Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”June, you’re being so irrational. What do you possibly stand to gain from this? You’ll just be dragging an innocent child down with you. You can’t give the child a complete home, and you’ll end up ruining their entire life. An act like this won’t just ruin the child’s life—it will ruin Keth’s and your own. Can you please use your head and think this through? Don’t be so stubborn.”

”Holly. Just because you married a rich man, you think you can lecture me?” June Walsh said, her nose in the air. ”I don’t care what you say, I won’t listen to you. Holly, about this baby, I’ll say it one last time! I am going to have it!”

Holly Wood looked at the driver. ”Take us to a small clinic.”

June Walsh struggled. ”Holly, let me go!”

Holly turned back to her. ”No. I’m going to make sure you can never use this as a bargaining chip again!”

Seeing that Holly wasn’t bluffing, June Walsh grew scared. ”I won’t have the baby,” she said quickly. ”Just let me go, and I’ll go to the hospital and get an abortion.”

”It’s good that you’ve decided not to have it. But I think it’s best if I personally escort you!”

Those words completely silenced June Walsh.

June Walsh was terrified. She talked a big game, but when someone actually moved against her, she was more frightened than anyone.

Seeing that Holly wasn’t just making empty threats, she panicked. ”Holly, let me out. I’ll go to the hospital and get the abortion by myself, okay?”

Holly looked at her resolutely. ”Absolutely not.”

The car pulled up directly in front of a small OB-GYN clinic. Holly got out first, paid the doctor a sum of money, and told him to perform the procedure immediately.

The bodyguards immediately forced June Walsh inside.

June Walsh’s mouth was taped shut, rendering her unable to speak.

The clinic happened to be empty, and just like that, she was forced onto the operating table.

Her struggling hands were cuffed, and her legs were restrained.

The procedure began.

Holly stood at the door, listening to the agonizing screams from within. Her heart clenched with every cry. ’If she hadn’t been so damn stubborn,’ she thought, ’I wouldn’t have had to do this to her.’

Ten-some minutes later, the doctor came out and told her it was over.

After thanking the doctor, Holly went inside. She unfastened the restraints on June’s legs, placed a sanitary pad in her underwear, and pulled her pants up for her. ”June, I’ll give you some money later. Make sure you rest and recover properly.”

June Walsh stared at her, her eyes filled with hatred.

Holly then had the bodyguards help her into the car, which then headed back.

The car finally stopped in front of June Walsh’s home. Holly ripped the tape from her mouth and removed the handcuffs.

”Holly Wood! I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!”

”Hate me all you want. But let me give you a piece of advice: stop digging your own grave. Do you want the money or not?”

”Hand it over!” June Walsh thought. ’Since it’s already come to this, I might as well take the money.’

Holly handed her the money, then called Mrs. Wood to tell her what had happened before returning to the Lynch family home.

***

After Nora Ainsworth listened to Quentin Grant explain the situation with Saphira Sutton, she was almost certain the idea had come from Saphira.

”You need to have people watching not just Toby Dalton, but Saphira Sutton too. Keep her under surveillance. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

”I’ve already assigned people to watch her every move. If she targets the kids again, I won’t stand for it.”

Nora Ainsworth straightened his tie. ”Go on to work.”

He gave Nora a quick kiss, then headed out the door.

Sierra Ainsworth came down the stairs. ”Sis, we’re planning to go back to Valeria tomorrow.”

”By yourself?”

Sierra smiled. ”Of course not. Dad, Mom, and me.”

Nora found that even more unbelievable. ”But I thought Mom and Dad didn’t have...”

”They don’t, but I insisted, so they’re coming back with me. Besides, Mom said she wants to meet Aaron.”

Nora smiled. ”That’s great. Have you been talking to him much lately?”

”Yeah, we’re on the phone for hours every day.”

”That’s good. I’ve heard his family is quite strict, but he’s also a true blue-blood. All that matters is that he treats you well. That has to be the number one priority.”

Sierra walked over to her. ”I’m not asking for much. I’d be happy if he treats me even half as well as my brother-in-law treats you.”

Nora pulled her down to sit. ”He will. There are plenty of good men in the world; sometimes we just have trouble spotting them. You just have to keep your eyes open, and you won’t run into any scumbags.”

”Sis, I really wish I could be at your and Brother-in-law’s wedding. That would be so wonderful.”

”When two people are together, it doesn’t matter whether you have a wedding, as long as every day feels special. Although, your brother-in-law did say he’s planning one right now.” As she spoke of this, an irrepressible, happy smile spread across Nora’s face, and Sierra, sitting beside her, could genuinely feel her joy.

”Sis, I really hope you can smile like this forever.”

”Where are Mom and Dad?”

”Upstairs, packing.”

”I’ll go check on them.” Nora stood up and walked briskly upstairs. When she reached Faye Sinclair’s room and pushed open the door, she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed while Luna Ainsworth was packing their luggage.

”Dad, Mom.”

”Nora,” Faye called out.

”You should stay a little longer. The house will feel so empty once you’re gone.”

