"I want to buy Mommy a new bag!"

"A new bag?"

"Un! Mommy's bag is ugly now! Let's buy her a new bag, Uncle!" Mackie said excitedly.

"Alright," Vernon agreed without hesitation. After all, he also wanted to buy Chloe something to make her happy. This would be the perfect opportunity, especially with Mackie, who might know more about her mother's taste.

Vernon drove through the city and stopped in front of Hermes' giant outlet. He parked his car and said, "We're here, let's go and buy something for your Mommy."

Mackie stared at the giant outlet with many blink-blink around, and she frowned dissatisfied, "Uncle, this is not Mommy's favorite store!"

"Huh? Your Mom have a favorite store?"

"Un!"

Vernon never knew that Chloe had a different taste. He thought she must be a regular for another fashion brand or maybe something quieter? After all, she didn't seem to be the one who would show off her wealth.

"Then tell me what's her favorite shop, we can go there."

"Umm…" Mackie tried to remember the name of the shops. Her Mommy often shopped in these two places, so Mackie read the big sign a few times.

"Co—Costco, and umm… ah! Target!" Mackie said excitedly. "Mommy usually buys her purse and everything there!"

Vernon almost jumped out of shock when he heard that.

"Your Mommy buys her stuff there?"

"Yes!"

p1ease visit n0ve1b(in).ne)t



Vernon remembered that Chloe never seemed to buy anything expensive, even with his credit card. She was only buying groceries and Mackie's stuff with his CC.

'Of course she bought stuff in Costco or Target, she has this weird fixation of buying cheap stuff for herself. Was it something related to Vincent again?' Vernon pondered. 'Besides, how am I supposed to see that she's wearing cheap stuff? She still looks beautiful, she looks like someone wearing quiet luxury goods!'

"Uncle, let's go!" Mackie urged.

"Let's not buy it today."

"Huh, why not?"

"I have something else for your Mommy," Vernon replied. "I will buy her something amazing, and it needs to be ordered first. So, don't tell your Mommy about it, okay?"

"Whoa! Uncle is so kind!" Mackie chirped happily. "Daddy never buy anything for Mommy, so Uncle will be the first!"

'There you go again, many cases of abuse spilled out of a little girl's innocent mouth….'

Vernon knew he still had a long way to go to make Chloe comfortable with him, especially after realizing how much he had yelled at and scared her.

"Let's go home, Uncle! The ice cream will melt!"

"Hm, let's buy something for dinner first," Vernon said.

"Mommy is not cooking?"

"Your Mommy is tired, remember? It's good to let her have a little rest."

**

Chloe was busy cleaning Vernon and Mackie's bedrooms in the late afternoon. She knew that Vernon told her to just sleep, or at least any kind of rest.

But she couldn't stay still. It was just not her blood to stay in place while the house was a mess.

After she finished Mackie's bedroom, she cleaned Vernon's bed.

She turned on the light, and the first thing she saw was many wet stains on the white bedsheet.

Her cheeks reddened instantly because she knew who and what caused the stain.

'Maybe I shouldn't use a white bedsheet for him, who knows what he will do next in this bed?' Chloe thought.

She took off the dirty bed sheet and replaced it with a new one, which was black this time.

She threw the dirty bedsheet in the laundry chute because Vernon had a cleaning staff for it.

After cleaning Vernon's room, she went out of the bedroom and bumped into Mackie and Vernon, who opened the main penthouse door.

Mackie's face brightened instantly. She shoved the ice cream box to her uncle and rushed to hug her Mommy.

"MOMMY!"

Chloe smiled and opened her arm. She hugged her daughter and asked, "Did you have a nice day at school, dear?"

"Mhm! I'm getting better at being a big bad wolf!" Mackie replied. "Oh, Mommy, Mr. Peterson said that I need to give you this—"

Mackie rummaged inside her bag and handed the parent attendance form to her Mommy.

Chloe obviously knew about it since it was a yearly activity, "Okay, Mommy will fill it out tonight, don't forget to send it back to Mr. Peterson tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Take a bath first, then we can have dinner," Chloe said. Mackie happily hopped to her bedroom downstairs, leaving Chloe and Vernon together in the penthouse living room.

They stared at each other awkwardly and then tried to dodge each other's gazes.

Chloe was embarrassed because Vernon's words kept echoing in her head, giving her the courage to be a little bit reckless and preventing her from giving up.

If he hadn't called her at that vital moment, she would be in Vincent's mansion with Mackie right now.

Meanwhile, Vernon was embarrassed because of many things, mainly because he cried until his snot flowed from his nostril like a stinky kid this afternoon.

'Damn, I was so uncool..' Vernon thought.

Chloe was the first to break the silence between them, "Um… what's in your hand, Vernon?"

"Oh—!" Vernon quickly raised the ice cream box in his left hand and a bag of food in his right. "This is the ice cream that Mackie wants, and the other one is our dinner. You didn't cook anything today, right?"

"Not yet…"

"Well that's good, you need a rest," Vernon said. "Just tell me if you're too tired. I can cook, or I can always buy something from my favorite restaurant."

Vernon walked to the living room and put the food on the dining table. He also shoved the ice cream box in the freezer."

Chloe watched Vernon, who was busy setting up plates for the food on the dining table, and after he was done preparing dinner, he turned his head towards Chloe.

He stared at Chloe in silence, but Chloe knew he was waiting to be praised for his work.

Chloe smiled and walked towards Vernon. She patted his strong arm and said, "Thank you, big guy."