Diamond sensed the urgency, and she became serious instantly, "What is it? Do you want me to do something?"
"I need you to tell me about a bar that Vernon often visited, especially if he is a VIP member there!" Chloe urged.
Diamond was surprised by how panicked Chloe sounded. As if she was about to lose Vernon forever because of this.
"Gurl, relax—"
"No, Diamond, I can't relax now. I need to pick him up, he is drunk and he's with a woman! I don't want him to make a mistake that will cost him his future!" Chloe insisted.
Diamond was silenced for a moment, and she realized something.
'Are you afraid that Vernon might accidentally get a woman pregnant, or you're just jealous?' Diamond suspected in her heart. 'Because he's an adult, and he's not that dumb.'
Diamond remembered the last time her boss got really drunk and was calling her so Diamond could pick him up.
No matter how drunk he was, Vernon still remembered that he had a woman at home, and that was enough proof that Vernon would not accidentally sleep with another woman while he was drunk.
'I feel like… Homegurl just wants to gatekeep Vernon, so he wouldn't cheat on her,' Diamond concluded. 'Even though she might not even realize it yet.'
"DIAMOND!"
"WAH! Gurl, you scared me!" Diamond snapped back at Chloe, who was suddenly screaming at her on the phone.
"S—Sorry, Diamond, I— I just need to pick him up…."
"It's okay, gurl. Yes, Mr. Phoenix Gray is a VIP member in one exclusive bar not far from the office, let me send you the full address."
Diamond texted the name and address of the exclusive bar to Chloe and said, "Okay, that should be the bar he's in right now. I picked him up from the same bar before. Remember that time when I had to prop a Gorilla to the penthouse?"
"T—Thank you, Diamond."
"Gurl, you sure you don't want my help? I can slap some bitches if one of them dares to mount on him."
"No need, Diamond. It's past midnight, you also deserve some rest," Chloe said. "Thank you, I'll repay you with something later, okay?"
"Aww, it's okay, Gurl. Go get your man!"
"Wait, he's not my man—"
Beep!
Diamond hung up the call before Chloe could finish her sentence. She felt a little embarrassed because she could not refute Diamond's words who said that Vernon was her man, because that was simply not true.
But there was something more urgent than that.
Chloe went downstairs and grabbed her sweater. She locked the door because her daughter was still sleeping inside the apartment and then went down to the parking lot with the elevator.
Chloe checked the address given by Diamond and used Google Maps to navigate so she could reach that bar as soon as possible with her car.
**
Vernon was floating right now. He felt weak and would rather sit in silence, doing nothing other than staring at the ceiling emptily.
His mind started getting cloudy after he gulped the sixth shot. However, unlike the previous time with that crazy waitress, this time, he could still see and hear everything around him.
He understood what Cynthia, the waitress, was saying. He could still see the view around him, even though it was a bit blurry. And the most important one, he still retained some of his consciousness.
Though he got a bit of a headache, his body felt heavy. So he wanted to do nothing but sleep right now.
'I guess I've gained resistance from that drink…' Vernon thought. He wasn't a heavy drinker, but it wasn't easy for him to get drunk, either.
"Sir, the seventh drink?" Cynthia asked.
"Uh…" Vernon hummed for a while and replied weakly, "Pour… uh… pour it for me…."
"Certainly, Sir."
Cynthia poured the seventh bottle into the shot glass. It was the strongest alcohol, and one shot was enough to send people into dreamland for a long time.
Cynthia was shocked when Mr. Phoenix Gray could drink the sixth shot and still maintained his consciousness as if he was simply drunk.
He was still responsive and replied to some of Cynthia's questions. He could even hold the shot glass carefully.
Though, appearance-wise, he looked like someone who would pass out anytime soon because his face was tomato-red, and his eyes were droopy.
Vernon was holding the seventh glass. Once he drank this one, he knew he would definitely pass out and sleep for a while.
Truthfully, he didn't want to pass out in a random place, especially when someone was around him. That was the reason why he often drank alone in his penthouse.
Too bad he couldn't do that tonight.
"Sir?" Cynthia snapped him out of his daze. "It's okay if you don't want to drink it."
"… I don't feel like it," Vernon put the glass on the table and slowly leaned back on the sofa. "I'm just going to rest… for a while."
Vernon gradually became sleepier as time went on. He turned his head toward Cynthia and noticed the waitress' resemblance to Chloe.
The same long chestnut hair, doe eyes, and sweet expression despite being a mature woman.
But this woman lacked the warmth he could only get from Chloe, and it was too jarring because his heart was still cold even though he was drunk right now.
He thought he could get so drunk to the point that he wouldn't be able to differentiate the real and fake Chloe.
Sadly, his heart couldn't lie. He felt nothing when he tried to nestle closer and rested his head on her shoulder.
'Ah, what do I expect? Of course I feel nothing. This is not Chloe, no matter how much I tried to fool myself,' Vernon thought. 'But just for a night, I need someone to replace her.'
"D—Do you want me to leave, Sir?" Cynthia asked as she felt uncomfortable.
"No, stay," Vernon replied. "Stay and pat my head, Chloe. I need you by my side."
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