Chapter 496 496

Vernon accepted the tumbler. He stared at it for a while and then looked at Chloe, who was smiling at him.

His hand trembled as he tried his best to keep it together. He had to be strong. He didn't want to be seen as a weak man who could easily be coaxed even though his spouse was cheating on him.

"You... you don't need to do this. I don't need it," Vernon said as it was his last attempt to show Chloe that he wasn't the one she could coax.

"Eh? Why?" Chloe tilted her head. "You always love banana-apple combo in a smoothie or juice. Did you change your taste now? Tell me what you like, so I can make it for you."

"Tsk!" Vernon couldn't do this. He couldn't handle Chloe's sweetness when he was supposed to be angry.

Whenever she smiled and stared at him with her sweet doe eyes, Vernon felt he could give up on anything as long as Chloe wanted to stay with him.

It was pathetic. Even Vernon called himself pathetic in his head while he rushed out of the penthouse.

"Good luck at work!" Chloe said, and Vernon jolted a bit before he shut the door behind him.

"Fuck, you're so pathetic, Vernon," he said while he went down to the basement parking lot with the elevator.

He stared at the tumbler in his hand. His hand trembled again, and he quickly wiped the tears pooling at the corner of his eyes, "This is so stupid. Why did I become so weak just because she made me a smoothie? She's lying to me! She's cheating!" Vernon yelled. "Am I this easy to please? You're a fucking loser!"

Vernon arrived at his office around six thirty. He was still holding the tumbler as he went up to the top floor.

He entered his office and put the tumbler on his desk while he sat on his executive chair. He was staring emptily to the front, trying to let his mind settle before he started his work today.

But he could not.

He kept on stealing glances at the tumbler as he got the urge to taste the smoothie that Chloe had made. He knew it'd taste good and would improve his mood immediately.

But he had to refrain from doing so to prove his firmness. So he just tapped the desk with his fingers impatiently until he couldn't wait anymore.

"Fuck this. I need to know with whom she's cheating!" Vernon finally grabbed his phone and called the head of the security department of his apartment building.

The phone was answered quickly as the security department was supposed to be always on the call 24/7. Now that their boss was calling, they didn't even dare to miss just a second of it.

--

"Good morning, Mr. Phoenix Gray," The security guard greeted me on the phone.

Two people were working as the head of the security guard, and they were brothers working on shift, Luis and Jose.

"Hm, am I talking to Luis or Jose right now?" Vernon asked.

"Luis, Sir."

"Okay, Luis," Vernon paused for a moment, thinking whether it was wise for him to spy on Chloe's activity. He wanted her to come clean, but at this rate and with Chloe acting so sweetly at him, he'd be the first one to fall and beg in front of Chloe.

So he had to check on this man first. If Chloe cheated with a random man for whatever reason, he'd just... erase that man from existence, and the problem would be solved.

But if he was a man with high status... he'd still erase that man. He didn't care about what would happen next.

"I have a job for you," Vernon said. "You need to check the CCTV camera aiming at my penthouse main door. Check if my woman-- Chloe, leaves the penthouse today, and continue following her path with the CCTV to see if she goes somewhere in the apartment building, probably in one of the rooms rented for regular guests."

Luis got nervous instantly. He felt that he was now listening to his boss' marital problem.

But he had to do his job nonetheless.

"Yes, Sir."

"Inform me if you see her entering one room," Vernon said, to which Luis replied with the same answer. "Good. I expect the information as quickly as possible."

Beep.

--

Vernon put his phone on the desk.

Now that he had given the order, he didn't know what to expect.

Part of him wanted to catch Chloe red-handed, so he could make that man vanish out of this world, and Chloe had nowhere else to go except him.

While another part of him didn't want the security department to call him. He wanted to trick his own mind, convincing himself that maybe he was just overreacting.

After all, he believed that Chloe was never a cheater.

If she could stay with Vincent-- that bastard who abused her nonstop for the past ten years, how could she not be able to stay with him?

Nevertheless, his decision stayed the same. He would do anything to make Chloe stay. He refused to let Chloe fall into the arms of other men.

"Even if I have to ruin the lives of so many people in this world, as long as I have you by my side, then I don't care about the rest," Vernon murmured with a glint of danger in his eyes.

He was well aware of his dark thoughts, which might be inherited from his bloodline.

It was also hard to control this crazy urge because he had never experienced it before. This urge only popped into his mind when it was about Chloe.

"I want us to burn together, Chloe," Vernon said. "I will never hurt you. I'd rather hurt myself than ever laying my hands on you."

"But if you decide to hurt me again, then let us burn together. We will drag everyone to hell with us."