171 Chapter 171

"Uncle, can you tell Daddy when will he bring Mommy and Mackie back to our old home? I miss him already," Mackie requested.

…

"Did your Mommy tell you that?" Vernon asked.

"Un, Mommy said that Daddy has a big problem at work, and he cannot bring us back home, that's why Mackie and Mommy live with you right now," Mackie said, trying to remember all the things that Mommy said to her about Daddy.

…

"I'll tell him to work harder," Vernon replied ambiguously, but Mackie took it as a yes, so she nodded happily and hugged her Uncle's big arm.

"Thank you, Uncle!"

"Hm."

Mackie resumed eating her breakfast, but Vernon only fiddled with his food. He was busy thinking about many things that he didn't know about his sister-in-law.

In his imagination, Chloe was living happily with Vincent after she ditched him. But now she left Vincent because he didn't give her enough money to satiate her greed for material things.

So he thought Chloe would be ruthless enough to slander Vincent in front of their daughter, maybe telling her the cold hard truth about him being a cheating bastard, and her being a greedy whore.

'But she decides to lie and cover for him instead? What the fuck is in her mind?' Vernon pondered.

Vernon thought that he knew everything, and judged her by what he thought was the correct reaction.

But maybe… Everything was wrong.

',

Maybe he was wrong the whole time.

Vernon stared down at the plate full of home-cooked food. Even by the looks of it, Vernon knew that his sister-in-law cooked this food with her heart. She always did since he was a kid, and continued doing so right now.

'I want to keep her around because I love what she cooks, and she's generally useful as my maid, and also a pawn to take down my Big brother. Those are the only reasons… right?' Vernon questioned himself, even if he knew the real reason, he didn't want to admit it.

He never wanted to admit it, since he would be seen as weak and pathetic by her.

**

Chloe was busy cleaning Vernon's penthouse and also her apartment on the lower floor the whole day, while Vernon left in the afternoon for a quick meeting again.

Mackie was helping her Mommy by making her bed and also spraying air freshener around, especially in Uncle Vernon's penthouse, because Uncle Vernon was so dirty, smelly, and sloppy!

"Hmph! Uncle is only handsome, but he's not as clean as Daddy!" Mackie complained as she accompanied her Mommy.

Chloe chuckled and continued vacuuming the floor.

"Mommy, Uncle Vernon can hire maids, right?" Mackie asked.

"Yes, he can. He is not poor, dear."

"Then why doesn't he hire a maid to do this? We have a lot of maids in the mansion!" Mackie protested. "Hmph! Uncle is not as rich as Daddy!"

Chloe dropped the vacuum cleaner immediately, she crouched in front of Mackie and warned her, "Mackie, you should never say that in front of Uncle Vernon, okay?"

"Um? Why Mommy? It's true, right? Uncle is not as rich as Daddy!" Mackie claimed.

It was true, and because it was true that it would incite Vernon's anger. She knew that Vernon was a proud man, and he always hated to be compared with his Big brother ever since he was just a kid.

'ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ No(ve) l Bi n',

"Just remember that you shouldn't say that in front of him, or we will get in trouble," Chloe warned her daughter again.

Mackie wasn't satisfied with her Mommy's answer. She felt that her Mommy was giving her a warning for no reason.

She pouted and crossed her arms, "Mommy, I want to go home."

"That's—" Chloe was stunned by the sudden request. She didn't expect Mackie to remember about her home. She was very accepting these days about living in this new apartment.

"D—Dear, we don't lack anything here, right? Do you want anything instead? Maybe Mommy can give it to you," Chloe said, trying to shift Mackie's attention somewhere. "How about we buy you a new doll instead? I heard there's a new Barbie collection, complete with the dollhouse!"

Chloe knew that Mackie liked toys, and her mind would be distracted instantly when she heard about dollhouses. She even had a room full of dollhouses and legos, because Mackie loved building legos and playing houses.

But, Mackie didn't seem to be interested in toys right now. In fact, her expression turned even sourer than before, and she asked, "Mommy, I don't want to right now. I just want to return home."

"We can't do that, dear… you know what I said before?"

"That Daddy is still busy with his problems, and we can't go home unless Daddy picks us up?"

"Yes…" Chloe confirmed. Even if she had to lie, she did it to protect Mackie's innocence, at least until the divorce was finalized, so they could be separated for good.

Mackie's expression gradually eased and then turned sad. She lowered her head, as she was battling herself not to demand too much from Mommy, since Mommy was working hard here.

"Mommy… if we can't meet Daddy, can I at least call him?" Mackie begged. "Mommy, Mackie misses Daddy a lot…"

…

Chloe's heart was in pain as she heard Mackie's request. She didn't know what to do or what to say.

Of course, she had no intention to allow Mackie to meet her Daddy, but at the same time, she felt that Mackie's request would gradually be even more demanding as time went by since Mackie was actually a very stubborn little girl.

'The latest_epi_sodes are on_the Nov elB i n website.',

'I should find a way to make Vincent sign the divorce paper, and we can proceed with the legal court. He has too much power in him, he'll find his way to put us in marriage counseling, and force me to return home, so he can abuse me again…'

'No, I don't want that. I—I've had enough of his abuse. I just want to be free with my daughter. Why is that so difficult to earn?'