Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”You still love me.”

She didn’t deny it. ”I never said I don’t love you. But just because we love each other doesn’t mean we have to be together, and just because we’re apart doesn’t mean I’ll forget. Quentin, let’s part on good terms. No matter how painful this is, don’t forget that this is the path I’ve chosen. Please, respect my decision this once.”

He calmed down, knowing in his heart that she had always loved him.

’She must have her reasons for not wanting to be with me.’

”I’m sorry.”

She placed her hand on his lips, looking at him with tears in her eyes. ”Don’t say that. There have never been any ’sorries’ between us. There’s only ’I love you.’ Loving too deeply... perhaps that in itself is a mistake.”

She forced a smile, her gaze meeting his, which was also blurred by tears.

”Quentin, let’s leave ourselves a way out. Let’s not push each other into a corner.”

He placed both hands on her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

”Okay.” Tears streamed down Quentin Grant’s face.

Their hearts were beating so close together.

He rested his forehead against hers, cupping her face with his hands.

”Nora, one last time. Our last time together.”

She closed her eyes and nodded.

They had walked side by side to this crossroads, but here, he went left, and she went right.

Drifting further and further apart.

They didn’t even say a final ’goodbye.’

He left. She sat naked on the bed, her hair disheveled.

’This time, it’s really over. We’ll never see each other again, will we?’

she thought.

’How many prince-and-cinderella stories in this world actually have a happy ending?’

’Most are ruined by the prince’s wicked queen mother and Cinderella’s two scheming stepsisters.’

’Even if she gets to wear the glass slippers and meet the prince for a brief moment, she’s bound to end up right back where she started.’

’That was us.’

*

A few minutes after Quentin Grant left, President Harding suddenly called.

”Hello? President Harding.”

”Nora, you finished your costume photo shoot today, right?”

”Yes.”

He suddenly sounded hesitant. ”Um, you should come back. The role for this show has been recast at the last minute.”

Nora Ainsworth was a bit stunned. ”With who?”

”Sharon Ainsworth. She’s transferred over to our company now.”

Nora Ainsworth suddenly understood. She had been replaced.

She got dressed, took her luggage, and took a car back to the city. By then, the sky was growing dark.

She had just gotten out of the car and set down her suitcase, which only contained a few articles of clothing she had kept at the company.

Sharon Ainsworth walked out of the company’s main entrance, followed by her assistant and manager.

Seeing Nora Ainsworth, she covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. ”I really didn’t expect to see you here. Total surprise, huh? I’m the one who had your role taken away.”

A corner of Nora Ainsworth’s mouth lifted. ”What does it matter? It’s just a trashy production. Whoever wants to film it can have it. It’s a perfect fit for you, actually.”

Sharon Ainsworth snorted. ”Nora Ainsworth, you’re such an idiot. Your popularity was soaring after filming *Love when the sun comes out*, but then you pulled a disappearing act and no one could find you. Now that you’re back, even if you have some fame left, it’s nothing like before. That’s how this industry works. If you don’t keep putting out new work, you get forgotten fast, you know?”

Nora Ainsworth replied calmly, ”Thank you for the kind advice.”

She walked past Sharon Ainsworth, who snorted coldly and headed for her van.

Nora Ainsworth dragged her suitcase to the door of President Harding’s office.

”Come in.”

She went inside. Seeing it was her, President Harding immediately stood up. ”Ah, Nora.”

”Mhm.”

”Come here and take a look at this.”

Nora Ainsworth’s gaze fell on a few sheets of paper on the desk.

”President Harding, what is the meaning of this?”

”Nora, it’s like this. The higher-ups told me to terminate your contract. We can give you a larger breach of contract fee.” His tone was carefully worded.

”The higher-ups? Who?”

”Well—”

”President Harding, if you don’t tell me, I’m not signing. Even if it means I won’t have a job, even if I get blackballed, I won’t sign.”

President Harding knew about her past relationship with Quentin Grant. He had no choice but to sit back down in his chair and say slowly, ”Nora, who else could it be? It’s the Grant Family, of course. They’re trying to blacklist you nationwide, at any cost. The Grant Matriarch herself gave the order, no matter the price. I don’t know what happened between you and their family, but I can give you some extra money. Being blacklisted like this... you won’t be able to get a normal office job or continue to make it in the entertainment industry.”

Nora Ainsworth understood. She nodded. ”Okay.”

Without another word, she signed her name on the signature line.

After signing, she picked up her luggage and turned to leave.

President Harding called out, ”Nora, you can go to the finance department now to collect the money. They’re working overtime tonight.”

”Okay. Thank you for taking care of me all this time, President Harding.”

Nora Ainsworth left the office. She went to the finance department and collected a card, which contained several hundred thousand yuan from her previous television series that hadn’t been fully paid out yet.

All her things from Quentin Grant’s fourth-floor apartment were gone, but thankfully, the Jade Pendant around her neck was still there.

’I’ll get a new bank card tomorrow.’

’There’s a lot of money on my old card, too. If I’m frugal, it should be enough to live on for at least ten or twenty years without working.’

Nora Ainsworth went to a hotel and stayed the night.

She took out her phone, wanting to call someone, but she didn’t know who to call.

Just then, Leon Lynch called.

”How did the costume photo shoot go today?”

”The photos went well, but I’m back in the city now. The lead role for that show was recast. It’s not me anymore. And I just terminated my contract with the company.”

Leon Lynch frowned. ”Fuck, what happened? Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

”I’m at a hotel, about to go get something to eat.”

”Which hotel? Tell me, I’ll come pick you up.”

”Let’s meet tomorrow. I have to go to the bank to get a new card. The one-bedroom apartment I had at ’Tempting Lips’ hasn’t been sold yet, so I can just move back in. The furniture and everything is still pretty new.”

’If we can be regular friends, then why not?’

’My days are too lonely and my life is too bleak. If there isn’t even one person by my side, wouldn’t that be just too miserable?’

Marlon Marshall snuck into Jean Grant’s bedroom every night. He had secretly taken basically anything that could be sold.

Having witnessed Carol Young’s death firsthand, he had been terrified for the first few days, but he slowly got over it.

A dead person posed no threat to him.

For a whole week, he saw no sign of Jean Grant returning, but he continued to come every night as usual.

This method of waiting for the prey to walk into the trap was a bit old-fashioned, but it actually worked.

Tonight, Jean Grant came back.

If she were alone, she definitely wouldn’t have dared to come back. After all, she was still terrified from what happened last time.

She came back with Nicholas Ainsworth.

Marlon Marshall was in the next room. Hearing the noise, he got up to check and saw there were two of them.

Seeing the two of them lying on the large bed together, he was consumed by a burning rage, as if he were watching his own wife betray him right before his eyes.