Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Mrs. Sutton knew her daughter was right. When her own son was still alive, no one would have dared to bully their child.

”Should we send the baby to preschool?”

”Where? The one where you work?”

Saphira Sutton immediately shot down the idea. ”Absolutely not. Those two kids would definitely recognize our baby if they saw him. It would be bad if they went home and told their mom. Oh, right! Before, a child managed to get close to Dorothy Ellsworth and become her good friend. We can have my sister’s daughter enroll in the middle class and try the same tactic again.”

”Wouldn’t repeating the same plan just make them more suspicious?”

”Mom, kids are innocent. Even the sharpest child isn’t as savvy as an adult. My sister’s daughter isn’t stupid either. She’s quick-witted and has a very lively personality. I guarantee she’ll be able to make friends with Ethan Ellsworth’s daughter. Once that happens, getting close to those two boys will be a piece of cake. But we can’t just go for the bait right away. We need to use a long line to catch a big fish. We’ll have my niece stay at the preschool for a while. Over time, they’ll lower their guard. Besides, from what I know, Dorothy Ellsworth is just an average kid. How smart can an average kid be? She might not even be as smart as my niece.”

”That sounds solid,” Mrs. Sutton said in agreement. ”Alright, Saphira, call your sister now and tell her about this.”

”Okay, I’ll call her right now.”

After dinner at the Ellsworth home, the family of three sat together watching the news.

When the broadcast switched to international news, a segment about Harrowin appeared.

”There has been a minor disturbance in Harrowin. Jonathan Bancroft and The Matriarch, implicated in multiple major crimes, were executed this afternoon inside the Imperial Palace. Lillian Bancroft’s actions have received unanimous approval from the nation’s citizens...”

Watching this, Chloe Marshall remarked with great satisfaction, ”It couldn’t have been easy for Silly to make a decision like that. After all, Jonathan Bancroft was always just a puppet, and he was his only brother. He didn’t show any mercy. I thought he would sentence them to life in prison at most.”

”This time... he’s really impressed me,” Ethan Ellsworth said slowly. ”Perhaps he felt that if he didn’t do this, he would be failing Quinn Sullivan’s family, and their unborn child.”

”I have a feeling Silly might make a decision that will shock all of us. He’s in such a high position, yet he has no one by his side. Maybe... he’ll really leave that place.”

Ethan pressed, ”Chloe, why don’t you give him a call?”

Chloe Marshall pulled out her phone. ”Alright.”

She quickly dialed his number. She tried several times with no answer, but on the final attempt, the call finally connected.

Lillian Bancroft’s voice was slurred with drink, and Chloe Marshall picked up on it immediately. ”Have you been drinking?”

”Yeah,” he said. ”To be honest, I don’t feel good about it. On the contrary... I feel a little awful.”

”Since it’s already done, don’t dwell on what can’t be changed.”

”Chloe, Dorothy’s household registration in Harrowin was never canceled.”

Chloe Marshall glanced at Ethan Ellsworth. They exchanged a look before she continued asking, ”Are you saying that Dorothy has two registrations right now? Dual citizenship?”

”Yes. I had my reasons.”

An ominous feeling washed over Chloe Marshall. ”Silly, did you do this because...?”

”Right now, aside from a few old-timers, there’s practically no one in the Bancroft Clan who can take over as Supreme Leader. And I... am not destined to hold this position for long...”

Ethan Ellsworth didn’t get angry, but Chloe Marshall did. ”But Dorothy isn’t your biological child! Such a powerful position must be inherited by someone from the Bancroft Clan. This isn’t right!”

”The Bancroft Clan has long since mixed its blood with outsiders. I don’t care about that. All I know is that if someone else takes this seat, there might not be peace between Harrowin and Fravia.”

”Silly, don’t be rash. Dorothy is a simple, naive girl. She has no cunning. She’s completely unsuitable, and she’s still so young.”

”Then we’ll wait until she’s a little older.”

”Silly... Absolutely not...”

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The line had gone dead. Chloe Marshall turned to Ethan Ellsworth in a panic. ”Boss Ellsworth, you have to think of something.”

Ethan Ellsworth was very calm. ”He’s the head of a nation, and we’re just ordinary citizens. How can we fight him? Besides, I think there’s some truth to what he said. Let’s talk about this after he sobers up. Can’t you see he’s drunk right now?”

Only then did Chloe Marshall’s heart relax.

’But I will not let my daughter spend her life cooped up in the Imperial Palace,’ she thought. ’That would be a waste of her life.’

’No childhood joy, no freedom to relax. It wouldn’t be fair to her.’

”I have to ask Dorothy about this, just to sound her out,” Chloe Marshall said before getting up and heading upstairs.

She quietly pushed open the door to Dorothy’s bedroom and found her sitting on the bed, reading a comic book. When Dorothy saw her, her eyes curved into crescents. ”Mama, come quick! Look, isn’t this magical girl pretty?”

”She is,” she said, sitting down next to her and glancing at the page.

”I think so too.”

”Mama, where’s Papa?”

”He’s downstairs. Dorothy, Mama wants to ask you a question.”

Dorothy put down her comic and looked at her. ”What is it?”

