"And old lady?" Vernon frowned. "And that old lady is Dorothea in your theory?"
"Likely so," Dorothea nodded, full of confidence. "Shailene's line of work aligns with Dorothea's illness since she suffered from domestic violence before."
Vernon scoffed, "Just because she got hit by my late father once or twice doesn't give her the right to beat me. She is just the same kind of monster like my father."
"Yes, Sir. I understand that," Diamond replied. "But Dorothea might put herself as a victim, and will actively search for a good psychologist that can help her, and Shailene is the best in her field right now."
"Well, what will you do next? Will you just confront Shailene about this? She's a snake, you know."
"Oh, of course not, Sir. I will continue gathering information. I'm just giving you a heads up and telling you that I'm doing this seriously," Diamond stated.
"Hm," Vernon shrugged. "I've never doubted your work. You're the most competent employee I have, though a bit too biased with Chloe."
"Thank you for the compliment, Sir. I have always put an objective lens in my eyes."
Vernon's lips twitched, "Tsk, whatever. Let's just have a lunch break and continue making the list for Mackie's school. You don't need to go to work tomorrow, just accompany Chloe and Mackie to these schools."
"Yes, Sir."
**
"Diamond will be here at seven, you two should get ready early tomorrow morning, because I have listed at least ten schools that suit Mackie, both in education and safety," Vernon said as he served his homemade pasta for dinner.
"Thank you so much, Uncle!"
"T—Thank you," Chloe said meekly. She was embarrassed because she couldn't do much right now. She wasn't even able to do house duties. Meanwhile, Vernon did everything: working, cooking, preparing for Mackie's new school, and handling the document from her old school, and still handling .
He was basically a one-man standing.
She also noticed how exhausted Vernon was. He looked a little pale, and his dark eye bags were very prominent. He even had stubbles on his chin, which was quite a rare sight since he was clean-shaven most of the time.
Vernon sat facing Mackie and Chloe at the dining table. He observed them first, making sure that both ate their food before he dug his.
"Chloe?" Vernon frowned. "Why don't you eat? Is there something stressing you out right now?"
"Ah, it's not that…."
"Then what is it? Do you need me to spoon feed you?"
Chloe saw that Vernon looked genuinely concerned just because she wasn't eating well. He put her as someone important in his eyes, and Chloe… just felt it was too much sometimes.
She felt she should've done something to help him ease his work. But she couldn't do a thing, and Vernon forbade her to do something more laborious.
Vernon thought that Chloe had just remembered Vincent again. She always had this moment of silence as she stared at her food for a while. It was probably due to her past trauma.
So, Vernon got up and walked towards Chloe's side. He grabbed a chair and sat right next to her. He grabbed her plate and was about to feed her as always when Chloe finally reacted by shaking her head, "No need, Vernon."
"Are you sure?"
"Mm…" Chloe nodded.
Thus, Vernon returned her plate and was about to return to his spot.
"S—Stay here, let me feed you instead."
"Huh?" Vernon frowned. "You want to feed me?"
"Mhm," Chloe nodded. She grabbed the fork. The fork was a little shaky because she was a little nervous. It had been a while since she fed Vernon.
'I think the last time I fed him was when he's about ten years old, then he refused to be spoon fed anymore because it was too embarrassing and he claimed that he was an 'adult' now.
"Open up, aaahh…." Chloe said in front of Vernon.
Vernon stared at the fork in front of his mouth. The way Chloe tried to spoon feed him reminded him so much of his old self.
Back then, he really loved getting fed by Big sis Chloe, even though he was already eight years old, and a boy his age shouldn't be spoon fed.
But Vernon enjoyed it too much that he kept acting spoiled in front of his Big sis Chloe. He kept doing it until he was ten, and started developing a huge crush on his Big sis Chloe.
So he tried to look more 'adult' and 'man' by refusing to be spoon fed or hugged tightly by her.
And now they were back to when he was only eight years old, and she was only eighteen.
Vernon glanced at Mackie, who was sitting on his left. She had her eyes on him attentively, waiting for her Uncle to eat.
She didn't seem to be upset that Mommy was feeding Uncle. In fact, she was excited!
"It's okay, Uncle! If Mommy feeds you, that means she loves you!" Mackie said. "She fed me often too!"
"I know that," Vernon replied without hesitation. "I know that very well."
Chloe's cheeks reddened, "Ahh…."
…
Vernon finally opened his mouth and ate the pasta. He munched slowly while his eyes were locked on Chloe.
He observed her and noticed the relief on her face. She looked genuinely happy and started feeding Vernon slowly, just like she always did when he was young.
Vernon raised his brow. He wondered what was on her mind right now.
'Does she want something from me? Is it about Dorothea again?' Vernon wondered. 'Damn, she used that hard method by seducing and dominating me before and I could barely hold myself, and now she wants to use this gentle and loving method? Jesus, she's really not holding back.'
Despite his suspicion of Chloe, he kept opening his mouth and munched slowly while staring at his beloved.
'Oh well, I'll just think about this problem later. Let me just… enjoy getting spoonfed first…' Vernon thought as he released all the tension in his mind.