Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Hearing this, Aaron Sterling’s expression changed instantly. ”Mom, what do you mean by that?”

Mrs. Sterling repeated herself. ”What do I mean? I mean that no matter how rich her family is, we won’t accept someone like her. With your qualifications, it wouldn’t be hard to find another girl with a good family background who is perfect in every way. Why would we need a woman with a disability like that?”

”Mom, are you discriminating against people with disabilities?” Aaron stared directly at her. ”Sierra’s leg is like that because some criminals hurt her. Who would want to be like that?”

”I don’t care how her leg ended up like that. But I won’t have a woman who gets people gossiping just by the way she walks marry into our family.”

Aaron turned to his father. ”Dad, what’s your opinion?”

”I think a girl’s character comes first; everything else is secondary. Besides, didn’t we see the photos? Sierra is very beautiful.” He turned to his wife. ”Why focus on her injury? Do you think she won’t be able to get married if we reject her?”

”I’m not saying she can’t get married. But, Honey, don’t you think this is a terrible idea? In any case, I can’t accept it.”

”You’re not the one marrying her, so what is there for you to not accept? As long as our son is willing, that’s what’s important.”

”But I’ll be her mother-in-law! I’ll have to see her for the rest of my life. Isn’t that important?” Mrs. Sterling stood up. ”I’m going to call the Ainsworth Family directly. I absolutely refuse to approve this marriage.”

Aaron shouted at her, ”Mom!”

Mrs. Sterling was startled and turned her head. ”You can shout all you want, I still won’t agree. I’ll arrange for you to meet other girls tomorrow. Son, listen to your mother. I guarantee that after you meet some other girls, you’ll realize that girls like Sierra Ainsworth are a dime a dozen.”

Aaron had originally thought his parents wouldn’t see this as a big deal. He never expected his mother to be so concerned. Only now did he understand. ’This must have been Faye Sinclair’s intention—to be honest about any problems upfront and avoid an even bigger mess down the line.’

”Mom, you know who Sierra’s sister is, right?”

”I know. Isn’t it Nora Ainsworth, the one who was in the news? She’s from Fravia. And Nora Ainsworth’s husband is Quentin Grant. So what?”

”Mom, if I marry Sierra, our family’s business will do even better. Quentin Grant will be my brother-in-law. Don’t you think he’ll help the Sterling Group? Besides, if you’re bothered by Sierra’s slight limp, we can just have her stay home most of the time. When we get married, I’ll carry her to the pastor. No one will notice.”

Mr. Sterling felt he had a point. ”Honey, our son is being very reasonable. If you make it impossible for them to marry over this, what will the Ainsworth family think? If the Ainsworths and Quentin Grant decide to target us in business, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Sterling finally sat back down on the sofa and looked at Aaron. ”Is that really what you think?”

Aaron felt a little uncomfortable. He had only said that to get his mother to agree to the relationship; he hadn’t really thought about anything else.

But he still nodded. ”Yes.”

”Then bring her home for me to see tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Aaron nodded. If not for his mother’s prior disapproval, he might have been excited enough to give her a kiss. Now, however, he was in no mood for it.

He went upstairs, sent a text to Sierra, and then lay in bed, his eyes open, unable to sleep.

It was one of the rare times he suffered from insomnia.

「The next day.」

Nora Ainsworth woke up early. The rain from the previous night had left the morning air exceptionally fresh.

She made breakfast, and the family of four sat at the dining table, enjoying a leisurely atmosphere.

”Alright, sweeties, hurry up and finish eating so we can go to school. Your auntie and Dorothy are probably already waiting.”

”Almost done.” Elmer Grant picked up his glass of milk and drank it slowly.

Dylan Grant finished his sandwich, ate an egg, and drank his milk. Then, the mother and her two sons headed out the door.

Quentin Grant watched them leave, the corners of his lips turning up slightly.

Outside the main gate, just as she expected, Chloe Marshall and Dorothy were already waiting. They got in the car, and Nora Ainsworth drove toward the school.

When they arrived at the kindergarten entrance, the director and the preschool teachers were already waiting.

After the agreement was signed and the money was paid, the director took her packed belongings and left the kindergarten.

On her first day in charge, Nora Ainsworth asked the teachers to call all the parents and ask them to attend a parents’ meeting.

The three children walked into the classroom hand in hand. A middle-aged man in a suit was sitting in Fatty’s seat. Seeing Elmer, Fatty shouted, ”Dad, that’s him! Yesterday, he took a piece of chalk and shoved it in my eye!”

The middle-aged man took one look, and his expression changed on the spot. He slapped his son across the face. ”You little brat, do you have any idea who they are?”

Fatty, of course, had no idea. Tears of indignation streamed down his face. ”How was I supposed to know?”

Fatty’s dad dragged him out of the classroom and gave him a stern lecture.

”Those two are the sons of the most powerful man in Alveria. How could you start a fight with them? You need to do everything you can to get on their good side.”

