53 Chapter 53

"Mr. Gray, are you sure about this? Don't you think it's a bit cruel for her?"

"No, it's not cruel at all. She said that she wanted to be treated like a regular worker, so I did," Vernon replied to Diamond. "This is the perfect contract for her. Don't you have the same contract?"

"But my salary is not this small, Sir! This is— this is—"

"Shut up, Diamond. She is working for me, I have all the rights to give her a contract, and if she doesn't like it, she could just leave," Vernon said.

Chloe's heart sunk once she heard that. She had many suspicions growing in her head right now.

'Contract? So, it's like a work contract, right? How bad could it be?' Chloe thought. She tried to be positive, but that positive idea got dispelled instantly, 'Wait, no. This is Vernon Phoenix Gray we're talking about. Of course, he will not let me off easy.'

Diamond took a deep breath to calm herself down. She knew she had no say in this matter, but she was Chloe's friend. She even said that she would protect her and her daughter. Diamond tried her best to reason with her boss, but really, this was Vernon we're talking about.

"If there is nothing I can do, please excuse me, Mr. Phoenix Gray," Diamond said. She turned around and walked to the door.

Once she passed the door, she turned to the right and saw Chloe was eavesdropping the whole time.

Diamond's expression turned sorry. She didn't know what to say to Chloe other than, "I'm sorry. I can't do much."

Chloe was petrified, especially with the sorry expression on Diamond's face. She didn't know what was waiting for her, but she didn't want to make Diamond feel guilty for something she couldn't control.

"It's okay, Diamond. I know you're trying…."

Diamond smiled bitterly at Chloe and looked over her shoulder to check on Mr. Phoenix Gray, who was busy reading a document.

"The devil is waiting for you. Just brace yourself and be brave, okay?" Diamond said.

Chloe swallowed her saliva hard, but she nodded and walked inside the CEO's Office.

Diamond closed the door, so Vernon and Chloe could have their time alone.

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Chloe walked in and stood in front of the CEO's desk. Vernon was still busy with a document until his hawk eyes darted towards Chloe and lifted his head slightly.

Vernon fixed his glasses and asked, "You're eavesdropping the whole time, correct?"

"A—A little, Sir…."

"Well, there is nothing to hide anyway," Vernon said. He pushed a red file on the desk towards Chloe. "Open that file. You'll see the contract we're talking about."

"A contract?"

"Aren't you the one who said that you want to have a salary?" Vernon sneered. "What? Scared?"

"N—Not at all, Sir…"

Chloe put the lunchbox on the chair and grabbed the file. She opened it and read the contract that Vernon was talking about.

…

Vernon observed Chloe's expression, and her expression turned from nervous to shock, horror, and then nervous again. Just like what he expected.

"What's with your expression? Don't tell me you're backing off after reading it."

"I…" Chloe was very nervous indeed, and after reading the contract's content, she got even more nervous and scared. She looked at Vernon, who sneered at her.

Basically, there were three main points inside the contract;

1. Chloe would be given a salary per six months. The amount was yet to be disclosed by Vernon in the contract, unfortunately.

2. Chloe would work on three things, preparing Vernon's suits every day and doing all of his laundries now, different from the previous agreement that she only had to wash the suits and shirts. Now she also had to wash everything else, including his underwear.

She also had to cook three times a day, like a maid, and deliver lunchbox.

And lastly, she had to be ready whenever Vernon Phoenix Gray wanted to use her body for his pleasure.

3. Car, apartment, and black card were all facilities for Chloe, but Chloe could not use the black card for whatever she wanted. Besides necessities like groceries, gas, et cetera, Chloe had to pay ten times the amount back to Vernon.

However, if she couldn't pay it back, it would be debt, and Chloe had to pay the amount back in another favor.

"T—TEN TIMES?!"

Chloe almost lost footing as she read the amount she needed to pay. She looked at Vernon with hopeless eyes, "S—Sir, what kind of favor are you talking about here?" Chloe asked. She already imagined many bad things that she would never want to happen. "Is it… sex?"

Vernon's sneer turned into a smirk, "Why would it be sex? It's already part of your job, correct? Just make sure that you won't be in debt with me, or you will have to pay ten times the amount. It can be deducted from your salary, of course."

"T—Then, how much is my salary, Sir?" Chloe asked. She didn't know how much would she need, but ten times the amount was already completely unaffordable for her, especially with Mackie's tuition, which was forty thousand per six months.

"Your salary is nothing to laugh at. Do you know that the median income in New York earns roughly around a hundred thousand dollars a year? You will earn more than that," Vernon said. "Do you know how much Diamond earns a year by working with me as a secretary?"

Chloe shook her head cluelessly;

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"She earns seven hundred thousand dollars. I am very generous to people who work closely with me, including you, sister-in-law," Vernon said, stating an unbelievable amount of money that Diamond earned a year from him.

So that was the reason why Diamond decided to stay and continue to work with Vernon. Because that amount of money was worth it compared to the amount of work. Vernon might even overpay her at some point, but knowing how rich Vernon was, seven hundred thousand dollars was nothing for him.