111 Chapter 111

',

"Vernon, did Mackie do something wrong?"

Vernon and Mackie stopped arguing for a second and looked at Chloe simultaneously.

Mackie was the first one to report on what happened, "Mommy! Uncle Vernon wants to rob my banana cream pie! He said he would eat Mommy if I didn't give my pie!"

"What the— rob?! I was trying to take my rightful pie!" Vernon insisted, thinking it was his pie to begin with. Mackie was stealing it from the fridge— he did that once… or twice… whenever his sister-in-law cooked an extra and put it in the fridge when he was a kid.

He would sneak in the middle of the night to steal it and eat whatever was in his room.

So he expected Mackie to do the same.

'ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ No(ve) l Bi n',

"Ah, yup, that one is for Mackie. She scored perfect on her math test, so I want to give her something to reward her," Chloe confirmed, not wanting to let long bickering between these kids. It was funny to hear them bickering and arguing the smallest thing possible.

Mackie and Vernon looked at each other, and the little girl stuck her tongue out, "BWEEEE!"

"Hmph!" Vernon tried to ignore this little devil who dared to mock him. "And you gave her Banana cream pie as a reward?" Vernon asked, still couldn't accept that Mackie got special treatment.

"Mhm, she really likes banana cream pie," Chloe smiled at him. "Her taste is very similar to you when you're a kid. So I thought you might like to have a banana pie as well. This will be my thanks for saving me before."

Chloe showed the banana pie that she had just made. It was still fresh and definitely delicious. It had been more than ten years since he tasted the banana cream pie made by his sister-in-law.

"Do you want it? If you don't want it, I can just give it to Mackie—"

"Who said I don't want it?" Vernon got up and walked toward Chloe. He carefully grabbed the large plate from Chloe, intending to dig the whole thing all by himself, just like he did when he was a kid. Though, it seemed that his habit had been inherited by his little niece.

Chloe smiled, "Then I'll bring two glasses of water for you two. You can sit beside Mackie, okay?"

"What the— you're telling me to watch Spongebob while eating this banana cream pie? What do you think I am? A little kid?!"

"Uncle, don't raise your voice to Mommy!" Mackie protested.

"Ugh!" Vernon was frustrated but was nowhere near angry. For whatever reason, his anger just disappeared right when he opened the penthouse door.

Maybe it was because of Mackie, who sat and watched Spongebob, maybe because the pie was delicious, or maybe because of her…

Chloe was more relaxed now because Vernon didn't seem to be in a bad mood. He was grumpy as always, but it was almost like a second trait for him.

She also sensed no hostility from him. She was still unable to predict the crazy mood swing that Vernon had, but alas, she was assured that Vernon wouldn't yell at her or destroy things anymore.

Thus, Chloe smiled at him again and patted his chest since he was too tall for her to pat his head, "Go sit with Mackie, okay?"

Vernon glared at Chloe, who dared to touch his chest with her warm palm and ordered him around, "Who are you trying to order me? I'm the one who hired you, and I will do whatever I want! I'm not a kid anymore!"

Chloe ignored his anger because she knew that Vernon wasn't truly mad.

How'd she known?

'ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ Novel(B) in.ᴄᴏᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜰᴀsᴛᴇʀ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ sᴘᴇᴇᴅ.',

Because her palm was on his chest, she felt that Vernon's heartbeat was long and steady, signaling that he was actually in a good mood. Despite being hostile as always, Vernon's expression had a slight (almost unnoticeable) tint of red on his cheeks.

She tiptoed to the right to see what Mackie was watching right now, "Ah, it's an old Spongebob episode. Don't you like Spongebob when you were young?"

"I'm not a kid anymore…." Vernon replied, but his response wasn't hostile this time, especially with Chloe's palm on his chest. It made him feel comfortable and improved his mood with a single touch.

"Well, that means your taste has changed as well, right? I'll make you something else then, give me back the banana cream pie, and I'll make you a… cup of coffee. You can drink it while you're working, right?"

…

Vernon said nothing but turned around and walked toward his little niece.

He put the large plate on the carpet and took off his suit and shoes.

He sat cross-legged beside Mackie, who ignored him and resumed munching her banana pie while watching Spongebob on the TV.

He clicked his tongue, feeling that he had been humiliated by his sister-in-law because he couldn't control his urge not to eat this banana pie. So she dared to order him around, even though he was the one who hired her to work as a maid.

Though, he thought it was quite justified since he knew exactly how delicious this homemade banana cream pie was.

Vernon glanced at Mackie, who had just used a plastic spoon to stab the banana cream pie, and started eating by scooping the cream first and using her left hand to break the crust and started eating it.

It was messy and childish, exactly how Vernon ate it when he was a kid.

Vernon scoffed, 'What a kid. I don't do that anymore, thankfully.'

Vernon wanted to eat the banana cream pie per slice like normal people. But when he realized that his sister-in-law didn't cut the crust first and how she prepared a bigger spoon, it was already proof that she expected him to eat like he was a kid.

"Ah, screw this!" Vernon was already hungry. He had no patience to wait for Chloe to cake the pie for him. So he resumed the old way and started digging the banana and cream with a spoon and breaking the crust to dip it in the cream.