Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Dorothy Ellsworth’s small face was tense, her eyes red-rimmed. She clutched the hem of his shirt and followed beside him. She knew what Elmer was about to do, but at that moment, it was as if she understood so much more, and she watched in silence.

Time ticked by, second by second. Elmer held the kitchen knife aloft for two minutes. Thinking that the father and daughter would be back soon, Elmer hesitated no longer and brought the knife down hard.

A scream of agony lasted only a few seconds before falling silent.

Blood splattered all over Elmer’s little face. He struck again to make sure the middle-aged woman was dead. Only then did he wipe the bloody knife on the thin blanket, pick up a towel to clean the blood from his face, and cover her head with the blanket.

”El... Elmer... let’s run away...”

”The door’s locked from the outside. How can we run? ...We wait. We wait for them to come back...”

Dorothy was terrified, her whole body trembling slightly. ”Elmer, it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. When we get back, I’ll admit I was wrong to Daddy and Mommy...”

He tried to comfort her. ”Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”

Turning, he grabbed the middle-aged woman’s phone from the table and immediately dialed Quentin Grant’s number. ”Daddy, we’re in a rental room.”

Upon receiving his son’s call, Quentin Grant asked, ”Are there any other buildings nearby?”

Elmer lay flat at the door, peering through the crack. ”It’s pitch black across from us. There’s a road, and on the other side of the road, there’s a sign that says ’Tire... Repair...’ Nothing else. Oh, right, I think I heard them say something about a port...”

”Okay, Daddy understands. I’m coming to save you right now.”

”Daddy... I killed someone... Don’t bring the police...”

”Alright.”

Elmer put the phone in his pocket and had Dorothy sit with a broom in her hands. He then lay back down in his spot, the kitchen knife hidden beneath his body.

Five minutes later, the sound of a key turning in the lock echoed.

Elmer squinted and saw the father and daughter return with two large bags of food and drinks. After closing the door, the middle-aged man said to Claire behind him, ”Your mom’s asleep again. She can really sleep.”

Claire flashed a toothy grin. ”That’s because Mom was born in the year of the pig.”

The middle-aged man saw Elmer sit up. He glanced around before opening the bags, taking out three bottles of drinks and three bags of beef jerky. It was obvious they weren’t for Dorothy and Elmer.

He called out to the woman covered by the blanket, ”Claire’s mom, time to eat.”

When she didn’t move an inch, he stood up and strode over to pull back the blanket. Elmer snatched the kitchen knife from behind him and swung it, hacking into the middle-aged man’s leg.

With a cry of pain, ”AH!”, the man’s face darkened as he came over to snatch the knife away. Elmer waved it around with his small arms, but it clearly wasn’t much of a deterrent.

The middle-aged man grabbed both of Elmer’s wrists, about to wrench the knife from his hands. Dorothy stood up and hit the man twice with the broom. It was useless. So she threw herself onto his injured leg and bit down hard.

The man cried out in extreme pain, letting go of his struggle with Elmer. He grabbed Dorothy’s hair with one hand and sent her flying with a kick.

But when he turned back, he didn’t expect Elmer to strike him again, this time hacking into his backside.

Seeing Dorothy trying to get up, a frightened Claire started hitting her.

The two little girls were locked in a frantic fight. Claire was half a head taller than Dorothy and a year older, giving her an advantage.

She successfully held Dorothy back.

But Dorothy wouldn’t back down. Scratching and biting like a little madwoman, she went at Claire with everything she had.

The two girls, roughly the same age, were locked in a desperate struggle.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man finally wrenched the knife from Elmer’s hands.

He brought it down on Elmer’s fragile shoulder. The sharp pain sent the boy’s small body crashing to the ground. Elmer cried out in agony. Seeing his wound and all the blood, Dorothy’s fear evaporated. She shoved Claire to the ground and frantically scanned the room for a weapon.

She searched for a while but found nothing. She watched as the middle-aged man, knife in hand, advanced toward her step by step.

She picked up a half-full basin of an unknown liquid and hurled it at the man. The man’s knife fell immediately after. As if he had lost his mind, he hacked directly into Dorothy’s back. She let out a huge cry, ”AOW!”, her back instantly soaked crimson. She barely managed to hold herself up against the wall, her body convulsing in fear.

Just then, Claire pulled back the blanket covering her mother. She shrieked through her tears, ”Dad, Mom’s dead!”

The middle-aged man immediately bent down to check, momentarily sparing Dorothy.

Elmer smelled diesel fuel. He looked at the middle-aged man, pushed himself up from the floor, and staggered over to the table, where he grabbed a lighter next to a cigarette pack.

The middle-aged man was consumed by the pain of losing his wife. Since he had the kitchen knife, he knew two unarmed children couldn’t cause much trouble.

But even now, he couldn’t believe it. His wife, a grown woman, had been killed by two little brats. Even though these two were wanted by his higher-ups, he had to avenge his wife’s death.

And so, amidst Claire’s choked sobs, he slowly stood up and walked toward Elmer.

”You two dared to kill my wife. I’ll make you both go and keep her company.”

