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"Not anymore. I'm fine now," Vernon said. There was a long pause until he opened his mouth again. "Thank you…"

Chloe smiled and rubbed Vernon's hair, "Don't drink too much next time, okay?"

"Mm…"

After she was done, Chloe sat on the opposite chair, directly facing Vernon. She was relieved that the atmosphere was much more relaxed after she rubbed Vernon's back.

'This should be the right time. I don't want him to mingle with Vincent, but I need to tell him slowly, or he will explode at me again,' Chloe thought. She took a deep breath to gather her courage and opened her mouth;

"Vernon, do you have a business project with Vincent?"

…

"Did Diamond tell you about it?" Vernon asked back, and Chloe answered with a nod.

Vernon scoffed in response, "I thought she could be professional about it. I never like to get snitched like this."

"D—Don't blame Diamond—" Chloe quickly interrupted, not wanting to drag her best friend into this.

"And what if I say yes?" Vernon said. He leaned on the sofa and crossed his arms, waiting for Chloe's response.

"That's—" Chloe gulped, trying to swallow her fear. "—Y—You shouldn't get too close to him."

"And why not? Vincent is my Big brother," Vernon claimed. He noticed that Chloe was uncomfortable whenever he mentioned Vincent's name, and he got the brilliant idea to continue talking about him until Chloe finally broke down and confessed everything Vincent had done to her.

'So I won't need to act so kind and gentle just to get the answer I've been looking for,' Vernon thought. 'I… I don't want to show weakness in front of her.'

"I—I know he's your Big brother, but he is also my husband…." Chloe said. "I know him better…."

"Just cut to the chase and tell me what you think about my Big brother," Vernon said. "Why can't I get too close to my Big brother? So far, he has treated me so well."

"H—He…" Chloe started getting nervous whenever she talked about Vincent. Her heart felt heavy— so heavy that she couldn't utter more words without feeling pain in her chest.

Usually, Chloe would retreat quickly once she felt nervous and scared. But she wanted to warn Vernon because she didn't want Vernon to get hurt by that monster.

"H—He—"

"What? Speak now, I'm all ears," Vernon ordered.

Not only was he listening, but he was also observing Chloe's body gestures and expressions.

Gradually, he noticed that Chloe's nervousness turned into anxiety and panic. Her eyes were unfocused as if she was staring at an empty wall in front of her.

Her face turned pale— so pale that Vernon thought she was ill.

She started saying 'umm and hmm' many times, as if she was holding herself not to say it even though Vernon had already said that he was all ears.

She started fiddling with her fingers and fidgeted unnaturally, accompanied by cold sweat drenching her forehead and palm.

"Why don't you speak? I'm all ears, if you want me to know something, then do it," Vernon said as he continued pressing Chloe about the matter.

Despite the itching in his heart, he was being so reasonable right now. If he could be true to himself, he just wanted to cut to the chase and force Chloe to tell everything.

But he didn't want to scare Chloe and make her cry…

"I—I'm trying…." Chloe said weakly. She was pushing herself to her utmost limit. She wanted to tell Vernon about every insult and abuse that Vincent had done to her for the past ten years, so Vernon would know how horrible his Big brother was and that he should be distancing himself from Vincent.

But, there was this hesitation in her heart, a hesitation because she couldn't fully trust Vernon.

Even if Vernon wasn't like his Big brother, he was still blood-related with Vincent. She feared his reaction would be the same as Dorothea Gray's.

She told Dorothea about Vincent's behavior but pardoned her son's promiscuous behavior. She also gave a ridiculous alibi that Chloe was just being a crazy bitch, because what Vincent did was normal behavior of a man with power. Chloe should just follow in her footsteps by wasting all the money to forget about the pain of being cheated on.

'W—What if he doesn't see anything wrong with Vincent? What if he starts calling me a crazy bitch because I'm the one who's overreacting?'

'Or maybe he will get offended once I talk shit about his Big brother and also his dysfunctional Gray family.'

Chloe swallowed her saliva hard. The fear started eating her up, making her unable to say anything about Vincent.

"Why aren't you speaking?" Vernon finally asked after he had waited for a while. Chloe had turned completely mute when they talked about his Big brother, Vincent Gray.

Unable to answer Vernon's question, Chloe suddenly got up from the couch and said, "I—I just want you to know that you should be careful with him. He… He is not as good as you think…."

"How am I supposed to know when you keep being vague like this? What's so hard about telling me everything?"

"I—I can't— I'm sorry…."

Chloe wanted to run away, just like she always did when someone confronted her. She didn't care whether they would call her meek or stupid. As long as she didn't get hurt, then she would be alright.

Chloe turned around, ready to leave.

But Vernon swiftly got up from the sofa and stood behind her. He opened his arm and hugged Chloe from behind.

He hugged her tight, but not too tight because she was so thin and fragile, that he didn't want to accidentally break her.

Chloe's body stiffened instantly as she didn't know how to respond to the sudden hug.

"V—Vernon—?"

Vernon said nothing, but he gently tightened his hug, afraid that Chloe would disappear had he released his embrace.

"Why don't you tell me about your worries? Am I not good enough for you?"