"Y—You shouldn't do something for me. It's too much of a hassle, and you're very busy too…." Chloe said.
"It's not a hassle, Chloe! I've prepared the surprise, so you better expect something good this evening!" Vernon insisted.
Chloe felt like she didn't do anything to deserve a surprise. All she did was just work as a maid in Vernon's apartment.
'Well, also his cook, his suit styler, and… his bed warmer,' Chloe counted all the work she had to do.
But she would get paid by Vernon at the end of the year anyway, so she hadn't done anything meaningful to Vernon.
She was scared that Vernon might give her something expensive, so she said, "I—It's not an expensive item, right?"
"Nope, not at all," Vernon said. He was thinking of the gift he would have to purchase this afternoon and thought it was pretty cheap for someone so precious.
'Hmm, what counts as an expensive gift to her?' Vernon asked himself. 'A yacht? A private jet? I think I have enough money to buy those if she wants me to buy them for her.'
'Nothing is expensive if that means I can make you happy, Chloe,' Vernon said in his heart.
"Y—Are you sure it's not expensive? I… I don't want you to spend a lot of money for me…."
Vernon sighed, "Stop looking down on yourself. Besides, there is nothing expensive in my eyes. Just be expecting to have a nice gift for yourself this evening, and worry not, I won't give you something too much."
"Okay…" Chloe was relieved that Vernon promised to go a little cheap on her. She would feel extremely guilty if she got an expensive gift for doing nothing.
Vernon watched Chloe looking shy when he promised her a gift. He was secretly glad Chloe didn't continue pestering him about what had happened between him and Diamond.
'At least I can divert her attention. I don't know what I would do if Chloe got mad at me,' Vernon thought. 'There's nothing scarier and heartbreaking than seeing Chloe reprimanding me….'
"So, what do you want to talk about, Chloe?" Vernon asked. "I heard from Diamond that you have something to discuss."
"Oh— uhm… I want to ask whether I can borrow more money from your black card…." Chloe asked meekly. Of course, she could use Vernon's money because everything would be billed by the end of the year anyway.
But she was talking about BIG money! The amount of money that she never had cash on, and if she dared to spend this amount in front of Vincent, that bastard would probably call her a wasteful bitch.
So, she thought she had to ask for permission first to avoid being yelled at.
Vernon's breath stiffened. He was about to get angry when Chloe asked his permission for such a thing.
Because it always poked Vernon's sore spot. He didn't want to be looked down on by anyone, especially Chloe.
But he knew that Chloe had a history with Vincent.
Vernon didn't know much about what Vincent did to Chloe. But he knew this habit of asking for permission must've stemmed from her experience with Vincent.
So he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and asked, "What do you want to buy? And how much do you need?"
'Ugh, this is humiliating,' Vernon thought. 'Why can't you understand that I don't give a shit how much money you spend! I became rich because of you!'
Chloe was relieved that Vernon didn't outright yell at her, which he often did whenever she asked for permission.
"Well, um… Mackie is going to have a drama play for the autumn festival in her school. She's going to play as the Big bad wolf in the story of Three Little Pig," Chloe explained. "She is so excited for it, and she will start practicing for the drama today. I want to buy her something as a gift for her hard work."
"So, um… I want to borrow a lot of money from your credit card…."
"How much?" Vernon started imagining a few possible numbers that should be enough for Mackie's gift. 'I think twenty-thousand dollars should be enough for a gift, right?"
"Um… t—two thousand dollars…." Chloe replied meekly, thinking it was a big amount since Vincent would never allow her to hold that much money and spend it all for herself.
…
…
Chloe raised her head, afraid that Vernon might've been angry with Chloe for spending that much money.
What she saw was a slightly annoyed face, but nowhere near angry.
"V—Vernon?"
"Is this a fucking joke?" Vernon asked. He was trying hard not to roll his eyes when he heard the number.
It was simply ridiculous! Why would you look so nervous for spending a mere two thousand dollars?!
"It's not a joke…." Chloe replied meekly. "I want to buy Mackie a few things, such as an iPad and let her buy whatever she wants in the mall. It's been a while since I bought her anything…."
"I—Is it too much? Then how about a grand? I think a thousand dollar is enough—"
"No, it's not that. It's so ridiculous that I—" Vernon facepalmed hard. "Just use whatever amount you need. I will give you that black card so you can spend as much as you like."
"I—I would rather spend on necessary stuff…." Chloe said. She didn't want to fall into the same trap twice.
Vincent also gave her a black card and told her to use it for whatever she liked. But Vincent would ridicule and even insult Chloe for using that card for anything other than groceries and buying Mackie's stuff.
Then, Vincent would use the black card as an excuse whenever he made a mistake or got caught cheating;
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'Oh come on. I gave you my black card. That should be enough to shut you up, right? That black card doesn't have a limit. So you can use it to buy anything you want.'
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