Vernon stayed inside the spare office until late at night. He was so engrossed with his work that he didn't realize Diamond had been standing in front of a desk for a while.
Diamond cleared her throat to get his attention and said, "Sir, I will be leaving."
Vernon gave Diamond a quick glance and nodded before returning to his laptop, "You can go now."
...
"Sir, I want to ask you something, and it's about Dorothea."
Vernon's brow creased. He lifted his head and stared at Diamond, "And what is it?"
"I thought you'd notice this sooner than I do. But I have been wondering about this for the whole day," Diamond took a deep breath and continued, "I wonder how Dorothea found out about your relationship with Chloe. Surely there must be someone who told her about this, right?"
...
Vernon's expression changed from calm to distraught instantly.
It was that 'Oh shit' moment before he cursed himself for being so stupid and oblivious.
Diamond was right. How the hell did Dorothea know about his relationship with Chloe?
"Could it be that Chloe is the one who told her about this?" Vernon started giving options. "She might guilt trip Chloe to give the information."
"I don't think so, Sir," Diamond rejected the idea. "Chloe might use her heart more, but she is not stupid. She won't tell Dorothea about your relationship with her because it'll hurt all of you."
"I think Dorothea found out about this from someone else, and came to your apartment and stayed as a guest. Then, she told Chloe that she was already inside your apartment and might have threatened her to come and meet her or else she'd expose this to the whole world."
"She forced Chloe to meet her, and Chloe had no other choice...." Vernon murmured, completing Diamond's theory with his own. "But if Dorothea forced Chloe to meet, how come Chloe got so heated to defend that old hag?"
"We don't know what happened between those two. But I think Dorothea used her fake tears to trick Chloe into believing that she's actually suffering," Diamond theorized, and Vernon nodded in agreement.
It made perfect sense.
Chloe might be careful at first, but after one or two fake tears, that old hag might have influenced Chloe to do her bidding.
But all of this still hadn't answered the main question.
Who informed Dorothea about Vernon's relationship with Chloe?
Diamond and Vernon stared at each other in silence before Diamond started theorizing again, "Maybe someone in the office or in the apartment? They saw Chloe and Mackie quite often."
"That's not possible," Vernon denied. "Vincent never showed Chloe and Mackie's face in public. He kept his married life very private, so nobody knows about the connection between Vincent and Chloe."
"In fact, I think those around us know her more as my lover or wife instead of Vincent's wife," Vernon claimed, and Diamond nodded in agreement this time.
Vincent's refusal to show his family in public indirectly helped Vernon conceal Chloe's identity easier. So that also eliminated the chance of staff knowing about Chloe's identity and told Dorothea about it.
"There must be someone else outside," Diamond said. "Could it be someone you know, Sir? Did you ever tell anyone about Chloe's identity?"
"There is no way, I would--" Vernon paused immediately once he remembered two people who knew about Chloe's identity and her connection with Vincent. "--Wait, you're right. There are two people that know about Chloe's identity; Carlos, my best friend who's the owner of that usual restaurant. And Shailene, that useless-as-fuck psychologist who does nothing other than putting bad ideas in my head. She's also a bitch of an ex."
...
...
"I think we know the culprit already," Diamond said. "I mean, it's still an accusation at this point, but I can guess with at least 80% accuracy that Shailene is the one who told Dorothea about it."
Vernon leaned on his chair. Aside from Carlos and Shailene, he hadn't told anyone about Chloe's identity as Vincent's wife.
Carlos was Vernon's best friend, and they still maintained that relationship. He even told Vernon to be careful because he was fighting against the big wig.
With Carlos off the table, only one person could do this...
"Do you think there is a way for Shailene to get in contact with Dorothea?" Vernon asked.
"I don't know, Sir. Do you want me to find out about it?" Diamond offered.
"Yes, try to find any information about Shailene and all of her clients in New York. I suspect that Dorothea is also one of her clients," Vernon said.
"And what will you do if it's confirmed that Shailene is the one who told Dorothea about this?"
"Oh, I will make sure she will leave New York for good," Vernon said without thinking twice. "Though, I'm yet to think of a good method to do so."
"It's fine, Sir. I will do it for you," Diamond offered. Her eyes darkened as she seemed determined to do so, much to Vernon's surprise.
"Really? You know that it's not a clean job, right? I can give you my resources, but I will not cover for you if you fucked up."
"Don't worry, I want to be the one who kicks her out," Diamond said coldly. "You see, I was thinking that she did a good job to help you, so I thought it'd be wise if I brought Chloe there to get treated for her trauma as well. But if she's proven to be the one who spilled the information to Dorothea, then I have no pity and respect for her. Because she puts everyone's lives in jeopardy for a reason, and I believe that reason must be really petty, judging from your past relationship with her."
"Let me be the one who investigates and punishes her for this, Sir," Diamond said. "I will do a good job, and I will make sure she'll never find us in trouble anymore."
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