Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Jean Grant’s face turned ghastly pale at the doctor’s words. She knew exactly what gonorrhea was—a type of STD.

She didn’t know how she managed to get off the examination table, pull up her pants, and walk out of the OB-GYN’s office. All she remembered was handing her discharge sample to the lab and waiting in the hallway, her heart feeling like it had been thrown into a deep fryer.

It was unbearable, agonizing, full of regret—and fear.

Time passed so slowly. Those ten-odd minutes felt as long as a decade.

”Your results are ready,” a female doctor called to her from the window.

Jean Grant, wearing a mask, hurried forward. ”Doctor, did the test find anything?”

The doctor handed her the report. ”Go back to the gynecologist. She’ll go over it with you.”

Jean had no choice but to take the medical report and return to the gynecologist’s office.

She handed the report to the doctor and sat down, her hands trembling nervously. Her heart was already severely wounded, and this was just making matters worse.

After looking at the report, the female doctor came to a conclusion. ”You have, indeed, contracted an STD.”

Hearing the result with her own ears, Jean felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

”Doctor... how do you get this?”

”Well, the main source of transmission is sexual contact. It’s most often transmitted from men to women. After a woman is infected, it can affect the organs around the urethra, with cervical canal infections being the most common. Other causes include poor hygiene, like sharing towels, bathtubs, or bedsheets with someone who has gonorrhea. When did you first start feeling itchy?”

Jean thought for a moment. ”It started last month.”

”Have you had frequent relations with your husband or boyfriend since last month?”

Jean’s face grew even paler. ”Yes, frequently. We were trying for a baby, so we were intimate quite often. He must have given it to me!”

The doctor pulled out a prescription pad and started writing. ”Let me explain. This disease can lead to complications, like inflammation. With these complications, you won’t be able to get pregnant. Although gonorrhea isn’t directly passed down to the next generation, you can only try to conceive after it’s been successfully cured. Also, you must abstain from sexual activity during treatment. I’m going to prescribe you some medication. You have to follow my instructions exactly for the treatment to be effective.”

”Okay.”

After finishing the prescription, the gynecologist wrote on another sheet. ”This is a diet plan for your condition. I’ve written it all down. Follow it when you get home. Also, there are some restrictions. Avoid ’heaty’ foods that can cause inflammation, like chives and lamb. Don’t eat anything spicy or irritating. During the treatment period, you absolutely must abstain from sexual activity to avoid reinfection. I hope you follow my advice if you want to get better quickly.”

Jean nodded and took the papers to the pharmacy to get her medicine.

She put the medicine in her bag, got into her car, and the emotions she had been suppressing finally erupted. She cried her eyes out.

’I’m so pathetic, so despicable.’

’I brought all of this on myself.’

She parked in front of a supermarket and went inside, emerging with two large bags of food and drinks.

After eating something, she drove back to the Ainsworth residence.

As soon as she entered the living room, she saw Mr. Ainsworth and Catherine Callahan sitting on the sofa watching TV. Mr. Ainsworth was holding a plate of cut fruit, using a toothpick to feed her pieces.

For some reason, the scene suddenly reminded Jean of the image she had seen that morning, and she felt an indescribable sense of disgust.

”Jean, you’re back. Have you eaten?”

”Yes, I’ve eaten.”

”You don’t look well. Did something happen?” Mr. Ainsworth continued to ask.

Jean walked toward the stairs. ”No,” she said over her shoulder.

Standing at the door to her bedroom, Jean had never felt that the room was so filthy, especially the bed.

She grabbed the doorframe, mustering all her strength to step inside.

BANG! The door slammed shut. She went over and ripped the four-piece bedding set off the bed, threw it in the laundry room, and then personally put on a new set.

She scrubbed and disinfected the bathtub in the bathroom. Even after cleaning it, she decided she would never take a bath in it again. She systematically sorted through and dealt with everything related to Nicholas Ainsworth.

Then, she took the medicine the doctor had prescribed.

She hid the medication carefully.

After she had done everything, Jean’s emotions spun out of control again. A blow like this was fatal to her.

’It seems,’ she thought, ’that from start to finish, I’ve gained nothing. All I got was a body full of disease. As for my marriages... both of them were probably just empty shells.’

「Nine o’clock. The Civil Affairs Bureau.」

Holly Wood stood there with her household registration book, waiting for half an hour, but he never showed up.

The excitement and joy in Holly’s heart had now faded into indifference.

She then sat on a bench inside the bureau, and ended up waiting there for the entire morning.

She tried calling his phone, but it was turned off the entire time.

She clutched her phone tightly, dialing his number again and again.

’Did something happen to him?’

It was the only thing she could think of.

She stopped waiting and took a car to the Lynch Group.

But she was told he hadn’t come to the company today.

The more Holly thought about it, the more panicked she became, so she had no choice but to go to the Lynch Residence.

As soon as the butler saw her, he said, ”Miss Wood, you should go back.”

”Is Leon...”

