244 Chapter 244

Shailene stared at Vernon for a while and clicked her tongue annoyedly, "I don't even know why am I being so kind to you, Vernon. You're the worst man I've ever met."

She started questioning her sanity as she found it ridiculous.

To be so gentle to a bastard like him...

'Maybe... maybe I still love him....' Shailene thought.

Deep down, she knew that was the real answer. She knew she was an idiot for having that feeling after being hurt by this bastard so badly that she couldn't even trust men anymore.

Shailene kept staring at sleeping Vernon, and the urge to kiss him grew in her heart.

'ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ No(ve) l Bi n',

She wanted to taste his lips again, even if that would be the last.

Shailene clenched her fist, trying to ward the stupid idea off her head.

But she couldn't help it, and the urge started to grow bigger and more uncontrollable.

...

Shailene took a deep breath and said, "Just once, Shailene. Then you must promise yourself to forget this bastard. She is not worth your time."

Shailene kneeled beside the chaise longue, her eyes lingering on Vernon's lips, and she slowly leaned in for a kiss.

...

However, before their lips touched, a loud ringtone from Vernon's suit pocket shocked Shailene, and she jolted away immediately.

"What in the--"

Shailene's chest rose up and down. She was shocked and also terrified. She thought Vernon would wake up upon hearing his phone ring at full volume.

But the big buffoon was still the same. He could sleep through any kind of noise, a habit that Shailene noticed when they were still dating.

The phone stopped ringing after a while, but it rang again, hinting that this call was an important one.

Shailene sighed. She got up and slipped her hand inside Vernon's suit to grab his phone.

She was thinking about waking Vernon up before giving the call to him.

But when she checked the caller's name, her body stiffened instantly.

Then, her lips perked up as she changed her mind.

She didn't give the call to Vernon and picked it up instead.

"Hello?"

**

Chloe was a bit late to clean Vernon's room today. She cooked dinner for Mackie and then helped her check her homework.

She was a little tired, so she rested a bit, intending to get a power nap for at least ten minutes before her last cleaning duty.

'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',

But she fell asleep for at least two hours, and her heart jumped immediately when she checked the clock.

"Crap, it's already nine!"

Chloe got up from the sofa and went upstairs to the penthouse. She knew Vernon had a dinner date tonight, but she didn't know if he would stay and have fun with that woman or return late at night.

So she had to do her duty before he came home.

Which was-- to clean his bedroom.

Of course, Chloe could just call the housekeepers to clean it, but Vernon asked her a few days ago that his room should be cleaned by herself. He wouldn't allow any housekeeper to touch his bedroom anymore.

Chloe entered Vernon's bedroom and turned on the light before she started cleaning.

"Tch, he is such a messy guy. He's an adult, but why can't he put his clothes in the laundry basket?" Chloe complained as she picked up Vernon's dirty socks, shirt, trousers, and boxers on the ground before putting them in the laundry basket at the edge of the room.

"Did I teach him to be tidy when he was a kid? Did he forget about everything after he left? What kind of life did he has when he was in highschool and uni?" Chloe wondered.

But she couldn't get any answer since there was no way she would ask Vernon about it.

She wanted to know why Vernon suddenly left for ten years without contacting her or even Vincent, and she wanted to know if his sudden departure was connected to her.

"My gut feeling told me that I've done something wrong that might upset him. But I don't know why," Chloe murmured.

She sighed helplessly and continued cleaning until she noticed something familiar in the drawer near the bed.

"Huh? Isn't that--"

Chloe walked towards the drawer to confirm, and she panicked once she realized that it was the condoms she had bought yesterday.

"Wait, did he forget to keep this in his car or his wallet?" Chloe started panicking as there was a chance that Vernon might have practiced unsafe sex that might lead to many unwanted things, such as STDs and unwanted pregnancies.

"Oh no--"

Chloe put the condom in the drawer again and then rushed out to grab her phone.

She quickly dialed Vernon's number, but the first call didn't connect.

So she tried it again, and the call was finally connected.

"Hello?"

Chloe's heartbeat skipped for a second when she heard a woman's voice answering the phone call. She started panicking even more as she didn't expect someone other than Vernon to pick up the call.

"Hello? Who is this?" the woman on the phone asked her.

Chloe snapped out of her panic and answered, "Ah-- um... My name is Chloe, and uh... where is Vernon right now? Is he with you?"

The only thing that came to Shailene's mind when listening to the voice of Chloe was;

'',

Gentle.

She sounded very gentle. She had the mature voice of a woman, but there was a hint of sweetness in her voice despite her sounding nervous.

'Huh, didn't he tell me back then that he hates a woman who pretends to be sweet and cute?' Shailene wondered.

"Hello? Are you there?" Chloe asked again, making sure the call was connected.

"Yeah, I'm here," Shailene replied. "Vernon is sleeping beside me right now. Is there something wrong?"

Of course, that was a total lie. There was no way in hell she would sleep with Vernon again, not after he called her the wrong name.

"Ah--" Chloe assumed that Vernon and this woman had done it, so she asked to make sure;

"Um, did he use protection before doing it?"