Chapter 724 724



[Song Recommendation: Joji - Glimpse of Us.]

Chloe stared at Vincent, who begged for her to come back. She looked sad, so sad that she shed tears at the corner of her eyes.

Her tears gave Vincent hope. He thought that Chloe would forgive him.

After all, they had been together for ten years. Of course, Chloe wouldn't ditch him just because of a small fight. She was a loyal woman who never cheated on Vincent before, so she shouldn't be swayed by Vernon in less than a year. 

"Chloe—Wife, you forgive me, right? I regret everything, I swear!" Vincent said. He got desperate that he actually wanted to kneel in front of his wife, begging her to return so they could start anew.

This would be the first time for Vincent to kneel in front of someone else, but he didn't even hesitate. He'd do anything as long as Chloe could return to his side.

Unfortunately, his body was locked in place. He couldn't even move a finger, let alone kneel in front of her.

But he knew there was a hint of hope for him. As long as he begged enough, Chloe would definitely return to him!

After a long silence, Chloe finally opened her lips, "Why are you regretting it now, Vincent? You know that it's too late, right?"

"No, it's not too late!" Vincent refuted. "Wife, please, I know I have been a horrible man to you. I don't know what has gotten into me, but you should know that you're the only woman I love! You're the only one that can make me feel things!"

"If I am the woman you love, then why are you abusing me for ten years straight? Why are you hurting me?" Chloe asked. "What does love mean to you, Vincent?"

"I—" Vincent was tongue-tied after realizing he had been unreasonable. He had been mindlessly following his late father's words as if they were religious scriptures he had to obey. He thought abusing and imprisoning Chloe would stop her from leaving, "I love you, Chloe. I love you so much that I'm afraid you will leave me. That's why I thought imprisoning you was the only way so you won't leave."

Chloe grew increasingly sadder, "And why do you think I will leave you? Never in my mind have I ever thought about cheating on you, Vincent."

Chloe then looked at Vernon, who was embracing her and added, "I didn't have a romantic feeling for Vernon before. But he showed me that I deserve to be treated like a treasure. I deserve to be loved."

"I will never leave you if you did the same to me…"

Vincent's face grew even paler than before. 

Chloe was soft, as always. She always had that gentle yet brilliant aura in her, like a polished jewel that shone brightly.

But her words cut deep into Vincent's heart.

"T—Then I will do it for you as long as you return to me," Vincent said earnestly. "I've never been affectionate before. But I want to try. I will treasure you, and I will treasure our daughter too. I will attend every birthday party, teacher-parent meeting, and any events that our daughter has. I will make sure you are well protected."

"I will let you buy anything you want. I will give everything to you, my inheritance, assets, and the money in my bank account, EVERYTHING!" Vincent said as he grew desperate. "Please, Chloe, give me a second chance!"

"I give you chances, many of them, for ten years, Vincent. It's all gone now. I've run out of patience. I can't do it anymore after enduring ten years worth of abuse," Chloe said. "Please stop begging, you know it won't change a thing between us."

"NO! I WON'T STOP BEGGING!" Vincent yelled. "We got married because we're in love, and I don't want to divorce you! I will never divorce you!"

"That doesn't matter whether you want to divorce her or not," Vernon said. "Soon, you will have nothing. You won't be the powerful Mr. Gray anymore. You will be reduced to being an ordinary man."

Vernon had an evil smirk as he stared at his Big bro, "And you know that no ordinary man can bribe the court, or pressure them to be in your favor because you have so much influence."

Vincent felt that blood had been drained out of his body.

He knew Vernon's words were true. 

"Why are you doing this to me, Vernon? Did I ever treat you badly? You're my little brother that I treasured!"

"Yes, as a dog," Vernon scoffed. "You want me to be obedient to you like a dog who stuck his tongue out, waiting for praise."

"Just admit it, Vincent. You're the one who instigated our mother when she was intoxicated. You're the one who influenced her to beat me up because I was a product of rape. You're also the one who told our bastard father to force Chloe to say those mean words about me, so I will be heartbroken enough to leave."

"You know that deep down, you've been insecure," Vernon said straight to the point. "You know that Chloe might leave you because you're not good enough, that's why you manipulated the situation so we will never be together."

"But fate has a unique way to string us together. In the end, Chloe and I are fated to be together after ten years."

Vincent couldn't refute any of those.

It was all true.

He was good at reading someone who had the potential to be bigger and better than him. Since he was a child, he began to suppress anyone, be it from his main family, branch family, and even family friends.

He wanted to be the best, so he wouldn't tolerate anyone that might be better than him, and Vernon was one of them.

Since he was a child, Vincent already knew that Vernon had the potential to be better, and he didn't want any competition.

So he made sure that Vernon turned into his obedient dog. He wanted to be his only source of light, so Vernon would never dare to fight against him.

Unfortunately, things didn't go well when he brought Chloe into the mansion.

Vernon began showing a sign of dependency and a childhood crush. Chloe might not realize it, but Vincent was quick to sense it.

At first, he simply thought that Vernon would grow out of it.

But his feelings for Chloe didn't change.

In fact, it got even stronger to the point that Little Vernon began showing a sign of obsessiveness toward Chloe.

And that was when Vincent realized he had to do something, or Vernon might steal his woman.

He also wanted to kick Vernon out of the family because he began showing signs of competence at school.

"If you're angry at me, then you can just take all of my money, Vernon," Vincent said helplessly. His eyes were still on Chloe, hoping he would get pity from his wife in exchange for all the money. "You can have everything, including all the money from the Gray family inheritance. Just please, give me my wife back."

"Do you think I will sell Chloe for inheritance?" Vernon scoffed. "This is why she left you, Big bro. You keep yelling that you love her, but you don't really understand your own words."

"You don't know that Chloe is not a 'thing' you can own. She is the woman I love, and I know that she has her own free will," Vernon said. "That's why I'm trying my best to keep her happy and satisfied with our current life, so she will not leave me. That's how you treat the woman you love."

Chloe lowered her head, "He's right, Vincent. You say that you love me, but you don't know how to love someone. Right now, you feel sad and desperate after you realize that you can't live without my presence. You don't love me as a human being."

"You love me as an item, a piece of furniture that you can put in your house. You feel sad when your item is lost, but you don't really appreciate your item when she's around," Chloe said. "I can't live like that. I'm a human being, I want to be genuinely loved and treasured. That's all I want."

Chloe lifted her head to look up at Vernon again, "And Vernon is the one who treats me well, not you."

"Well, that's all we want to say to you, Big bro. Enjoy spending the rest of your life with excruciating pain in your heart, I experienced it for ten years straight, so you should feel it too," Vernon said before he smiled lovingly at his woman. "Let's go, love."

Chloe nodded and then said, "Good bye, Vincent."

Thus, Chloe and Vernon turned around and slowly walked into the darkness, much to Vincent's grief, "Wait—WAIT! NO! DON'T LEAVE! CHLOE, DON'T LEAVE ME! CHLOE! CHLOE!!!!"

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PS: My heart is in a mess after writing this chapter. I don't know what to feel.

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