Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”I hear Young Master Grant has a little black room where he keeps poisonous scorpions and snakes. Apparently, people have died horribly in there. I won’t send you there to die, but how about I let you experience what it’s like to be surrounded by snakes and scorpions?”

The muscles in Bianca Rhodes’s face went rigid. ”Zoe Ellsworth, you... you’re pure venom!”

”How else am I supposed to deal with someone like you? A woman who isn’t ruthless can’t secure her position. If I just let you run wild, I’d be condoning your behavior, wouldn’t I? Take her away.”

Bianca Rhodes’s feet seemed glued to the floor. She yelled, ”I have to go number two! My stomach hurts!”

”Nature calls. I can understand that. Take her to the bathroom. If she hasn’t gone number two in five minutes, drag her out of there.”

So, Bianca Rhodes was taken to the bathroom. As she sat on the toilet, she was on pins and needles.

She really did go number two, but she remained on the toilet, refusing to get up.

Zoe Ellsworth leaned against the doorframe. ”Bianca Rhodes, would you rather go to the little black room, or would you rather eat the shit you just produced?”

Everyone’s faces stiffened. No one had expected Zoe Ellsworth to say something like that.

’Making someone eat their own filth... that was worse than death, more painful than any beating.’

Even Herman Hawthorne hadn’t expected it. He felt a wave of nausea and said sheepishly, ”Zoe, isn’t that a little too disgusting?”

”What did you think I meant when I said I’d teach her a lesson she’ll remember for the rest of her life?” She gave a sinister smile and looked at Bianca Rhodes’s deathly pale face. ”It took immense courage for you to come back to Alveria. To dare to pull the same old tricks again is an unforgivable sin.”

”I... I don’t want to eat it... Herman, I’ll never go near you again, I swear! Please, just spare me this once.” Bianca Rhodes looked to Herman Hawthorne, pleading for help.

”It’s useless to beg him. Pull up her pants and shove her head into the toilet!”

The words were a command. A female subordinate pulled up Bianca’s pants, then stepped back. Male subordinates grabbed Bianca Rhodes’s struggling body and mercilessly shoved her face into the toilet.

At the sight, Herman Hawthorne gagged, turned, and walked out of the bathroom.

Zoe Ellsworth stood there, her expression completely unfazed.

Shea Rhodes, however, clapped a hand over her face, unable to watch. Hearing her sister’s agonized wails tore her up inside, but she also felt helpless, knowing her sister would never change.

The entire ordeal lasted only five minutes, but to Bianca Rhodes, it felt longer than fifty years.

When they finally dragged her head out of the toilet, her face was covered in filth. As the stench hit them, the male subordinates shoved her away. She scrambled to the sink, turned on the faucet, and began to wash her face, wailing hysterically.

”Do you still plan on going after my man?”

Bianca Rhodes now both hated and feared her. ”I won’t anymore.”

”Good. Because if there is a next time, even if you run to the ends of the earth, I can drag you back here and make you eat shit. Understand? My family has the power to do it. Just you dare try me again!”

”I won’t... I absolutely won’t...”

And indeed, in the days that followed, Bianca Rhodes didn’t dare pull any more underhanded tricks. Not only that, but if she ever caught sight of Zoe Ellsworth on the street, she would be so frightened she’d immediately turn and run.

Zoe Ellsworth’s methods, though crude, were extremely effective.

’In her mind, a mistress was like an enemy. If you were ruthless, she would retreat. If you let your guard down, she would attack. No wife likes a mistress, and no mistress ever lets go easily.’

This time, she had not only put Bianca Rhodes in her place but had also secured Herman Hawthorne’s heart even more firmly. As far as Zoe Ellsworth was concerned, she was very satisfied with the outcome.

「The next day, at eight in the morning.」

The two of them arrived at the Marriage Registration Office, hand in hand.

The entrance to the Marriage Registration Office was completely swarmed by the media.

Zoe Ellsworth wore a white short-sleeved blouse with light-wash capri jeans, and Herman Hawthorne was wearing a matching outfit.

First, they went to have their official photo taken together.

They posed against a red backdrop, leaning in close with their heads together, their smiles radiant. The white shirts looked particularly striking against the red background.

A new photo for a new marriage certificate. It was as if their past history had been completely wiped clean.

Walking out of the Marriage Registration Office, Zoe Ellsworth opened the little red booklet in her hand and said with a wide smile, ”The photo turned out really nice.”

”That’s because you’re beautiful.”

Zoe Ellsworth looked up, and a brilliant light seemed to shine directly into her heart.

It filled her with warmth.

Dozens of reporters swarmed them, and the sound of their questions buzzed in her ears like a cloud of flies.

Zoe Ellsworth was in a rare good mood.

So she took questions from the reporters.

”Miss Ellsworth, are you and Young Master Hawthorne remarrying because of your child?”

”Our child is part of the reason. The other part is this: we divorced because we weren’t in love. It was like an arranged marriage—even though we had known each other since we were children, there was no romance. Young Master Hawthorne is a good man. He was very good to me and took great care of me during our first marriage. This time, we’re getting married because we’ve started to believe in love. We love each other now. It’s as simple as that.”