Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”It’s your ring,” she said slowly. ”It’s too big for my finger. I can’t wear it; it falls off as soon as I put it on.”

He froze, looking at her. Her delicate face was impassive, perhaps even devoid of any real emotion.

”Just throw it away. I’ll buy you a better, more suitable one in the future—one of a kind.”

”You act like I can’t afford one myself.”

”You’ve certainly gotten bold, haven’t you? Putting on airs in front of me.”

Zoe Ellsworth said sullenly, ”Actually, it was only when my head was spinning that I finally understood what love is. I thought it was love when we got married, because I must have been out of my mind to marry you. But then I realized I wasn’t just out of my mind—my entire brain had been scrubbed clean. What a complete waste of my time.”

”Zoe...”

She cut him off. ”Don’t talk, I’m not finished. A person shouldn’t just hang themselves from one tree. They should try a few more. That way, they can die a thorough death, don’t you think?”

”I think you’re talking nonsense. It’s true... I didn’t give you love. Is it too late to start now?”

Zoe Ellsworth smiled. ”Are you sure you have any love left to give? Isn’t there nothing left but dregs?”

Herman Hawthorne’s face darkened. He forcefully pulled her into an embrace. ”Time for sleep. Stop talking.”

”I want to talk!”

He clamped a hand over her mouth. ”Stop talking. Go to sleep. Aren’t you tired?”

Zoe Ellsworth voiced her opinion again. ”Can’t you get another room? Do you have to squeeze in here with me?”

”No. To ensure your safety, as your... ex-husband, I find it necessary to do so.”

”Herman... Hawthorne! Could you be any more shameless!”

He smiled confidently. ”Do you think all the eggs in the world can smash a stone? Stop resisting. Be good.”

In the silent room, Quinn Sullivan glanced around. The time had quietly ticked past ten-thirty. She was certain Lillian Bancroft wasn’t coming.

She had just climbed into bed when the door was pushed open.

She sat bolt upright. ”You... you’re planning to sleep here tonight?”

”What else did you think? We still haven’t had our wedding night. We’ll make up for it tonight.” His voice was flat, as if he were merely completing a task.

”But... Supreme Leader... I...”

”Do you dare disobey?” He took off his overcoat, eyeing her.

Quinn Sullivan shook her head. ”That’s not what I meant.”

”Then what do you mean?”

Quinn Sullivan didn’t dare say another word. She lay there, stiff as a corpse, her eyes shut as if she were about to be thrown into a sea of fire and a cauldron of boiling oil.

’Just get it over with!’

He picked up the remote, raised the room temperature slightly, and then slowly took off all his clothes.

He sat on the edge of the bed, the dim yellow light illuminating her face.

Lillian Bancroft felt as if he were seeing another woman.

He reached out and undid her clothing.

Quinn Sullivan took a deep breath, her body tensing up.

She opened her eyes and looked at the man on top of her, her vision blurring slightly.

”Supreme Leader, has anyone ever told you that you look...”

”Beautiful?”

She nodded.

”Of course they have. But from now on, no one will dare say it to my face again.”

She quickly shut her mouth. ”Supreme Leader, I won’t ask again.”

”Your legs... spread them for me.”

She clenched her fists and slowly did as she was told.

There was no gentleness, only a brutal roughness that made her pass out.

He looked at the woman beneath him, his expression blank. He remained completely indifferent.

He would give this woman a lifetime of glory.

But the place in his heart would belong to someone else for his entire life.

’Since it is deep love, how can it be transferred to another? Even if I can never possess her, I cannot easily let it go.’

Jean Grant’s period was due today. It was usually very punctual. Based on her past experience with pregnancy, she thought she might be pregnant again.

She bought a pregnancy test, and sure enough, it showed two lines.

In the afternoon, she went for an ultrasound, but it showed nothing in her uterus. The doctor said it was probably too early for the embryo to have implanted yet.

When she returned home, she felt a deep sense of unease.

On her wedding day, she and Marlon Marshall at the hotel...

Whenever she thought about it, her mind descended into chaos.

She had been with Nicholas Ainsworth these past few nights, but she feared that small possibility. It’s never the certainty you fear, but the off-chance.

She was anxious all day. If it weren’t for that one time at the hotel, she would have been thrilled.

But now, she was terrified.

She was gloomy and miserable all day.

After thinking it over for the entire day, Jean Grant made a decision. Regardless of whether it was Nicholas Ainsworth’s child or not, she absolutely could not keep it.

If she had another abortion, it would be her third.

But she had no other choice.

That evening, she went to buy the pills and took them without a moment’s hesitation.

On the first day, she felt nothing in her abdomen.

The second day was also fine.

But on the third day...

Her abdomen began to hurt violently.

Jean Grant shut the bathroom door, bit down on a towel, and sat on the toilet.

She could feel blood flowing from below her. Looking down, she saw the toilet bowl was filled with crimson blood.

Even though the pain in her abdomen was excruciating, she didn’t make a sound.

For almost half an hour, the pain was so intense she thought she would die.

But to her horror, the bleeding wasn’t stopping; it was getting heavier. This was clearly a sign of hemorrhaging from the medical abortion...

Jean Grant forced herself to pull up her pants, left the bathroom, and grabbed her wallet, staggering downstairs.

But just as she got downstairs, she ran into Nicholas Ainsworth, who was just getting home from work.

”What’s... wrong with you?”

”Nicholas, I got my period and my stomach really hurts. I’m heading to the hospital.”

There was no way Nicholas Ainsworth would let her go alone.

He scooped her up and carried her outside. Sharon Ainsworth, who had been watching TV, followed them.

At the hospital, after an examination, the doctor immediately determined she was suffering from uterine hemorrhaging caused by a self-administered medical abortion and required an immediate D&C procedure.

Hearing the doctor’s words, both Nicholas Ainsworth and Sharon Ainsworth were stunned.

”An abortion?”

”Yes.”

Sharon Ainsworth gritted her teeth in fury. Nicholas Ainsworth looked at Jean Grant but said nothing.

Jean Grant was taken into the operating room for the D&C. Although she was given anesthesia, the pain was still unbearable.

A little over ten minutes later, she came out. Sharon Ainsworth walked over and, without any warning, slapped her across the face.

”Why did you have an abortion? That was my brother’s first child! Why?!”

Of course, Jean Grant wasn’t about to admit she did it because the child might have been Marlon Marshall’s.

”I... I don’t want a child right now. Nicholas, I’m sorry. But Sharon Ainsworth, what gives you the right to hit me? Your brother hasn’t even said anything, so what right do you have?!”

Sharon Ainsworth tried to slap her again, but Nicholas Ainsworth grabbed her by the wrist.

Nicholas Ainsworth stood before her, looking at her. ”If you didn’t want a child, why didn’t you tell me so we could use contraception? Tell me, you told me before that you wanted to have our child. Was that really you who said that?”