”The young master is fine, Miss Wood. But to incite him to steal his household registration book to marry you... that was hardly an honorable thing to do. You didn’t even inform his parents. They had already tacitly approved of your relationship, so why were you in such a rush? The Madam... Sigh. You should just go home for now.”

”I want to see the Madam and Leon.”

”The Madam said that if you came, I was to tell you to go home.” In truth, the butler was putting it mildly. What Mrs. Lynch had actually said was: ’She’s only eighteen and she’s already scheming to get married? She’s no good. If she shows up, tell her to get lost!’

Holly finally nodded. ”Alright.”

She turned and took a bus home.

Mrs. Wood had taken the morning off work, waiting to see their marriage certificate. But when she saw Holly return with a dejected look on her face, her heart sank.

”Holly, he didn’t come?”

She didn’t say anything and went back to her room.

Seeing this, Mrs. Wood pushed the door open and went in. ”What on earth happened?”

”It seems his mother found out he took the household registration book. I don’t know what happened. His phone is off when I call...”

”I think he’s the one who doesn’t want to marry you anymore. It seems most of these rich second-generation kids are nothing but trouble.”

Holly refuted her mother’s words. ”Leon isn’t like that.”

”You’ve only known him for a few days, how can you be so sure? I was originally thinking that if you married him, the rest of your life wouldn’t be so hard. Your days would be better, and your father and I could finally relax. A parent’s greatest wish is to see their child live a good life. But it seems getting into their family won’t be easy. His mother is a standard-issue wealthy madam. You two are from such different worlds—that’s a very real problem. If he’s not serious about you, then no matter how rich he is, I won’t let you marry him.”

Mrs. Wood got up and left the room.

Just as she left, Holly’s phone rang.

It was him.

Holly quickly pressed the answer key. ”Hello, Leon.”

”I’m sorry.” His voice was deep and low. ”I couldn’t make our appointment.”

”I... I understand. Just talk to your mom. Don’t worry about me.”

”My mom... she hid the household registration book really well. I finally found it, but she caught me. She got really upset, saying how could I not tell her about something as big as getting married, that I have no respect for her. She even said that I’m already listening to my wife before we’re even married. I tried to explain over and over, but she wouldn’t listen. She said a lot of harsh things in the heat of the moment, smashed my phone, and then she lost her footing and fell down the stairs. She broke a bone. She’s in the hospital now.”

Holly’s heart leaped into her throat when she heard this. ”Which hospital?”

”General Hospital.”

Holly replied, ”I’m on my way.”

She hastily hung up the phone and rushed out the door.

”Where are you going?”

”Leon’s mother fell down the stairs. She’s in the hospital.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Wood quickly pulled a few hundred-yuan bills from her pocket and handed them over. ”Put the marriage on hold for now. Go buy something nice for her, don’t provoke her, and speak to her properly.”

”Okay, I will.”

Holly bought some nutritional supplements and had just arrived at the hospital room when Mrs. Lynch saw her, pointed, and roared, ”Get out! You little vixen!”

”Mom, don’t get so worked up. Holly just came to see you.” Leon took the supplements and placed them on the table.

”Throw her things out! I don’t want them.”

Holly stepped forward, sat down in a chair, and took Mrs. Lynch’s hand. Mrs. Lynch struggled violently, but Holly held on tight, infuriating the older woman.

”Let go of me!”

”Ma’am, please just hear me out first. After I’m done, you can hit me or yell at me all you want.”

Mr. Lynch spoke up. ”Let her finish. Can you please stop getting so agitated over every little thing?!”

Only then did Mrs. Lynch quiet down, though she turned her head to the side, clearly unhappy to see Holly.

”Ma’am, Leon and I are very serious about each other. I’m not after your family’s money, nor have I ever thought about just becoming a pampered Young Madam after getting married. I just want to be with him for the rest of my life. It’s not easy for someone to find a person they love in this lifetime, and it’s even harder to find someone who is just as serious about it. If you are willing to accept me and let us be together forever, I can promise you, I will do whatever you ask. I will never disobey you. After we’re married, I will carry on the Lynch family line and be a filial daughter to you and Dad.”

Mrs. Lynch yanked her hand free and slapped Holly across the face. ”Stop being so hypocritical! If you really meant that, would you have tried to secretly register your marriage with Leon? It’s a good thing I found out in time!”

”Mom, why did you hit her?” Leon grabbed Holly’s hand and pulled her to her feet.

Mr. Lynch stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and pointed at his wife. ”I, for one, think you falling down the stairs was karma for trying to stop them from getting married.”

”You...” Mrs. Lynch was about to explode with rage. ”Can’t you two, father and son, see how manipulative she is?”

Leon spoke with a sense of helplessness. ”I’ve told you at least three times, getting married was my idea. I’m almost thirty, shouldn’t I be getting married? Aren’t you the one who’s always nagging me to get married so you can have a grandson? Do you have to oppose me so fiercely no matter who I want to marry? Mom, I really don’t want to talk about this with you anymore. It just makes us both angry. You always look at people with such prejudice. Have you ever stopped to think about your own issues?”