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"Dorothea, I want to show you something," Chloe said.

"Hm?"

Chloe put her phone on Dorothea's lap and played the video.

Dorothea raised one brow, thinking that Chloe wanted to show evidence that might help take down Vincent.

But the moment the video played, Dorothea got the surprise she never knew she wanted.

She saw her sweet granddaughter, Mackie, wearing a wolf costume. She howled and ran with four legs around the stage before howling again in front of the audience.

She was very confident, which made her performance amazing for a child stage play. Dorothea's lips perked up as she kept watching without blinking. She didn't want to miss even one second of the performance of her beloved granddaughter.

Then, a tear suddenly dropped on the screen.

"Huh?" Dorothea frowned. She put her finger under her eyes to check and realized she was actually crying. "Why am I crying?" she asked as she tried to wipe the tears with her sleeve.

"It's okay, Dorothea," Chloe assured and rubbed the old woman's hand. "You can cry if you want to."

"I'm not sad, Chloe."

"And you don't need to be sad to cry. Sometimes, even a sweet feeling can make you cry," Chloe said.

...

Honestly, watching Mackie through the screen was a bittersweet sensation for Dorothea. She was happy that she could finally see her granddaughter and was relieved that Mackie was doing great despite all the tension in her family.

But it was also sad because Dorothea wished she could attend the stage play to watch Mackie. It was also unfortunate that she wouldn't be able to see Mackie for a while, probably forever, if Vernon decided to never forgive her.

Once the video ended, Dorothea quickly handed the phone back to Chloe, "I'm done with the video, thank you for showing me," Dorothea smiled. "She seems to be doing even better after leaving Vincent. She doesn't look shy anymore."

"Yes, she has become very confident and outspoken these days. Thanks to Vernon's influence. Are you sure you don't want to see more? I have a few more videos of Mackie for you,"

"No need. The more I see Mackie in a video or photo, the more I crave to meet her," Dorothea sighed. "Well, at least I know that she's doing well, that's the most important thing. Did she ever ask about me? Did she miss me?"

Chloe nodded, not planning to cover up anything.

"She has been asking about you a lot. She misses coming to the Gray mansion, eating cookies that you made, and spending time with PuffPuff," Chloe also mentioned Dorothea's pet, a strong male Doberman that actually showed more affection to Mackie rather than Dorothea.

Dorothea chuckled, "I'll try to send PuffPuff to her later. That doberman doesn't seem to like me. He's obviously only loyal to Mackie. He acts like a guard dog to her."

Dorothea and Chloe laughed together as they talked about Mackie. The atmosphere between them was really good until Dorothea brushed over the topic of Mackie's school.

"Be honest to me, Chloe. Did Vincent beat you when you tried to attend Mackie's stage play?"

"Ah—" Chloe gulped. She already guessed where this conversation would lead. "Y—Yeah, it was the autumn festival in Mackie's school. I attended because Mackie needed moral support. She has been through a lot."

"I thought it'd be safe because Vincent never showed up in any kind of teacher-parents meeting, let alone any event. I also feel assured because Vernon said he had dispatched two bodyguards in disguise to protect me."

Dorothea snorted, "Two? That's bullshit. Vincent has a lot of bodyguards, his connection runs deep. What was he thinking?"

"D—Don't blame Vernon. It's me who asked him not to send too many bodyguards because it'll attract attention, and I want Mackie to live like a normal girl," Chloe said. "Well, I should've followed his advice to bring at least ten bodyguards, because Vincent's bodyguards subdued them."

"That old Principal and Maria worked together to drag me into the Principal's office, and you know the rest—" Chloe lifted her right hand a little, showing the result of Vincent's abuse.

Dorothea felt her chest tightening whenever she saw the cast wrapped around Chloe's right hand. The video of abuse that Vincent showed her played again in her head, and it was like a nightmare she didn't want to remember.

Because Vaughn did the same to her.

"T—Then, you should start planning for Mackie's transfer," Dorothea suggested. "She needs to be transferred to another school or else Vincent will always have an upper hand against you. If it's possible, you should transfer her tomorrow."

"I—I don't know, Dorothea. I've been thinking about that too, but I'm afraid that transferring Mackie to another school will ignite Vincent's anger, and he will try to find me," Chloe said. "After all, it won't be hard for him to search my whereabouts if he actually tries, I'm still in New York after all. But he likes playing cat and mouse game, waiting for me to be desperate enough to return to him."

Chloe expected Dorothea to understand her situation and agreed with her decision to let Mackie stay in that school.

But Dorothea gripped her arms and squeezed them tight until Chloe winced, "D—Dorothea?"

"Are you insane?!" Dorothea yelled. Her eyes were wide open. She looked like she was about to slap Chloe in the face.

The change shocked Chloe so much, "W—What's wrong? D—Did I say something wrong?"

"Of—fucking—course!" Dorothea yelled. "Why are you worried about that when your daughter is in big danger?! Vincent can always kidnap her from her school. The Principal colludes with him too, who knows what will happen to Mackie in the near future? Mackie is completely at his mercy!"

"B—But Vincent hasn't done anything to Mackie yet…." Chloe said. Though she lied a little because she knew from Mackie herself that some kids had been bullying her because Vincent slept with their mothers. Though, it had been solved because Mackie could fight against her bullies until none of them dared to taunt her anymore.