Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Silly nodded.

”Let’s go back.”

Silly’s Mom had just finished speaking when all three of their expressions changed. Behind them, beams of light were sweeping in their direction.

It sounded like there were voices.

Silly’s Mom quickly urged the other two, ”Hurry, hide!”

The three of them started running, but Chloe Marshall couldn’t keep up because of the shackles on her ankles and wrists.

Thinking fast, Silly’s Mom pushed Silly. ”You go hide! I won’t let anything happen to her!”

Silly, remembering the mission he shouldered, immediately ran off.

Silly’s Mom moved a large boulder and helped Chloe hide in the crevice behind it. Though it was a painful squeeze, Chloe Marshall didn’t dare make a sound.

She didn’t know where Silly’s Mom had hidden. She could only hear a large group of people jabbering in a language she didn’t understand.

She just prayed they would leave quickly.

Just as she was thinking this, a bloodcurdling scream pierced her ears. Her whole body tensed. The voice belonged to Silly’s Mom.

’She’s been caught!!!’

Chloe Marshall was overcome with emotion. She desperately wanted to rush out, even if it meant risking her life.

Anything but cowering here, too scared to move.

But she didn’t dare move, because she knew that if she went out now, it would be certain death—for both her and the child in her belly.

’My hands are cuffed, and I can barely walk with these shackles. What could I possibly do to help?!’

A series of agonizing screams, accompanied by the chorus of jabbering voices, finally came to an abrupt halt.

Chloe Marshall was desperate to know what had happened to her.

Even though the woman could be harsh with her words, she had been good to her. She didn’t want to see Silly’s Mom die.

The group of people left quickly, and the area fell silent once more.

Chloe Marshall used all her strength to push the boulder aside.

Darkness enveloped everything. She didn’t have a light, so she searched for Silly’s Mom by moonlight alone.

”Are you still here?”

”Chlo—”A faint voice came from nearby.

Chloe Marshall scrambled over. As she reached out to help her up, her hands touched a large patch of sticky, warm liquid. She flinched, knowing it was blood.

The metallic smell of it filled her nostrils.

”I’ll take you back.”

”Don’t—” she gasped weakly. It sounded like she was on the verge of death.

”I’ll take you back.”

”Don’t—” she gasped weakly, It sounded like she was on the verge of death.

”Listen to me... Ever since he met you, he’s changed. I know... he likes you... Chloe, you’ll stay by his side and protect him forever, won’t you?”

Chloe Marshall’s heart suddenly softened. ”Don’t die... But I... I have a man I love. I can’t promise you that.”

As if using the last of her strength, she grabbed Chloe Marshall’s hand.

”Those people... they’ve been trying to kill him for more than a decade. Stay with him, be good to him. Don’t... leave him. Let me go in peace... COUGH—”

Silly’s Mom coughed up a large mouthful of fresh blood.

Chloe Marshall thought about how, even though she wasn’t free, she owed her life to this mother and son. Without Silly, she would have died in that tree. Without Silly’s Mom, she too would have certainly been killed just now.

”Okay! I promise you!” ’I can’t be so selfish,’ she thought. ’I’ll worry about the future later.’

”He is Harrowin’s—”

Before she could finish, she breathed her last.

Chloe Marshall frantically called out to her, ”Silly’s Mom! Silly’s Mom!”

There was no response.

Footsteps approached, and a beam of light shone in her direction. Chloe Marshall looked toward the light and saw Silly standing there, holding a flashlight.

”Your... your mom... she’s dead,” Chloe Marshall stammered, clearly in shock.

He stood motionless. His voice held a trace of pain, yet it was unnervingly calm. ”I know.”

This time, he’d said a standard ”I,” not the rustic pronoun he usually used.

”Should we... find a place to bury your ma?”

And so, the two of them took shovels and dug a hole right there. They wrapped Silly’s Mom in a straw mat and buried her.

After burying Silly’s Mom, they didn’t dare linger and returned to the cellar.

Only the two of them remained.

They sat leaning against each other in total silence.

”Your mom is gone. Why aren’t you crying?”

He said in a low voice, ”Would crying do any good? Besides, she wasn’t my birth mother.”

Chloe Marshall felt as if she’d just heard the most beautiful lie on earth.

”Your mom is dead, and you’re still trying to disown her?”

He corrected her again. ”She wasn’t my birth mother. She was my wet nurse.”

”Wet nurse? Then where is your real mother?”

”In the Imperial Palace of Harrowin.” When he said this, Chloe didn’t sense any particular emotion from him regarding his birth mother. It was as if he were talking about a complete stranger.

Hearing this, Chloe Marshall immediately thought of the royal families of ancient times.

’All that scheming and plotting, brothers turning on each other for the throne... Is that what this is?’

From what she knew, Harrowin was not like Fravia. The country’s leader wasn’t chosen by public vote. Instead, the retiring president would choose a successor from among his own sons, selecting the one who was superior in wisdom, courage, and strategy.

However, since the leader could have three wives, the three women often resorted to any means necessary to ensure their own son would take power.

Chloe Marshall thought about what Silly’s Mom had said—that people had been constantly trying to kill him for over a decade. They were probably sent by the other two wives.

Compared to what she’d just witnessed, life in the cellar suddenly didn’t seem so bad.

The two of them sat like that all night, until the first rays of light appeared overhead.

He turned his head. ”Wifey, you hungry?”

Chloe Marshall nodded.

”I’ll get you something to eat.”

He handed her a steamed bun that was left over. ”Eat this for now. Later, I’ll dig out a bigger space over there so we can build a stove. We can’t keep eating cold, hard food, especially since you’re pregnant. You promised my ma you’d stay with me. Wifey, I won’t let you down in the future.”

Chewing on the bun, Chloe Marshall gave a stiff nod.

From that moment on, the two of them had only each other to depend on. There was no telling how long they would have to live like this, but Chloe Marshall suddenly felt a sense of peace. It was a peace that, for a moment, made her forget her longing for Ethan Ellsworth.

*

Quentin Grant arrived at the villa in Yarnia once again. When he got there, he found Nora Ainsworth watering the flowers in the garden. She was wearing light-colored jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt, squatting on the ground with a watering can in her hand.

She seemed lost in thought, her mind drifting.

Sensing someone’s presence, she looked up. The watering can fell from her hand with a clatter, but she quickly picked it back up.

”Young Master, what are you doing here?”

”I said I’d be back in three months, but it’s already been ten days past that.” He walked closer and squatted down beside her. ”Have you been all right?”

His voice was so gentle it sounded as if it might break if she were to say no.

She smiled, her tone turning cheerful. ”Of course, I’m fine. Thank goodness for that computer. It helps pass the time. Otherwise, I really don’t know how I would’ve gotten through day after day.”