"So the only way is to keep lying, huh?" Chloe asked herself. She scoffed, full of self-ridicule. "Ah, what have you done, Chloe? Now I don't know what to do in this situation...."
**
Ding!
Vernon stepped out of the elevator once it reached the top floor. She was greeted by Diamond, standing near his office door with a set of documents in her hand.
If the schedule was correct, the document in her hand should be about the development of his beverage product that would be launched in spring around Eastern Europe.
Also, another document about one specific man...
"Good morning, Sir," Diamond greeted as always, but her expression was solemn. She seemed to have something heavy in mind.
"Let's go in and discuss the report you have, Diamond," Vernon said. He opened the door and went in, followed by Diamond behind.
He sat on his executive chair, leaned forwards, and rested his arm on the desk. He stared at Diamond, who stood across the desk with a solemn gaze;
"Let's start with the beverage product first," Vernon said. "What's the update with Gregory Maxwell?"
"Yes, Sir," Diamond put one document on the desk for her boss to read. "Mr. Gregory Maxwell sent us a report regarding the process of material shipping from the US to your factory in Europe. He said that he will be the one who handles the security and quality of the supply material. I've called the head of the Europe branch to make sure that the quality is on par with what you expected, Sir."
"Good, I will be the one contacting the manager of the Europe branch later. I want to make sure that the old man sends a high quality material or I will make him regret it," Vernon said coldly. He checked the document about the shipping process for a moment before putting it down.
Everything was according to his plan, but he shouldn't lower his guard. He didn't know what kind of crap his unpredictable Big brother and that old secretary would do in the future.
But now, he was more interested in another document in Diamond's hand.
"That report is about Thomas Davis, right?" Vernon guessed.
"Yes, Sir. This is about Thomas Davis. I've made a thorough investigation about him and his affair," Diamond put the document on the desk for her boss to read. While Vernon was checking the report, Diamond started explaining;
"Thomas 'Tommy' Davis worked in various unstable jobs for a while until he married Chelsea Carlson-- Chloe's Big sister," Diamond took a deep breath as she found the next information to be upsetting;
"Then, he simply stopped working after knowing that Chelsea and her mother, Judith, got monthly allowance from Vincent Gray. They got roughly four to five thousand dollars a month. Sometimes even more depends on how much they guilt-tripped Chloe into it."
"After that, Thomas Davis simply refused to work. He would go out and spend his time with his new girlfriend. Sometimes if he puts in a bit of effort, he'd work odd jobs that's not too tiring for him, and then hand half of the money he earned that day to his wife. It's proof that he's still a working man."
"But really, the one who's working the whole time is Chelsea Davis. She is working as a teacher in an elementary school. She's the main breadwinner. Though with her small salary as a teacher, the only way for her to provide for four kids, a deadbeat husband, and an old mother with a comfortable life was to guilt trip Chloe into giving more."
"But once Chloe left with her daughter, Vincent sort of punished Chloe's family by halving the usual allowance to two thousands dollars a month. This strained their relationship with Chloe. Based on my latest information, even her mother-- Judith Carlson, slandered her daughter in front of her peers, calling her ungrateful for leaving such a rich man because she cheated. While she praised Vincent instead, calling him the most loyal and loving man she ever found in her life."
Vernon clenched his fist silently. The more he listened, the more pissed off he got.
Chloe never told him about her life with her family. She was also always bubbly and optimistic about life. Thus, Vernon always believed that Chloe had a good family growing up.
But now, even her family turned against her because she couldn't give them money.
'She has no one in this life except her daughter....'
It was difficult for Vernon to comprehend how Chloe could love her daughter so much, to the point of wanting to sacrifice dignity for Mackenzie.
But that was because his mother never showed him any kind of motherly love, so Vernon just found Chloe's sacrifice to be... appalling, especially when that daughter of hers was also the daughter of her abuser.
'Chloe... my Chloe...' Vernon kept repeating Chloe's name in his heart. He had to remind himself to stay calm, or else he would go to Chloe's family's house and slap everyone-- even Chloe's old mother, for failing her daughter.
Diamond noticed the heavy air around her boss. She knew her boss was pissed off, and she hesitated to continue, "Sir, do you want to hear the rest of the report? We can always stop here if you don't feel like it."
"Continue, Diamond," Vernon ordered coldly. "I want to hear the rest."
"Certainly, Sir."
Diamond took another deep breath, about to drop the worst information he could get, the climax she had saved for a while.
"Sir, about Thomas Davis. We found out that he has been grooming his current girlfriend."
Vernon frowned. He hated that word 'grooming.' Shailene used that word to twist his feelings, calling Chloe a groomer because Vernon fell in love with the woman who cared for him since he was a kid.
"Do we have any valid proof about his grooming?"
"We do, Sir. We actually interviewed the girlfriend. She's surprisingly naive and easy to persuade," Diamond replied. "Thomas Davis groomed her since she was twelve years old."
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