Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”Nora Ainsworth, cut the crap. What I do is none of your business.”

Nora Ainsworth studied her carefully. ”Whether I’m being sincere or not doesn’t matter. But Maeve Sutton, people who do bad things never come to a good end. You only have to look at yourself to know that’s true. Once a prized flower, the young lady of the Sutton family, now married to the notorious William Chapman. I’d say that’s your just deserts.”

Maeve Sutton was so enraged by her nonchalant words that her eyes practically glowed with fury. ”Nora Ainsworth!”

”Hm?”

”Do you really have to be this way?”

”Maeve Sutton, we don’t have some deep-seated feud. We used to be so close, even though we haven’t been in touch much these past few years. But I don’t want to see you hurt other people only to end up miserable yourself. In short, believe it or not, I just came to tell you to let others go, and let yourself go. If all you want now is to live a quiet life, then please, stick with that.”

With that, Nora Ainsworth turned and walked away.

Maeve Sutton leaned against the bathroom counter, then stared at her reflection in the mirror, motionless for a long time.

As she exited the main gate of the Chapman residence, Elmer Grant waved cheerfully at her from the car window. ”Mommy, over here!”

Nora Ainsworth waved back and headed for the car.

She pulled open the car door and got in.

”Mommy, what took you so long in the restroom?”

”Oh, I ran into an old friend and we chatted for a bit.”

Quentin Grant, knowing full well what had happened, simply smiled at her. ”Let’s go home.”

The car pulled away from the Chapman residence and drove steadily onto the main road.

”I wouldn’t have come if you weren’t here. Being surrounded by a bunch of old geezers is a total bore.”

”Yes, I know.”

”Let’s go. Back to the family house. Mom and Dad asked us to bring the kids over.”

”Okay.”

They arrived at the gate of the Grant Residence.

The butler had already been waiting at the gate for some time.

”Young Masters, you’re finally back.”

The two boys, Dylan and Elmer Grant, were dressed in identical clothes and shoes. Most people couldn’t tell which was the older twin and which was the younger—unless one of them smiled, of course.

The moment they spoke, however, the difference was immediately clear.

”Butler, is Grandpa home?”

”Of course he is. Go on in.”

Nora Ainsworth and Quentin Grant followed them through the main gate.

As soon as they entered the living room, Mr. Grant called out to his two treasures, ”Come here to Grandpa!”

Elmer, being the faster runner, scampered over to Mr. Grant’s side in a flash. He looked up with his little face. ”Grandpa, did you miss me?”

”Of course I missed you! Come, give Grandpa a kiss.” Mr. Grant planted a kiss on his cheek, and Elmer complained slightly, ”Grandpa, you need to shave. It’s prickly!”

Mr. Grant nodded happily, then took Dylan’s hand. ”Your grandmother is in the kitchen, making snacks for you herself. When she comes out, you have to be extra enthusiastic, alright?”

”Got it!” The two treasures exchanged a look and replied in unison.

Mr. Grant chuckled and praised them, ”Good boys.” He then turned to Nora Ainsworth. ”Quentin has told me and his mother that the wedding is set for next month. Nora, you’ll need to let your parents know ahead of time.”

”Dad, I already called Valeria this morning. My parents know.”

Mr. Grant nodded. ”That’s good, that’s good. This is the first big celebration the Grant Family has had in years. I get happy just thinking about it. Our

Quentin has finally managed to get himself off the market!”

Quentin looked sheepish. ”We were just missing the ceremony and the official status. I actually sold myself to Nora a long time ago—so cheaply I can barely stand to think about it.”

Mrs. Grant came out of the kitchen just in time to hear her son’s words and couldn’t help but smile.

She placed the plate of pastries on the table. ”Darlings, and you too, Nora. Come, I just finished making these. Have a taste.”

Nora Ainsworth took one and tasted it, praising, ”Mom, these are delicious. So sweet and tasty.”

The two treasures each ate one and clapped their little hands. ”Yeah, Grandma’s are the best!”

Mrs. Grant spoke, her expression turning serious as she composed herself. ”Nora, now that you and Quentin are about to have your wedding... there’s still a month, but a month can fly by in the blink of an eye. In the past, I... I did many things to wrong you. Thinking back on it now, I feel truly guilty.”

”Mom, what’s past is past. Why bring it up again?” Quentin said.

”That’s right, Mom. Let’s not talk about the past anymore. It’s over, so let’s just let it go,” Nora chimed in. ’Even if a shadow of it remained in her heart, Mrs. Grant was still Quentin’s mother. Whether Nora liked it or not, that was a fact.’

’It was better to be hopeful about the future than to be resentful of the past.’

Mrs. Grant nodded. ”Nora, knowing you and Quentin are together puts my mind at ease. I’m grateful to you, from the bottom of my heart.”

”Please don’t say that anymore. We’ll always be family.”

Sometimes, clinging to past grievances and pain only brought suffering to oneself. It was better to let things go and try to forgive. Only then would one discover that the road ahead was much better, and much longer.

