Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar-Chapter 33: Sleepless

When she returned to the Ainsworth Residence, just as expected, Nicholas Ainsworth was sitting alone on the living room sofa.

He seemed to be waiting for her, but Nora Ainsworth didn’t pause after changing her shoes, heading straight for the stairs.

He didn’t call out to her. ’I must be overthinking things,’ Nora Ainsworth thought. When she reached the landing, she glanced back toward the living room and her eyes met Nicholas Ainsworth’s.

Nora Ainsworth quickly looked away. As she reached her mother’s bedroom door, she froze at the sound of something heavy hitting the door from inside.

From inside came Mr. Ainsworth’s furious, hushed roar. "Joel Chaucer, don’t push me! You were the one desperate to marry me back then. If it weren’t for Sharon’s mother dying so young, do you think you’d ever have had a chance to marry into the Ainsworth Family?"

Mrs. Ainsworth’s voice trembled slightly. "You said you’d be good to my daughter and me. Is this how you treat us? You arranged for Nora to marry into the Lynch Family, and I admit, an ordinary girl wouldn’t get a chance with a family like that. Even though you were just using Nora to get closer to the Lynch Group, I told myself it was for Nora’s own good. But how are you treating me now? Tell me, how many other women do you have out there?"

Mr. Ainsworth was blunt. "I had many women even when I was married to Nicholas and Sharon’s mother. She never asked any questions, and that’s why she lived peacefully until she passed away from her illness. You’ve always just been one of them. If you don’t want this position, there are others willing to take it."

The room instantly fell silent.

Standing at the door, Nora Ainsworth suddenly felt a strange chill spread through her limbs.

She wanted to leave, but her legs wouldn’t move.

Just then, Mr. Ainsworth’s voice pierced her ears again.

"Joel Chaucer, if it wasn’t for the sake of Nora’s biological father, I never would have brought you and your daughter into my home, let alone married you. I owed him. I turned against my own brother because of you, and once I had you, I realized it wasn’t worth it, all for a woman."

The tears Mrs. Ainsworth had been holding back finally broke free. "I never, ever thought I’d hear you say that. After all these years, I’ve just been a stumbling block in your relationship with your brother, haven’t I?"

Mr. Ainsworth sounded extremely displeased. "Don’t you start making a scene. I think you know what the decision is. You can stay and keep quiet, or you can take your daughter and leave. The choice is yours. But I imagine that without the Ainsworth Family’s support, the Lynch Family will call off the engagement immediately. Even if you won’t think of yourself, you have to think of your daughter!"

Footsteps approached the door, and Nora Ainsworth quickly ducked into her own room.

Leaning against the door, her heart was trembling.

This was the first time she had ever heard her mother mention her biological father.

Her biological father was very likely Mr. Ainsworth’s brother.

The bombshell left her reeling. She desperately wanted to know—where had her father gone?

’Why have I never met him after all these years? Is he dead or alive? Or is he hiding somewhere?’

Though she didn’t want to dwell on it, Nora Ainsworth had to admit that her stepfather had other women. That must be why her mother was so resentful, or perhaps why she deluded herself into thinking he might change his ways.

She couldn’t sleep a wink that night.

She couldn’t focus at school the next morning, and that afternoon, she went straight home.

Mr. Ainsworth wasn’t home. Mrs. Ainsworth looked unwell, and upon seeing her daughter, asked, "Don’t you have class this afternoon?"

Nora Ainsworth walked over and, feigning ignorance, asked, "Mom, you look a little pale. What’s wrong?"