Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Nora Ainsworth’s eyes darkened. She shoved him away hard and slapped him across the face. "Don’t just grab people. This isn’t your home."

Nora Ainsworth had put all her strength into that slap.

A red, five-fingered mark instantly appeared on Toby Dalton’s face.

He wasn’t angry. "I knew it. You’re not dead. You were lying to me."

A cold smirk touched Nora Ainsworth’s lips. "Get out of my way. I’m leaving."

The moment she turned, he suddenly hoisted her onto his shoulder.

He forced his way out of the club and shoved her straight into his car.

Nora Ainsworth’s hands clenched into fists. She shouted, "What do you think you’re doing?! Let me go!"

Toby Dalton sped away, turning the car and heading east.

"Where are you taking me?!"

He didn’t respond. After driving for ten-odd minutes, he brought the car to a sudden halt.

"I don’t care if you’re Saphira Sutton or not. I want you."

Nora Ainsworth chuckled lightly. "Is that so?"

He yanked her toward him, desperately gripping her face as he tried to kiss her. Playing along, Nora Ainsworth then bit him. Hard.

He let go, beads of blood welling on his lip as he swayed unsteadily.

Looking at her face, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

"Saphira, I told you, as long as you’re alive, I’ll never let you leave my side again. Not unless you’re dead."

Nora Ainsworth didn’t know how the woman named Saphira Sutton had died, or why. But from his words, it wasn’t hard to tell that her performance had already been a partial success.

She looked at him, choosing not to pursue the topic. "I’m hungry."

Toby Dalton froze for a moment, then a deliberate flicker of emotion crossed his face. "Let’s go eat."

She got out of the car. He tried to take her hand, but she shook him off. Unconcerned, Toby Dalton simply fell into step beside her as they entered his territory.

He led her upstairs. The elevator stopped on the seventh floor.

He then led her into a bedroom. The moment the door opened, Nora Ainsworth realized this might have been the real Saphira Sutton’s room.

The room’s decor was feminine, and it was bright and airy.

He looked at her and saw her calm expression. "Looks familiar, doesn’t it? When you lived here before, you were just like you are now—your expression was so placid, like you felt nothing at all."

Little did he know, Nora Ainsworth’s calmness came from the fact that she lived at the Grant Family’s estate, which was far more luxurious than this. Someone accustomed to such things wouldn’t show any particular emotion over a bit of luxury.

"I don’t feel anything. I’m hungry. Very, very hungry."

A smile actually spread across his lips. "Okay, you wait here. I’ll go arrange for some food."

With that, he left the room.

When Nora Ainsworth went to open the door, she discovered that several men had been posted outside. Clearly, he was trying to prevent her from leaving.

She calmly looked around the room, carefully examining every nook and cranny.

Approaching the desk, she opened a drawer. Inside were a notebook, a pen, and a photo album.

Reaching out, Nora Ainsworth took out the photo album and opened it.

It was filled with photos of Toby Dalton and Saphira Sutton together.

In all of them, they were beaming, looking very much in love.

In the photos, Toby Dalton looked like a cheerful, sunny young man.

After looking through it, she put it back in the drawer. When she turned around, she realized he was standing in the doorway, though she didn’t know for how long.

He was dressed in a sharp suit, the diamond stud in his left ear eye-catching.

"Bring it in."

As soon as he spoke, people immediately brought in dishes, and the table was full in seconds.

Nora Ainsworth turned and sat down. She was really starving; she had been waiting at the club all day without eating.

Sitting there, Nora Ainsworth ate without any regard for her image. Toby Dalton stood nearby, his eyes fixed on her.

After eating for a while, she looked up at him. "Want to sit down and eat together?"

Toby Dalton nodded and sat down across from her. "I never thought I’d see you alive again."

Nora Ainsworth’s expression was composed. "I’m not the person you’re looking for."

He simply ignored what she said. "I know in my own heart whether it’s you or not."

The rest of their meal passed in a strangely casual manner.

After they finished eating, Nora Ainsworth spoke up. "Are you going to imprison me?"

Toby Dalton replied, "I’m just protecting you."

Nora Ainsworth stood up and opened the door. "Having so many people standing outside my door is protecting me? Do I need you to escort me if I even want to go for a walk?"

Toby Dalton also stood up. "It’s not impossible to give you a little freedom, but you have to agree to one condition."

"If this is how it’s going to be, you might as well... let me die."

Toby Dalton’s expression tightened. He knew he couldn’t push her too far. "Fine. As long as you don’t leave my turf, you can go for a walk whenever you want. I won’t have people follow and monitor you, because you can’t get out of my domain anyway. The entire area is surrounded by my men. I hope you understand."

Nora Ainsworth nodded. "Mm."

He looked like he wanted to say something else but held back. In the end, he just said, "Get some rest. I have things to attend to."

"Mm."

The door closed again. Nora Ainsworth scanned the room, and only after confirming there were no surveillance cameras did she sit down on the edge of the bed, relieved. She opened her phone, sent a text message to Quentin Grant, and then turned it off.

She lay there and set an alarm for three in the morning.

Then she went to sleep.

