Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Chapter 100: Chapter 98: Crashing into a Pair of Smiling Eyes (2)

Quentin Grant tightened his grip slightly, making her ache with pain.

”You’ve been working here for a long time, haven’t you?”

”About four or five years.”

”No wonder,” Quentin Grant said. With a sharp twist of his hand, Yvonne shrieked as her jaw popped out of its socket.

Her mouth hung open, unable to close, as drool streamed down her chin.

”Argle... mmmph...” Yvonne tried to say something, but no one could understand her.

Quentin Grant turned to the butler. ”Settle her accounts. Dock half a month’s pay as compensation for Miss Ainsworth’s emotional distress. You failed to supervise her properly, so you’ll be docked half a month’s pay as well.”

Although the butler was pained by the loss of money, he was also relieved. ’At least it’s better than getting fired.’

Once everyone had left, Herman Hawthorne crossed his legs and looked at him leisurely. ”So, how do you plan to compensate Nora for the harm Catherine caused? I know you’ve already decided not to hold Catherine responsible.”

Quentin Grant was silent for a moment. ”I can’t pursue it. I’ll have to let this go. Catherine’s background is... unusual. The matter is rather private, so I can’t say more.”

”Quentin, can I ask you a question about the two of them?”

”Go ahead.”

”In your heart, how do Nora and Catherine compare?” For Nora’s sake, Herman Hawthorne suddenly felt the need to know the answer.

”There’s no comparison. Nora already asked me that, and I gave her the same answer,” Quentin Grant said, picking up a teacup and blowing on it.

Herman Hawthorne didn’t press further. Quentin’s words made the answer perfectly clear.

”I’m heading out. Be a little nicer to her, especially now that she’s in this state.”

Quentin Grant rose to see him out. ”I know what I’m doing.”

Lying in bed all day had been torture enough for Nora Ainsworth when she’d fractured a bone before. She had only been well for a few days, and now she was back here again. This time her hand was also severely injured. Being confined to bed once more was an agony several layers deeper than before.

Lying there and staring at the ceiling was pure torture for her.

Just then, Quentin Grant came upstairs. She asked, ”Are you going to the office later?”

”No. I’ll be staying home until you’ve recovered.”

Nora Ainsworth stared at him and blurted out, ”You’d be that nice?”

Quentin Grant sat down at his computer without looking back. ”If you don’t like it, I don’t have to. I have plenty of work to do. Staying home to watch over you is already a huge waste of my time.”

Nora Ainsworth grimaced through the pain and nodded. ”Of course I like it. You should be taking full responsibility for this anyway. If it weren’t for you, would Catherine Callahan have been able to treat me like this?”

His hand, poised to turn on the computer, froze. His voice turned chilly. ”This matter ends here. I will compensate you.”

”You mean I’m just supposed to forget that Catherine Callahan did this to me? That I nearly died for nothing?”

”I told you,” he repeated, ”I will compensate you.”

”Then can you at least tell me how you plan to compensate me?” ’He’ll never understand,’ she thought. ’No amount of compensation could ever make up for what I’ve had to endure.’

Her teeth were chattering as she asked the question.

Quentin Grant swiveled his chair around to face her. After a moment of consideration, he finally spoke. ”Haven’t you always wanted to leave me?”

At his words, Nora Ainsworth’s head snapped up.

”You won’t have to wait a few years. Once you’ve recovered, I’ll let you go. And I won’t ever look for you again. How’s that? Is that compensation good enough for you?”

But she began to cry, unable to stop. ”In the end, it all comes down to a word from you. You lose nothing. I’m the one who’s been losing everything all along, and now *this* is supposed to be my grand compensation.”

”But isn’t this what you’ve always dreamed of? Forcing a woman to stay with me has grown tiresome.”

Through her tears, Nora Ainsworth said, ”In reality, this is just an excuse because you’ve grown tired of me. You might as well use this chance to get rid of me forever for Catherine’s sake. It would be perfect for both you and her.”

Quentin Grant stood up, a flush creeping into the corners of his eyes. ”Shouldn’t this be incredibly exciting for you? You’re finally getting rid of me. What are you crying about?”

Nora Ainsworth closed her eyes. ”These are tears of joy. The day has finally come.”

’But why did her heart ache with such throbbing pain?’

Quentin Grant sneered. ”But before you’ve fully recovered, I might still have... physical needs that require your help. It’s not so easy to find a new woman at a moment’s notice.”

”You shouldn’t look for a new woman,” she said slowly. ”Because—even if you find one, she’ll probably end up dead before long.”

”That’s not your concern. Since I gave you my promise, I won’t go back on my word.”

He turned back around, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard. Nora Ainsworth watched his back, the corners of her eyes stinging.

For nearly the entire day, he was busy with work, only stopping for meals.

Nora Ainsworth lay there quietly. As dull and boring as it was, she forced herself not to disturb him.

Just as it was getting close to bedtime, Catherine Callahan suddenly appeared at the bedroom door.

Quentin Grant was just about to shut down his computer. When he saw her, his tone was cold. ”What is it?”

Catherine Callahan’s eyes welled with tears. ”Quentin, can we please have a real talk?”

Nora Ainsworth looked over at Quentin Grant and saw him stand up. ”Let’s go downstairs.”

The two of them walked out of the bedroom, leaving Nora alone, staring at the doorway so intensely it felt like she could burn holes right through it. ’I wish I could flay that woman alive!’

’That woman is so shameless. She’s the one who put me in this state, yet she can pretend like nothing happened. She can even act like she’s the one who’s been wronged. I really have to take notes!’

”Go on, what do you want to talk about?” His attitude sent a chill down her spine. If he had been cold before, now he was completely detached.

Catherine Callahan lowered her head. ”Quentin, I was wrong. Can you please forgive me?”

”Why are you apologizing to me? I’m not the one you hit. If she had died, perhaps you could have gone to her grave to say this, though she probably wouldn’t have been able to hear you.”

He called out to a maid, ”Bring a coffee and a tea.”

Catherine Callahan wrung her hands. ”Quentin, actually, I should thank you for not making this public, and for stopping it from escalating.”

”If that’s all you came here to say, then we have nothing to talk about. I don’t care what you told my mother that night to completely reverse her opinion of you, but remember this: my mother has never had any say in my affairs. I don’t let others pressure me into doing things I don’t want to do. It’s just like all those years ago when my mother was dead set against me seeing you, and I did it anyway. You were the one who let go. Whatever your reasons were, don’t try to offer me that hand again.”

Catherine Callahan hadn’t expected Mrs. Grant’s words to have absolutely no effect on him.

”Have you fallen in love with Nora Ainsworth?”