"Uncle always ate everything that Mommy cooked! Uncle even ate Mackie's food sometimes. That's why Mommy has to cook twice every day! Uncle is a pig! A big bad wolf-pig!" Mackie said as she freely insulted her Uncle.
Vernon was astonished that his little niece actually had a unique insult for him, "Y—You— Do you know who I am?!" Vernon yelled back, thinking it would finally deter the little girl.
But Mackie became even more courageous, especially when she noticed that her Mommy looked more relaxed as she kept fighting Uncle Vernon.
"Mackie knows that Uncle is a big bad wolf-pig! That's why Uncle is both evil and greedy!"
"What the—"
"Pfftt—"
Chloe quickly covered her mouth when Vernon turned his head towards her. She lowered her head again, showing timidness in front of Vernon, even though she was holding her laugh.
Because Mackie's feistiness reminded her so much of Vernon when he was a kid. He was also a bold, audacious young master that would make even the smartest adult in the room go silent with his various insults and reality check.
Vernon knew that his sister-in-law was actually holding a laugh, much to his disdain.
He clicked his tongue and tried to ignore his niece. He poured a bit more of the ginger soup into Chloe's bowl and said, "You have a ginger and pumpkin soup in front of you. Eat it— no, eat both."
The smile on Chloe's lips vanished instantly when prompted with that order.
She stared at the bowl of pumpkin soup and a bowl of ginger soup in front of her. Usually, this food was an appetizer for regular people, but for her, it was a whole day meal.
She started to pale as she stared at the food. She glanced at the two people in front of her, Vernon and Mackie, who were waiting for her to take the first sip of the soup, making her unbelievably nervous.
She was so nervous that her palms started to sweat.
"I—I will eat it later," Chloe said, trying to dodge the demand of drinking these two.
She could drink the soups, but half the bowl would make her feel so full, and the nervousness would only make her feel the urge to puke out all the food.
Vernon clicked his tongue. As expected, his sister-in-law was trying to dodge again. He was annoyed, but he wasn't mad.
At first, he assumed that his sister-in-law vomited her food because she was disgusted with him.
But after realizing that her eyes were mostly filled with fear, he assumed she was just scared of him— for whatever reason!
Vernon got up from the dining chair and picked up his ginger soup bowl, "I will eat in the living room. You sit here and finish everything," Vernon ordered.
Chloe raised her head instantly, scared that she might have angered him. But Vernon had already turned his back and walked to the living room, leaving Chloe feeling guilty at the dining table.
Mackie watched her Uncle go to the living room and thought it would help her Mommy to eat.
She was a little sad because she couldn't see her Mommy eating, but Mommy had always eaten so little and often vomited. If walking to the living room and eating there would help her, then Mackie would not hesitate.
Thus, she carefully picked her pumpkin soup and said to her Mommy, "Mommy, I will eat with Uncle! You must eat, okay?"
"Ah— M—Mackie, don't—'
"It's okay, Mommy!"
Mackie carefully stepped down from the chair and walked to the living room to eat with her Uncle Vernon.
Chloe felt so lost. She didn't know what to do when Vernon and Mackie left her to eat. It put pressure on her.
Eating might be a simple— instinctive behavior of regular people. But for Chloe, it was a really difficult task.
The years of abuse from Vincent, coupled with herself trying all kinds of ways to lose weight, even if it was extreme, just to please her ex-husband. All of those led to her developing many eating problems.
She gulped when she saw the soups and slowly reached the spoon. She didn't want to make Vernon angry, nor did she want to waste the effort that her daughter made for her.
Chloe picked the ginger soup first because it was easier to digest. She scooped it with a spoon and took a tiny sip. She closed her eyes, trying to forget all the nightmares of being fat and ugly, or else— she would vomit this one.
She could feel the warm, slightly spicy taste of ginger soup entering her mouth. She kept chanting the same sentence in her head repeatedly while digesting.
'This will not make you fat. This will not make you fat. This will not make you fat. This will not make you fat!'
Thus, Chloe drank the ginger soup very slowly while Mackie and Vernon sat on the long sofa in the living room.
Vernon turned on the TV and stared emptily at the news anchor while eating the ginger soup. It was delicious, of course, since it was made by his sister-in-law.
But he was too distracted by the fact that his sister-in-law was bony thin yet still refused to eat, 'I thought she's disgusted with me. But turns out, she's scared… am I that scary?' Vernon asked himself.
He might have an explosive personality, but he never physically hit her… right?
While she was staring at the anchor in the news in a daze, the TV channel was suddenly switched and now showed Nickelodeon with the good ol' Spongebob Squarepants.
"Yay, Spongebob is on!" Mackie cheered happily. She climbed to the sofa and sat right beside Uncle Vernon. She watched the show without minding Uncle Vernon by her side.
Vernon frowned and turned his head towards his little niece, "Why are you here?"
"Huh? To watch Spongebob, of course!" Mackie replied.
"Why don't you accompany your Mommy?" Vernon asked, thinking it was impossible for Chloe to be scared or disgusted with her daughter.
"Why? Because I want Mommy to eat!"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