Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Early in the morning, Nora Ainsworth woke up, made breakfast, and after the three of them finished eating, she dressed the two kids, got their backpacks on, and walked them to kindergarten, holding one by each hand.

”Mommy, you know what? Yesterday afternoon, the teacher said that since school just started, everyone had to introduce themselves again, and she asked me what my good qualities were,” Elmer said, shaking her hand.

”And what did you tell her?”

”I only said one thing.” Elmer grinned. ”I said my greatest strength is that I’m handsome.”

Nora looked him up and down. ’Who did he get this smug narcissism from? I’m not like that, am I?’

”Then what’s your weakness?”

”Still being handsome. Because I’m so handsome, the little girls in my class are always taking advantage of me. They hold my hand, and sometimes, they even steal a kiss on my cheek.”

Nora burst out laughing, her eyes dancing with amusement.

”Oh my, our Elmer is really something, huh? Already scouting out daughters-in-law for Mommy at such a young age.”

Elmer skipped and hopped, letting go of her hand and walking backward to face her. ”Too many girls like your son! When the time comes, Mommy, you’ll be spoiled for choice.”

Nora felt a little worried. ’He’s already such a smooth talker at this age. What’s he going to be like when he grows up?!’

Just as they reached the kindergarten gate, a little girl about two or three years old came out. When she saw the Grant brothers, she skipped over and asked in a childish voice, ”Elmer, is this your mommy?”

”Yes.”

”Ma’am, my name is Melody White.”

Nora smiled. ”Hello.”

”Ma’am, can I come over to your house to play sometime?”

”Of course, you can. You’re always welcome.”

Little Melody White smiled excitedly, revealing two rows of small white teeth. ”That’s great! Thank you, ma’am.”

”You’re welcome.”

Elmer peeked out and said, ”Not bad. Already learning how to get along with your mother-in-law.”

Dylan Grant said to Nora, ”Mommy, you should go to work. Elmer and I are going inside now.”

Nora nodded. ”Wait here for Mommy after school, and don’t run off. There are a lot of kidnappers out there. If they snatch you and sell you, you’ll never see Mommy again, understand?”

The two children nodded seriously.

Watching them go inside, Nora finally left.

She took a bus to the film set.

In this production, she was an extra, earning one hundred yuan a day.

It was quite exhausting by the end of the day.

As soon as she arrived, she saw the producer on his phone, furiously making a call and fuming.

”You show up whenever you feel like it! You’re completely uncooperative, making everyone wait for you. What is your problem?”

Not knowing what was said on the other end, the producer furiously hung up.

Then he stormed off the set.

Nora waited on set with all the other actors. After a long wait, they finally saw the producer return.

His expression was grim, and the lead actress was trailing behind him.

Seeing this, the director came forward and asked, ”Can we start filming now?”

The lead actress chuckled. ”So sorry to have kept everyone waiting. Let’s shoot.”

The morning shoot went very smoothly, but the afternoon was not so fortunate.

The lead actress had a dangerous action scene in the script. At first, she had no objections and said she would do it herself, but at the critical moment, she claimed she was afraid of getting hurt and told the crew to find a stunt double.

After discussing it, the director and producer were about to call for a stunt double when, with a casual glance, the producer’s eyes landed on Nora Ainsworth.

He looked her up and down.

He walked toward her as if he’d discovered a new continent.

”You’re an extra?”

Nora stood up and looked at him calmly. ”Yes.”

”What’s your name?”

”Nora Ainsworth.”

The producer’s brow furrowed. Then, looking at her, he asked, ”You’re the actress from Fravia?”

Nora didn’t deny it. ”Yes, Producer. It’s just that I offended someone here in this country and was blacklisted.”

She stated the fact very frankly.

The producer’s mind raced. He turned, walked over to the director, and called the screenwriter over as well.

The three of them discussed for a moment, looked up Nora Ainsworth’s previous work—*Love when the sun comes out* and a few commercials—and made a major decision.

They would try writing a new supporting female role for her and see what the reaction was.

And so, Nora Ainsworth signed onto the script, getting upgraded from an extra to a supporting actress by a stroke of luck.

When word of this spread through the set, everyone thought Nora Ainsworth had just gotten incredibly lucky.

But when her promotional stills were released, everyone shut their mouths.

In her photos, Nora Ainsworth’s presence and charisma far surpassed the lead actress’s.

The producer, screenwriter, and director all agreed: this actress had the potential to become a huge star.

Filming had just begun, only two or three days in, when the lead actress started throwing tantrums, demanding the director and screenwriter add more intimate scenes for her. The director was displeased, but the producer suggested they meet her demands, which is why she had returned to set.

The lead actress seemed to have noticed as well that this newly promoted supporting actress was brilliant, and it made her very unhappy.

Perhaps some women are just like that, unable to stand seeing another woman who is more outstanding than they are. She suddenly felt a sense of crisis, realizing that Nora Ainsworth might become more popular than her.

She also started to take her scenes seriously and stopped throwing tantrums.

The new supporting role the screenwriter had written was actually very charming.

They spent the afternoon screen-testing, and Nora Ainsworth’s performance in all aspects was quite satisfactory to them.

As they were about to wrap up for the day, the lead actress went to the producer’s room in person.

Pushing the door open, she said bluntly, ”Producer, why are you promoting an extra?”

The producer said slowly, ”What do you think?”

”For an extra to catch your eye, it must’ve taken some special ’effort’,” she said suggestively.

The producer understood her implication, and his face turned livid. ”Stop talking nonsense and focus on your own acting. The three of us made this decision, and besides, she’s genuinely good.”

The lead actress huffed, said nothing more, and turned to leave the producer’s doorway.

Walking down the hallway, she ran into Nora Ainsworth, who had just finished removing her makeup.

”Hello, Lillian.”

Lillian Reynolds glared at her. ”What’s so good about it? Nothing’s good. No matter how I look at it, you’re one of those who used her ’skills’ to get ahead. Tell me the truth, how many men did you have to sleep with to get the chance to climb up from the bottom?”

Though Nora was furious inside, her expression remained placid. ”I wish I had that kind of ’power.’ Unfortunately, I just stepped in a pile of good luck. I have to go, excuse me.”

Lillian Reynolds snorted and turned away.

Nora left through the main gate, her fists clenched tightly.

What an exhausting day.

As she stepped out the main gate, she saw the sky had already turned dark. Remembering her children were still at kindergarten, she quickened her pace and took a bus to the school’s entrance.

The kindergarten was already closed, and no lights were on inside. She pounded on the door for a long time before a teacher finally opened it.

The teacher looked surprised to see her. ”Dylan’s mother, why are you—”