Chapter 337: Chapter 334: He’d Recognize That Voice, Even in Ashes (8)
Ethan Ellsworth had never seen her so agitated, but he himself felt calm. "Mom, are you dreaming?"
"Dream on! Your mother isn’t hallucinating. I just saw it on TV—the election for Harrowin’s new Supreme Leader. Did you know about it?"
Ethan Ellsworth was unconcerned. "I wasn’t paying attention."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Open your laptop and take a look!" she urged.
Ethan Ellsworth took out his laptop, placed it on the desk, and did a quick search. Tons of identical news videos popped up.
He clicked on one of the videos at random.
The video began with a news anchor’s commentary, followed by live footage from the event.
The moment he saw that familiar face, Ethan Ellsworth’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot.
’He never thought he would see her again in this lifetime.’
’He had long since given up all hope.’
’And yet, he’d never imagined that one day he would see her again, alive and well, with his own two eyes.’
’But reality was telling him this was no dream.’
He stared intently at the screen, and Mrs. Ellsworth’s gaze was also fixed on it.
When Lillian Bancroft was introduced, Ethan Ellsworth fell apart. He couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t dead. Instead, she had become the First Lady of another country, married, and even had a child.
His initial excitement instantly turned to overwhelming sorrow.
’Maybe this woman who looks identical to her isn’t her at all.’
’She wouldn’t abandon me to marry someone else. The Chloe I knew wasn’t a vain, materialistic woman.’
’But another thought hounded him, telling him that regardless of the truth, he had to go and confirm it for himself.’
"Son."
"Yeah."
"When Harrowin’s Supreme Leader introduced the First Lady, why didn’t he mention her name?"
Ethan Ellsworth shook his head, his body slumping like a deflated balloon.
"I don’t know."
Mrs. Ellsworth fell into deep thought. Then, she said, "Chloe disappeared right at the border between Harrowin and Grestin, and nothing that could prove her identity was found on the plane. So, I think there’s a nine-out-of-ten chance it really is her. But why would she be with Lillian Bancroft? And have a child? Why didn’t she come back?"
He leaned back, his eyes filled with sorrow, a lump forming in his throat and a bitter taste filling his mouth.
Seeing him in this state, Mrs. Ellsworth suggested, "Son, you should leave for Harrowin immediately. Find a way to meet this First Lady."
"I doubt I’ll be able to see her."
Mrs. Ellsworth thought about it carefully and realized he had a point.
"Then what should we do?"
"What other choice is there? You can’t just give up because you know there’s a tiger ahead. I’ll go now. I’ll sneak into the Imperial Palace first and figure it out from there."
His assistant, Alice, who was standing nearby, found out what was happening and immediately tried to talk him out of it. "Boss Ellsworth, if you do this, all your work here will have to be put on hold. It will affect your popularity."
Ethan Ellsworth shot her a look. "Do you think I’m in any state to care about work right now? You’re to stay here and behave until I get back."
After saying that, he turned to Mrs. Ellsworth. "Mom, have someone keep a close eye on her. I’m worried she’ll let this slip."
Seeing how much he suspected her, Alice was deeply hurt. "Boss Ellsworth, do you really not trust me at all?"
He stood up. "Do you even trust yourself?"
Mrs. Ellsworth watched him leave, her heart filled with anxiety, wondering if her son would be able to confirm whether the First Lady was truly Chloe.
Before boarding the plane, Ethan Ellsworth let his two best friends know what was happening, then headed to Harrowin alone.
A few hours later, he arrived in the Capital of Harrowin.
Just as he had imagined, security in Harrowin was extremely tight.
Getting into the Imperial Palace seemed next to impossible.
’But he wouldn’t give up.’
’He had to know: was the woman inside really her?’
’He would find out the answer, no matter the cost.’
’This was just too important to him.’
The first step was to create a fake identity.
Ethan Ellsworth managed to get it done within two days of arriving, changing his name to Noel Chaucer.
The name was a subtle, private nod to his real identity.
His first move was to enlist in the military. It seemed to be the only possible way to get into the Imperial Palace.
However, he never expected what happened next.
Throughout his military service, he was never reassigned and never got a chance to enter the Imperial Palace.
There was no end in sight.
Looking after one child is exhausting enough for an adult, so taking care of two at once was clearly overwhelming for Nora Ainsworth.
Still, she had urged Leon Lynch to leave.
She promised she could raise the children on her own.
Leon Lynch hadn’t planned on leaving, but he couldn’t withstand her persistent pleading and had no choice but to leave and return to his own country.
Suddenly, Nora Ainsworth was left to care for both children by herself.
She spent her days sitting on the bed, holding the two children as they played, and feeding them whenever they got hungry.
It was exhausting, but looking at their little faces, she felt incredibly content.
The hardships of her life had made her let herself go. She hadn’t bought new clothes in ages, only replacing her shoes when they were completely worn out. Her hair was always unkempt, her face bare of any makeup.
As time went on, she almost forgot that she had once been a glamorous superstar, dripping with style.
Fortunately, the children gradually grew from helpless, crying infants into toddlers.
The two boys looked so identical there was almost no telling them apart. If not for the colored string tied around the older twin’s right wrist, even Nora Ainsworth would have trouble distinguishing between them.
The two children soon turned two years old.
By this point, through Nora Ainsworth’s careful observation, she realized that while the two children were identical in appearance, their personalities were worlds apart.
The older twin, Dylan Grant, was cool and aloof. He rarely smiled, and at such a young age, he always wore a serious, earnest expression on his little face. He hung on his mother’s every word.
The younger twin, Elmer Grant, was a bundle of energy, always smiling. He would throw his head back and roar with laughter at the slightest provocation. He had terrible posture, no table manners, and a nonexistent memory. Whatever his mother, Nora Ainsworth, told him went in one ear and out the other.
With their personalities being such polar opposites, Nora would have been truly unworthy of being called a mother if she hadn’t noticed.
Gradually, she could tell which twin was which without needing to look at the colored string.
Just after the New Year, the twins’ birthday arrived on the sixth day of the first lunar month.
Nora Ainsworth opened her wallet and looked inside. She took out a hundred-yuan bill, stood up, and called out, "Dylan, Elmer, come here!"
The two children came running over.
"Mommy, what is it?" Elmer Grant asked.
Dylan Grant just stood there, watching Nora Ainsworth without asking.
"It’s your birthday today. Go on, tell me what you want to eat. Mommy will get you whatever you want."
Elmer Grant immediately said with glee, "Mommy, I want to eat KFC!"
Before Nora Ainsworth could even open her mouth, Dylan Grant frowned. "No. Mommy said that stuff is unhealthy. We’re little kids, so we should eat less of it."
Elmer Grant huffed, "But Mommy just said she’d get us whatever we want."
Nora Ainsworth crouched down and nodded. "Okay, we’ll go eat KFC this one time. But you two have to promise me you won’t run around. You have to be good, or else Mommy will get angry."
