CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: IT’S NOT SURVEILLANCE, IT’S FOR YOUR PROTECTION

After Renee Winslow started dating Jack Yates, she moved into Thatcher Manor. She hadn’t lived there long when, one afternoon, she overheard Jack making a phone call and learned that his mother had come.

But Jack didn’t let his mom into the house; he went out on the call himself, returning only after a long time.

Renee pretended not to know anything. She didn’t ask, and Jack didn’t say.

During the two months of holidays she spent at Thatcher Manor, she was never disturbed and never saw Jack’s parents.

Sometimes out of boredom, Renee even secretly wondered what she would do if Jack’s parents suddenly came to Thatcher Manor. How should she handle it?

Because Jack’s parents definitely knew about their relationship—Caleb Yates, in his fury, would surely have told them—she was quite afraid to meet Jack’s parents.

She had imagined numerous times how she might meet Jack’s parents, but never thought it would be in such a situation, meeting his mother on campus.

A cool autumn morning, a gentle breeze blew.

Renee Winslow stood nervously under the shade of the trees, her head slightly bowed like a child who had done something wrong.

Chloe Bell spoke softly, a gentle smile in her voice: "Good girl, don’t be nervous, lift your head."

Renee timidly lifted her head, looking at the superbly elegant and beautiful woman before her and managed a difficult smile.

Chloe Bell reached out to stroke her head, looking at her with a kind smile: "Walk with me."

Renee obediently responded: "Okay."

She stayed half a step behind Chloe Bell, trailing closely after her.

Chloe Bell turned to look at her, smiling as she said, "Good girl, support me a bit, auntie is getting old and it’s hard for me to move around."

Renee hurriedly stepped forward to take her arm and softly said, "Auntie, I’ll help you back to the director’s office."

Chloe Bell waved it off: "No need, just a walk around the school, and to have a chat with you."

Renee held her arm: "Then let’s go slow."

Chloe asked with a smile: "What’s your zodiac sign?"

Renee thought to herself that surely the Yates Family had already checked her background given her age, but she still told her the sign and year.

Chloe sighed: "Oh, you’re only eighteen, and Jack is really such a jerk." She turned her face to Renee apologetically and said, "Good girl, sorry for what you’ve gone through."

Renee was stunned: "..."

She had thought Jack’s mother came to warn her not to dream of clinging to the Yates Family or such, but she hadn’t expected her to say such apologetic words.

After a brief blank moment, Renee awkwardly smiled.

Chloe half-jokingly praised, "So pretty, no wonder Jack lost his mind."

Renee: "..."

She felt her face flush, overcome by embarrassment.

Chloe smiled and said, "Good girl, don’t overthink it; auntie doesn’t blame you. It’s not your fault, it’s Jack’s being a jerk."

Renee didn’t know how to respond, so she simply stayed silent.

Chloe added, "However, though Jack is a bit strong-willed, he is truly sincere toward you."

Renee awkwardly replied, "Mm, he’s very good to me."

Chloe: "Felix has been assertive since childhood. He does what he wants, according to his own preferences, unyielding to interference. Years back, his dad wanted him to apply to B University’s law department, then afterwards go into the judiciary. However, he insisted on applying to the National Defense Academy, and having already applied, we didn’t say anything, military school was fine. We expected him to join the Eastern Military Command after graduation, but he defied his father’s wishes again and directly applied to the Northwest frontier station."

Renee chuckled, as if she could already see how rebellious Jack was as a young man.

Chloe: "Our family has four children altogether, three boys, one girl. Felix is our youngest child, and the smartest, yet, the most unconventional. Both his dad and I had high hopes for him, but he is too headstrong, never accepting the plans we laid for him."

When he was stationed at the Northwest frontier for those two years, his dad and I worried day and night about him. Later, during skirmishes with foreign forces, he sustained severe injuries, and we stayed up sleepless the whole night. After his injuries healed, both his dad and I hoped he would transfer to the Eastern Military Command. At that time, with his combat achievements, at the very least he would have been an officer in the military command. But instead, he went to the Southwest for anti-drug campaigns, making his dad so angry that he was hospitalized."

And he said to us, ’We can’t leave all the dangerous work to the sons of farmers, while the sons of department heads leisurely become officers.’

Chloe laughed a bit: "His righteous words left his dad speechless and us deeply ashamed."

Renee cooperatively replied, "Mr. Yates is quite a man of justice."

Chloe: "You usually call him Mr. Yates?"

Renee’s face turned red: "...No, no."

Chloe laughed: "I thought not, he considers you a girlfriend, he wouldn’t want you to call him that."

Renee couldn’t hold back any longer and asked, "Auntie, why did you want to see me?"

Chloe: "There’s actually nothing special, auntie just wanted to say that Felix is sincere and would never harm you. Of course, regarding the matter of you two dating, he has wronged you, so I apologize on his behalf."

"Please don’t say that, Jack hasn’t wronged me, he hasn’t forced me, it was my own decision," Renee said, "At that time, my grandpa was sick and hospitalized, and he helped me."

Chloe reassured her with more words of comfort and encouragement, finally smiling as she patted Renee’s head before leaving: "Come to our home often if you have time, let him bring you home."

Renee went to class in a complex Mood. After class, she hesitated for a long time and still called Jack.

When the call connected, she stated directly: "Your mom came to school to see me."

Jack: "Mm, I know."

Renee was surprised: "You already know? Your mom told you?"

Jack: "The guard at your school entrance, I arranged to have him there."

Renee: "..."

Jack explained: "Not to monitor, to protect you."

Renee: "You might as well say you’re monitoring me."

Jack laughed: "Really not monitoring, I just wanted to protect you."

Renee: "But our school doesn’t have only one entrance."

Jack: "So now every entrance has security."

Renee: "..."

Jack: "Even without the guard, I knew she would come to school looking for you today."

Renee was astonished: "Why?"

Jack: "Because she knows her son is deeply moved, so she wanted to personally see the girl who moved her son."

Renee felt her heart flutter as if struck, her face flushing and her heart pounding.

She took a deep breath: "Can you be serious?"

Jack chuckled softly: "What I said was all true."

Renee no longer argued with him, pursed her lips, and softly said, "I won’t have dinner with you tonight; it’s my friend’s birthday, and I’m having dinner with her and the others."

Jack asked: "What time does it end?"

Renee: "I don’t know for sure yet. After dinner maybe we’ll go karaoke, or go..."

She urgently stopped herself, almost revealing they might go to a bar.

But Jack wouldn’t let it go, directly asking: "Where else? To a bar?"

Renee: "Maybe we will, maybe we won’t."

Jack: "Have your friend cancel the restaurant, I’ll arrange it for you."

Renee: "..."

Renee: "...It’s my friend’s birthday, let her arrange it. If you arrange it, we won’t feel comfortable."

Jack’s attitude was firm, with an authority that brooked no dissent: "I won’t show up; I’ll just arrange the restaurant and the entertainment venue for you."

Renee patiently explained: "But doing that would make my friend uncomfortable. Think about it, it’s her birthday, yet my boyfriend is arranging the venue, what will that look like?"

Jack: "You’re right."

Renee laughed: "Exactly, I can’t have you arrange things. It’s not my birthday. Wait until it’s my birthday, then you can arrange it."

Jack: "Alright. Send me your location in a while, and I’ll pick you up before eight tonight."

Renee: "...I’m not going anymore. Have the driver come pick me up now!"