Elmer’s face was pale and his lips were blue from blood loss. His voice couldn’t hide his youthfulness. ”We don’t bother people who don’t bother us. But if someone comes after us, we will destroy them!”

”Big words!” He raised the bloody kitchen knife, his eyes bloodshot. ”I’ll kill you, you little brat, first, and then I’ll finish off that little girl.”

Elmer leaned against the wall, staring intently at the approaching man. If the wall hadn’t been holding him up, he would have already collapsed.

Just as the kitchen knife came down over his head, he flicked the lighter on and threw it at the middle-aged man.

”BOOM!” The kitchen knife fell from the man’s hand. He was engulfed in flames. The fire licked at the ceiling, showing just how large the blaze was.

Elmer crawled to a corner, watching the man’s body fall amidst the fire, which in turn ignited other flammable items and the bedding. The heart-wrenching screams of Dorothy and Claire did nothing to diminish the flames.

Dorothy’s back was severely injured. She was still sobbing uncontrollably, gasping for breath as she called out ”Elmer” over and over.

Elmer wanted to summon the strength to open the door and escape, but he had none left. Finally, he lost consciousness.

The door was banged on a few times before it was torn from its hinges just seconds later. Quentin Grant and Ethan Ellsworth burst in. They were horrified to see the raging fire in the middle of the room.

They rushed to find the children.

”Dorothy!”

”Elmer!”

”Oh, Dorothy!” Chloe Marshall stood at the door, on the verge of fainting.

Ethan Ellsworth ran to the far side of the room and immediately spotted Dorothy leaning against the wall, her eyes glazed over, looking like she was on the brink of death.

He bent down and scooped Dorothy into his arms, his hands instantly covered in her blood. Ethan shouted, ”Dorothy, Daddy’s here to save you! Don’t fall asleep, don’t sleep...”

When he ran out carrying Dorothy, Chloe Marshall, her eyes blurred with tears, cried, ”Oh, Dorothy!”

Seeing this, Nora Ainsworth was so frightened her face turned completely white. She called Elmer’s name over and over, but there was no response. Quentin Grant searched everywhere, finally finding the boy pinned underneath the broken door.

He threw the door aside, gathered his seemingly lifeless son into his arms, and hurried out. Claire was left alone in the room. As the fire grew, she was unable to escape the house.

In the ambulance, the two barely breathing children were unconscious from massive blood loss. The four adults were utterly heartbroken, crying their eyes out.

An incident like this had happened, and as the adults, they bore the responsibility.

You can’t assume that just because they’re under your watch, they’re safe. You can’t assume that just because a child is precocious and knows a lot, they have the ability to protect themselves.

The two precious children were rushed to the emergency room. The adults sat in the hallway, waiting for news.

Nora Ainsworth couldn’t even bear to think about it. If her son were to die just like that, the guilt, anxiety, and pain would be unbearable.

Compared to her, Chloe Marshall had been crying so hard she’d nearly collapsed several times between the ambulance and the hallway. She finally cried herself unconscious. Ethan Ellsworth held her, not arranging for a private room for her. After all, at a time like this, no one wanted to leave the entrance to the operating room.

Time ticked by, second by second. After two hours, the light above the operating room finally went out.

The doctors wheeled them out. ”Fortunately, the blows didn’t hit any vital organs. Otherwise, even ten lives couldn’t have been saved. Mr. Grant’s son is more seriously injured; it will take some time for him to wake up. As for Mr. Ellsworth’s daughter, she should wake up soon.”

”Get the two children into the car immediately. I’ll have a few doctors from First Hospital transferred over.” If the children stayed in the hospital, it would make the news. During their recovery, he absolutely did not want anyone disturbing them.

The Men in Black immediately carried the two still-unconscious children back to the city.

When Dylan Grant saw what had become of Dorothy and Elmer, he, who had always been strong, finally broke down and cried.

He knelt before the four adults. ”Daddy, Mommy, Uncle, Auntie, it’s all my fault. I didn’t watch over them properly. You can punish me however you want.”

”What good would punishing you do?” Nora Ainsworth pulled him up. ”Some bad people will exploit any weakness, trying every trick in the book to harm us. Remember Mommy’s words: from now on, when you go out, you must take people with you. This incident is a lesson. The most important thing is how we learn from it. You’re still young, and there are many things you can’t handle on your own. Mommy doesn’t blame you.”

Chloe Marshall had woken up, her eyes swollen from crying. ”That’s right, Dylan. This wasn’t your fault. From now on, we all have to be much, much more careful. We can’t give anyone an opportunity.”

Dylan Grant nodded.

”Reporting to the Young Master. There were no survivors. The bodies have been dealt with. Through the phone left at the scene, we’ve traced a connection to Young Master Dalton of Grestin.”

Quentin Grant abruptly raised a hand and stood up. ”Good. Very good. Get the car ready. I’m going to the Capital.”

”Yes, sir!”

He strode out. Nora Ainsworth spoke up, ”Young Master Ellsworth, Chloe, I’ll go get you two some blankets. There’s a bed in the next room. You should get some rest. The children will be alright.”