Before the workday was even over, June Walsh came to the Lynch Group to find Holly Wood.

"Holly, let’s go get dinner together later, okay?"

Holly was in the middle of cleaning and immediately refused. "I’m not going."

June Walsh’s expression darkened. "You bailed last night, and today I came all the way here to get you in person. Are you really going to shut me down like this?"

"June, it’s not that I’m trying to shut you down. I just want to go home early tonight. I don’t want to be out so late anymore."

"Oh, come on! I’ll go back with you tonight, how about that? We’ll go home together right after dinner. We’ve known each other for so long, why is it so hard to just have a meal out with you now?"

Holly was in a difficult position. The terrifying events of last night still left her with lingering fear.

"June, you usually wouldn’t even spend an extra dime. Why are you so eager to splurge on dinner for me?"

"It’s because I’m always so stingy with you that I want to treat you for once! How about this? I’ll call the others right now and have them meet us at the main entrance. We’ll all go together. That should be fine, right?"

"Fine, go ahead and call them," she finally relented.

June Walsh immediately called her other classmates and put the phone on speaker. Ten-odd minutes later, three of their old female classmates from middle school arrived.

Seeing this, Holly grew a bit wary. She said to her, "June, you guys wait at the main entrance first. I’m going to go change out of my work clothes."

"Alrighty." Seeing that she had agreed, June Walsh was ecstatic. ’An easy twenty thousand,’ she thought.

After changing her clothes, Holly didn’t go straight out the main entrance. Instead, she took the elevator to Leon Lynch’s office.

"Leon."

"Hm?"

"June Walsh... and three other old classmates are waiting at the main entrance. They’re insisting on taking me out to dinner. I tried to refuse, but... we’ve known each other for so long, I felt bad saying no..."

"Then go ahead. Just tell me the address and don’t stay out too late."

Holly Wood nodded, feeling a little more secure.

"Okay, I’ll only stay for half an hour at most, and I’ll head back before it gets dark."

"I’ll pick you up."

"Okay." She walked closer to the desk. He leaned in and pointed to his cheek.

Holly Wood gave a shy smile, but instead of his cheek, she kissed him on the lips.

They could feel each other’s breath clearly. Then she pulled away. "I’m leaving now."

"Mm."

Holly Wood left the office. When she got to the ground floor, she found June Walsh and the three other girls looking for her.

When they saw her, the four of them ran over.

"What took you so long to change? Where’d you go? We looked all over for you," June Walsh complained.

"After I changed, I went upstairs to let Leon know."

June Walsh pouted. "Fine, whatever. Let’s go, or we’ll miss the bus."

"Where are we going to eat?"

"Somewhere you’ve never been before, of course," June Walsh said excitedly. "Let’s go."

They got on a bus, and about fifteen minutes later, it stopped in front of a grand hotel in the center of Alveria.

June Walsh pointed at the hotel and said, "We’re eating in there. Let’s enjoy the high-class treatment of a fancy hotel for a change."

But Holly Wood didn’t move. She asked suspiciously, "June, are you really paying? A meal in here must cost a fortune."

The other three classmates were also a bit skeptical.

"Yeah, Holly’s right. June, are you really the one treating us?" Classmate A asked.

"June, there’s no way you have this much money, right? If you said you were treating us to some spicy hot pot, we’d believe you. But this place... it’s really hard to believe," Classmate B chimed in.

"Last night at the KTV, June was complaining that a few hundred yuan was too expensive. A few hundred probably won’t even cut it here, right?" Classmate C said bluntly.

June Walsh chuckled slyly. "You’re right, I’m not the one treating you, because I really don’t have that much money. Someone else is treating—a rich guy, very wealthy. Anyway, it doesn’t matter who’s paying, right? It’s a free meal, so we might as well eat."

A trace of guardedness rose in Holly’s heart. After what happened last night, she couldn’t help but be on her guard.

"That’s different. You treating us is one thing, a stranger treating us is another. I’m not going in. I’m going home." Holly turned to leave.

June Walsh grabbed her. "Holly, why are you being like this? You’re leaving before we even go inside."

"I don’t eat with strangers."

June Walsh immediately lied, thinking, ’If Holly doesn’t go in, my twenty thousand is going down the drain.’ "How is he a stranger? It’s my boyfriend who’s treating us!"

Hearing this, the three classmates, A, B, and C, immediately nodded. "Oh, in that case, we can go."

"If it’s your boyfriend, then just say it’s your boyfriend. Why did you have to lie to us?" Holly asked, noticing the extremely unnatural expression on June Walsh’s face. She pressed on, "June, when did you get a boyfriend?"

"Do I have to report to you the second I get a boyfriend? You didn’t tell me when you got one," June Walsh said resentfully. "I invite you guys out of the goodness of my heart, and you act all high and mighty. Do you even see me as a friend?"

Seeing the situation, classmates A, B, and C quickly pulled Holly along. "Let’s go, let’s go, just drop it."

The four girls went inside, taking the elevator up to the VIP section hallway.

Walking on the carpet, the four of them looked around in every direction.

"June, which room is it?"

"It’s right up ahead. See the people up there? It’s the room right where they are," June Walsh said, pointing forward.