"It's okay, Mommy. Daddy took me to play in the mall! But I'm tired now. Can we go home, Mommy?"
Chloe's face paled instantly.
She looked at her daughter, and her words were stuck in her throat.
She hesitated for a moment since Mackenzie was too young to know about the problem that forced them to leave their beautiful home.
"S—Sweetheart, what do you think about a little vacation?"
"Vacation?" Mackenzie tilted her head as she got confused. "Mommy, Mackie has school tomorrow. Mackie can't go!"
"Ah, this is just a short vacation, like a picnic! We'll live somewhere else for a while, but not too far from your school!" Chloe tried to keep up with the smile, just enough to fool her daughter.
"Oh, that sounds fun! Daddy will go picnic with us too?"
"Ah, your Dad is busy as always…." Chloe glanced at the baggage beside her daughter and pulled it towards her side. "That's why he brought your bag! Because I already told him that we will go to a picnic for a while!"
"Aw…" Mackie pouted. "Daddy never plays with us…."
"Well, he is busy working for you," Chloe said, though she was absolutely disgusted whenever she talked about Vincent. "Let's go now."
Mackenzie nodded, and they left the party through the backdoor. Chloe ordered an uber, and they hopped in.
They arrived in front of the motel, and Chloe carried the baggage while they entered the motel lobby.
Chloe gave a thin smile to the receptionist and headed straight to her room.
Mackenzie was looking around. She didn't understand why her Mommy would bring her to an old place like this. There were many dirt, dust, and creepy people that Mackie wasn't used to.
"Mommy, why is this hotel so scary?" Mackie asked as she hastened her small steps to hog on Mommy's hand.
"Ah, well, we're not going to the usual hotel vacation, remember?" Chloe said. She unlocked her room and entered with Mackenzie.
Mackenzie looked around the shabby motel room, "Mommy, this room is so small…."
"It's fine. It's comfortable for two of us, right?" Chloe tried to ignore her daughter's various questions that choked her, and she opened Mackie's baggage.
She sighed in relief because at least Vincent had put all the necessary school uniforms and clothes for Mackie, including all her school books.
Though, she also noticed that Vincent didn't pack any of the toys and luxurious clothes that he bought for Mackie;
'Maybe he wants to force me to return, in case Mackie wants the toys and all her expensive stuff back.'
'Fine, if that's how he wants to play this. I will try to find a good job, enough to provide for us both.'
Mackie climbed the bed and sat on it. She was a little disappointed because the bed wasn't comfortable, but her attention was shifted to her Mommy.
"Mommy is getting skinnier again…" Mackenzie commented.
"Ah, ahahaha… it's fine, Mackie."
"Mommy should eat. Mommy throws up a lot!" Mackie said. She might be young, but she witnessed her mother going in and out of the toilet almost every day because she would throw up all her food.
Mackie didn't understand why would her Mommy do that, but whenever Daddy was home, Mommy's gagging up schedule would double.
"We will eat after this, okay?" Chloe said.
"Um!"
**
This was the first time her Mommy had ever brought her to a shabby place like this. But she didn't mind, as long as Mommy was always with her. Though she already missed her Daddy, she could live for a while without her Daddy's presence because she was used to his absence.
Chloe changed her dress to a regular shirt and jeans, and they walked to the nearest 7-Eleven and bought two sandwiches.
Chloe and Mackie sat at the table inside the store. Chloe kept glancing at her daughter, afraid that her daughter wouldn't like the store-bought sandwiches. Since Chloe always cooked for her family, especially for Mackenize. Even when they were eating out in a restaurant, they always went to an expensive one.
"Do you like it?" Chloe asked.
"Umm… Mommy's food is better!" Mackie said. But she still ate the sandwich. She saw her Mommy only eating half of the sandwich. "Mommy, eat more!"
Chloe shook her head and pushed the sandwich to Mackie, "You eat it. Mommy is not hungry anymore.'
Mackenzie puffed her cheeks. Her Mommy always did this whenever they were eating anything, but she always ate everything because Mommy would vomit again if she ate more than that.
Chloe bought a few necessities before returning to their motel. She locked the door and told her daughter, "Do you have homework, Mackie?"
Mackenzie nodded.
"Then I will check your homework after you're done."
"Okay!" Mackenzie took out her book from her bag and sat on the carpet, doing her homework.
Chloe's smile faded a little when she saw her daughter. She couldn't stay like this. She refused to let her daughter live a difficult life because of her choice.
'I need to get a job in less than three days,' Chloe thought. She opened her phone and started checking the job application on the internet. She had already sent a few of her online curriculum vitae to some companies. She was willing to work on anything, even as a cleaning service. Because all she could care about right now was money and her daughter's wellbeing.
She also searched for a few places that accepted a walk-in-interview. She was a little hesitant about a walk-in interview, knowing those usually expected youngsters than a woman in her thirties like her.
But she would try anything, anything for her daughter!
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