”

Sitting to the side, Nicole found the scene grating. ’Watching the two of them acting like sweet newlyweds,’ she thought, ’feels like I’m watching a husband with his mistress.’ But she was getting a little too into her role; she was only the female lead in a TV show, after all.

On set, Chloe Marshall sat next to the director. Back when she was Ethan Ellsworth’s junior assistant, she could only stand all day, fetching whatever was needed, attending to his every need, and never allowed to sit.

Now that her status had changed, her position was completely different.

When it was time for the kiss scene, Ethan Ellsworth’s new assistant brought out a sheet of extremely clear glass. The glass was quite thin and long, and the assistant and manager held it up. That was how the kiss was filmed—the two actors kissed opposite sides of the glass.

It was the first time Chloe Marshall had seen this kind of camera trick, and her eyes curved into a smile. The female lead, Nicole, was clearly very unhappy.

But nobody cared whether she was happy or not. The real wife was right there; who gave a damn about a stand-in?

While they were preparing for the next scene, Chloe Marshall walked over to Ethan Ellsworth with a bottle of water and handed it to him. ”Here, drink some.”

Ethan Ellsworth casually stroked her long hair. The entire gesture, from his gaze to his hand, was captured by reporters and immediately made the news.

”Honey, when we were filming, I just pretended she was you. It was the only way I could get into character.”

”Mm, Boss Ellsworth, I think your acting has improved a lot. Once this modern drama is finished, I feel like the Hundred Flowers Award is yours. If you win Best Actor and Nora wins Best Actress, I’ll be so happy.”

Ethan Ellsworth burst out laughing. ”Your husband will work hard to get you a trophy to play with.”

”I’ve watched a few of your scenes now, so I’m going to head back. Keep up the good work on set. I’ll come visit you from now on. You work so hard filming and still have to come home late at night; it’s better if I come see you instead. I’ll bring Dorothy with me on Saturday.”

”Okay.” He reached out and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. ”Go on home. Drive safe.”

Chloe Marshall nodded.

「The afternoon lesson was language arts.」

The old professor walked in with his textbook, closed the door behind him, and went to the desk. He looked at the three students before him and said, ”Yesterday afternoon, we studied Pinyin. Did you all finish the homework I assigned?”

”Yes!” the three children replied in unison.

The old professor nodded with a chuckle. ”Very good. Then let Teacher see how you did on your homework.”

He thought they would have at least made some mistakes with the Pinyin, but to his surprise, even Elmer Grant, the poorest student, had written his answers neatly and correctly.

It was completely unexpected.

”You really did write everything very neatly. You deserve some praise.”

Dorothy Ellsworth spoke up. ”Teacher, can you please stop teaching us preschool-level basics like Pinyin? We already learned all that a long time ago.”

The old professor was a little surprised. ”Is that so? Then tell me, how far have you gotten?”

”Page 48 in the book.”

The old professor flipped to page 48, somewhat shocked. ”Oral sentence-building exercises? You know how to do this?”

Elmer Grant huffed. ”Teacher, even I know this stuff, and I hate studying. My brother is way ahead.”

The old professor said instinctively, ”Are you really in preschool? It seems to me you’re studying first or second-grade material.”

Dylan Grant smiled. ”Teacher, to be honest, we were in preschool back in Harrowin, so when we came back, we were placed in preschool here, too, learning simple things like Pinyin and numbers. But we learned all this other material on our own.”

”You taught yourselves?”

Dylan Grant stood up. ”Teacher, wait right here.”

He ran out of the room and returned a moment later, holding five or six textbooks in his arms.

The old professor took one look and was utterly bewildered.

This wasn’t first or second-grade curriculum. This was clearly third-grade material.

He stared at Dylan Grant in disbelief. ”You’re studying third-grade content? Do your parents know?”

Dylan Grant shook his head. ”No. I had our housekeeper buy these books for me. I lost interest in the other books a long time ago. My brother can’t handle third-grade material, though, so he’s working on first-grade things. Dorothy is still at the preschool level, so I’ve decided to tutor her myself.”

The old professor was finding this hard to believe. ”Even Elmer Grant, who dislikes studying so much, is learning first-grade material?”

Dylan Grant smiled. ”Yes. He started studying first-grade material last year, but he didn’t make much progress. He didn’t really learn anything.”

”That’s what I thought,” the old professor said. ”He doesn’t seem like the academic type. Dylan, let me ask you, are you planning to skip grades when you start first grade?”

Dylan Grant smiled. ”Teacher, I don’t plan on attending school for elementary, middle, or high school. I’ll think about it when it’s time for university. As for skipping grades, I’ll decide that for myself.”

The chance to teach such a rare genius filled the old professor with excitement. ”Alright, go back to your seat. I will tutor you separately. The other two aren’t at your level, so they still need regular lessons. You can listen in if you want, or you can study on your own if you don’t. Just ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand.”

Dylan Grant nodded. And so, a two-track system began in the one-room class.

The old professor focused on teaching the other two slowpokes.

”You two have seen how exceptional your brother is at his studies. You need to work hard, too. Today, we’re going to learn some simple idioms.”

He turned and wrote the word ”Idioms” on the blackboard.

Then he said, ”Idioms are short, concise, easy to remember, and easy to use. Moreover, our country’s culture is rich and profound, and there are many interesting little stories behind our idioms. For example, let’s take the saying, ’Don’t cast pearls before swine.’ Before I tell you the story behind it, let me ask you: just from the words, what do you think that means?”

Dorothy Ellsworth raised her hand. ”Teacher, I know.”

”Alright, Dorothy, why don’t you tell us what it means?”

Dorothy Ellsworth grinned and said, ”It means you shouldn’t be so wasteful! Why would you throw your pretty pearl necklaces to pigs? They can’t even wear them! It’s such a waste!”

The old professor: ”...”

”That’s not what it means, of course. The saying ’Don’t cast pearls before swine’ comes from a famous text...” After telling the story, the old professor concluded, ”So, the meaning of the idiom is that you shouldn’t offer something valuable to people who are unable to appreciate it.”

”Wow, Teacher, I didn’t know idioms had such cool stories behind them! Tell us another one!” said Elmer Grant.