Chapter 467 467

Chloe was sitting in a daze as she watched random news. Mackie played with her doll house on the carpet, periodically checking on Chloe in case her Mommy was naughty again. Just an hour ago, she tried to cook and clean Big Bad Uncle's room.

Meanwhile, Chloe's mind flew off somewhere after she read the text from Dorothea this morning.

-

Dorothea:

I don't feel comfortable just texting, but I have changed because I realized that I've been so cruel to a woman who went through the same as me, especially at the hands of my own son…

Do you have time to meet? I want to meet you somewhere, and we can talk about this. I will answer everything that you want to know. You can be the judge whether I lied or not.

-

Chloe was unsure what to do in this situation. Her gut feeling told her that Dorothea experienced an earth-shattering change after realizing that her son was a horrible man who deserved to go to jail for all the shit he had done.

But her gut feeling was often wrong. What if this was just a trap set by Dorothea and Vincent? What if Vincent caught her and chained her back into the mansion? He'd force her to play house with him again and probably break her until she told him the identity of her benefactor.

Chloe didn't want to put Mackie and Vernon in danger just because of her idiocy.

As she was fighting with her own demon, Dorothea texted her again;

-

Dorothea:

Chloe? Are you alright?

If you're not ready to meet me, can you at least reply to my text? I'm unsure what to do when you're not answering me.

-

Chloe stared at the text for a while. Her hands typed a few texts that she deleted right after.

She wasn't sure if opening up to Dorothea would lead to disaster, especially since she knew Vernon must've been very upset and would stay upset as long as Chloe kept on her contact with Dorothea.

When she was typing another text, her phone suddenly rang, and she saw Vernon's caller ID.

Dread filled her face in an instant. She darted her eyes at the front door of the penthouse, scared that Vernon might suddenly pop out like he did when she was on the call with Dorothea.

After making sure that she was safe, Chloe picked up the call and muttered;

—

"H—Hello?"

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

…

There was no answer from the other side. But Chloe could hear Vernon's heavy breathing.

She got a little worried and asked, "Vernon, are you alright?"

Vernon's heart was tickled when Chloe asked about his well-being. Her voice was soft and sweet, like a feather that tickled his heart.

But the more his heart got tickled with such a soft feather, the guiltier he felt.

Because he had to say that Chloe wasn't the most beautiful woman in his eyes, just to save his ass from Vincent's suspicion.

And now he wanted to assure Chloe that his opinion never changed.

"Chloe…" Vernon called her with his deep yet hoarse voice.

Chloe went stiff instantly. She thought she had made another mistake and was ready to get yelled at.

"I…" Vernon paused for a moment before he mustered his courage. "I just want to say that you're the most beautiful woman on earth ever since the first time I met you. And that opinion never and will never change."

"Wha—" Chloe was stunned by the sudden confession. It came out of nowhere, and he sounded so soft, so gentle, unlike the man who was trying to reprimand her for talking to Dorothea this morning.

Of course, she didn't believe that. Though it felt nice to hear, that was just bullshit, no matter how often Vernon said it to her.

Because Vernon had met and dated many rising actresses and supermodels.

But she couldn't help wondering…

"What's wrong, Vernon? Weren't you… angry at me this morning?" Chloe asked.

"I still am," Vernon replied, but his gentle tone said otherwise. "I just want to tell you that, because I'm not sure if I can say it while we're still fighting."

"Also, please take my anger seriously, Chloe. I am angry at you for harming yourself, and you trying to open up to Dorothea is not something that I will ever approve. But I just can't help but adore you. I hope I can see your beautiful, non-crying face this evening."

"Wait—"

Beep.

—

Chloe was jaw dropped at the sudden call and how he sounded genuine. She didn't know how to process Vernon's mood change.

But she was glad that Vernon wasn't angry at her for a long time. She was too used to living a normal life nowadays. Thus, she couldn't imagine if she had to return to live under fear and pressure like how she lived with Vincent and early days living with Vernon.

"Mommy, was that Uncle?" Mackie asked.

"Ah— yes, it's your Uncle."

"Mmm… Mommy, does Uncle make you happy?"

"Eh? Why do you ask that?" Chloe was flustered by the question. Mackie was in her development stage and started to question everything around her. She also started to sense her surroundings, so it was difficult for Chloe to lie.

Though, she didn't want to lie anymore. She just hadn't told Mackie the whole truth.

But if Mackie asked her whether her Daddy was an abusive ass, Chloe might say yes at this point.

"Mm, because Mommy looks so happy when calling Uncle just now," Mackie pointed out. "Your cheeks are red, Mommy!"

"R—Really?" Chloe checked her face with the front camera and confirmed Mackie's statement.

She was so red that she could put a little stalk on top of her head and call herself the cherry woman.

Mackie abandoned her toys and jumped onto the sofa beside her Mommy.

Mackie stretched her hand to touch Chloe's cheek and said, "Whenever Mackie is happy, my cheeks will turn red! Really red! But I've never seen Mommy with red cheeks when with Daddy, unlike when you're with Uncle!"