"Would you mind coming to Mr. Gray's office? I think that's the safest place for us to have a long talk."
Chloe was stunned by the offer. She thought that Maria must've been kidding since she claimed she knew about the problem between Vincent and her.
'There is no way in hell I'm going to go to Vincent's office,' Chloe thought.
But she still had to approach the conversation carefully. Secretary Maria might be an old woman, but she was shrewd and full of dangerous surprises.
Thus, after mustering some courage, Chloe stated boldly, "If you actually know about the problem between Vincent and I, then there is no way you'd offer us to talk in Vincent's office."
"Oh, I know the problem really well, Mrs. Gray," Secretary Maria replied. She still had her arrogance and strict expression, as if she had deliberately calculated everything. "That's why I offered to talk in Mr. Vincent Gray's office, in case you want to admit your mistake."
"Admit my mistake?" Chloe's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, admit it, Mrs. Gray. You're the one at fault here," Maria sneered, intentionally fishing Chloe out of her safe zone. She had known this woman since she was still working with the late Mr. Vaughn Gray, and she knew that Chloe was cautious and timid.
One glare and Chloe would retreat like a turtle.
'And I know how to pull her head out of that shell,' Maria schemed. She gave Chloe that condescending gaze and added, "At least from what Mr. Gray said, you're the one who ran away because you want to have another man outside."
"What the-- he said that?!" Chloe got agitated as Maria started twisting the story to hook her into the web of lies.
"Yes, he told me that you've planned to run away because you want to cheat," Maria said. "I am a professional at work, and I refused to side with Mr. Gray if it's not the truth."
"Mr. Gray told me to spread this news about you cheating with another man outside the Gray family, but I want to know your side of the story first," Maria said.
Chloe gritted her teeth and snapped back, "Well, you can say whatever to the Gray family. I have no relation with them anymore!"
"Are you sure?" Maria put up a concerned face in front of Chloe. "You may leave and ignore this problem, and I can spread this misinformation to the Gray family. But wouldn't that also ruin your daughter's relationship with her family?"
"Do you want to cut your daughter off from her Gray family? That's so selfish," Maria taunted.
...
Chloe clenched the steering wheel as her blood started boiling.
She knew she shouldn't get triggered by this old hag's words.
But when the topic was about Vincent and his family, she couldn't help but struggle and fight. Now that Mackie was involved, Chloe couldn't help but to struggle even harder.
Maria knew that Chloe was in her hand, "I am very objective, Mrs. Gray. If you want to clarify a few things to me, then this is the right time."
...
"Who knows, I might be able to help you," Maria continued her persuasion. "After all, we never had any kind of problem before, right? I'm just doing my job."
....
"Still, I refuse to go to Vincent's office for a talk," Chloe stated firmly.
"Fair, we can talk somewhere else. There is a coffee shop not far from the school, so if you don't mind, we can talk there," Maria said.
...
Chloe disliked being put in this kind of situation. She felt like Maria was deliberately making her upset until she agreed to have a talk.
'But we never had any kind of problem before. Mostly because she said she's working professionally as a secretary, unlike Priscilla and the other secretaries before her,' Chloe pondered.
'But she often straight up ignored my fight with Vincent, even if it happened in front of her,' Chloe started recalling many of the fights she had with Vincent at his office and remembered how Maria was nonchalant about literally everything, even when Vincent was fucking a woman in front of her.
Chloe gave Maria a scrutinizing gaze for a while, 'Is she even trustworthy? Why did she come to Mackie's school? Is it all just because she wants to meet me? I find that unbelievable....'
Amidst her doubt, Maria provoked Chloe with her biggest weaknesses, "I can tell you a thing or two about Mr. Gray's current condition after you left him."
"I--" Chloe soon found herself to be tongue-tied. She wanted to say that she wasn't interested to know about that asshole's life after she left.
But that would be a big lie.
She wanted to know if her departure left a hole in his heart or if he was having fun with different women each day...
"If you agree, please follow my car, Mrs. Gray. I'll lead you to the coffee shop."
"... Alright," Chloe nodded. "I'll tail your car."
"Good," Maria returned to her car and drove out of the school parking lot first.
Chloe stared at Maria's car for a while and then reversed the car before tailing her from behind.
Chloe had a lot of doubts in her head, and she was afraid that Maria might be into something.
"Maybe Vincent is the one behind this. Maybe he asked Maria to persuade me, and he'll meet me in that coffee shop...." Chloe suspected.
"Then, what should I do if I meet Vincent there?" Chloe wondered. She got nervous whenever the idea of meeting Vincent popped into her head.
She kept telling herself not to be afraid and to stand on her feet while facing him.
But, she couldn't lie that she got nervous-- even scared to some extent. But she knew she would eventually meet him again once they settled their divorce in court.
'If I really meet him today, I want him to sign that divorce paper in front of me, so we can process it as soon as possible.'
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