"Well, what are you waiting for? Go into room 505 and convince him! Good luck, Dorothea!" Chloe cheered on her as she separated their hugs and pushed Dorothea until they reached the door of room 505.
Chloe took a few steps back and went to the elevator to give Dorothea time for herself so she could gather her courage before opening the door.
Dorothea stared at the door in front of her. To say that she was nervous was an understatement. She actually thought she'd die out of fright right now.
She still wished that Vernon would somehow accept her back, even though the possibility was very low to almost impossible at this point.
'I just want him to allow me to visit Chloe and Mackie during every Christmas and New Year, it'd be more than enough for me. I can't ask for much due to all the things I did to him in the past.'
Dorothea scanned the card key until the door was unlocked. She wiped her sweaty palms on her long skirt before grabbing the door handle. She took a deep breath before pushing the door open.
Click.
As the door opened, the first thing that Dorothea saw was Vernon, who sat at a table with two chairs in the middle of the room, and there was a wine bottle on the table with two wine glasses.
Vernon darted his eyes at Dorothea and crossed his arms. He scrunched his brows as their eyes met, and there was an obvious hostility in his eyes which petrified Dorothea.
Dorothea expected nothing less from this meeting, and she had prepared herself for the hostility.
But when she had to face her son, she realized she wasn't as strong and courageous as she expected.
Vernon scoffed, "Why are you standing at the door like an idiot? Sit and let's get this over with. We know what'll happen anyway."
Dorothea said nothing but approached Vernon carefully and sat on the opposite seat.
Vernon leaned back, still with his arms crossed and his eyes peering at his mother. He zipped his mouth tightly, not even planning to speak a thing in front of Dorothea because he thought there was nothing to talk about anyway.
There was nothing but awkward silence for a long time until Vernon suddenly scoffed, "You know that I won't change my mind just because you're trying to coax me, right? Wait, do you even know how to coax? I'm pretty sure you'd beat me with a bottle every time I cried when I was a kid, hahah!"
Dorothea bit her lower lip and lowered her head instantly. She felt ashamed whenever she was reminded of her past sins, especially from her own son.
"You do know that I'm doing this for Chloe, right? So why don't we just finish this bullshit meeting and act like we never know each other after this?" Vernon was about to get up and leave Dorothea before the latter finally opened her mouth.
"Chloe told me to talk to you, and try my best to convince you. We should do that at least," she suggested. "I know she has done a lot for us, and this is her attempt to fix things between us."
Vernon stopped and returned to his seat, "There's nothing to fix between us. You're never my mother to begin with. All you did was just give birth to me, you didn't even breastfeed me."
"I was having baby blues back then...." Dorothea admitted. "I couldn't face you when you were a baby. So I had to hire a wet nurse."
"Did you still have your baby blues when I was six? Maybe that was the reason why you beat me up so bad back then," Vernon sneered. "Just admit it, Dorothea. You're a horrible person, and you're just trying to get us to accept you, so you won't feel lonely, right?"
...
Dorothea nodded reluctantly. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that she had failed to be a decent mother, and she also failed everything in her life, and nobody wanted to accept her.
So this was actually an attempt for Vernon and Chloe to accept her, so she could find a place she could call a family.
Though, the whole process didn't seem to be going smoothly, especially with Vernon, who was so hostile against her.
Vernon's lips thinned when he saw Dorothea nodding. So it was clear that Dorothea didn't even try to hide her idea of joining his little family because nobody wanted to accept her, not even her beloved son, Vincent Gray.
Vernon was actually hurt when Dorothea confirmed his suspicion. Because that meant his estranged mother only came to him because she had nowhere else to go.
Vernon was always the second choice for his own mother.
"You have a family of your own, go to Vincent. I bet he will let you stay," Vernon said.
"You know I can't do that anymore," Dorothea murmured. "I ruined his Gray foundation and give him a lot of headaches right now, the only thing he will do if we meet is to kill me."
"Heh, so that's why you're destroying the Gray foundation and creating a lot of problems for Vincent. So you will have nowhere to go now, and use it to make Chloe pity you?" Vernon accused. "Well, it's working. Chloe pities you so much, she even went against me just to prove a point that you've changed. Congratulations, Dorothea Gray, you've successfully fooled my woman. But that's because Chloe has a kind heart, so it's not hard to gain her sympathy."
"But I'm not kind. I am far more evil than you'd ever imagine. You'd be surprised how many times I've planned to kill you before," Vernon admitted without hesitation. "You should thank Chloe for saving your life. The only reason why I haven't killed you is because I don't want Chloe to hate me. She has been protecting you this whole time, you selfish bitch."
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