”We’ll definitely come for your wedding. And you can come visit us in Valeria when you have time,” Luna said.

Nora smiled and nodded. ”Okay.”

The thought of them leaving made Nora truly sad, but she felt much better remembering that they would see each other again and that this was only a temporary farewell.

That evening, everyone gathered for a wonderful dinner.

The peaceful night was filled with laughter and cheerful chatter.

*

Mrs. Ellsworth looked at Zoe, who was sitting on the sofa. ”Herman is still outside the main gate.”

”He’s a university professor. How does he have so much free time? Is he even getting paid?”

Mrs. Ellsworth was exasperated. ”What on earth is going on between you two? Zoe, you need to tell me clearly what this is all about.”

”You’re more worried than the person who’s actually involved,” Zoe said, calmly eating a grape. ”I have my reasons for ignoring him.”

Mrs. Ellsworth stepped closer. ”Did he go out and cheat on you? If that’s the case, I’ll be damned if I let him set foot in this house.”

”It’s not that. Your Majesty, why don’t you hurry upstairs and see if His Majesty the Emperor needs anything? Stop worrying about me. I’ll go out and deal with him in a bit.”

”Fine.”

Before her mother could finish, Zoe’s phone rang. She didn’t even have to look to know who was calling.

She glanced down at the screen before answering. ”What?”

”Zoe, come outside. I found the evidence.”

Zoe put on her shoes and walked to the main gate. ”What evidence?”

Herman, like he was showing off for praise, handed her his phone. ”I saved all the surveillance footage right here. Take a good look.”

She lowered her head to watch it carefully. When it was over, she let out a cold laugh. ”What were you doing at a place called ’Temptation’?”

”It was a get-together with the guys—your brother, Young Master Grant, and me. Just the three of us. They both left later, and I stayed for a bit. Then, the waitress you see in this video brought me a bottle of wine. I passed out after drinking it, you know? She took out my phone, keyed in Bianca’s number, and even saved it under a new name. See? I had no idea any of it was happening.”

Zoe stared at him. ”Is Bianca Rhodes trying to make a comeback or something? And are you an idiot? You’re lucky all she did was put a number in your phone. What would you have done if she’d taken advantage of you!”

Herman rubbed his nose. ”What could I do? If she took advantage of me, she took advantage of me. It’s not like anyone wants me anyway.”

”Get lost, get lost, get lost...” Zoe snapped, turning to walk away.

He strode forward and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Zoe feigned anger. ”Get off me!”

He scooped her up in his arms. ”Not a chance.”

”Damn it, you’re squishing my belly!”

Herman quickly put her down and reached out to rub her baby bump. ”Sorry, little one. Daddy got a little excited.”

”I’m asking you, have you dealt with that waitress yet?”

Herman gave her a sycophantic smile. ”Naturally, I was waiting for my dear wife to pass sentence.”

”Who’s your wife? In your dreams.”

”Who else could it be but you? Actually, Zoe, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

”What is it?”

”Let’s get remarried. That way, our child can be born with dignity and won’t be labeled as fatherless... For the baby’s sake, you should remarry me. Zoe, we were together for three years. Even if I didn’t love you then, you know exactly how I treated you, don’t you?”

”Do you really love me?”

”I do.”

”How can you prove it?”

”Haven’t these past few days been proof enough?” he asked, patting his chest plaintively. ”I’ve given you my heart, my everything, and you still refuse to acknowledge it. Zoe, you’re taking this too far! Where does that leave me?”

”If I told you to die, would you?”

”No.”

Zoe gave him an ”I knew it” look.

”Of course I wouldn’t. If I died, what would you do? What would our child do? Even if you remarried, the baby would still grow up without a biological father. Other kids would laugh at them, bully them. That’s my reason for living—to give our child a home, a complete one.”

Zoe had to admit, his words struck a chord with her.

”Zoe.” He stepped forward and took her hand. ”I’m so envious of your brother and Young Master Grant right now. Out of the three of us, I was the first one to get married, but I was also the first to get divorced. They’re going to be so happy from now on, but me... if you don’t forgive me, I’m afraid this will just keep going until after the baby is born.”

”Let me think about it,” Zoe said, her voice calm this time.

Herman nodded. Suddenly, his expression changed, twisting as if he were constipated.

He glanced down at his watch. ”Zoe, I gotta go! I’m late for my class.”

With that, he turned and ran to his car.

By the time he got to the university, the class bell had already rung.

He was more than ten minutes late for class.

Herman didn’t even have time to prep his lesson plan, just grabbing his textbook as he walked into the classroom.

”My apologies. I was delayed by a personal matter.”

”Professor, this is the fourth time this month.”

”Yeah, Professor! You’re not usually like this.”

”The professor has to lecture during the day, and then he has to go home and give ’lectures’ to the missus at night. It’s understandable if he’s a little late!”

The classroom immediately erupted in laughter.

Herman pulled a pen from his breast pocket and smiled down at the class. ”You all think that’s funny, do you?”

The words hung in the air, and the room instantly fell silent.

”Alright. Let’s begin.”