"Huh? How do you know that I drink a banana-apple smoothie for breakfast?" Vernon asked. He acquired this taste when he was in university, so there was no way Chloe knew about it from his childhood days.
Chloe paused and looked as confused as he was.
"But that one is for—"
"That's for Mackie!" Mackie claimed. "I like banana and milk! Um… cheese and yogurt too! Mommy always makes a banana-apple smoothie every weekend!"
"Wait, is that true?"
"Ahaha… yeah, Mackie loves banana and dairy products…." Chloe replied. "She loves banana milk the most."
Vernon's jaw dropped once he realized that he had the exact same preference as that bratty little girl. He had a stock of banana milk inside his office's fridge, and only Diamond knew about this.
"So the banana-apple added with milk smoothie is not for me?"
Chloe shook her head reluctantly, "It's… for Mackie."
"Then what are you going to make for me, sister-in-law?" Vernon asked. His tone was almost demanding.
"Um… I'm waiting for you to finish the pancake before serving your morning coffee or tea," Chloe replied. "So, what do you want? Coffee or tea?"
…
Vernon imagined that a bratty little girl could get his favorite banana-apple milk smoothie while he drank boring coffee or tea for breakfast.
Somehow, he felt a little annoyed.
"I only drink coffee or tea in the evening," Vernon stated. "Do you not realize that drinking coffee in the morning will only hurt your stomach? Do you want me to get a stomachache in the morning?"
"Ah, I—I'm sorry, I don't know—"
"What kind of stay-at-home mom doesn't know about this?" Vernon started speaking in a vindictive tone, and Chloe lowered her head immediately.
She stammered while trying to apologize a few times.
Mackie realized that her Mommy was scared of this scary uncle. Of course, Mackie was just as scared as she was, but she braced herself to protect her Mommy.
"You're a serious—"
"Don't bully my Mommy!" Mackenzie said as she stood in front of Chloe. Her legs trembled in fear, but she tried to defend her Mommy. "Y—You scary uncle, don't bully Mommy!"
Vernon zipped his mouth instantly, staring down at Mackie standing in front of Chloe. Chloe immediately grabbed her daughter's arm and pulled her to the side, "I'm sorry, Vernon! P—Please don't be mad at Mackie. She is just a kid, I—"
"Tch, whatever, just make me the same smoothie. You will make that smoothie every morning for me, understand?"
"U—Understand…"
"And you, kid," Vernon pointed at Mackie. "Go sit beside me and let your Mom cook."
Mackie looked up at her Mommy, asking for her permission. Whether it was okay to sit beside scary uncle, and Chloe nodded.
"Don't be scared of him, Mackie. He is your Daddy's little brother, Uncle Vernon," Chloe introduced the cold-blooded devil to her daughter.
Though, she knew the first impression wasn't so nice between them. She just hoped that Vernon would tolerate Mackie.
"Daddy's little brother?" Mackie looked at Vernon from top to bottom with her doe eyes and commented, "But he is so scary, unlike Daddy!"
"Heh, that's because I'm not him," Vernon replied.
Not wanting to listen to these two brats arguing again, Chloe picked Mackie up and put her on the seat beside Vernon, "Sit here and stay silent, okay? I will make your pancake first."
"Okay, Mommy…"
Chloe glanced at Vernon, but she zipped her lips immediately, not wanting to scold Vernon for being an absolute manchild.
"Yeah, I know. I'll stay silent," Vernon responded. He knew what Chloe was thinking.
Chloe was relieved. She started making Mackie's pancake and multitasked by making the same banana apple, added with milk smoothie for Vernon.
After she was done, she served the pancake to her daughter and the glass of smoothie to Vernon.
"Thank you, Mommy!"
"Good."
Mackie and Vernon looked at each other at the same time and looked the other way to show their dislike of each other.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph."
Chloe sighed. She couldn't do anything about this. Though, she was glad that Vernon didn't seem to be the type of person who would actually hurt a little kid.
"I will finish the laundry first. You should finish your food first, okay, Mackie?" Chloe said. She wanted to get up from the chair, but Vernon stopped her;
"Eat first. I haven't seen you eating anything for breakfast since I woke up," Vernon said.
"Yes, Mommy! You can eat Mackie's pancakes!" Mackie added.
"Ah, um…" Chloe wanted to say that she couldn't eat breakfast because she would vomit everything again. But she didn't want to disgust Vernon. "I've eaten before I cook for you, Vernon. I'm fine."
"… Eat an apple in front of me," Vernon ordered.
"P—Pardon?"
"I said, eat an apple in front of me. This is an order," Vernon repeated his command, and Chloe was forced to take one apple and start eating it slowly.
Vernon watched intently after Chloe finished eating an apple, and she excused herself to go to the laundry room.
Mackie watched it and found nothing wrong with her Mommy, who always ate so little, and usually vomited it all out after eating too much.
Mommy told her that it was just a normal thing since Mommy's stomach was very small.
Vernon and Mackie sat side by side in silence for a while until Vernon said to the little girl, "This place is not a free stay. Your Mom is working for me, and you shouldn't try to defy me, or I can fire your Mom easily."
"Uncle Vernon is weird," Mackie commented.
The edge of Vernon's lips twitched a bit. To be called Uncle by his niece felt very strange in his heart.
Vernon wasn't close to his family, so he never met any of his nephews or niece from his relatives.
Though, he knew from one of his informants in the Gray mansion that Vincent and Chloe's daughter was Dorothea— his mom's favorite grandchild.
"And why am I weird?" he asked.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