Chapter 411 411

"Mommy will be alright if it's with Uncle," Chloe assured her daughter. She got up without waiting for Mackie's reaction because she had to face Vernon.

But she asked Diamond, "Please take care of her for a while. I'm going to talk with him."

"Okay," Diamond held Mackie's hand while Chloe turned around and closed the door behind her.

Mackie was still stunned by her Mommy's words. Mommy always said she was alright, but she never said she was alright WITH Daddy.

'With… Uncle?' she pondered. 'So she's not alright with Daddy?'

**

Chloe took a deep breath before she approached Vernon. She hid her hands behind her back and walked slowly until she stood two feet away from him.

"V—Vernon…"

"Sit down," Vernon said, nodding his head on the sofa.

Chloe followed his order as she didn't want to argue with him, especially knowing he was trying so hard to curb his anger.

Vernon took a few steps until he stood tall in front of Chloe, who sat on the sofa.

Then he suddenly dropped to his knees and put his palms on Chloe's lap before opening them, "Your hands."

…

"Your palms, Chloe."

Chloe sighed. There was no fighting back against Vernon this time. It was too late for her to hide her wounds since Vernon already saw it when he slammed that door open.

Thus, Chloe slowly raised her hands behind her back and put them on top of Vernon's palms on her lap.

Vernon sucked a deep breath and tried to stay calm. But Chloe could clearly see Vernon's whole body was trembling out of rage, and his palms were shaking so badly that he was definitely fighting his urge to find Vincent.

"I'm alright-"

"Shut up, Chloe. Don't you dare to fucking lie to me right now," Vernon said as he cut her short.

He gently pressed Chloe's swollen hand with his thumb and looked up to check Chloe's reaction.

Then he realized that Chloe wasn't responsive- as if she was numb when he pressed on one finger joint but also showed extreme pain when he pressed on the next joint.

"He crushed your palms," Vernon said. He spoke calmly, but his tightened jaw, popped veins around his neck, and vicious glare said otherwise.

"I'll tell Diamond to bring you to the hospital, you will not move until you're treated," Vernon said.

"And what about you? What will you do next?" Chloe asked as she quickly caught on to Vernon's intention.

…

Vernon went silent for a while and replied, "I'll find him."

"Don't."

"Why not? Are you scared that I can't fight him?! Oh for fuck sake, Chloe, I can crush his head in one try if I want!"

"I know you can…." Chloe muttered. She lowered her head and tried placing her thumb on Vernon's. She gently caressed Vernon's thumb while talking. "But you'll get in jail for that, and I don't want to lose you."

"Vernon…" Chloe called his name gently. "Do you know why Vincent got so angry at me?"

Chloe raised her head and stared at Vernon again, and she saw him nodding, "Because he's a piece of shit that I need to kill."

Chloe couldn't help but smile over his reply, "Well… that's not wrong- until the killing part, at least. But the reason why he got so angry at me was because I refused to tell him your identity."

"You called me and he knew it must be the man who took me in. He intimidated me and threatened to give your identity, but I refused and smashed my phone to the floor until the screen shattered beyond saving."

Vernon's anger dissipated for a split second but returned with another feeling mixed in it.

He felt guilty when he realized that he was the reason why Chloe got beaten so badly by his Big brother.

Chloe saw the trace of guilt in Vernon's eyes and quickly explained, "It's not your fault, Vernon. He will still pry about the information nonetheless."

"You could've just told him about me…." Vernon muttered. "I will fight back…."

"No, you can't- at least not right now," Chloe retorted. "We both know that Vincent still has the upper hand. He is above the law."

…

Vernon lowered his head ashamedly. He was trying his best to speed up the process. He had a meeting this morning with another businessman that had worked directly with Vincent over the years. It went well as he slowly took over many important circles around Vincent. Apparently, Mr. Gray had become a bit unstable with work and made plenty of rookie mistakes when they were working on a few projects these days.

But even when he tried to speed things up, Chloe was still getting beaten. She got hurt because she wanted to protect him.

And Vernon absolutely hated this feeling of uselessness. It gave him a flashback of what Chloe said back then and how he was a useless, good-for-nothing kid.

He tried hard not to be useless, at least for the woman he loved.

Chloe could read Vernon like an open book as she also noticed the sadness. He must've been devastated after knowing that he indirectly caused her to get hurt.

So she raised her trembling hands and gently cupped Vernon's cheeks. She raised Vernon's head until they stared at each other and smiled reassuringly, "Vernon, do you know why I don't want to tell him about your identity?"

Vernon shook his head slowly.

"Because I trust you."

"Trust me?"

"Mhm, I trust that you will eventually take him down. I refused to give in so I can give you more time to prepare to fight against him in business."

"I trust your ability, you are much better than him. You can grow your own business without the help of anyone, and for me, it's already proof that you're better than him."

"So, if you want to retaliate, do it with what you can do best- make him realize that you can topple him in the corporate race," Chloe said. She took another deep breath and muttered, "I believe in you, Vernon."