Mackie was overjoyed when she saw her Mommy coming to pick her up. She was scared that her Mommy might have forgotten about her because it was very unlikely for her Mommy to be late unless she fought with Daddy, which happened quite often when they lived together.
But they weren't with Daddy now, and Mackie's simple mind always believed Uncle wouldn't hurt her Mommy.
So what caused her to be late?
Mackie sat right beside her Mommy as the chauffeur drove them back home. She glanced at her Mommy a few times, silently checking if there was a visible bruise around her Mommy's body or if she had just cried until she fainted like before.
But no, Mommy looked alright and even had a natural smile, which was weird for Mackie.
Thus, unable to keep her curiosity, Mackie asked, "Mommy, are you okay?"
"Hmm? I am, what's wrong, Dear?" Chloe asked.
"Because it's rare for you to be late to pick me up. Did Uncle do something to you?"
"Ah, no, it's not Uncle," Chloe replied, which Mackie could identify easily as the truth. Because whenever Mommy lied, she'd start smiling as wide as possible and close her eyes so Mackie wouldn't see her red eyes.
It looked really fake, but Mackie was too young to realize the amount of lies her Mommy made back when they were still living with Daddy.
Well, she could identify her Mommy's lies now, and she definitely preferred her Mommy not to force a smile and lie. She'd love to hear all the truth from her Mommy.
Chloe realized that Mackie was able to identify her lies now. The little girl needed a real explanation, so Chloe added, "We have a special guest today, that's why I have to meet her before I come to pick you up."
"Special guest? Can I meet her too?" Mackie asked innocently.
"You want to meet her? Why?"
"Because I don't want Mommy to get hurt!"
…
Chloe wondered if Mackie had started picking Vernon's habit of getting invasive in the name of protection. Little Vernon also had this type of curiosity before.
Every day, Little Vernon would interrogate her, asking Chloe where she had been and who had talked with her today.
The Young Master wouldn't rest until Chloe told him all the details about her day, and it was exhausting for Chloe. However, she also thought Little Vernon was adorable with all his curiosity back then.
Thus, knowing that she couldn't hide a thing from her daughter, she replied, "Do you want to meet her then?"
"Un!"
"Alright," Chloe smiled and patted her daughter's head. "You can meet her today. She is in the apartment right now."
"Okay!"
**
Once they had arrived in the basement parking lot, Chloe grabbed her daughter's wrist and guided her to the elevator.
Mackie watched her Mommy as always and realized that Mommy pressed the number 5 instead of the highest number in the elevator.
They stopped at the designated floor, and Chloe kept leading her daughter until they stopped in front of room 505.
"Is is there your guest is staying, Mommy?" Mackie asked curiously.
"Yes, she'll be here for a while," Chloe said. "Let's meet her then."
Chloe knocked on the door a few times until she saw an eye peeking from the peephole.
Chloe smiled and pointed at her daughter, who was tilting her head, staring curiously at the door.
Chloe could hear a loud gasp from inside before the door was opened slowly.
There was a slight hesitation from Dorothea, but seeing her granddaughter's innocent doe eyes made her unable to control herself.
Dorothea opened the door and stood in the middle, staring at her daughter with a gentle smile full of yearning, "Long time no see, Mackie."
Mackie's eyes widened, "GRANNY!"
Mackie quickly jumped and threw herself toward her Grandma. She hugged Dorothea like a baby Koala who finally reunited with the mother Koala.
"Oh— Mackie, you've gotten bigger and heavier now!" Dorothea said she had difficulty maintaining her balance with a bigger Mackie dangling on her.
Mackie looked up, glazing with tears, "Where have you been, Granny? I miss you so much!"
"Really? Well, Granny has a lot of things to do before I can meet you again. You know that Granny is always busy, right?" Dorothea said while gently caressing Mackie's hair.
"Un, but I still miss you…." Mackie murmured. "I thought I would never be able to meet you again, Granny…."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because I don't know if I will ever meet Daddy again," Mackie said. "Daddy likes to hurt Mommy, I don't want Mommy to cry because of him."
There was a hint of sadness and helplessness in her voice, and Dorothea quickly looked at Chloe, who stood at the door, sighing and shaking her head.
Chloe silently mouthed, 'I'm sorry,' telling Dorothea that she had failed to protect Mackie's innocence.
Dorothea grieved for Mackie's lost innocence.
After all, Mackie was just a seven years old little girl. She should've been focusing all her energy on playing with her friends, studying hard for the next exam, having a crush on one of her classmates, and many more.
But now, Mackie had to face the reality that her family wasn't perfect, and her Dad was definitely not the best Dad that her Mommy always tried to portray him to be.
Dorothea felt that her granddaughter shouldn't be involved in this mess. But things happened, and now they are here, reunited under such a complicated situation.
Chloe sighed. She walked towards Dorothea and whispered, 'I'm sorry, Dorothea. I tried my best to maintain her innocence. But things happened, and she saw me getting beaten by Vincent a month ago. She already knows so many things about Vincent's true nature now.'
Dorothea nodded weakly. She wouldn't blame Chloe for Mackie's lost innocence because it must've been torture for Chloe to endure Vincent's beating while maintaining a farce in front of her own daughter.
Dorothea had to do that in front of young Vincent as well, making sure that Vincent never knew how much of a degenerate his late father was.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om