Chapter 456 456

"Give me your phone. I will block her myself."

Vernon's voice was demanding, full of impatience. He was so pissed off, and Chloe understood what caused that.

She knew Vernon had a lot of resentment and anger toward his mother. Chloe witnessed how Dorothea never actually gave shit about Vernon growing up and how she always busied herself getting drunk and screaming like a madwoman to everyone in the Gray family mansion.

Dorothea and Vaughn fought a lot, and Chloe had to hug Vernon tightly whenever he cried. Despite his arrogant young master persona, Little Vernon was still a vulnerable boy who got upset whenever he saw his parents yell at each other.

Chloe also remembered the first day she entered the Gray family mansion. Vernon was running around the corridor, knocking on expensive vases as he tried to get Dorothea's attention. But Dorothea's reaction was too much. She started cursing him like cursing an adult, calling him a bastard and little shit, and even told him to go die because nobody wanted him.

Vernon stood still, he didn't cry, but he stared at his mother with hatred.

When Chloe witnessed that hatred in Vernon's eyes, she realized that Vernon must've been deprived of love since he was raised in such a hostile environment.

Chloe thought that Dorothea's harsh words back then were just because she was under the influence. But Chloe never saw her without a bottle of booze in her left hand. She even caught her taking heroin from time to time.

Dorothea was a mess, so Chloe gave up trying to connect the daughter and son and decided to raise Vernon by herself.

Chloe's memory flashed at that moment when then-seven-year-old Vernon told her something shocking;

-

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"Big sis Chloe, I wish my Mom and Dad would die," Vernon said innocently.

Chloe paused for a moment, but she didn't freak out because she had experienced babysitting many toddlers around her neighborhood as a part-timer in middle school.

Toddlers and kids around Vernon's age often said unexpected things without realizing it.

So she calmly asked, "Why do you think like that? What's wrong?"

"Um... because they keep telling me to die, so I want them to die too," Vernon replied, still with innocence.

...

Chloe took another deep breath. She was still trying to stay calm.

"Vernon, do you know what death means?" she asked, and Vernon replied by shaking his head.

"Well, to die means that your Mom and Dad will not be there with you anymore. They will leave somewhere far away and will never come back. Do you want that to happen?"

Vernon's eyes brightened when he heard that explanation, "Then I want Mom and Dad to die! I really want them to die!" Vernon chirped happily. "Big sis, can I stay with you if Mom and Dad die? I want to stay with you forever!"

...

--

Chloe stared at Vernon, who was trying to intimidate her. She was scared, of course. But she felt that blocking Dorothea would solve nothing, especially when Chloe believed that Dorothea was genuinely trying to make peace with Chloe... and with herself.

"She is not as bad as you think she is," Chloe muttered.

Vernon scoffed. He really had no mood to argue with Chloe right now, especially when it was obvious that he was in the right.

Chloe was always stirred by her emotion, so it was easy to fool her, especially with a manipulative bitch like Dorothea.

"And why do you think so? What makes her good?" Vernon raised his chin and crossed his arms in front of his chest. It was obvious that nothing could change his mind right now.

But Chloe still wanted to say something for Vernon to think.

"Vernon, your mother is also a victim of severe abuse by your father. She's no different than me," Chloe said.

Vernon was triggered the moment Chloe said that. He grabbed Chloe's arms and squeezed them until she winced in pain.

"V--Vernon, let go...."

"Listen to me, Chloe," Vernon's voice was a bit coarse because he was holding off his rage. His hawk eyes glared at Chloe as if he was about to do something very unpleasant soon.

"Don't you ever dare to compare yourself with Dorothea," he said. "So what if she got abused back then? She still unleashed all of that abuse at me as a revenge just because I was just a defenseless kid."

"Did you ever scream at Mackie-- telling her to die and rot in hell? Did you ever shove or hit your daughter with a beer bottle just because Vincent did the same to you?! DID YOU?!" Vernon's emotions started getting out of control when he remembered all the abuses he had experienced at the hands of Dorothea.

Chloe's face paled instantly. She wasn't in the Gray mansion 24/7, so she didn't know the true extent of abuse Little Vernon experienced.

She just thought that-- at least, at the bare minimum-- Dorothea never physically abused Vernon.

And she was wrong, it seemed.

"She hit me a lot of times, Chloe, especially when I was only five to six years old. You never know and I never tell because I just don't want you to know," Vernon added. "So don't you fucking dare to compare yourself to that drunkard. It disgusts me. Do you understand?"

...

"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Vernon raised his voice, and Chloe nodded slowly.

Her eyes were already glazed with tears, and she was shaking, "I--I understand, sorry...." Chloe mumbled. She lowered her head, too scared to face Vernon right now.

His face... looked like he could be the second Vincent soon, and it terrified her so much.

Vernon realized what he had done.

He quickly released his hands from Chloe's arms. He took a few steps back to give Chloe room to breathe.

"Sorry, I-- I got too angry...." Vernon admitted. He tried to lower his voice so he didn't sound intimidating. The last thing he wanted to see was Chloe's tears. "I didn't mean to scare or hurt you, It's just... whenever we talk about my mother, I can't help to get angry."