Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

With that, he left.

He didn’t leave any time for the reporters’ questions, but they didn’t dare complain. For a man of his stature, it was already a rare honor for him to offer a clarification in person.

Quentin Grant’s statement, from another perspective, also implied that Catherine Callahan would resort to any means necessary, subtly warning her to watch her step.

Soon after, Quentin Grant’s clarification spread across the internet. Netizens sighed knowingly, ”So that’s what really happened.”

But Nora Ainsworth never saw this news.

She sat outside under the sun, feeling dejected.

Seeing how unhappy she was, an older woman sat down next to her. ”What’s wrong, Amy?”

”It’s nothing.”

”The Young Master just called,” the woman said. ”He told me the things online aren’t true and that he’s already issued a clarification.”

”If he hadn’t, I imagine so many of his fans would have been heartbroken.”

The older woman simply smiled without a word. She stood up and said, ”This old lady is going to take a nap. You should rest too once you’re done with your work.”

”Okay.”

Nora Ainsworth walked over to the swing and sat down, giving it a gentle push. She gripped the chains tightly, rested her head on her hands, and closed her eyes.

’I don’t understand why his negative press makes me feel so miserable.’

’A few more months of work here, and then I’ll go back to Fravia.’

Chloe Marshall was forty-one days pregnant. The way pregnancy months are calculated is different from calendar months, which are usually thirty or thirty-one days, or sometimes twenty-eight.

Pregnancy is measured with four seven-day weeks making one month. The common saying of a ten-month pregnancy actually means the due date arrives in about nine and a half calendar months.

By that measure, Chloe Marshall was now a little over one month and one week pregnant.

Her stomach still looked as flat as ever.

She had gained a fair bit of weight. Silly’s Mom made her eat five or six meals a day, all the best food the family had.

Although in Chloe Marshall’s eyes, this was food she rarely ate back home, here it was a delicacy.

When they told her to eat, she ate—if not for herself, then for the baby.

Silly still wouldn’t leave her side, even waiting outside the door when she went to the bathroom.

Chloe Marshall had already given up on escaping. Even if Silly wasn’t watching her, the restraints on her hands and feet made it impossible.

So for now, she’d abandoned any thoughts of running away.

She obediently spent her days eating and sleeping.

She didn’t have to do a thing.

Silly built her a swing. When she had nothing else to do, she would sit on it and sway, and Silly would push her from behind.

Their interactions were like those of a long-married couple—a steady, quiet, and gentle warmth.

Days like these made Chloe Marshall gradually grow accustomed to this place.

She had been wearing the same set of pajamas she arrived in for many days, and it had been so long since she’d showered that she felt disgusted with her own filth.

Her hair was in slightly better condition. She had washed it once since arriving, and she had a comb to brush it.

She held onto a sliver of hope that Ethan Ellsworth would find this place, discover her, and take her away. So, she spent most of her days waiting on the swing.

She hoped for a miracle. But as morning turned to night, day after day, her flat belly slowly began to swell. The journey from hope to acceptance, and finally to despair, was enough to sink her into a deep melancholy.

Chloe Marshall often wondered, ’Has Boss Ellsworth forgotten about me? Has he already given up searching?’

As the days stretched on, she grew desperate for news from Fravia.

But the more anxious she became, the more impossible it was to find anything out.

Soon, it was the first day of the fourth month. By now, she was 108 days pregnant.

On the evening of that day, Silly’s Mom and Silly’s Dad returned from the market, their faces grave.

The two of them came straight to their room.

Then she said to them, ”Silly, do you remember that secret cellar we dug a long time ago?”

Silly nodded. ”I remember.”

”In a bit, I want you to pack your things, take your wife, and go there. Move all the food over. It’ll be enough to last you a long time. Your dad and I have to go on a long trip, and we don’t know... if we’ll be able to come back.” Her tone was heavy, not sounding like she was faking or joking.

Silly’s face grew stern. ”Ma, tell me, what happened? Where are you and Dad going?”

Silly’s Mom hesitated, glancing at Chloe Marshall. Then, she hardened her resolve and said to Silly’s Dad, ”I’m not going. You go by yourself. If you’re not back within ten days, I’ll know something’s happened. I can’t rest easy leaving these two children here.”

Chloe Marshall could tell from their words that something terrible was about to happen.

But she didn’t dare to ask.

They packed quickly. Blankets and other necessities were moved into the cellar, which seemed to have been prepared long ago. Food, drink, water for use—everything was moved over.

It seemed they were preparing for a long stay.

Under the cover of darkness, the group made their way to the cellar entrance with a flashlight. Silly went down first, holding the light, followed by Chloe Marshall.

She descended slowly. Once at the bottom, she discovered that while the entrance was small, the space below was surprisingly spacious—a hidden world of its own.

Silly’s Mom, however, lingered at the top, seeming to be giving Silly’s Dad some last-minute instructions.

After a short while, she finally came down, and the entrance was sealed shut in an instant.

It was dark, damp, and cold below, but since it was now April, it wasn’t too unbearable.

After spreading out the blankets, the three of them lay down together. The space was incredibly cramped.

However, there was a small corner that served as a toilet. It had a gap above it for ventilation so they wouldn’t suffocate down there.

What Chloe Marshall hadn’t expected was that they would actually live in there for ten days.

She didn’t know how the time passed, but with each passing day, the expression on Silly’s Mom’s face grew heavier.

The woman, whose words could sometimes be harsh, had grown much quieter and barely spoke at all.

By the tenth day, all three of them understood with a grim certainty that Silly’s Dad was not coming back.

As for whether he was dead or what had happened to him, Chloe Marshall had no clue.

She felt like she was about to suffocate in there.

Silly’s Mom finally decided they should go out. ”I’ll go up and take a look first,” she said. ”You two come up for some fresh air.”

One by one, the three of them climbed out under the cover of night.

The moment she was out, Chloe Marshall realized what a wonderful thing it was to breathe fresh air.

The three of them returned to their original shack.

But what they saw left all three of them in utter shock.

The shack they had built was now a heap of tragic ruins.

The small yard they once had was gone.

Had the place been ransacked by bandits?

Silly collapsed to the ground as if his soul had left him. ”Silly,” his mother said, ”your dad... he’s probably not in this world anymore.”

”That’s impossible! Ma, you’re lying to me.”

Silly’s Mom slowly got back to her feet. She cupped his face in her hands, her whole body trembling like a leaf. ”Silly, you have to remember what I told you before. Listen to me. If anything happens to me, you do exactly as I said, understand?”