"Why don't you fucking tell me, Diamond? I just want to know what happened while I was out for ten years, so I can do something to protect her!" Vernon said frustratedly.
"Sir— I already promised Chloe that I cannot tell anyone," Diamond replied. She wanted to ensure that her boss got the message she wanted to deliver, "Especially you, Sir. She made me promise not to tell you."
"WHY?!" Vernon snapped. "Why didn't she want to tell me? Does she think I'm not powerful enough to protect her!?"
Again, Vernon started yelling at Diamond to vent his anger. He was like a manchild who had zero control over his emotion, which Diamond realized long ago.
She didn't expect the problem to be so prominent in his life.
"Sir, do you not see the problem with yourself?" Diamond asked.
"What? Now you're blaming me because Chloe doesn't want to tell me about what happened to her?!"
…
Diamond sighed, "Sir, you need to know how to treat a woman gently, especially a woman like Chloe. She has been through a lot, yelling and intimidating her would only make her hide even more."
"But—"
"—I cannot tell you anything about her because you don't deserve to know, Sir," Diamond said. She wanted to make sure that Mr. Phoenix Gray knew how much of an ass he was.
"What do you mean I don't deserve to know? Do you think I'm not good enough to know? Diamond, I can fucking buy your life if I want to!"
"Oh. My. Fucking. GOD! IT'S NOT ABOUT POWER!" Diamond yelled frustratedly. She didn't understand how his brain was wired because she never mentioned anything about power. Chloe must've been traumatized by that since her ex-husband was so powerful. It was terrifying.
"Then what is it about? Money? I have a lot. She can buy anything she wants with my money!" Vernon claimed. He was a multi-millionaire already— even though he wasn't as rich as his Big brother, he could buy her a private jet if she wanted.
"Sir, I— I don't know how to tell you anymore. Just treat her well, earn her trust, and let her open up to you, that's all I can say," Diamond said. She turned around and pushed the door open, intending to leave because she didn't know what to say.
'If I stay here for too long, I think I'll lose all my brain cells,' Diamond thought.
"Wait, if you're not willing to tell me, then refer to someone else. Did she talk about her problem to someone else?" Vernon asked.
…
…
"Sir, Chloe is a broken woman. She doesn't open up easily, and even to me— she only told the surface of what she truly experienced," Diamond said. She looked over her shoulder and glanced at Vernon with a sarcastic look;
"Even if there is another person that knows about this, I don't think they will tell you either. You're not worth telling, a man who will only hurt her like you deserves to be kept in the dark."
SLAM!
Diamond left the office and slammed the door behind her back. It was a total disrespect to her boss, but she just couldn't hide her contempt towards him.
He kept going on and on about having money and power as if she could buy everyone with those two.
"Even if it's important, it doesn't mean that you can buy a heart with those," Diamond murmured as she pressed the elevator button and went down.
She stared at her reflection in the elevator mirror and wondered, "He doesn't realize that my homegirl only needs a man that would treat her with extra care…."
**
Vernon didn't get any answer from Diamond, much to his frustration. He wanted to destroy something else to vent his anger, but he knew it wouldn't solve anything.
In fact, no matter how many things he destroyed here, he didn't think it would be enough. Because there was a nonstop itch in his heart.
He was itching to get to know everything as soon as possible, even if that meant he had to hurt a few people in the process.
"But Diamond is off the limit, she is surprisingly headstrong to keep the secret," Vernon murmured. "Should I… force Chloe to tell the truth then?"
…
…
Vernon shook his head, "No, I can't do that. I don't want to see her cry."
"Then what should I do? Act like I'm a gentleman in front of her? I've never done that, damn it!"
Vernon spent his night in the office fighting against his own demon. He already knew the answer— if he wanted to get it out of Chloe's mouth, he had to treat her very 'gentlemanly.'
It should be simple, but not for Vernon.
He was already a temperamental man, and the hatred for his Big bro and sister-in-law fueled his life for the past ten years.
Thus, he always thought the idea of acting nice was repulsive. Because Chloe was always acting nice when he was a kid, but she backstabbed him in the end.
So he didn't want to show weakness that would be exploited like before.
But, no matter how much he tried to reason, he still didn't get the solution he needed; he was still blind to the abuse that Chloe experienced.
Amidst his frustration, Vernon finally opened the office pantry and popped an alcoholic beverage to calm down. He drank and continued drinking until he felt a little tipsy.
He checked the time and murmured, "Oh, I need to get home. She's waiting for me…."
Of course, he still had zero solution of what to do with his sister-in-law.
But for now, he just wanted to meet her and tell her about something that had been lingering in his mind for a while.
"I... I want to tell him that I'm not a bad guy..." Vernon said as he threw the bottle of wine on the floor, grabbed his suit on the chair, and left the office.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com