Vernon closed his eyes as he savored the first taste of banana cream pie.
Vernon was annoyed that his sister-in-law still treated him like a kid, even though he was already a 25-year-old, CEO of a skyrocketing company, and a heartthrob in the entertainment industry.
Now he sat beside a little girl on a carpet, eating banana cream pie while watching Spongebob. It was so ridiculous that Vernon thought he was dreaming right now.
Yet, when he scooped the cream, he instantly reminisced about his time when he was a kid. Something that he treasured deep in his heart.
What made him even more surprised was the fact that his rage deflated as if it had never appeared in the first place.
Vernon felt it was so strange, but he wouldn't lie that he was relieved his rage had dissipated. It wasn't fun to hold on to so much anger and have to vent every day.
Vernon and Mackie watched Spongebob and laughed simultaneously when something funny popped out, "Hahaha! Poor Squidward!"
—
Vernon and Mackie realized they were laughing and simultaneously commented the same thing. They glared at each other and looked away to other sides.
"Uncle, stop following Mackie!"
"You're the little one here. Stop copying me!"
Chloe chuckled and sat beside them with two glasses of water. She put it on the table, "Don't forget to drink water and eat slowly, okay?"
Mackie and Vernon looked at the drink on the table and complained;
"You only give us a glass of water?"
"Mommy, I want milk!"
Chloe shook her head firmly, "That cannot do. You guys are already eating a sweet pie. It's not good to eat too much sugar."
…
…
Vernon and Mackie had to accept because what Chloe said made sense.
"You guys have fun, okay? I'll wash the dishes first," Chloe said. But before she could get up, Mackie held her hand and said, "Mommy, sit with us here! Let's watch Spongebob and eat banana pie together!"
"A—Ah, I need to do something—"
"Sit," Vernon instructed firmly. Chloe glanced at him, and realized that Vernon was serious for some reason, so she couldn't refuse and sat between these two.
Mackie and Vernon continued watching, but they scooped their banana cream with their spoon and offered it to Chloe;
"Mommy, have some!"
"M—Mommy can't eat sweet…." Chloe refused. Just looking at the banana cream already made her nauseous. Because of her eating disorder, she would never eat anything sweet.
She didn't have any health problems like diabetes. But when she imagined something so rich in fat or sugar went down in her throat, she'd automatically get the sudden urge to puke her guts out.
Vernon was annoyed by Chloe, who would refuse literally anything they offered. This had happened a lot of times. She ate only fruits and plain bread or berries most of the time. She ate like a caveman!
"You can't leave if you haven't eaten this pie," Vernon said. "At least one spoon."
"Ah, just a little—"
Vernon scooped a big spoonful of cream from his pie and offered it to Chloe, "Eat this. It's just one spoon."
Chloe's eyes widened, and she felt a little weak, imagining all the puking she'd have after eating that.
She glanced at Mackie, thinking that Mackie would say something to save her. But it seemed that Mackie agreed with her evil uncle because Mackie said nothing and continued eating her banana cream pie.
Chloe gulped nervously. Under Vernon's hostile gaze, she finally opened her mouth and ate a spoonful of banana cream.
She swallowed the food with difficulty, imagining that all the sugar that went down her throat had already upset her stomach.
Vernon watched his sister-in-law's expression turn pale and greenish in just a minute. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"N—Nothing's wrong. Can I leave now?" Chloe asked.
Vernon had no right to hold her since she had eaten the spoonful of cream he requested.
Thus he nodded as a response.
"Thank you, please excuse me," Chloe got up and rushed to the kitchen and then to the toilet.
She puked everything on the sink, feeling weak as she couldn't stop retching whenever she imagined the sweets.
She wanted to refuse but didn't want to be the party pooper for Vernon and Mackie, who were enjoying their time together. So now, she had to bear with the aftermath.
"Ugh—Urk!"
It took at least thirty minutes of her continued retching and vomiting her lunch and dinner at once. She was breathing heavily and felt her weak body would pass out soon.
So she sat on the toilet seat for a while, trying to relax before she had to act as if nothing was wrong. She didn't want to be seen as a burden to Vernon, and the fact that Vincent always ridiculed her when she was fat and also ridiculed her when she developed an eating disorder because of many extreme methods of dieting…
It gave her the idea that her body was something to be ashamed of.
"Knowing how blunt Vernon is, I bet he will also comment on my eating disorder once he found out. So it's best not to tell this to anyone, especially him…."
**
Meanwhile, Vernon stared at the empty kitchen from the living room. He saw how reluctant it was for Chloe to eat a spoonful of cream from him as if she was truly disgusted just by the sight of it.
Then, they stared at each other for a few seconds before Chloe's expression turned green, and she ran away in disgust.
It gave the impression to Vernon that she was disgusted with the idea of having a sweet time together with Vernon. Even something as simple as sitting together and feeding each other was too much for that woman.
Vernon's hand that held the spoon trembled when he imagined his sister-in-law vomiting because of him. His happy mood turned bitter in less than a second;
'See, Vernon Phoenix Gray? This is what you get for trying to lower your guard. You pathetic bastard!'
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