"I will change school as long as Daddy stops hurting you, Mommy…." Mackie said. "Daddy is a bad man."
"Your Daddy has problems of his own, he's not a bad man," Chloe corrected. It was another lie, and she knew that Vernon wouldn't like hearing this.
But Chloe wanted Mackie to slowly learn about her father's craziness, so she could gradually accept that her father wasn't perfect, and their lives weren't perfect either. She still had to prepare Mackie's mental fortitude before she realized the full truth of Vincent's cruelty.
"Really?" Mackie lowered her head again. "But Uncle also has problems, and he never hurt Mommy. If Daddy is not a bad man, why can't he be like Uncle?"
Chloe's body stiffened, and she stopped caressing Mackie's hair as she felt guilty for lying to her daughter too many times. Mackie seemed to have grown resistant to her lies, and now Chloe was unsure what to say next to fool her daughter.
"W—Well, people are different, dear. Your Uncle and Daddy are different," Chloe said.
"Mm, I hope that Daddy can be like Uncle. So we can return to him…." Mackie sighed.
…
"I promise that Daddy will not beat me as long as you want to change school," Chloe said, shifting back to the main topic. "Daddy will not be able to find us for a while, so you and I will be safe from bullying."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Okay then!" Mackie nodded joyfully. "I want to change school, Mommy! I don't want to hit or get hit. I want to have many friends! I want to eat snacks, and study too!" Mackie then hugged her Mommy tightly. "And I want Mommy to be happy and healthy!"
Chloe gasped when she got hugged by Mackie. But in the end, she smiled and hugged her back in a warm embrace, "I promise none of us will ever get hurt, dear."
'You're my daughter, the most important person to me,' Chloe said in her heart. 'I filed for divorce because I want to protect you from your father. I see that Vincent doesn't even see you as his daughter anymore. Who knows what'll he do next if I you stay by his side?'
'I know it's an arduous road we will go through, but I will continue to fight as long as it's about you and your happiness.'
**
Vernon was busy dealing with so many things at work. He had to deal with the launching of his beverage product soon, managing a food brand he had just acquired, and also finding potential celebrities he could use to advertise Vincent's new cosmetic product.
He was always busy, and to be frank, had it not been because he wanted to give Chloe and Mackie a good life, he'd rather manage a small business and live with small earnings of about two to five million dollars a year.
Well, it was a small earning for the Gray family.
But it didn't matter that much to him. All he wanted was to build a happy family with the love of his life anyway.
Unfortunately, to build that small, happy family, he had to do so many things to ensure that Vincent couldn't snatch Chloe back.
Vernon signed the last document of the day and stretched his limbs. He felt like his body was sore from head to toe, and he'd really appreciate having Chloe by his side, worrying about his health, asking if he needed something.
'Ah, I already miss her.'
Vernon grabbed his briefcase and texted Diamond that he had finished all the needed documents, so Diamond could process them tomorrow morning.
Vernon was too exhausted to cook today, so he bought food from his favorite restaurant before going home. He also bought a pizza because Mackie wanted one.
Chloe had been cautious not to let Mackie indulge in too much fatty or fast food, but Vernon thought it was alright for her to indulge a bit.
'This is her gift for guarding her mother really well,' Vernon thought as he ordered a pizza from one of the authentic Italian restaurants he liked.
Vernon used the elevator to his penthouse, holding a briefcase in his right hand alongside a paper bag full of food and a pizza box in his other hand.
Vernon unlocked the door with his fingerprint and kicked the door open.
"Welcome back, Uncle!" Mackie rushed to greet her Uncle as always. She got excited when she saw the pizza box in his right hand, "Whoa! Pizza!"
"Heheh, grab it and put it on the dinner table," Vernon instructed as he handed her the pizza. "Where's your Mommy?"
"She's taking a bath!" Mackie said. She ran to the dinner table and put the pizza before opening the box. Mackie grabbed one slice of pizza and devoured it despite the size.
Vernon put the food he bought on the table and ate a slice of pizza to accompany Mackie.
"Have you been a good cop today?" Vernon asked. Mackie refused to be called a good girl these days and demanded her Uncle call her a good cop since she was guarding her Mommy.
Mackie shook her head, "I'm sorry, Uncle. I'm not a good cop today."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because Mommy leaves when I was reading a story," Mackie reported. "Um… she left for like— four hours!"
"Four hours?" Vernon frowned out of suspicion. "She went out for four hours? With her right hand wrapped like that?"
"Un!"
…
Vernon paused for a while, staring at Mackie, who was busy eating another slice of pizza while he stopped eating his.
He lost his appetite instantly as suspicion roused in his mind.
"Did your Mommy tell you what she was doing?"
"Un, Mommy told me that she's just looking around!"
"Looking around? In this apartment?" Vernon twisted his hip as he turned to look around the foyer of his penthouse, and his eyes darted to the balcony. "This is literally the penthouse. The best view is here. Why'd she need to look around?"
Mackie's innocent mind didn't catch her Uncle's suspicion, so she replied casually, "I don't know, but Mommy said she's bored."
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