3 Reunion with Family

The older man stared at Chloe for a good few seconds.

"Josie?" He muttered at last.

Aunt Alice laughed. "Father, don't confuse her with Josie. This is her daughter, Chloe."

"Oh, Chloe." The man said dazedly. "Chloe, come over here. Let me take a closer look at you."

Chloe obediently went forward.

"You've grown older, no longer the little kid you used to be."

Chloe smiled softly. "It's been a long six years, Grandpa."

"How have you been all these years?"

"I've been well." Chloe replied. "What about you? How is your health these years?"

"I'm no longer young. My health is not as good. If only Tony hadn't…" He sighed tiredly. "Never mind. Now that you're back, let's gather the family and eat out tonight."

"Yes, Grandfather." Chloe nodded, an empty look in her eyes.

How laughable, she thought. You didn't even send me a single letter while I was in America. I probably would've been forgotten if I hadn't come back.

Aunt Alice lowered her head to conceal the sharp glint within her eyes as she witnessed the loving display between grandfather and granddaughter.

She recovered her composure quickly, however. "Chloe, will you be alright with staying in the guest room?"

Chloe smirked inside. It seemed that her aunt wanted to intimidate her by making her feel like a 'stranger'. Such tactics wouldn't work on Chloe, however, as she had been through a lot more.

"That's fine, Auntie." She replied sweetly. "I don't mind at all."

…

"Jerry, make sure to arrive at the restaurant ten minutes late."

"What?" Jerry asked, horrified. "You want to arrive late?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"But then, won't you keep your family waiting?"

"My family?" Chloe sneered. "You really think those people are my family?"

Jerry hesitated. "But won't they belittle you if you arrive late?"

"I'll do what I want. You can just do the driving."

In a luxurious hall filled with red, velvet cloth and gold, sparkling decorations, a group of people sat there bored. The teenagers played on their phones while the adults looked through magazines.

The girl sitting near the curtains whispered to the boy on her right. "Hey, what time is it. Why is Chloe still not here?"

"How would I know?" He answered crossly.

"Whatever." The girl said, rolling her eyes. "Bailey," she whined, turning to the boy on the other side. "Do you have Chloe's number or something? Why is she still not here and making us wait for her?"

"Lily, be patient." He consoled. "We haven't seen our cousin in close to six years. Aren't you happy to finally see her?"

"Happy?" She scoffed. "Why would I be happy? She's such a bossy little-"

"Shh," He put his hand to her mouth. "You can't say that out loud."

Lily ears turned red, before she moved away and nodded shyly. "Okay, cousin."

When the waiter announced the arrival of the last person, the group put away their things and looked to the door. In stepped a beautiful girl with long blonde hair. Her dress was the latest fashion and so were her accessories. The pale blue earrings that she wore matched perfectly with her crystal blue eyes. She was the very description of beautiful.

The boy to Lily's right, Peter, looked at her with blazing eyes.

Could you not be more obvious? Chloe thought as she noticed his stare.

Grinning lightly, she spoke, "Greetings to Grandpa, aunties, uncles and cousins. Apologies for being late. The traffic was quite heavy, you see."

"Chloe, child, you've finally come." Aunt Alice said with a big smile. "Come here, have a seat."

"Alright."

"What a good girl you are, Chloe. It's good that you apologised after making your elders wait so long. Looks like living in America has had a good influence on you." A lady with a tight bun said with pursed lips.

Aunt Alice put on an awkward expression. "Stephanie, you can't say it like that. Chloe is the main character of this dinner, after all. We've all gathered here to welcome her back. It doesn't matter if she's late."

Chloe sat down while maintaining a smile on her face, keeping silent as she listened to her aunts speak.

They're starting right as I come in, not even giving me room to breathe. They must think I'm easy to bully.

"Lily, how did you get here, to this restaurant?" Chloe asked, pointing at the ground.

"Huh? Why would you ask me that?"

Chloe smiled, then continued. "Did you get here by bus?"

"No, of course not. I have my own personal driver. What? You jealous?"

Chloe turned back to her aunt. "Lily has her own driver, but I don't have one. If outsiders saw, they would think the elders were being biased."

Aunt Alice sighed like an adult tired of a child's antics. "Chloe, child, I clearly saw you get in a black car this morning."

Chloe smiled brightly. "That's exactly why I brought this up, Auntie. I'm running low on funds and hope that aunties and uncles can support me."

"But-"

"That's enough, Alice." Uncle James interrupted. "Even though Chloe isn't your daughter, she is still part of our family."

Aunt Alice furrowed her brows, unwillingness evident in her eyes.

That's right. Just like that. If I provoke them, they become easier to see through.

"We have to show her some sympathy. Afterall, she is an orphan without parents. Isn't that right, Alice?" Stephanie smirked. "We have to look after our darling Chloe and send her some money from time to time. You can't look at this like charity, Alice. Chloe is our dear family."

Grandpa Benjamin simply sat at one of the corners reading his documents, indifferent to the conflict within his family.

"And also," Aunt Stephanie turned to Chloe. "What's a little kid like you doing wearing make-up? You should focus on studying instead."

"You're right, Auntie." Chloe paused. "Actually, I've decided to transfer to Palm Tree Academy."

"What?" Uncle James asked, surprised. "You're not going back to America?"

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Since I've come back, I'm going to treasure my time here. Why would I go back?"

"Oh, I just thought… maybe you had gotten used to living in America and wanted to stay there instead." Uncle James stuttered

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to stay in America." She smiled. "I'd rather stay with my family here in China."

Chloe reached for the cup in front of her and slowly took a sip. "I almost forgot. When is father's funeral?"

"That…" Uncle James hesitated. "I'm afraid we haven't organised that yet."

Chloe's eyes turned cold with anger, however she suppressed her bubbling emotions.

Haven't organised it yet? What a joke. His own brother's funeral and he just drags it on as he likes.

"Uncle, that's not so good is it? Unless…" Chloe tapped her chin. "Are you not planning to give father a proper burial?"

"You-"

"Calm down, James," spoke a man who had remained quiet sitting in the corner. "Your niece is right. We had better manage our brother's funeral properly or else outsiders will laugh at us."

"Why are you all quarrelling so much. We're here to eat dinner. Don't make such a fuss." Grandpa Benjamin interrupted the conversation.

…

"That little slut! How dare she humiliate me!"

"Calm down, Alice. She's just a child. We have many ways to deal with her."

"Are you sure your old man won't have any problems with it? She is his precious granddaughter."

"Don't worry so much, Alice. My father is a busy man. Look, he didn't even have enough time to investigate Tony's death. Without her father, Chloe can't-"

"Hush, James. What if someone hears?"

"Alice, relax. No one will hear. And with our backing, who would dare to fault us?"

"The problem is that no one knows we have such a backing. If things go awry, our backer can easily abandon us and feed us to the wolves."

"You're right, Alice, we should be careful. But Chloe is just a little girl. We will be able to deal with her easily."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."