”If... and Mama’s just saying if... you had to go live in the Imperial Palace all by yourself, would you want to?”

”As long as Mama’s there, I’ll go. And Godfather will be there too, right?”

”What if Godfather wasn’t there? And I wasn’t there either? Just you, all alone.”

”Then where would you go, Mama? And where would Godfather go?”

”Mama doesn’t know either.”

Dorothy Ellsworth threw her arms around her mother’s neck. ”I don’t want to!”

Her voice was choked with tears. ”I don’t want to stay in the Imperial Palace all alone! Without Dylan and Elmer, without Papa and Mama, without Godfather... what would I do there all by myself?!”

Chloe Marshall patted her back. ”Mama won’t let you go.”

Hearing those words, Dorothy Ellsworth finally calmed down.

When she returned to their room, Ethan Ellsworth immediately asked, ”How did it go?”

Chloe Marshall shook her head. She then took off her shoes, climbed into bed, and lay down. ”I’ll respect our child’s wishes. If she were willing, I would tell her about all the potential difficulties and hardships she might face. But since she isn’t, no one can force her.”

”Good.” Ethan Ellsworth figured it was highly likely that Lillian Bancroft was just spouting drunken nonsense and that it couldn’t be taken seriously.

The next day, when Nora Ainsworth arrived at the school, Chloe Marshall told her what had happened.

After hearing the story, Nora Ainsworth also found it unbelievable.

However, her commentary was very objective. ”If he thinks Dorothy is the best choice, then you tell him that as long as Dorothy is willing, you and Young Master Ellsworth will have no objections. But if Dorothy isn’t willing, then he can forget about it.”

”That’s exactly what I was thinking...”

”There are pros and cons, I suppose. But my advice is that it’s better not to do this. After all, Dorothy is a girl. You shouldn’t put so much pressure on her small shoulders. Why make a child bear something even an adult couldn’t handle?”

Chloe Marshall thought that made sense. Just as she was about to say something, her phone rang.

She checked the caller ID and said to Nora Ainsworth, ”Speak of the devil.”

”Quick, answer it.”

Chloe Marshall swiped to answer and put the phone to her ear. ”It’s me.”

”Chloe, what I said yesterday was really out of line.”

”Silly, if you insist on this, then I’m afraid in the future we...”

”No...” he answered hastily. ”I will ask Dorothy for her opinion. I’ll let her own thoughts decide.”

Hearing this, Chloe Marshall’s expression softened considerably. ”I asked for her opinion last night. She doesn’t want to.”

”Tonight, let me video chat with her myself.”

”Alright.” After hanging up, Chloe Marshall said, ”That wasn’t just ’out of line.’ It nearly scared me to death.”

Nora Ainsworth chuckled. ”It’s okay. Anyway, since we have nothing else to do, how about we go check the surveillance monitors?”

”You don’t need to. The teachers wouldn’t dare do anything to the kids. They’re very smart.”

”But I still want to see how the kids are doing in class.”

Just as they were about to go, Mrs. Sutton suddenly appeared in the office.

Seeing her, Nora Ainsworth asked, ”Mrs. Sutton, can I help you with something?”

”Headmistress, it’s like this. My granddaughter is ready for preschool, and after thinking it over, I still feel our preschool is the best. I came to ask for your opinion. Would it be possible for her to enroll here?”

Nora Ainsworth nodded. ”Of course. We’re actually one student short of fifty, which is our target enrollment number. You can have her come over, yes.”

”She’s waiting at the door with her backpack on right now,” Mrs. Sutton said, looking extremely excited and not knowing what to do with her hands.

”Then call her in.”

Mrs. Sutton quickly turned and brought her granddaughter inside.

Nora Ainsworth asked, ”Has she attended the junior class already?”

”She has. It’s time for her to be in the middle class.”

”Alright then, to the middle class it is. What’s her name?”

Mrs. Sutton smiled. ”Her name is May Jennings.”

Nora Ainsworth nodded. ”Just pay the tuition to Chloe, and I’ll take her to her classroom.”

”Okay, okay, great.”

In the middle classroom, the students had moved their stools into a circle and were playing a game.

Nora Ainsworth called the teacher out and told her this was a new student. The teacher then led May Jennings into the classroom.

”Everyone, this is our newest classmate, May Jennings. Let’s all welcome her.”

A flurry of small hands applauded enthusiastically.

”Come on, May, why don’t you introduce yourself to the class.”

She nodded. ”Hello everyone, my name is May Jennings. I’m four years old. I can play the piano, I can draw, I can dance, and I can sing.”

Fatty shouted, ”May Jennings, why don’t you dance for us!”

She nodded. ”Okay.”

She took the sides of her skirt in both hands and began to dance gracefully.

The girls watching from below cheered.

Only Dorothy wasn’t impressed. Her dancing was much better than May’s, but she was being especially low-key these days and didn’t like to show off.

”Wasn’t that a lovely dance?” the teacher asked, being the first to applaud.

”Lovely!” the children echoed.

Elmer Grant said to his brother, ”You call that lovely? All she did was hold her skirt and twirl in circles. Her dancing isn’t that great. It’s not as good as Dorothy’s.”

Hearing this, Dylan Grant nodded in agreement.