Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

Nora turned back to Quentin. "What does this reporter mean?"

"It means that since someone sailed the boat back, there must have been people on Death Island. But that’s just a suspicion."

Nora squeezed his hand. "Quentin, do you think... could it be that our sons are still alive? I just have this feeling they’re still alive, that they’re still near me... I just can’t see them right now..."

Quentin said, "I wish more than anything that what you’re saying is true. But with walls that high, even if the boys are smart, they couldn’t have escaped. And after all this time, even if they were alive, they wouldn’t know how to operate that boat."

Nora nodded dejectedly. "I just want to know what the conclusion of this news report is."

Sierra Ainsworth looked at her. "Nora, you should go upstairs and get some sleep. Don’t overthink things."

Nora’s eyes began to sting, something that happened often these days. She stood up, went upstairs without a word, and paused at the door of her sons’ old bedroom. It took a great deal of effort just to open the door.

She reached out, flicked on the light, and closed the door, leaning against it.

The room was utterly silent. As Nora looked around, visions of past laughter and joy seemed to fill the space before her eyes.

She could see the figures of her two precious boys and all their different expressions: laughing, crying, making a fuss, throwing a little tantrum, being willful, or showing off their cleverness.

Dylan was a good student, always striving to do better, and took everything seriously. Elmer didn’t like to study and was always holding his brother back, doing everything carelessly.

Two such lovely, mischievous children had been erased from her life. Gone.

All they left her with was endless pain and a sense of her own powerlessness.

Nora walked slowly to the bed and sat down. Her hand stroked the bedding as if she were caressing her children.

She slumped down onto the bed, tears streaming down her face.

She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Mommy..."

"Mommy..."

"Mommy..."

The calls echoed in her ears, one after another.

A tender, childlike voice, calling out again and again.

Each call tormented her heart.

After a moment, she sat up and wiped her eyes. She got out of bed, turned off the light, and left the room without a backward glance.

"Leon is here. He’s in the living room."

Nora stopped in her tracks and nodded.

She went downstairs and saw Leon Lynch sitting there. When he saw her, he said, "Nora, let’s go for a walk. There’s something I want to ask you."

Nora nodded, then said to Quentin, "I’ll be right back."

"Go on. I’m not worried."

Nora smiled. "I know."

The air in the courtyard was cool, and the gentle breeze on their faces was refreshing.

They walked side by side. Leon’s voice was a little somber. "Since it’s already happened, we have to accept reality. I watched those two grow up. To be honest, when I heard the news, it felt like a bolt from the blue, like it was the end of the world."

Nora stopped walking. "At that moment, I felt... I felt like I couldn’t go on living."

Leon looked at her. "When I realized I loved you, I also felt like I couldn’t go on living."

"Why?"

"Because I knew you didn’t love me."

Nora pressed her lips together. "Leon, we’ve said this more than once. If I hadn’t met Quentin at the beginning and had just married you instead, maybe things would be different now. At the very least, we’d have a simple, quiet life. Maybe there would be the usual squabbles with a mother-in-law, but there wouldn’t have been so much turmoil. We wouldn’t have moments where we wanted to die. But... on the other hand, love... it really can control a person’s heart and soul. It can do things money can’t."

"It’s not too late to marry me now," he joked, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Nora turned and started walking again. "Only if you’re not afraid of Quentin showing up at your door."

"To be honest, a jealous man is a scary thing. I think I’ll avoid provoking him so I can live a few days longer."

"Did you just come find me tonight to chat?"

"Of course... that’s part of the reason. But there’s something else I wanted to ask you in person. My company is looking for a spokesperson, and you were the first person I thought of. I know you’ve been down lately, Nora. You need to pull yourself out of it and start a new life with Quentin. So I just wanted to ask you."

"My TV show just resumed filming, so taking on a commercial for you isn’t out of the question. Okay. After I finish the commercial and the show, I’ll take a temporary break from the entertainment industry."

He pulled her into a hug. "Nora, you have to be strong. Because in all the time I’ve known you, my impression has always been that you have a core of steel beneath a gentle exterior. Your strength is something you never boast about."

"I will."

"I’ll be waiting for you at the company tomorrow."

"Okay."

He released her and grinned. "Smile a little. Come on, let’s go back, or I’m afraid that husband of yours will get jealous."

"He wouldn’t dare."

"Oh, he definitely would. There’s nothing he wouldn’t dare to do."

They looked at each other, smiled, and started walking back.

Dylan and Elmer Grant walked through the market town for a long time. Finally, when they were about to collapse from exhaustion, they found a dilapidated house with a sign on the door: "Unsafe Building, Do Not Enter."

But right now, they needed to rest, needed a place to settle down. So, they opened the door and went inside.

The place was pitch-black, with no lights.

Standing in the courtyard, Dylan said, "You and Monty stay here. I’m going out to buy a flashlight and some food."

"Be careful, big brother."

Dylan nodded and left.

Elmer was left sitting alone in the courtyard, shivering from the cold.

Half an hour later, Dylan returned. He came in holding a flashlight and carrying a large bag of food.

Elmer quickly took the bag and followed Dylan into the dilapidated house.

The inside was empty, but to the boys’ surprise, a single, tattered sofa sat there all alone.

They hurried over, sat on the sofa, and opened the bag. Dylan tossed a few steamed buns and two chicken legs to Monty. "Eat this for now. We don’t have much money."

Monty nodded and began to gnaw on the food quietly.

The two boys were starving and wolfed down the food until they were full. After drinking some water, they gave a little more to Monty. With some food and a bottle of water left over, Dylan decided they would save it for the next day.

"We’ll rest here for now. Around two or three in the morning, we’ll start moving again. We can’t stay here for long. There will be fewer people out late at night."

"Okay, big brother. I’ll listen to you."

"It’s been a long day. Get some sleep first."

Starving for so long had left them malnourished. The two children were now thin and sallow. Their hair was a messy, smelly tangle and had grown quite a bit.

Lack of sleep left them physically and mentally exhausted, but they never once thought about giving up.

After sleeping for seven or eight hours, Dylan woke up first. He roused Elmer and Monty, and they left the dilapidated house with their things.

As expected, the market town was surprisingly quiet. There was no one around at this hour.

They didn’t know where to go or where they should go. They just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible, find somewhere to settle down, and then call home.