"Don't you understand that you're in danger?!" Vernon yelled. "What would you do if you met Vincent there?"
"W—Well, I believe he will never come. Ever since Mackie started going to school, he never showed himself to any of the parents' meetings…." Chloe tried to reason with Vernon.
She felt no fear even though Vernon raised his voice because she knew he was just looking out for her.
Both of them knew the risk of meeting Vincent. Vernon could still survive because he played a mind game with his Big bro while slowly chipping Vincent's company.
But Chloe didn't have the same privilege. She would definitely get tortured and killed if she met Vincent.
"Vincent has no reason to come…." Chloe continued reasoning. "Don't worry, Vernon. Everything will be alright…."
Chloe drew near Vernon and gently patted his head, trying to calm him down.
But Vernon looked up at Chloe, still with unwilling eyes. He caught her wrist and pulled her until she lost her balance.
"Ah!" Chloe slipped and landed her butt right on Vernon's lap.
Vernon wrapped his arm around her waist, trapping Chloe to stay by his side, and said, "How could you say everything will be alright after what happened yesterday? You got tricked by that old hag, don't you remember?"
Honestly, Vernon hated to mention this mistake. Because he knew that Chloe must've regretted it a lot.
But she didn't seem to learn from that event and would repeat the same mistake again.
So, even if it would hurt her pride, he still had to mention it.
"I just… don't want you to get hurt, Chloe…." Vernon said truthfully. He lowered his head and buried his face in Chloe's neck. He breathed heavily, gently tickling Chloe's neck with his warm breath.
"Ah— Uhm… about Maria, I know that I made a stupid mistake. So I will make sure to stay on guard," Chloe tried to compensate. "I will text you if I meet anyone suspicious, would that make you feel more assured?"
"No, that doesn't make me feel assured at all," Vernon resisted. "How about sending Diamond to go with you to that autumn festival?"
"Oh, that's a bad idea though…." Chloe said. "Vincent knows about Diamond, right? He will question how Mr. Phoenix Gray's secretary knows me…."
"Then, at least let me send a bodyguard or some sort. He will protect you from harm during the autumn festival in Mackie's school. Is that enough?"
Chloe wondered why Vernon was so worried about her.
She knew that she was in danger.
There might be a day when Vincent had a bad day and wanted to torment and abuse Chloe to have fun. So he would deploy his people to start a manhunt on her.
'But by that time, there was nothing we could do. Vernon will never be able to protect me, and I would prefer him not to protect me…' Chloe thought.
She told Vernon that she wanted to struggle a bit against Vincent because she wanted to selfishly preserve this moment with her daughter and Vernon. Because she had never felt this peaceful in her life for the past ten years.
But she knew that she would never harm Vernon in any way. So if the time came when Vincent would give her the ultimatum to give herself or let Vernon suffer, she wouldn't hesitate to throw herself into Vincent's malicious embrace once more.
'At least I've experienced a beautiful life with you, Vernon…' Chloe smiled while gently patting the back of Vernon's head. 'But I found it very endearing how much you tried to protect me. I know that you seem to be so dedicated to do that.'
'So I prefer to be a little selfish and indulge in this happiness for a moment….'
"I will accept a body guard from you, Vernon. But with one requisite," Chloe said. "That body guard shouldn't enter the school. He can stay at the gate and inform me if there's something wrong, especially if he sees Vincent. But I will never allow him to get close to Mackie."
"Let my daughter experience a normal childhood, Vernon. She deserves to be free, just like a regular kid," Chloe said.
…
'Regular kid…' Vernon felt that Chloe was a hypocrite.
Chloe was tricking her daughter into believing that every abuse her mother experienced was normal in Mackie's eyes.
It was harmful because it reminded Vernon of himself.
His Big brother often forced him to watch their late father having sex with so many women. It was engraved deep in Vernon's mind, making him very promiscuous growing up. He had a very low opinion of women.
Because in his head, he saw many women willing to climb his late father's bed like cheap whores, and certainly his Big brother and father's words didn't help either.
-
'You see that, Vernon? Those are cheap women. All women are cheap, give them money and they will kiss your feet. So you better not let yourself to be influenced by a woman in your life,' Vincent said to him while they were watching their late father copulating with three different women.
-
'If it wasn't for you— Chloe, I would think that no woman is worth fighting for…' Vernon said in his heart.
He wanted to argue with Chloe about this. Because he didn't want Mackie to grow up thinking abuse was right.
It was completely wrong, and she might end up tolerating abuse, just like what her mother experienced right now.
But this wasn't the right time, especially knowing this problem was directly tied to Chloe's traumatic experience.
There were also too many things jumbled in Vernon's head. He had to sort them one by one.
Such as this problem with the autumn festival.
No matter how many times Chloe claimed that Vincent would never come, Vernon knew that his Big brother WOULD come.
Chloe might not realize it, but Vernon knew how obsessed Vincent was with Chloe, even if it was in a cruel way.
He had an informant who worked inside Vincent's mansion, and she told Vernon how much of a terror Vincent had become after Chloe left.
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