"You’re already beside him as a personal secretary. Even if you’ve only been ’officially’ together for a short while, he should know about these little things."

Gloria said, pointing at his coat. "As I said earlier, buying you proper clothes like any reasonable partner would should be one of his priorities. Look at me, we hadn’t met for so long, but I already knew your clothing situation. This is really embarrassing."

She ranted without hesitation.

Neville opened his mouth slightly to defend Grayson, time and again, and closed it again.

That logic was just... pretty damning.

"He is just like his father." Gloria sighed. "Asking him to be a little more considerate of other people—especially without prior experience in relationships—and his brain goes blank."

"I really don’t mind—"

"Which is exactly the problem. You’re also a problem. One look at you, and you obviously look like someone who would tolerate all of Grayson’s obvious flaws. You’re just too accommodating." Gloria fixed him with a knowing look. "Tell me honestly, Neville. Has he taken you anywhere outside of work?"

The question hung in the air between them as Neville tried to recall their interactions.

Neville recalled the time when Grayson and he walked around the Medea’s Garden, but that was on his first day of work as his chef. Then, there was the business trip to Planet Monus, but that was for work.

Therefore, if he were asked if Grayson and he went out by themselves without ’work’ as a premise or sideline, then he could only say no. They had never been anywhere outside of work.

But if you counted their meals together, just the two of them, it was either in Grayson’s office or the company cafeteria. Does his dormitory unit count as outside of work?

The silence stretched on.

Gloria’s expression changed from suspicious to incredulous to outrage. "He hasn’t, right? That useless boy—he hasn’t taken you on a single proper date, has he?"

Neville hurriedly tried to ease Gloria’s fury, "We’re both very busy with work—"

"Work?—Work!—Work?!" Gloria threw her hands up. "Always work! I should have known he would do this. He hides behind work like a turtle in its shell. Give that child a crisis to manage, and he’ll ace it. Ask him to plan something romantic, and he’s brain dead."

Neville found himself in the uncomfortable position of wanting to agree but also felt like he should defend his fake boyfriend.

Ugh, my head aches.

"Medea’s Garden was nice," he tried. "The food is—"

Gloria’s eyes sharply turned to look at him directly in the eye, making him shut up instantly.

I tried my best, boss... really.

"I heard you’re also his chef before, so Medea’s Garden can’t be included as ’outside’ activities." She shook her head slowly. "I raised him better than this. I know I did."

"Auntie, I—"

"No, don’t—" She held up a hand. "Don’t make excuses for him."

Gloria continued pinching her temples just like Grayson did when he was stressed.

"I love my son, but I’m not blind to his faults. He takes the people around him for granted because they’ve always put up with it. His father was the same way. I had to practically train him to be a decent husband."

Neville didn’t know what to say to that. He sat very still, hoping the conversation would somehow redirect somewhere else by itself.

But it did not.

"Well," Gloria suddenly said with sudden determination, "if Grayson won’t take care of you properly, I suppose it falls to me, your mother-in-law, to clean up his mess. Today isn’t just about winter shopping anymore—it’s about correcting my son’s flaws. I have to set an example."

Mother-in-law? Neville felt his feet already aching, remembering just how large Xylos’s Shopping Center was.

He hurriedly said, "That’s really not necessary—"

"When’s the last time someone bought you something just because it would look nice on you? Not for work, not for practicality. Just because it caught your eye?"

Neville’s protest died in his throat. He thought back, and nothing came up.

In his previous life on Earth, he had been going around, on and off work, while enjoying life in its simplicity.

In this life, every purchase had been calculated for maximum utility per star coin since he never knew when he would need a star coin to replenish his points.

Even his clothes were chosen for versatility and practicality.

He bought black jeans because they didn’t show stains.

He bought white shirts because they were cheap to replace, looked classy like black shirts, and were good to wear even in the office.

He bought the best shoes because his feet mattered more than fashion, but also good enough to even work at work and match his clothes. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Since Neville didn’t say anything for a long time, Gloria could only sigh at the sight of him thinking too hard over a simple question.

"That’s what I thought." Gloria’s voice softened. "Being responsible for taking care of yourself sometimes made you forget about being taken care of for a long time. I had been there too at some point. No one to spoil you. No one to insist you deserve nice things just because."

Something in Neville’s chest tightened.

"The orphanage—" he suddenly paused and peered at Gloria’s expression.

Gloria got the hint and waved her hand.

"Don’t worry about it. I already heard that you came from the orphanage." She said, "I’ve donated to New Hope for years, visited when I could."

Neville just nodded and didn’t ask where she heard about this because some people at the company still secretly talked about him as an orphan hire.

He said, "They’ve taken great care of me, but I do prefer being independent."

The original owner of this body had been spoiled at the level of every other orphan in there. So, it wasn’t really an issue of being spoiled or not; he just didn’t want to spend because of the points.

"Director Miller does excellent work," Gloria agreed. "But even the best institutions can’t replace a family’s warmth. The children there are cared for, but caring for and cherishing are different things."

"Director Miller and the other kids were very kind. We were kind of one big family." Neville hurriedly said, trying to avoid any misunderstandings

"All’s good if that was the case." Gloria reached over and patted his knee. "That makes your achievements even more impressive. You built yourself from nothing. Climbed through the ranks at Maxwell Corp on pure talent and determination."

Then she began teasing him, "Do you know how many people have praised you in their underground forum?"

Heat crept up Neville’s neck. "I was just doing my job."

There was even a forum other than the group chats?

People in this company sure loved to gossip all day long. If they were that bored, he would ask Bryan to spread the work more evenly.

More work for you lazy ass gossip b*tch*s.

"But, there’s a difference." Gloria leaned back, her expression became thoughtful. "I’ll admit, when Grayson first confessed to me that he was dating you, his newly appointed personal secretary, I had my concerns."

Neville’s eyes slightly widened.

He thought that for Grayson to resort to this kind of move, like fake dating, he had to somehow be cornered for real. But based on what Gloria was talking about, it seemed that it wasn’t all that easy for her to accept that.

Gloria continued in a different angle than what he was thinking about.

"The power dynamics, the high risk for rumors, the typical corporate problems. But then I looked into you—don’t give me that face, of course I did, I’m still his mother—and I realized you were nothing as I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"You know? Those dramas said it all. Someone who was after his money, his status, or access to his connections." Gloria smiled wryly. "Instead, I found a young man as lovable as you~."

Neville curled his fingers into a not-so-tight clench.

"So." Gloria settled back against the plush seating, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

"So, for today’s shopping spree. I’ll show you how to spend your money, love yourself, and some omega tips from a veteran omega like me." She said with a troubled, exhausted, but happy expression on her face.

"You can’t refuse me because this is me pampering my future daughter-in-law." She had an awkward look on her face before saying, "I also haven’t had a proper shopping partner since my daughter got married."

Neville looked at her, speechless at this fast changing events.

"Okay," he said quietly. "Thank you."

Gloria smiled and said excitedly. "Good. Now, tell me, have you been to Xylos’s Shopping Center?"

"I did once. We just briefly spent our time here and moved on to other places." Neville answered a little enthusiastically. "The shopping center is... impressive. There’s also a food court on the top level with a panoramic view of the city."

"A thoughtful colleague." Gloria’s eyes glinted mischievously. "Should I be worried?"

"No," Neville said it too quickly, then immediately regretted it.

Gloria laughed.

"Aha haha! Oh, Neville, you’re too easy to tease." She cut herself off, but her grin remained.

Neville burned in embarrassment.