356 Chapter 356

"Tch, this kid," Vernon clicked his tongue annoyedly. He didn't want to squabble with a little girl in public, so he simply picked her up and carried her with one arm.

"Whoa! Uncle is so tall! I feel like a giant!" Mackie commented. She was excited to be carried by his big bad Uncle because nobody had ever carried her so high above other people.

The moms were still staring, but none of them found this strange. After all, Vernon was Vincent Gray's little brother, and there was no news online about the separation between Vincent and his wife.

They were just a little jealous since that little girl had been blessed since birth. Mackenzie had a handsome billionaire father who loved her so much and a handsome up-and-coming multi-million Uncle who also wanted to pamper her.

'What a blessed child...' people thought collectively.

Vernon went inside his car and put Mackie in the passenger seat. He bucked her up and said, "We're going home."

Mackie had no suspicion toward her Uncle. But she still asked, "Uncle, what happened to Mommy? Is she okay?"

"Uh-huh, she's alright," Vernon replied lightly as his car left the school gate and entered the road. "She's just exhausted today. So she asked me to pick you up."

"Did Mommy puke again?" Mackie asked innocently. "Usually, Mommy would puke almost every day. It looks so scary, Uncle. She would fall to the ground for a long time! But she always said that she is alright and healthy...."

Vernon clenched the steering wheel. Whenever he was reminded of the abuse that Chloe experienced, his heart would tighten uncomfortably.

In fact, he blamed himself for not being able to protect Chloe sooner.

"Or maybe Mommy is blue-red again!"

"Blue-red?" Vernon frowned. "What's that?"

"Um, it's when Daddy plays with Mommy. Mommy would come out with a blue and red face!"

Vernon quickly caught what Mackie meant by blue-red. It was the bruise that Chloe experienced after being beaten by Vincent.

It was a horrible thing, but somehow, Mackie didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Do you think it's alright for Mommy to play with your Daddy?" Vernon asked. He felt that Chloe tried to normalize the abuse she experienced to not stress Mackie out.

But it made the little girl ignorant of the real problem in her family. Who knew what kind of problem would come next because of this?"

"Umm..." Mackie hummed for a while and replied, "I don't like it! I don't like when Mommy plays with Daddy!"

"But Mommy always said that I shouldn't be angry at Daddy, because Daddy doesn't mean harm!"

"Motherfu--" Vernon almost cursed out loud when he heard that. But he zipped his mouth instantly.

He was so angry at his Big brother for being an abusive bastard. But he was also mad at Chloe for deluding her daughter into this mess.

'I don't know if it's her own decision, or it's because Vincent threatened her, but this is not right,' Vernon thought. He wanted to put some sense into Mackie's brain that what his Daddy did was completely wrong.

But he still needed Chloe's consent, 'After all, Mackie is her daughter. As much as I want to tell her something, I still have no right to do it unless Chloe is the one who did it.'

'But I have to pressure her later.'

Thus, Vernon put a note in his mind to talk to Chloe about this problem.

**

Vernon continued to drive through the city until they were stopped by a traffic light.

Mackie looked around, and her eyes were glimmering when she saw an ice cream parlor across the street. She slapped her Uncle's arm excitedly, "Uncle! Uncle!"

"What?"

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"There! Let's buy ice cream before going home!" Mackie said.

"Huh? It's not safe to buy an ice cream in a random shop. I can order you the one made by a professional."

Mackie pouted upon hearing her Uncle's response, "I want that one! Mommy and I usually ate ice cream in that place, it's good, I tell you!"

...

Vernon felt Mackie would throw a tantrum if he didn't buy her that ice cream.

So he had to comply and turned to the left after the traffic light turned green.

He parked the car in front of the parlor. It seemed that they were the only customers there.

"Uncle, give me money! I'll buy it for you!"

"You can do that?"

"Of course!"

...

"Don't forget to say that you're going to take it home. Your Mommy is waiting."

"Okay!"

Vernon gave Mackie two 100-dollar-bill, and the little girl opened the car door.

Vernon slid his window down, observing the little girl as she entered the ice cream parlor and ordered the ice cream.

She seemed to be much more capable than Vernon gave her credit for.

Honestly, he didn't know much about Mackie because he was always busy at work. When they were home, they were always quarreling about the smallest thing.

But with this, he could catch a glimpse of young Chloe in that little girl.

Because the Chloe he knew was very independent. She was bright, active, and even chatty. Ever since he was a kid, he always saw his Big sis Chloe as a woman who could attract everyone to a party because of her beauty and bubbliness that was just so cute.

"But it was all gone...." Vernon murmured. "I can't believe that I missed such an obvious hint. Of course, that bubbly girl I grew up with is gone, she has been severely abused for years."

Mackie waved her hand at the familiar woman who ran the ice cream parlor and then returned to Vernon's car.

She sat on the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt by herself. She put the ice cream box on her lap and hummed happily.

"Are we done?" Vernon asked. "Do you want to buy something else?"

"Umm... oh yes!" Mackie nodded excitedly. "I want to buy Mommy a new bag!"