48 Chapter 48

"And why am I weird?" Vernon asked.

"Uncle Vernon is so mean to Mommy, but Uncle also likes to eat Mommy's pancake," Mackie commented. Her legs flailed under the table, happily munching the homemade fluffy pancake. "Mommy's cooking is so delicious. Uncle must've liked it, right?"

"It's tolerable," Vernon replied. He sipped the smoothie from a big straw, and his lips tightened for a moment.

"Then why are you so mean to Mommy? Mackie won't let you hurt Mommy!" Mackie said seriously, her doe eyes beamed with determination, ready to protect her precious mom.

"Heh, you need to grow up first if you want to protect her from me," Vernon smirked and looked at Mackie with a mischievous gaze.

For a split second, Mackie thought she saw Uncle Vernon with wolf ears, like a big bad wolf!

"U—Uncle is like a big bad wolf! Mackie will protect Mommy from you!"

"Heheh, sure, you should. After all, I can eat her anytime I want," Vernon said and he made a gesture of a big bite towards her.

"Waaa!" Mackie quickly jumped from her seat and rushed towards the laundry room.

Vernon watched that little girl running in shambles to return to her mother, even though she said she would protect her mommy less than a minute ago.

"Now I understand why that little girl becomes my mother's favorite," Vernon said, a thin smile perked up at the edge of his lips. But the smile dimmed as he realized that girl's parents, "Too bad I hate her dad… and her mom."

Mackie entered the laundry room and found her Mommy had just finished drying the laundry. Mackie jumped towards her again, "Mommy, Mommy!"

"Ah!" Chloe lost her balance and fell to the stack of Vernon's freshly dried suits and shirts. "M—Mackie, you're going to give me a heart attack!"

"Wuu, I'm sorry, Mommy. But Uncle Vernon is so evil!"

"Hm? What did he do?"

"He… he said that he is a big bad wolf and will eat Mommy!" Mackie reported. She clenched her hug around Chloe's waist. "Mackie will protect Mommy!"

'',

Chloe knew that Vernon must've been saying stuff towards Mackie again.

"Don't mind him, dear. But you're doing good, right? You shouldn't make him angry. He is also Mommy's boss at work," Chloe warned her. She really needed this job, so she couldn't afford to lose it.

"Un, I'm doing good!" Mackie said. "But, Mommy, why does Uncle Vernon never show up in Grandma's house before?"

"That's because he was studying in another country. He is smart!" Chloe tried to give Vernon a better light, so Mackie wouldn't be hostile toward him.

After all, Mackie hated all of her uncles and aunts except her Granny in the Gray Family.

"Do you like Uncle Vernon?" Mackie asked.

"Uncle Vernon is mean! He is also a big bad wolf that wants to eat Mommy!" Mackie pouted as she complained. "But… Uncle Vernon is not like the other."

"Really?"

"Yup! He is unlike other uncles because he didn't hurt Mackie when Mommy or Daddy wasn't around!"

**

Mackie returned downstairs with a glass of banana-apple smoothie. Chloe told her to watch her favorite kids' cartoon while she was busy in Uncle Vernon's apartment.

Meanwhile, Vernon already went to the 10th floor, where there was a gym, leaving Chloe alone in his apartment.

Vernon entered the gym, and his personal trainer was already waiting for him. He bowed slightly, "Mr. Phoenix Gray, you seem to be in a good mood today. Did something good happen?"

"No, I just have a good… and entertaining breakfast," Vernon replied.

'Entertaining?' The personal trainer wondered. It was very rare for Mr. Phoenix Gray to be in a good mood. He only had two default moods most of the time;

1. Grumpy.

2. Super Grumpy.

'Maybe he found a new woman to fuck? I mean, it's not rare for him to bring a woman and fuck her before tossing her away….'

The personal trainer didn't agree with Mr. Phoenix Gray's lifestyle, but he was just an employee here, so he had no right to say anything.

Vernon took three hours to exercise on the weekend. He straightened his legs to rest after a rough training regiment, and the personal trainer told him, "You're doing great, Mr. Phoenix Gray. But I heard you broke up with your girlfriend, Amelia Dunn. I'm sorry to hear that."

Vernon was more comfortable talking to his personal trainer because he was friendly and professional. He knew his boundary and things he couldn't speak about towards Vernon.

"She's just one of those chicks I took for a movie promotion under my company. She tried to get more from me, but I got bored of her already. So I just kicked her away," Vernon replied.

The personal trainer wasn't that surprised by Vernon's words. Because he already got used to him, though he wondered if Mr. Phoenix Gray ever fell in love in his life.

He didn't dare to ask that, though, because Vernon would always glare at him if he asked whether the devil CEO had a first love, at least.

"But you seem to be in a good mood today. Did you find another woman, Mr. Phoenix Gray?"

"I got a woman in my apartment. But she's not only a plaything," Vernon said. A mysterious smirk appeared as if he was already planning something so devious. "She is a plaything for now. But I want to see if she can be useful for me in the future."

The personal trainer didn't know what Mr. Phoenix Gray meant by that. But this woman seemed to be different, 'Maybe it's a daughter from an important family in the world. But he dated a real princess when he was in university, right? How could someone be even more important than that?'

"Ah, that reminds me. I have to make sure that Diamond did her job," Vernon pointed at his phone on a counter, "Bring me my phone. I will tell her to revise a few things in the contract."