'See, Vernon Phoenix Gray? This is what you get for trying to lower your guard. You pathetic bastard!' Vernon cursed himself. He wasn't in the mood to enjoy the time anymore— though he still wanted to eat this banana cream pie alone.
He wanted to be angry, but he found himself feeling even more pathetic if he let his sister-in-law's act of disgust affect his emotion that much.
Thus, Vernon grabbed his large plate and a glass of water and got up.
Mackie stopped eating her banana cream pie and asked, "Uncle, where are you going?"
"I'm going to eat alone in my room. I have things to do," Vernon replied. He slammed the door into his bedroom, eating the banana cream pie alone.
Mackie followed her Uncle's back until he entered his bedroom and wondered, "What's wrong with Uncle? Why is he angry?"
Mackie didn't know what went wrong and mostly didn't care because she had gotten used to her big bad wolf - Uncle Vernon's mood.
She was more worried about her Mommy. It was usual for Mommy to vomit everything she ate after eating something. Mommy told her it was normal for her and Mackie shouldn't make a big fuss about it, especially in front of her Daddy.
No matter how serious it looked, even if her Mommy almost fainted, it was no problem. Mackie shouldn't tell her Daddy— Vincent, about Mommy's condition.
Sometimes, Mackie also found Mommy fainted in the bathroom after vomiting. She was worried, but after Mommy woke up a few minutes later, she said she was alright, and Mackie didn't need to make a big fuss about it.
Thus, Mackie just formed in her mind that it was a normal thing for Mommy.
But still, Mackie was a little worried, so she got up and walked to the bathroom. She stood in front of the bathroom and called her Mommy from outside, "Mommy, are you okay?"
…
"Mommy? Mommy!"
Chloe collected all her remaining strength and walked to the bathroom door to open it. She saw Mackie standing in front of the bathroom door, smiling at her, "Yes, dear? What's wrong?"
"Mommy, are you okay?"
"Mommy is okay…." Chloe replied, not wanting to make Mackie worried about her current condition. After all, she was the one who created the problem, just like what Vincent said;
-
'So, you're telling me you've developed an eating disorder because of diet? And whose fault was that?'
'You're the one who became a fat, blobbery hag after giving birth, and now you're the one who went on many extreme diets. Did I ever tell you that you should lose weight?'
'The only thing I told you is to mind your weight because I don't want to find— Jabba the hut in my bed every day, hahahahah!'
-
Chloe couldn't refute that because Vincent never told her to lose weight. He just bullied her about her weight to the point that she couldn't stand it anymore and resorted to many extreme diets she found scattering on the internet.
"Why don't you eat with your Uncle? Or have you finished your banana cream pie?" Chloe asked, trying to shift the topic so Mackie won't be worried about her wellbeing.
Mackie shook her head, "Mackie hasn't finished it yet! But I want to check on Mommy!"
"T—Then, you should return now and eat with Uncle Vernon, okay? Remember what I told you before about Mommy's condition?"
"Umm… that Mommy is not sick. It's just Mommy who can't eat many things?" Mackie tried to remember the details.
"Yes," Chloe confirmed. "Now, just go to the living room and eat with your Uncle, okay?"
Mackie shook her head, "Uncle Vernon already went to his room, Mommy!"
Chloe was a little surprised and then started thinking of many possibilities on why Vernon suddenly went inside his room instead of eating with Mackie.
'D—Did he get disgusted and lose his appetite after seeing me rushing to the bathroom?' Chloe tried to hold her expression, hoping that Vernon wouldn't notice it. But it should be fairly obvious when they were sitting side by side.
'Oh no, did I ruin his appetite?' Chloe asked herself. She remembered vividly how Vincent said that her eating disorder disgusted him, making him unable to eat anything she cooked because he didn't know whether Chloe had vomited her guts into the food while cooking them.
"D—Did Uncle Vernon say anything, dear?"
"Mmm… nope!" Mackie replied. "Uncle Vernon brought his banana cream pie and glass of water to his bedroom, Mommy! He said he is busy and has things to do!"
"Really? Thank god…" Chloe was relieved by Mackie's explanation. Vernon might have lost his appetite to eat in front of Chloe, but at least he still wanted to eat his favorite banana cream pie in the bedroom alone.
"Mommy, are you done puking?" Mackie asked casually because her Mommy always told her it was a normal thing, but only for Mommy.
"Yes, can you wait in the living room, Mackie? Mommy will wash my face first."
"Okay! Mackie will wait and eat again!"
Mackie returned to the living room and resumed eating her banana cream pie.
Chloe washed her face and gurgled water in her mouth before spitting it out. After ensuring that she looked okay, she wiped her face with a tissue and went out.
She checked on Mackie, who was still busy watching her cartoon, and her banana cream pie was halfway to be finished.
Vernon was nowhere to be seen, unfortunately.
'I just hope that he won't find me disgusting because of this…' Chloe wished. She was already insecure about her body image because of her life with Vincent. If Vernon did the same, she might never want to show up in front of anyone.
Chloe started washing dishes, doing all the cleaning because she was a maid hired by Vernon.
Mackie finished eating her banana cream pie and returned the large empty plate to her Mommy, "Mommy, I'm done eating!"
Chloe smiled at her and picked up the plate, "Okay, you can go downstairs and take a bath by yourself, right?"
"Yes, Mommy! Mackie is… smart and independent!"
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l