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He thought that as long as Mackie was happy with the celebration, he had nothing to worry about, and he could go on with his date with Chloe.

After all, he mostly saw Mackie as \'Chloe\'s daughter\' or \'his niece\' rather than a special little girl with a special place in his heart.

But after she called her Daddy— whether intentionally or not— it still put an enormous guilt in him. He felt guilty of thinking that Mackie was not as important as Chloe.

Now that his heart had melted by the little girl, he started thinking whether he should take this father-daughter relationship with Mackie more seriously.

"Damn, never know that my heart will tremble because of a little girl. Is this a sign that I will be a good father when I marry Chloe later?" Vernon wondered. He knew that marriage was still far from happening, but he was already thinking about it.

Marrying his beloved woman was like the ultimate reward he would collect once all this mind game with his Big brother was over.

"Now, not only will I marry my beloved woman. I will also get a daughter as my first child," Vernon grinned as he found his ultimate reward so satisfying. "Now I have two reasons not to fail when dealing with my Big brother."

**

Vernon was well rested for the whole night until morning came. He cooked breakfast for his small family.

Mackie still had a whole week off school after the autumn festival and was happy to accompany her injured mother.

Chloe was still trying to prepare Vernon\'s suit despite being told not to. Maybe it was already in her bond to do something even when she was sick.

"This is the least I could do," Chloe insisted while going back and forth from the laundry room to Vernon\'s bedroom, giving him his apparel one by one.

"Are you going to have a meeting today?" Chloe asked just to open a small talk while she handed the tie.

"Mhm, I\'m going to meet my Big brother," Vernon said nonchalantly.

Chloe\'s body stiffened in an instant. A trace of dread leaked from her expression despite trying her best not to show her fear.

"W—What\'s that for? Did you… um… m—make an obvious mistake?" Chloe stuttered as she continued asking. She was trying not to be nervous, but it wasn\'t effective at all.

She was still scared of him, afraid that Vincent might do something to harm her or her new family, but Vernon was relaxed as if meeting a monster like Vincent was just a menial job for him, so Chloe had to try to match up with his energy.

She had to act tough despite the fear in her heart.

Vernon glanced at Chloe and smiled thin, "Don\'t be too nervous. I know what I\'m doing."

"S—Sorry, is it too obvious?"

"Yeah, your reaction is too obvious. But it\'s fine, I know that you\'re still trying to fight off the fear," Vernon grabbed his car key and gave Chloe a quick peck on the cheek. "I\'m off to work now. Just tell Diamond if you need anything, and use Ubereats if you want to eat anything."

Chloe felt a little bashful after the small peck. "Mm, thank you, and… g—good luck, Vernon…." Chloe said.

Vernon left with a smile and went down to the basement. His smile disappeared the moment he entered his car.

He sat in his car for a while, trying to brace himself as he was about to meet with his Big brother, who might have sniffed his attempt to overthrow him.

He looked so lax in front of Chloe because he didn\'t want her to be nervous, but truthfully, he was probably more nervous than she was right now.

"You can\'t fuck this up, Vernon. Remember, you have two girls you have to protect," Vernon used that as a chant so he wouldn\'t appear nervous in front of his Big brother. Vincent was intelligent and perceptive, so Vernon needed to be perfect with his pretense. He could pick up some of Vernon\'s nervousness and accuse him of something.

Vernon took a deep breath before he started the engine and left his apartment.

**

"This way, Sir."

Vernon was escorted by the lobby receptionist to Vincent\'s office. He put his hand inside his suit, silently wiping the sweat on his palms to appear less nervous. He followed the receptionist to the elevator and stopped at the top floor.

That wretched old secretary was standing near the elevator as she had expected his arrival.

"Good morning, Mr. Phoenix Gray," Secretary Maria bowed respectfully. "Mr. Vincent Gray has been waiting inside."

"Is he alone?" Vernon asked. He didn\'t want to see his Big brother fucking another woman. He\'d always imagine that bastard forcing Chloe to watch him fornicating with another woman, which might trigger him to beat the shit out of Vincent.

Secretary Maria paused briefly, "Please follow me, Sir."

Vernon frowned when Secretary Maria refused to answer his question. He was already in full guard, thinking this might be a trap.

His eyes glanced at each corner of the area, checking whether there might be a camera. But everything was normal, so he wondered why this old hag refused to answer such a basic question.

Secretary Maria stopped in front of the door and knock three times, "Sir, Mr. Phoenix Gray is here."

"Oh, let him in!" Vincent replied from inside.

Secretary Maria opened the door for him, and once the door was wide open, Vernon saw his Big brother sitting on the sofa, drinking a cup of coffee while talking to someone sitting across from him.

It was an old woman in her late 50s. She wore a long-sleeved beige knit dress, showing her slim figure despite her senior age.

Vernon\'s heart skipped for a second when his eyes met with that woman who stared at him with a deep yet somewhat hostile gaze.

"Come in, Little bro, it\'s been a while since we have a little family reunion."