Nora Ainsworth and Quentin Grant spent the rest of the afternoon there, staying through dinner.

Since they hadn’t seen their grandsons in so long, Mr. and Mrs. Grant had the boys stay the night. So, when it was time to leave, it was just Quentin Grant and Nora Ainsworth.

Getting this rare chance to be alone together, Quentin was in an indescribably good mood.

That evening, the two of them went to The Promenade. The Alveria skyline at night was breathtaking.

Nora Ainsworth and Quentin Grant made no effort to disguise themselves, walking hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder like any young couple. The breeze blowing off the river felt wonderfully pleasant.

Such moments of carefree leisure might not seem precious to most, but for the two of them, they were incredibly rare.

This was the first time since they had met that they had come to The Promenade feeling so completely at ease.

”Are you tired? Why don’t we sit down and rest for a bit?” he asked, pointing to a nearby bench.

”Okay,” Nora agreed.

They walked over and sat down together. Nora leaned her head on his shoulder, watching the ships on the river. ”I’ve been here a few times before,” she said, ”and I always thought it was so boring to watch the scenery alone. But it’s different now. It’s a completely different state of mind. Being with someone versus being alone... it’s like you’re seeing everything through a different lens.”

”From now on, you can come whenever you want. I’ll be here with you.”

They sat there, wrapped in a warm and tender moment. Nora felt her heart become like the river before them—a gentle, steady, and peaceful flow, calm and assured.

*

A month passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.

During that month, well-known media outlets from around the world were scrambling to get any information they could on Quentin Grant’s wedding preparations.

Ethan Ellsworth gradually recovered from his illness, going from being bedridden to being as lively as ever. Time truly can change a person.

Zoe Ellsworth had returned home from the hospital long ago. Her belly was getting bigger by the day; when she stood and looked down, it completely blocked the view of her feet.

Nora Ainsworth passed each day in quiet anticipation, until finally, the night before the wedding arrived.

Over the past month, all sorts of news had reached her ears.

For instance, after Maeve Sutton and William Chapman got married, they fought nearly every day. William hadn’t been home in over ten days, staying with his mistress instead. Maeve would run back to her parents’ house every other day, but would always return to the Chapman residence, calm and composed, before the day was out to continue her life there.

Sharon Ainsworth’s life, on the other hand, was much better than Maeve’s. Because her husband was now working under Nicholas Ainsworth, he treated Sharon very well, and their life together was quite happy and harmonious.

And then there were Holly Wood and Leon, who were in the news practically every other day, as sweet as a pot of honey.

Quentin had arranged for the wedding to be held at a sacred coastal spot in Alveria, Zelkova, right next to a resort hotel.

The location was famously beautiful and fell under the jurisdiction of the Chambers Group.

It was already dark when they arrived. There weren’t many guests, as Quentin had kept the list small, inviting only their nearest and dearest family and friends.

Upon arrival, everyone went to rest, conserving their energy for the grand wedding the next day.

The night was surprisingly quiet.

At five o’clock in the morning, a knock came at Nora Ainsworth’s door.

A whole crowd of people flooded in.

Before Nora could even react, she was pulled out of bed by Chloe Marshall and Sierra Ainsworth.

Meanwhile, the groom, Quentin Grant, was hauled out of his own bed by Ethan Ellsworth and Herman Hawthorne.

Still in their pajamas, they were ushered into two separate rooms.

Six male makeup and hair stylists stood waiting in Quentin Grant’s room.

In Nora Ainsworth’s room, there were eight female makeup and hair stylists.

On the bed in each room lay a still-packaged wedding dress and tuxedo.

”Nora, sit over here.” Chloe Marshall guided Nora into a chair, then said to the eight women, ”You can start.”

”Right away.”

Then, the primping and prodding began. Nora, who was already naturally beautiful, was transformed by the top-tier stylists into someone so stunning it was shocking at first glance, and utterly mesmerizing at the second.

Nora sat there for two solid hours, until her neck felt like it was about to snap.

But when the makeup was finally done, she could hardly believe the person in the mirror was herself.

Next came the hair styling.

And then, it was time to put on the wedding dress.

Truth be told, Nora hadn’t seen the wedding dress at all. When Quentin commissioned the designer to create this one-of-a-kind gown, he never had her come in for a fitting.

Just a few days earlier, Nora had privately teased him about it. ”What if it’s too small, or a size too big? What will we do then?”

But Quentin, full of confidence, had answered her without a moment’s hesitation, ”How could I possibly get measurements I’ve taken by hand countless times wrong by even a hair’s breadth?”

That had shut Nora right up.

Quentin had seen her flushed little face and laughed, kissing her again and again.

When the stylists finally opened the packaging for the dress, everyone in the room gasped.

The gown was clearly the masterpiece of a world-renowned designer.

It was a bustier-style gown, constructed from top to bottom with what appeared to be pure white lily petals. The petals were flawless, and they gave off a soft, sweet fragrance.

It was so delicate that one couldn’t help but wonder if the petals would flutter to the ground the moment it was put on.