"She's dead now."
"Dead?!" Dorothea's eyes widened. "Did Vernon kill her? Or was it one of his henchmen?"
"I… I don't know, it might be me who caused her death," Chloe lowered her voice as she also felt heavy in her heart. She gently held Dorothea's hand, asking for emotional support as she continued, "When I was ambushed, I immediately carried Mackie in my arm so she wouldn't get hurt by those men who were fighting against each other. But Maria actually told one of the men to separate Mackie from me. He forcefully tried to yank Mackie away, and I can't let that happen."
"Mackie's cry was like a trigger to me, when I heard her crying in pain while hugging me even tighter, I realized that I have to do something or my daughter will get hurt. So I attacked that man and claw his eyes until he was writhing in pain on the floor, then I strangled Maria until she could barely breathe."
"Vernon joined soon after that and cleaned everything up. He told me to leave Maria with him, so I released her," Chloe said. "But I don't know if she is actually dead because of Vernon, one of his henchmen, or because of me. But I know that she is dead, because there is no way Vernon would allow her to live. She's too dangerous and she knows too much about us."
"Honestly, good riddance," Dorothea said. "It doesn't matter who killed her. She deserved all the pain in this world. She has been nothing but a female hyena that lurks around Vaughn and Vincent!"
Chloe smiled bitterly. She knew that Maria deserved all the pain in this world for all the shitty things she did. But she still disliked the idea of violence.
She didn't want to remember how she attacked that man and Maria before and definitely regretted showing that side to Mackie.
"I just hope that bad things will end soon," Chloe said. "I'm just so tired having to deal with people like Maria all the time."
Dorothea sighed, "Well, you know that you won't be free until Vincent is defeated, right? Someone needs to kick him out of his high horse so he will realize he has been a fool the whole time."
Chloe stared at Dorothea, who had sipped her tea just now, and asked, "You're not mad that the Gray family will be destroyed after this? Vincent is the life of that company, without him, the family war will definitely happen and everyone wants a slice of that cake."
Dorothea calmly sipped her tea again and replied, "I've spent my entire life trying to maintain my family. I tried my best to make up for my absence from Vincent as a mother, but he never appreciates anything that I do for him."
"I realize that everything I did in the Gray family won't stop that family from ending anyway," Dorothea said. "They don't care about my well being. They just want me dead, so they can split my inheritance."
"That's why I realized that I have to leave. Nobody in that family wants me, not my son, and definitely none of those branch families," Dorothea said. She looked down ashamedly. "I know it sounds shameless. I don't want anything from you for Vernon. I'm already happy to have a life like this. I've always wanted to take care of many children properly to make up for what I did wrong to Vincent and Vernon."
Chloe listened to her reasoning and thought it was a fair reason.
Dorothea made many mistakes when she was young, so living here and helping Chloe take care of the boys was the least she could do to gain her approval and, hopefully, Vernon's approval as well.
"Anyway, don't think too much of her death, Chloe," Dorothea assured. "I know that you're nervous because you're usually a very lovely lady who won't hurt a fly. But this is a different case, your daughter almost got taken away from you."
Chloe nodded slowly, "I guess so too," Chloe said. "I just can't imagine being separated from my daughter. She is the reason that I'm still standing until now. There are times when I want to give up under Vincent's abuse, when I thought that death would be better than living with a monster like him."
"But I can't kill myself, not when I still have a daughter to protect, and I definitely don't want to hurt, let alone kill my daughter," Chloe confessed. "She is the reason for everything, Dorothea."
Dorothea nodded and then hugged Chloe. She patted her on the back and said, "I know, Chloe. I know that you're a great mother. I should thank you for raising Mackie to be a good little girl, because without you, she might turn into another Vincent. I will never forgive myself for spoiling him to the point that he turns into a megalomaniac."
Chloe and Dorothea spent the next hour talking from one simple topic to another. She didn't want to brush off any more topics about the ambush and Maria.
Dorothea was also very happy today because she got good news about Maria's death, that witch was seriously unbearable. So they decided to celebrate Maria's death by baking an apple pie while the kids were having fun in the next room.
While Chloe and Dorothea were busy making the dough, the connecting door suddenly burst open, and the three younger boys rushed towards Granny Dorothea and Aunt Chloe.
"Granny, Aunty, there is an emergency!" Mike said as the oldest of the three boys.
Chloe and Dorothea stopped their activity and asked the boys instead, "What happened? Did you have a fight?"
"N—No! It's Boss Mackie and Big bro Aaron! They are crying!"
Mackie's eyes widened. There had never been an instance where they fought before, "Did they fight?"
"No, they are just whispering to each other, and then they cry!" Mike reported. "Aunty, Granny, please help them, they look so sad!"
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