"Yeah, that's bullshit," Vernon sneered. He sat on the opposite couch facing Dorothea and added, "Do you really think I believe that you're the ones doing the dirty jobs? Stop guilt tripping my woman to do your stuff."
Dorothea decided to just stay silent after realizing that Vernon wouldn't believe her anyway. So she went straight to the point, "Why are you knocking at my door at this hour? Do you need something?"
Vernon's sneer and mocking grin dissipated instantly. He forgot that he had knocked on her door because of those four boys.
He crossed his arms and asked, "What do you do when I'm not around?"
"Uh, I help Chloe to cook, clean my room, and watch TV. Sometimes I take care of Mackie when she wants to play with me during her free time," Dorothea said. She wanted to be honest with everything so her son wouldn't be suspicious of her. "I've cut my contact with anyone from the Gray family since I'm currently in hiding."
Vernon nodded. It was the same explanation that Chloe gave to him. Dorothea was like a regular old woman these days, so she was harmless.
Of course, Vernon still couldn't believe Dorothea. He didn't even believe Chloe because he knew that Chloe often tried to protect Dorothea from his rage.
So this would be the best time to prove if this woman had some good bone in her.
"I want you to follow me," Vernon said. He got up and walked to the door.
Dorothea became tense instantly. She thought Vernon wanted to kick her out right now, "W—Where are we going?"
Vernon halted his step and replied, "To the next room. Follow me."
Dorothea was scared that Vernon might do something to her. Maybe he was at his boiling point and wanted to beat her up to make it even between them.
She was a frail woman now, so she couldn't defend herself, let alone fight back.
'Just like what I did back then…' Dorothea lamented. 'I beat him when he was just a defenseless kid. How could I be so cruel? Why did I unleash my rage on Vernon when my real rage is directed to Vaughn instead?'
That question often popped into Dorothea's mind. She blamed herself for everything she did back then and wished she could be more like Chloe.
Because Chloe never hurt her daughter, Mackie turned out to be a great child with confidence, intelligence, and emotional maturity. She was also fiercely protective and loved her mother so much.
Something that Dorothea didn't get from either of her sons.
'Maybe after he beat me up tonight, he can finally let go of his rage and grudge against me. I hope we can start anew as a pair of mother and son. I hope this nightmare will end.'
Thus, after gathering enough courage to face her execution, Dorothea got up from her seat and then walked out of her room.
He saw the door next to hers was already opened and assumed Vernon was waiting inside.
So she dragged her feet to the next room and entered.
She saw Vernon standing near the bed, looking at four little boys huddled together. They were in a deep sleep, so none of them noticed that Vernon and Dorothea had entered the room.
Dorothea gasped. Trains of bad assumptions ran wild in her mind. She guessed that Vernon must've had a lot of relationships before he met with Chloe again, and the four boys on the bed were his children from his previous flings.
Somehow, this was even scarier than her getting beaten up by Vernon. Because these boys would probably break Chloe's heart, and Dorothea already had a strong connection with Chloe. She wouldn't want to see her daughter-in-law be saddened by this problem.
Chloe had a strong motherly instinct, but caring for four children from Vernon's past unmarried flings would be hard for her.
"Come here," Vernon commanded while his eyes were still on the four boys.
Dorothea approached him carefully and then asked, "Vernon, did you… did you not use condoms when you had sex with other women before? How could you make four?!"
Vernon glared at her and replied, "These boys are Chloe's nephews. They are her sister's sons, Judith's grandsons."
Dorothea didn't know much about Chloe's side of the family. But she knew that Chloe was born into a lower class with a single mother that supported the whole family.
Dorothea thought Vincent married the wrong woman back then, so she simply ignored Chloe's existence.
Well, she still believed that Vincent married the wrong woman even now. Because he shouldn't be married in the first place. Men like Vincent and Vaughn wouldn't understand love as they believed all women were just items they could treat as cruelly as they wanted to.
But then she remembered how Judith tried to extort money from her just because Dorothea asked for Chloe's number. It was so ridiculous that her opinion of Chloe's family worsened after that.
Vincent already told her that Chloe's family members were a bunch of leeches who always asked for money, and Judith's action proved that Vincent was right.
"Where's their mother?" Dorothea asked. She headed to the bed and sat on the edge, checking the boys who looked thin and pale, proof that they weren't well fed.
"In jail," Vernon replied curtly. "Chelsea—their mother murdered Judith, and then tried to murder these boys as well. But she failed because these boys barricaded themselves in a room. Now that their father is gone, their mother in jail, and their grandma died, nobody can take care of them except their aunt, so Chloe brought them here without my permission."
Dorothea was shocked by the revelation. She turned her neck towards Vernon and asked, "W—What was the motive behind the murder? Did something happen in the house?"
"Insanity," Vernon replied. "That bitch is insane, and she's persuaded by one man to kill her entire family in exchange for hand-in-marriage."
Dorothea gasped, "Who's that crazy man? How could he be so cruel to kill an old woman and four defenseless boys?!"
Vernon paused for a moment, he stared at Dorothea and replied, "Vincent."
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