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From: Chloe

You can pick her up in an hour. Don't forget to call me when you're with her. Mackie rarely got picked up by someone else except when I was really sick.

So, she might get scared or anxious when I'm not around.

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Vernon replied with a simple 'yes' and then turned off his phone. He was exhausted and decided to take a quick nap before picking Mackie up.

**

The bell just rang, and Mackie packed the books into her bag before she was ready to leave.

"Mackenzie…"

Mackie lifted her head when she heard someone call her. She saw Mr. Peterson— her teacher for the autumn festival drama crouching beside her.

"Yes, Mr. Peterson?" Mackie responded, staring at the teacher with her doe eyes.

Mr. Peterson handed a paper to Mackenzie and said, "This is your parent attendance submission paper. Don't forget to give it to your parents, and then submit it to me tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay! I'll give it to Mommy!" Mackenzie snatched the paper and nodded happily. It was a paper distributed for every event at school, so it wasn't anything serious.

But the teacher had another question, "Mackenzie, will your mother come this year?"

"Un!" Mackie nodded. "Mommy will come, but Daddy won't. He's always busy!"

"I—I see…." Mr. Peterson's expression was slightly stiff as if he had something in mind.

"What's wrong, Mr. Peterson?"

"N—Nothing, you can go now."

"Okay! See you tomorrow, Mr. Peterson!" Mackie quickly joined her friends in the main corridor as they left the main building.

Mr. Peterson kept staring at her with pity and then turned around. He walked to the Principal's office and stood in front of the old Mrs. Andrew.

"So, how was it?" Mrs. Andrew asked. She had been waiting anxiously for the news.

Mr. Peterson hesitated for a moment and nodded reluctantly, "Mackenzie said that her mother will come for the autumn festival."

"Oh thank god," Mrs. Andrew wiped the cold sweat that drenched her forehead. "I don't know what Mr. Gray will do to us if Mackenzie's mother refuses to come."

"Okay, Mr. Peterson, you can leave now. Thank you for your help," the old Principal said.

Mr. Peterson's heart tightened as he felt pity for Mackenzie and her mother. After all, he had heard a lot of rumors about them and how the other kids, Jada and Mia, were still trying to bully Mackenzie.

The school tried to stop them, but somehow, they also got the order from the Principal-- who must've gotten the real order from Mr. Vincent Gray not to intercept with the bullying that Mackenzie experienced.

Fortunately, Mackenzie herself was a feisty little girl, she fought all her bullies or anyone who dared to talk bad about her parents, so she became some sort of the popular little girl you didn't want to mess around at school.

But the rumor must've affected her nonetheless.

"Mrs. Andrew, don't you think we should stop this kind of involvement? We don't really know the problem between her parents, but she shouldn't be affected by this."

"Oh, we're not living in a fantasy world, Mr. Peterson," the old Principal replied. "I would help her if I could. But I want to maintain my position here, and I want this school to keep standing. Whom we're fighting right now is the real owner of this school."

"If Vincent Gray wants to demolish this private school, he could, and he would if we don't follow his orders."

"So, if you want to keep your job, just keep your mouth shut and give your care for the other students instead. Mackenzie is born with a gold spoon. She will be fine with all the money she will inherit in the future."

The Principal's words were like a knife that stabbed through his chest. He felt guilty for conspiring against a little girl.

But he wanted to keep his job. He just wished that Mr. Vincent Gray wouldn't do anything that'd hurt his own daughter.

**

Vernon was leaning on his car while staring at the school gate. He crossed his arms and ignored all the states of the moms around him.

Every woman around Vernon's vicinity stared at the handsome young man without blinking. They were all struck by his intimidating but somehow charming deep gaze.

Some of them gossiped with the others, and some immediately recognized him as Mr. Vernon Phoenix Gray since he was very popular on TV and the internet.

But they never expected him to look 10x more handsome in real life. The camera did him no justice!

Some of the moms were about to take a picture, but they would get a silent glare from Vernon and immediately stop before taking any picture.

They were too scared since most of their husbands were directly or indirectly affiliated with the Gray family. So contempt from Vincent Gray would end up costing their husband's job or company.

'What is he doing in here?'

Vernon kept staring at the gate until Mackie came out of the main building.

Mackie's eyes looked left and right, trying to find her Mommy, but she couldn't find her.

'Is she late today? But she's rarely late….'

She stood in front of the gate and kept looking around helplessly.

Vernon's brow twitched, 'How come that little devil doesn't see me? I'm literally the tallest here.'

Vernon didn't want to look so uncool by going to Mackie, but he didn't want to call her and make too much ruckus.

So he walked towards her and grabbed her small hand, "WAH!"

Mackie panicked. She thought that she was getting kidnapped. But when she looked up, she got confused instead, "Uncle? Why are you here? Where's Mommy?"

"Your Mommy told me to pick you up," Vernon replied curtly. "Let's go in."

"Wait, Mommy always told me not to go with a random guy. It's stranger danger! I will scream now!"

"You— seriously—" Vernon panicked. He never had any competence in handling a kid and had thin patience with Mackie.

"Hehe, alright, alright! Mackie is just messing around with you, Uncle!" Mackenzie squabbled. "You did that to me everyday, hmph!"

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