Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Elmer Grant nodded in satisfaction. ”That’s more like it.”

Melody White pouted. ”Then you can’t bully me anymore. Stop pulling my pigtails all the time, and don’t stick bubble gum in my hair. And you’re definitely not allowed to stick little notes on my back anymore.”

He grunted. ”Fine, I promise.”

Only then did Melody White step forward and take his hand. ”Elmer! From now on, we can have fun playing together again.”

He looked a little awkward and chuckled. ”Mm, We grant you permission.”

Melody White pulled him downstairs, shouting as she ran, ”Auntie, Elmer promised he won’t bully me anymore!”

Nora Ainsworth smiled. ”Melody, are you sure he’ll keep his word?”

At her words, Melody White hesitated and glanced at him.

Elmer Grant pulled his hand away. ”I said I’ll keep my word.”

Melody White sat down and nodded. ”I believe you.”

Half an hour later, Leon Lynch brought dinner to the table. Melody White tactfully stood up. ”Auntie, I’m going home. My mom will be worried.”

Nora Ainsworth looked outside. ”It’s already dark. Why don’t you stay for dinner and go back after? Auntie will walk you home later. It’s not safe for someone so young to go back alone.”

Melody White stood up. ”My family’s bodyguard is downstairs. Auntie, I’ll be going now. Bye-bye.”

Seeing this, Nora Ainsworth had no choice but to walk her downstairs. ”Alright then. Melody, come play again when you have time.”

She seemed very happy.

”Really?” Her two eyes sparkled.

Nora Ainsworth nodded. ”Really.”

”Auntie, I’ll visit again. Bye-bye.”

Nora Ainsworth waved at her. ”Bye-bye.”

After returning upstairs and sitting back down, Nora Ainsworth eyed Elmer Grant. ”So young and already dating? Who did you learn that from?”

”Mommy, does that sort of thing need to be learned? Several kids in our class have already pledged to spend their lives together. If you don’t believe me, ask my brother.”

Nora Ainsworth turned to Dylan Grant. ”Is what your younger brother said true?”

”Yeah, Mommy. Even our teacher knows. The teacher said it’s the purest thing.”

Nora Ainsworth retorted, ”Well, did your teacher also tell you that boys and girls should keep a proper distance from each other?”

”No, she didn’t mention that.”

Leon Lynch laughed. ”Nora, kids these days learn about things so early. But isn’t there an upside to that? The way I see it, you won’t have to worry about finding daughters-in-law in the future.”

”You’re thinking too far ahead.” She lowered her gaze and reached for her chopsticks, but unexpectedly, her burned hand couldn’t hold them. Only then did the two children realize their mommy’s hand was injured.

Dylan Grant got down from his chair. ”Mommy, what happened to your hand?”

”Mommy was just being clumsy and burned it. It’s nothing, it’ll be fine in a few days.”

Elmer Grant, however, sat silently in his chair, staring at her hand without a word.

After dinner.

The two boys went to their room to sleep.

Elmer Grant sat on the edge of the bed and said suddenly, ”Brother, I think there’s more to Mommy’s injury than meets the eye.”

Dylan Grant pondered for a moment. ”We’ll find out tomorrow. We’ll just sneak over and take a look.”

”But tomorrow isn’t the weekend. If Mommy finds out we skipped school, she’ll spank us.”

”So, do you want to find out the truth or not?”

Elmer Grant nodded.

”Okay, then we’ll play it by ear tomorrow.”

Dylan Grant turned on the computer. Resting his chin on his hand, he clicked the mouse a few times, then said, ”There’s no recent news about the old man... huh? The Grant Family is in the headlines. Second Brother, come look!”

Elmer Grant ambled over, unhurried. He was too short to see the computer screen, so he struggled to drag a stool over and laboriously climbed onto it.

He then looked at the screen and, using the few characters he could recognize, asked, ”Brother, what does it say?”

Dylan Grant replied calmly, ”Nothing major. Just that the child of that woman who appeared in those lovey-dovey photos with the old man died.”

Elmer Grant said ”oh” listlessly. ”Did the old man cry?”

”It doesn’t say anything about him. He probably cried his eyes out.”

Elmer Grant then let out a couple of cold laughs that didn’t match his small frame at all. ”Heh heh—now he’s really done for. When he dies, there’ll be no one to bury him.”

Then, Dylan Grant opened a picture he had saved. ”Our mommy was so beautiful back then.”

”She was beautiful before, but now she’s turned into a country bumpkin. Godfather doesn’t mind, but she’s the one who lacks self-awareness.”

Dylan Grant closed the computer, hopped off the chair, and said with the air of an old man, ”As the old saying goes, a dog doesn’t mind a poor home, and a son doesn’t mind an ugly mother. But look at you, complaining about our mommy. You forgot who she became like this for.”

Elmer Grant got off his chair. ”I was just talking. Actually, deep down, I’m very proud to have a mommy like her.”

”Mm, as long as you know.”

The two brothers then lay down side-by-side and drifted off to sleep.

「The next day.」

Heavy snow was falling outside.

Nora Ainsworth dressed the two brothers, put on their hats, and after dropping them off at the kindergarten gate, hurried to catch the bus.

This time, however, the brothers weren’t so obedient. They secretly followed her.

Because they were so small, they didn’t have to pay for the bus; people just assumed they were with one of the other adult passengers.

The two children didn’t make a sound, holding each other’s hands tightly.

When Nora Ainsworth got off the bus, the two children got off as well. It was their first time here.

So many people.

Hand in hand, the two of them slipped into the crowd of extras.

An extra at the edge of the crowd was about to scold them, but when he saw the two fair and handsome children, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

After putting on her makeup, Nora Ainsworth went to the film set.

Elmer Grant was dumbstruck. ”Brother, look at Mommy! She’s so beautiful.”

”She’s always been beautiful. Shh, be quiet. Let’s just watch.”

The scene this morning was about a misunderstanding, where Nora Ainsworth was supposed to pretend to push the female lead, Lillian.

Everything was ready.

Filming began.

The two actresses delivered their memorized lines until Nora Ainsworth reached out to pretend to push Lillian. Then, something happened that stunned everyone.

Lillian’s body staggered backward uncontrollably and fell straight into the pool behind her.

In the dead of winter, one could only imagine what it felt like to fall into the icy water.

”AHH!” The lead actress, Lillian, screamed, and the set was thrown into chaos.

Male staff members immediately jumped in to rescue her. The director, furious, stalked over to Nora Ainsworth, his anger uncontrollable. He slapped her across the face. ”What is wrong with you! Weren’t you supposed to fake the push? Who told you to actually push her?!”

”I... I didn’t really push—”

The director slapped her other cheek. ”Still making excuses!”

Nora Ainsworth stood as if frozen, unable to say a word. This incident was an exact replica of what had happened on the set back then, during her scene with Ryan.

Except, back then, she was the female lead, and Ryan was a supporting actor. And she had held leverage over him.

In the crowd, the two brothers saw their mommy get hit. Elmer Grant was about to go crazy, but Dylan Grant grabbed him and held him back.