Loved by my brother-in-law

17

"Ugh, can I skip that?" Vernon groaned out of pain. He really didn't want to go to work right now.

He'd rather watch Mackie's performance. Even if the show was over, he still wanted to congratulate his niece for doing a great job.

He also wanted to watch over Chloe and Mackie, ensuring they were safe, even if he could only do it on the phone.

She chuckled and shook her head, "No, you can't. Work is work," Chloe insisted.

Vernon snorted annoyedly, "Fine, I'll take a bath. But you must answer my call later. I'll call you when I'm in my car."

Chloe smiled thin. She couldn't help thinking that Vernon's stickiness was so cute.

It reminded her so much of Little Vernon, who would stick by her side no matter what.

"Okay, just take a bath and prepare yourself to work first. Your suit is on the sofa," Chloe mentioned, and she hung up the call soon after.

She stared at the empty stage for a while.

Since Mackie's stage play was the first, the next play would be in fifteen minutes.

'Mackie must be celebrating with her friends right now. I shouldn't disturb her,' Chloe thought.

She waited for the next ten minutes before she realized that she had to go to the bathroom.

So she got up and left the auditorium. She walked through the corridor to the bathroom and realized she was being followed by someone.

She glanced at the one following her by her side and saw a female janitor walking to the bathroom just like her.

The female janitor closed their gaps and said in a low- almost inaudible voice, "We're watching you."

Ba-dump!

Chloe's heartbeat skipped for a second, and she got nervous instantly.

She knew this woman must be the bodyguard Vernon sent to watch over her. But it still gave her the creeps to be watched like this.

After all, Vincent never sent any kind of bodyguard for her or her daughter, despite being Vincent's wife for the past ten years.

Which ended with Mackie getting kidnapped once by her relative.

And Vincent's solution was... to hide Mackie and Chloe from the public's eyes, limiting their movements and ensuring that they were under his surveillance all the time.

Chloe couldn't even go to a different grocery store without being questioned or hit-- if she dared to argue.

Chloe entered the female bathroom and looked over her shoulder to check on the janitor.

The female janitor was staring at her but stopped at the intersection between the female and male bathrooms.

'Ugh, so creepy...' Chloe thought.

She entered one stall and did her stuff before washing her hand in the sink.

She checked in the mirror and realized that the female janitor was nowhere to be seen, much to her surprise.

'Where's she?' Chloe wondered. 'If she's supposed to be guarding Mackie and I, shouldn't she be staying near me? Does she watch over me from another location?'

Chloe got even more nervous than before, but she could do nothing other than act like nothing was wrong and left the bathroom.

She walked to the corridor as she wanted to return to the school auditorium, but when she passed the principal's office, she saw the old principal standing in front of the door, seemingly waiting for someone.

Chloe tried to walk past her, but the moment that old woman spotted her, she quickly grabbed Chloe's shoulder and tightened her grip, making sure that Chloe halted her step.

'Oh, crap, what's now?' Chloe cursed in her heart. But she looked over her shoulder and asked, "Is there something wrong, Mrs. Andrew?"

"Mrs. Gray, I have something to tell you," Mrs. Andrew said. Her voice was hoarse as if she was just as nervous as Chloe.

"About what?"

"Let's... talk about it inside my office, okay?" Mrs. Andrew initiated, and Chloe's suspicion was on the roof.

From her pale face to her nervous gait, it was obvious that Mrs. Andrew was hiding something.

So Chloe stood her ground, "We can talk here, Mrs. Andrew, I don't mind at all." Chloe looked around and added, "There's nobody but us here, so you don't need to worry if someone overheard us."

Mrs. Andrew got even more nervous after realizing that Mrs. Gray wasn't as meek and obedient as usual. Her palms started sweating cold, "Mrs. Gray, this is about Mackenzie. It's very important. Let's go in and talk."

"We can talk here," Chloe insisted. "I'm her mother, I don't mind if someone else hears about this."

Mrs. Andrew was speechless by Chloe's stubbornness. She was a completely different person right now.

She was used to just lowering her head and saying okay to everything. Usually, she would keep her mouth shut and let other people trample over her.

But this time, she looked confident, which scared the old principal so much.

"M--Mrs. Gray, please, just cooperate with me and we can have a chat inside. Why are you being so difficult?"

"I'm not being difficult, you are," Chloe retorted. Truthfully, she was also nervous right now.

She wasn't used to arguing with someone like this. But she really had a bad hunch over this old woman. So she had to defend herself even if that also made her uncomfortable.

"If you have something to talk about, we can talk here, or we can even go to my car if you really need that privacy."

"This is taking too long. We have works to do in the office," Mrs. Andrew and Chloe darted their eyes simultaneously when they heard another old woman's voice.

Chloe was astonished when she saw that old wretched Secretary Maria walking towards them. Her eyes showed signs of impatience, as if she wanted all of this to end soon.

"Let's get this over with, Mrs. Gray," Maria said. She stood right beside Chloe and grabbed her arm so tight that Chloe winced in pain when Secretary Maria's sharp nails dug into her skin.

"Someone wants to see you," Maria glanced at Mrs. Andrew and instructed, "Grab her other arm."