Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

When Mrs. Grant arrived at the Grant Group, Quentin Grant was in the middle of work. He was a bit surprised to see her.

”What is it?”

”Can’t a mother visit without a reason?” she said with a smile, sitting across from him.

Quentin Grant put down his pen and looked at her seriously. ”Usually, you don’t come unless it’s something important.”

”Let Catherine out. I’ve contacted your godmother. She’s coming back tomorrow.”

Quentin smiled. ”And here I thought it was something important. A phone call would have been enough for something this minor.”

”Quentin... when did you become so... cold and heartless...”

”I learned it from you, Mom. Alright, if there’s nothing else, you can go. Seeing you, I really can’t find the will to work.”

Mrs. Grant felt a pang in her chest.

”Quentin, are you saying you don’t want to see me?”

”Mom, why must you spell it out?” After speaking, Quentin shouted toward the door, ”Secretary Lynch, see my mother downstairs!”

Mrs. Grant stood up and turned around in a huff. ”Your mother isn’t old yet. I can see myself out.”

Quentin Grant watched her leave, then quickly made a call home.

”Send Catherine Callahan to the Grant Residence.”

After hanging up, he had a bad feeling. There was a vague sense of foreboding in his heart, something he wanted to articulate but couldn’t quite put into words.

Just as Mrs. Grant reached her front door, the Men in Black brought Catherine Callahan back.

Catherine Callahan got out of the car, disheveled and grimy, and started bawling. ”Godmother, I finally get to see you again! I thought I’d never see you again!”

Mrs. Grant was both angry and anxious. Seeing her in this state, her heart ached for her. ”There, there. Hurry inside, take a good bath, and change your clothes.”

Catherine Callahan nodded.

As Catherine went upstairs to bathe and change, Mrs. Grant sat on the sofa, fuming. ”Quentin is simply too much! Look at the state he’s left Catherine in!”

Mr. Grant remained silent, letting her ramble on and on.

After talking for a long time, Mrs. Grant realized she was talking to herself, which made her even more furious. ”Are you dead? I’m talking to you, why haven’t you said a single word?”

Mr. Grant stood up and simply walked away.

Men certainly have a way of driving women crazy. Just ignoring them is more effective than anything they could say.

”Hey!” she yelled after Mr. Grant.

Her call was met with only silence.

Mrs. Grant sat there, seething with anger.

When Quentin Grant returned home, he saw his two darlings sitting on the swing set. Nora Ainsworth was sitting across from them, reading something from a book.

He walked over and stood behind her, watching them quietly.

The two darlings started to call out, but he held up a hand to stop them.

The scene seemed to freeze in that moment.

A gentle breeze lifted Nora’s hair. The setting sun bathed her in its glow, making her shine as if coated in gold—utterly dazzling.

Watching her from behind, he found it impossible to look away.

He slowly moved forward and, out of the blue, wrapped his arms around her.

Nora Ainsworth was clearly startled. ”You didn’t make a sound!”

”I just wanted to hold you like this.”

She struggled slightly. ”The children are here.”

”Nora.”

”Hm?”

”I feel like I’m about to lose you. There’s this constant unease in my heart.” He felt like he was overthinking it, and yet, at the same time, he didn’t.

”I’m right here by your side. It’s not so easy to just leave. Besides, we have two sons together. Where could I possibly go? No matter where I went, I couldn’t escape your grasp.”

He planted a kiss on her cheek. ”That’s true.”

Nora Ainsworth stood up and set the book aside. ”Quentin, let’s take a family photo. The lighting is perfect right now.”

He turned his head and said to one of the Men in Black, ”Bring me my camera.”

”Whatever you say. Let’s take a beautiful picture of our family of four, then have it developed and hang it in every nook and cranny of our house.”

Nora Ainsworth turned to face him. ”When we’re old, we’ll look back at these photos and treasure them.”

One of the Men in Black quickly returned and took many photos of the family of four. Every shot captured the smiling family. No sight could be more beautiful.

”Catherine has been released.”

”I know. Are your... godfather and godmother coming back?”

He nodded. ”I only heard about my godmother. It’s hard to say if my godfather will be coming back with her.”

Nora Ainsworth fell into thought. ”Well... that’s good, I suppose. They should come back together. She is their daughter, after all.”

Her heart was in turmoil. ’Is that my mother?’

That night, Nora Ainsworth couldn’t stop thinking about it. She didn’t sleep well at all.

She woke up early again the next day.

The weather seemed ominous.

The sky was overcast and gloomy.

It felt like the prelude to a storm.

Early in the morning, Quentin Grant received a call from Mrs. Grant, telling him to be at the Grant Residence by seven-thirty.

After dropping the two boys off at kindergarten, he and Nora Ainsworth went to the Grant Residence together.

As they reached the entrance to the living room, they could hear the cheerful laughter of women coming from inside.

Standing in the doorway, Nora Ainsworth looked at the woman sitting on the sofa inside.

Looking at her face, her eyes suddenly welled up.

The woman’s eyes were almost a perfect match to her own, as if cast from the same mold.

But her mouth, nose, and the shape of her face were nearly identical to Catherine Callahan’s.

’Her heart tightened.’ She followed Quentin Grant inside.

Claire Sinclair stood up. ”This is... Quentin...”

Mrs. Grant said with a smile, ”Yes, this is my son, Quentin. And this is your godmother...”

Quentin Grant nodded slightly and greeted her, ”Godmother.”

Claire Sinclair’s gaze shifted to Nora Ainsworth. ”And this is...”

Although Mrs. Grant was reluctant to make the introduction, she still said with a smile, ”The mother of my grandsons...”

”Godmother...” Nora Ainsworth also greeted her.

But in the next moment, she regretted from the bottom of her heart ever having said that word.

Suddenly, Claire Sinclair slapped Nora Ainsworth across the face—an act Quentin Grant had not anticipated.

”What are you doing?!” he roared, pulling Nora Ainsworth into his arms.

”What am I doing? I know everything this woman has done to my daughter, straight from your mother’s mouth! She’s nothing but a hussy! Especially those eyes... they look so much like mine. If she weren’t your woman, Quentin, I’d have gouged them out!”

Every word was piercing, every sentence vile.

Nora Ainsworth clutched her face, just staring at the woman.

”No wonder I thought she looked so familiar. It turns out her eyes look like yours.”

Quentin Grant’s expression was icy as he glared at Claire Sinclair. ”What she has done? I’m truly curious what my mother told you, but I simply cannot agree with your perception of things. As far as I know, this daughter of yours has tried to harm Nora time and time again. How has the story been flipped around?”

”Are you saying your mother would lie to me?” Claire Sinclair sneered.

”Whether she’s lying to you or not, I know the truth in my heart. What I know even better is that my mother lies even to me, let alone you. Don’t think you can act with impunity just because you’re an elder. I’ll forgive you this one time because you can finally take that menace Catherine Callahan away. But if there is a next time, I’ll deal with you both. Now take your daughter and get out of our house!”