Chapter 210: Returning to the York Family for Dinner
“Pretty much!” Sophia Quinn said, heading indoors. Before stepping completely inside, she tossed another sentence over her shoulder. “Since you said you want to find one, go ahead. Once you do, I’ll take a look. If I’m satisfied, we’ll bring them to Chloe.”
Hearing this, Ethan Prescott’s face lit up with joy. “Okay, Mom, don’t worry! I’ll definitely find the best nanny.”
Ethan’s tone brimmed with confidence. Finding a nanny right now was his perfect chance to prove himself. He had to do a stellar job and strive to leave a good impression on Chloe this time.
“You want to use this nanny search to get on Chloe’s good side, don’t you?” Miss Prescott, who had been standing to the side, saw right through her grandson’s thoughts.
“Grandma, you knew!” Ethan felt a bit sheepish that his grandmother had read him like an open book.
“Let me tell you, if you want Chloe to accept this person, you can’t let her know you’re the one who found the nanny. Because if she knows, she absolutely won’t take them in.”
Miss Prescott was right. But if he kept quiet, Chloe wouldn’t know it was him who went through all the effort. How were they supposed to get closer then?
“These are mistakes you made in the past. Just do your best to make up for them!” Miss Prescott smiled and went into the house.
Ethan stood frozen in place, his thoughts a mystery to anyone else.
Meanwhile, Chloe York received a call from Miles York.
“Chloe, come home for dinner!” Miles figured that since Chloe was heading abroad in two days, the family should share a meal together before she left. It would show outsiders that they were still a family and kept in touch.
If they didn’t have this dinner now, by the time Chloe went abroad and her popularity faded, it would be too late. He had to capitalize on her current fame and ride her coattails while she was still around.
“I don’t have time,” Chloe refused without hesitation.
“Chloe, look, no matter what, you’re still publicly a member of the York family. You hold shares in the company. You have to come back for a meal so everyone can see our family eating together.”
That sounded a bit like a threat, but she couldn’t deny he was right. She held twenty percent of the company’s shares. The new year was only a few months away, which meant it was almost time for dividends. That was a massive sum of money, and she couldn’t just give up on such easy cash.
“Fine, I’ll go back.”
“Great, we’ll be waiting for you.”
The moment he hung up, the wide smile on Miles’s face instantly vanished. He glared at Alice Cole and Brooke York, his tone filled with warning. “Listen to me. When Chloe comes back later, neither of you is allowed to give her attitude. Treat her like your own biological daughter and sister. Understood?”
“I know. Since she’s going abroad soon and we won’t have to see her anymore, I can manage to be nice to her this one last time,” Alice agreed nonchalantly.
After all, Chloe was leaving the country anyway, and her household registration had already been removed. She was just an outsider now and posed no threat to her actual daughter. Alice would simply treat her like a visiting stranger.
Once Alice agreed, Miles shifted his gaze to Brooke.
“Dad, of course I will. I’ve always treated her as my own sister in my heart. Even though she’s no longer legally registered with us, we’ve long since bonded over the past year or so.” Brooke wanted to maintain a good impression in front of Miles, so naturally, she played along.
Hearing their promises, Miles was quite satisfied. “Good. I hope you keep your word.”
Meanwhile, Chloe set off for the York family home. Since she had agreed to go, she might as well get it over with quickly. As soon as she arrived at the gates, a servant immediately opened them. At the exact same time, Miles and the others emerged from the villa.
“Oh, Chloe, you’re back! Come in, come in!”
Miles greeted Chloe enthusiastically, while Alice and Brooke followed behind with smiles on their faces. This was the first time the group had ever interacted so harmoniously; they actually looked like a warm, loving family.
Chloe offered a faint smile but said nothing, following Miles indoors.
Alice and Brooke trailed at the very back.
“Mom, the more I look at Chloe, the more I hate her,” Brooke muttered.
“I feel the same. Just bear with it. Once she leaves the country, we won’t have to look at her anymore.”
“Mhm!”
The group sat around the dining table, which was laden with delicious food. Ever since Chloe arrived, the smile hadn’t left Miles’s face.
“My, it’s been so long since our whole family sat down for a meal together like this. You’ve moved out, Chloe, and Brooke is living near her campus.”
Miles’s voice sounded somewhat sentimental, as if their relationship was actually quite affectionate. But after he said this, absolute silence followed. The main issue was that, aside from him, the other three people at the table seemed completely uninterested in socializing with one another!
Sensing the awkwardness, Miles quickly urged Chloe to eat. “Alright, I’ll stop rambling. Chloe, hurry up and dig in. Once you go abroad, you might not be able to eat food like this whenever you want. People over there don’t eat these kinds of dishes.”
Chloe picked up her chopsticks and began to eat. Miles did the same, and soon everyone was digging in.
Perhaps because the original owner of her body had grown up here, eating the meals prepared by this very chef, Chloe found herself feeling surprisingly nostalgic as she tasted the food again after several months.
After dinner, everyone moved to the living room. It was the first time they had finished a meal in such quiet harmony, without any conflicts or arguments.
“Chloe, even after you go abroad, you should come home for dinner often when you visit, okay?” Miles suddenly spoke up.
“Sorry, but I’ll probably be quite busy. I won’t have much time to visit,” Chloe refused. She thought to herself that if it weren’t for the company shares, she wouldn’t have even bothered coming this time!
“That’s fine, that’s fine. If you don’t have time, you don’t have to come. Just remember to visit the house whenever you return from abroad.” Miles hadn’t given up; he still wanted Chloe to visit the York family home more often.
“We’ll see.”
“Chloe, Dad just cares about you. He’s worried you won’t get used to life abroad. When you occasionally come back, just come home for a meal. The family will always have enough food to spare for you.”
Brooke’s words sounded like she was showing concern, but they were actually quite grating to the ear.
An idea suddenly sparked in Chloe’s mind. Since Brooke was speaking so condescendingly, Chloe figured Miles hadn’t told his wife and daughter about giving her the shares. What if she exposed that fact right now?
“This time, if he hadn’t personally told me that I own shares in the company, that the company has only been thriving because of me, and that if I wanted to earn more money I had to come back for dinner to put on a show for the business partners, I wouldn’t have come back at all.”