Fatty grumbled, ”Why should I have to suck up to them? I don’t want to.”

Fatty’s dad was furious. ”How can you be so dense? I’m an employee at the Grant Group, and their dad is my boss! If you get into a conflict with them, it’ll be bad for me. Do you want me to lose my job?”

Fatty shook his head.

”So, from now on, you do whatever the twins tell you to do.”

Fatty pouted. ”If they tell me to drink pee, do I have to drink it?”

”Yes.”

”...”

”Dad, their dad is so powerful. What kind of work does he do, exactly?”

”The whole company belongs to their family.”

”...”

Only then did Fatty understand why his dad had said all that. ”Okay, Dad. I won’t cause any more trouble.”

”That’s a good boy. Dad’s going to work now. Hurry back inside and apologize to them.”

Fatty scurried back into the classroom on his stout, short legs.

He went straight to the twins and gave them a deep bow. ”What happened yesterday was all my fault. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

Being as smart as he was, Dylan Grant naturally knew that this suddenly earnest-looking boy had been given a harsh lecture by his father. ’Still, this is good. From now on, he won’t dare to play any more petty tricks in class.’

He looked at Elmer, letting him speak.

”You don’t have to put it like that. I’m the one who shoved chalk in your eye yesterday,” Elmer said.

”It’s fine, it’s fine. It doesn’t bother me at all now. And besides, I’m the one who shouldn’t have thrown chalk at Dorothy’s eye.”

Elmer grinned. ”Be honest, did your dad say something to you just now?”

”No!” Fatty, of course, wouldn’t admit it.

”Fine, have it your way. Go back to your seat. You’re standing right in front of us and completely blocking our view.”

”...Okay.”

Dorothy asked in a small voice, ”Dylan, why isn’t the teacher here yet?”

”She’s probably in a meeting. Let’s just wait,” Dylan said.

”Okay.”

**

The parents’ meeting was held in the school’s reception hall.

By now, all the parents had arrived. Rumor had it that the mother of Quentin Grant’s children was about to become the new director of the kindergarten, so of course, none of them dared to be late.

Nora Ainsworth stood at the podium and began to speak. ”Yesterday was the first day I sent my two sons to school here. To be honest, my sons and Ethan Ellsworth’s daughter were previously homeschooled. However, I believed that a school environment with many other children would be healthier for their development, which is why I chose this school. Who would have thought that yesterday, Ethan Ellsworth’s daughter and my son would discover the former director’s husband’s despicable behavior? It was truly disheartening. After careful consideration, I decided to buy this kindergarten for the safety of our three children, as well as yours.”

A round of applause rose from the audience. Nora continued, ”Previously, the school operated on a semi-boarding model. Starting today, we will switch to a full-boarding system. Children will be picked up to go home once a week. When parents come to pick them up, we will hold a meeting like this one to review the week’s surveillance footage together. This is to give you peace of mind. As for educating the children, we will not hit or scold them, nor will we cause them any physical or psychological harm. Furthermore, our school will only hire outstanding female teachers with proven educational experience. Also, the retired professor from a top domestic university who previously tutored our children at home will now come to teach one class a day for the intermediate level. He will be the only male teacher, and he will leave the school immediately after his lesson.”

”Director Ainsworth, why won’t he be teaching the advanced and beginner classes as well?”

”The professor only teaches one class per day, and he is coming specifically to teach our three children. If not for that, he would not have agreed to teach at a kindergarten.” The professor had been personally invited by Quentin Grant to be a private tutor. A man of his stature continued to teach not for money, but simply to stave off loneliness; being around children put him in a good mood.

Hearing her words, the parents of the students in the intermediate class were quite pleased.

”Additionally, while the students are living in the dorms, our family’s private security team will be stationed here to ensure their safety, so you can all rest assured. A despicable act like what happened yesterday will absolutely never happen again under my supervision.”

Thunderous applause erupted from below. The parents were utterly convinced by her words.

The wife of a tycoon becoming a kindergarten director for the sake of her children—wasn’t that all the more admirable? After all, running a kindergarten was no easy job.

With that kind of dedication, she was bound to want to do a good job.

At that moment, a woman in her fifties sitting in the back row stared ahead, her eyes flaring with hatred. She was one of the kitchen and cleaning staff, having just been hired the day before.

After the parents’ meeting ended, she hurried to the restroom to make a phone call. The person she dialed was Saphira Sutton.

”Saphira, it’s Mom. The school is switching to a closed-campus system. And I expect the new director will be holding a meeting for us employees in a little while.”

”Mom, don’t do anything rash for now. We’ll wait a while before we make our move.”

”Okay. I’ll find a chance to get a look at those two little bastards.”

After hanging up, the middle-aged woman left the restroom. Sure enough, after the parents’ meeting came the staff meeting.

The staff meeting included the preschool teachers, the key kitchen staff, and the four middle-aged cleaning ladies, which, of course, included Saphira Sutton’s mother.