147 Chapter 147

Vernon stared at Chloe for a while and lowered her head even deeper. She felt fidgety as her mind flashed with all the things they had done last night. It was too shameful!

…

Vernon continued staring. He was still experiencing a few symptoms of a hangover right now. But the scene he saw half an hour ago cleared his mind instantly, at least the headache had lessened, and his blurry gaze had returned to normal.

He observed his sister-in-law from head to toe and noticed that she had removed his shirt and covered the hickeys around her neck with a scarf.

Vernon couldn't help to get a little disappointed.

"Sister-in-law."

"Y—Yes!"

"Raise your head and look at me," Vernon instructed with his cold voice.

Chloe didn't want to start a drama after what happened last night. So she reluctantly lifted her head until her eyes stared straight at Vernon.

She diverted her gaze instantly. She was too nervous when Vernon stared at her with that hawk-like eyes. It made her feel like Vernon was going to eat her whole.

…

"Who told you to divert your gaze?" Vernon asked. "Look at me straight in the eyes for five seconds at least."

Chloe tried her best to muster her courage and stared at Vernon again. Her heart was beating uncontrollably, and five seconds felt like five hours.

'',

She started shaking out of anxiety, and after she counted an exact five seconds, she lowered her head again.

Usually, Vernon would get mad when his sister-in-law treated him like this. She always tried to dodge him, avoiding eye contact and even fled when he was in a room.

Because he thought that she was grossed out by him, just like what she said back then. She said he was gross and wouldn't be as good as his Big brother, Vincent.

It was a scene that changed Vernon's life, for the better… or worse.

'But… is she really grossed out with me or…' Vernon observed his sister-in-law again.

What happened last night made Vernon doubt the idea that Chloe was disgusted with him.

'I remember clearly that she took the initiative to kiss me…' Vernon thought. 'There's no way she's going to kiss me if she's grossed out, especially since I'm the one who's drunk last night, not her.'

'She kissed me with her full consciousness….'

Vernon continued observing and noticed that Chloe was still fidgeting— even lightly shaking as she got even more nervous and scared under his scrutinizing gaze. She looked more like a terrified rabbit that was scared out of her wits rather than being disgusted with him.

Vernon always thought she was disgusted with him all this time, so she didn't even want to look in her eyes.

'',

But once his mind was cleared, the only thing he could see from her was fear, extreme fear as if Vernon would really beat her up.

'No way…' Vernon thought. 'All this time, she is not disgusted with me. Instead, she is… scared?'

Vernon couldn't believe that he had come to that conclusion. He got up from the chair and walked toward Chloe.

Chloe was staring at the floor when she noticed Vernon's feet approaching her.

Chloe instinctively stepped back, but Vernon swiftly wrapped his arm around her wrist and pulled her close until she couldn't escape.

Chloe's body stiffened instantly. She was scared of what Vernon would do next.

'Maybe he will beat me after realizing I've become the stand-in for 'his woman' last night,' Chloe thought. She didn't want to get hurt, but she had been beaten by Vincent a few times in the past, mostly when he was drunk.

'But… being beaten is better than getting dismissed. I need money. I can't afford to lose this job!' Chloe started trembling when she imagined getting kicked out of the apartment by Vernon. She had nowhere to go and still hadn't saved any money since Vernon said he'd only pay her salary per half a year, forcing her to calculate her spending very carefully.

"Look up," Vernon instructed, but Chloe was too scared to lift her head. She was absolutely terrified to even look up.

Realizing that his sister-in-law was not listening and continued to tremble like a terrified rabbit, Vernon finally pinched her chin and forced her to look up.

Chloe closed her eyes right before their eyes could meet. She wasn't sure if she could face him when they were this close. She wasn't ready to hear the bad news as well.

"Open your eyes, sister-in-law,' Vernon instructed, but just like before, Chloe didn't listen to him.

He got annoyed, of course. He was never a patient man and could be very upfront about his feeling when he didn't like— or was annoyed.

But he tried to hold off the urge to snap at her, so he asked again, "Chloe, open your eyes. This is an order."

…

"I will cut your salary if you don't open your eyes," Vernon threatened.

Chloe's heartbeat stopped for one second after Vernon said that. She was already dirt poor and tried her best to save money for her daughter. So she couldn't afford to lose her job or get a salary cut.

Thus, Chloe opened her eyes very slowly, and the tears welling in her eyes wetted the edges. Chloe was about to cry as she couldn't handle the fear.

She stared at Vernon's scrutinizing gaze. She was scared that he might explode out of rage after what happened last night. The idea of Vernon raging was logical, though. After all, Vernon spent his night with an ugly woman like her instead of the beloved woman in his heart.

Vernon was stunned when he saw the tears welling in Chloe's eyes. Her lips trembled as she tried to utter a sentence with difficulty;

'.',

"P—Please… don't fire me. I… I really need the job. I need to feed Mackie…." Chloe said with a shaking voice. "Y—You can hit me if… if you're angry about last night…."