Rena called Philip, "Hey, Philip, where''ve you been? Chloe told me younded a role. What''s it about? What kind of role needs my scarf as a prop? Hurry up and bring it back."
Rena had been keeping her job as Michael''s assistant under wraps, only Chloe and a few others knew.
Of course, not many people were aware of her rtionship with Michael either. If a celebrity''s rtionship goes public, it could wreck their career.
Philip waspletely oblivious to Michael''s stormy expression.
He kept bragging to Rena about his achievements that day. "Rena, guess whose role I got today? Michael''s... Mic''s! Isn''t he your favorite?"
"Mic got hurt and is in the hospital. He asked me to y a gay character to support him."
"Mic even praised my acting skills, Rena. I''m so pumped!"
Philip''s words caught Rena''s attention. But when she found out Michael was injured, she got anxious. "Philip, which hospital are you at? Which room? How did Mic get hurt? Is it serious?"
Rena fired a barrage of questions at Philip. Listening through the phone, Michael felt his simmering resentment ease slightly upon hearing her obvious concern for him.
''That heartless girl,'' he thought with grudging warmth, ''still knows how to worry about me after all.''
Philip gave Rena the address of Michael''s hospital. Rena grabbed Chloe and rushed to the hospital.
When they saw the tiny wound on Michael''s foot, Chloe and Rena were speechless.
Chloe crossed her arms and teased Michael, "Michael, this is a bit much. Rena said you were hurt, and we rushed here. I thought it was something serious, but..."
Michael nced at Chloe and asked, "But what?"
"But if we hade anyter, your wound would have healed by now, right?" Chloe mocked Michael.
Michael curled his lip at Chloe. "Got any conscience left?" he snapped. "Harry tipped me off that you and Grant were cornered by my mother at the hotel. If I hadn''t faked this injury to drag my mom here, do you seriously think you two would''ve walked away clean?"
Michael''s revtion was quite a bombshell.
Philip, being a curious friend, started probing. "Chloe, you and your boyfriend were at a hotel? And got cornered?"
"Come on, tell me what happened. Aren''t we friends? How could you keep this from me?"
"I knew something was up this morning when you and Rena were whispering about breaking up. Was it because of this?"
Philip''s words shattered the room''s calm like a dropped teacup. Chloe stiffened, a flicker of embarrassment crossing her face as she cleared her throat. Avoiding his gaze, she turned slightly toward the window. "Let''s circle back to thatter," she deflected, voice tight with difort. "I want to know, what role are you ying with Michael?"
The question acted like champagne popping. Philip''s eyes lit up with barely contained excitement, his grin turning conspiratorial. "We''re staging a gay romance!" he blurted, words tumbling out like liberated doves.
The synchronized gasp could''ve powered a wind turbine. Both women''s eyes widened, mouths falling open as their heads swiveled toward Michael in perfect unison - twin searchlights demanding exnation.
Michael pointed to the camera in the room and said, "The camera caught everything. If you''re curious, you can copy the footage and watch it."
Chloe and Rena quickly got to work.
In no time, they had the video on their phones.
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They watched Philip and Michael''s performance, and when they saw Philip chasing after Anissa, calling her "Mom," they couldn''t stopughing.
Chloe teased Michael, "Mic, what are you up to? Getting Philip to pretend to be gay to mess with your mom? How''d youe up with that?"
Michael nced at Chloe and said, "It''s because of you and Grant. I had toe up with something."
He sighed, "You and Grant are engaged, but my mom isn''t fully on board with your marriage. What about me? My future marriage will be even harder."
As Michael said this, he nced at Rena, who lowered her head in self-doubt.
She thought the woman Michael would marry in the future would never be her.
"So, you came up with this n?" Chloe asked again.
Michael nodded, "Yeah, it''s easier for my mom to ept me marrying a woman than a man, right?"
Hearing this, Chloe couldn''t help but give Michael a thumbs up.
She had to admit, Michael''s n, though sneaky, was effective.
Anissa might be angry for a while, but she would lower her standards for Michael''s
future wife. Michael was nning to marry Rena.
Chloe realized that Michael might be serious about this rtionship.
She was genuinely happy for Rena.
That night, back at home, Chloe showed the video she got from Michael to Adide.
When Adide saw Michael using this method to annoy Anissa, she couldn''t stopughing.
She pointed at Michael in the video and said, "Chloe, this guy is hrious. I really like him."
"His quirky ways remind me of myself when I was younger..."
"Next time, find a chance to invite him to dinner. I want to know how he came up with this idea to annoy his mom."
"If Grant had his tricks, he wouldn''t get scolded by his mom so much." Adide thought Grant was a bit too straightced and not fun at all. But she couldn''t deny Chloe''s affection for him.
Hearing Adide''s criticism of Grant, Chloe hurried to defend him. "Auntie, Grantie is a very upright man. He wouldn''t stoop to such methods... As the CEO of the Martin Group, he might find it a bit childish."
Adide couldn''t help but tease Chloe. "Chloe, you''re really protective of him, huh? I can''t even criticize him?"
Chloe clung to Adide''s arm and said, "Auntie, that''s not what I meant. I just wanted to say that Grant has many good qualities... You''ll discover them over time..."
Adide looked at Chloe and smiled. "Alright, I''ll take my time discovering his good qualities..."
Late at night, the Martin Family household was in a state of chaos...