BXBX NOVEL Chapter 530 530
To be honest, Chloe feared any question regarding Vincent or Vernon that came from her daughter.
She didn't know how to explain the complicated situation they were in. She was also scared that Mackie might react strongly once she finally knew the full truth.
'Oh god, please don't let her hate me. I don't know what I should do if Mackie hates me because I can't keep the perfect image of a family with Vincent,' Chloe secretly prayed in her heart.
Diamond returned to her seat after ten minutes. She looked at Chloe and Mackie and nodded, "Alright, I told him about Mackie's transfer and her school choice, all is well."
"Thank you, Diamond."
"Thank you, Diamond!"
Chloe and Mackie said simultaneously, and their response made her smile.
"It's fine, it's my job to help you two, and I'm glad to help because you two are my family as well," Diamond said.
**
Diamond drove Chloe and Mackie back to the Phoenix Tower. She followed them to the penthouse, and once they entered it, Diamond signaled Chloe with her eyes to let Mackie go somewhere so they could talk.
Chloe naturally understood her signal and told her daughter, "Dear, you should go to your room and take a warm bath before dinner."
"Un! Okay, Mommy!"
Chloe watched her daughter until Mackie went downstairs, then she turned around to face Diamond, "Before we start, you should know that the fight between Vernon and I about Dorothea has been dissolved— well, not really. We're on truce until next month. So, what are we going to talk about?"
Diamond crossed her arms and leaned on the wall. She eyed her best friend for a while before starting, "You know well that you won't be able to return to Vincent, right?"
"Naturally," Chloe nodded. "And I have no plan to return to him as well."
"Then why are you still trying to portray Vincent as a good father for Mackenzie? It will only damage her in the long run!" Diamond stated firmly. She thought she had to knock some sense in Chloe's head, so she wouldn't do stupid shit like trying to convince her daughter that her father was fine while her father was the biggest turd on earth.
Chloe already expected this question, so she just gave her the same answer as what she gave Vernon before;
"I don't want her to see any kind of strangeness in our family. I grew up with a single mother, so I grow to resent, yet miss my father as I get older."
"So I want to give Mackie a perfect family, with a father and a mother. I've been doing this for years, and I… I don't know how long I will be able to maintain this lie before she finds out about everything," Chloe sighed. "I'm in a dilemma…."
"Chloe— Homegirl— do you know that your endless coddling over your daughter will only damage her?" Diamond warned. "No matter how hard you try to keep things hidden, she will eventually find out about everything!"
"Do you know what Mackie told me when you were busy arguing with Vernon behind that tree? She told me that she will be happy as long as you're happy!"
"That… that is natural…" Chloe replied weakly. She started to get nervous when Diamond brought up the topic of what had happened today. "S—She is a good kid…."
"Yeah, she is," Diamond agreed. Her eyes squinted at her best friend, who started to look nervous. "Do you know why I said so? Mackie is not only a good kid. But she is very mature for her age. She knows how different your life is now compared to when you lived with Vincent."
"She knows you're not happy with Vincent, and lastly…." Diamond took a deep breath. "She told me that she'd be okay if Uncle replaced her Daddy. Because her Daddy cannot make her Mommy happy. She already knows that Vincent is a horrible man, there is no use to hide it from Mackie."
Chloe's eyes widened once she heard the last sentence. It was like thunder in a clear sky that made her too shocked to react.
"N—No way…." Chloe muttered in a low voice. Her body trembled from head to toe, and her legs wobbled.
She almost fell, but Diamond quickly helped her best friend to sit on the sofa. She saw that Chloe was getting a panic attack and started hyperventilating.
"C—Chloe?" Diamond tried calling her name amidst her panic attack. "Chloe, breathe. Take a deep breath and let it out."
Chloe followed Diamond's instructions. She tried to breathe in and out, but she was still in a mental shock.
Diamond rushed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and returned to Chloe, "Here, drink first, Chloe, then take a breath in and out."
Chloe followed all the instructions until she calmed down a bit.
But she felt so weak from head to toe that she had to lean on the sofa.
Chloe's mind was in chaos. She stared straight, but her eyes were empty.
Diamond didn't expect her statement to put this kind of shock on Chloe. She knew it'd shock her best friend, but not to the point that Chloe started having a panic attack!
"Chloe? Chloe, talk to me!" Diamond shook Chloe's body a few times to snap her out of her panic, but Chloe did not react.
Her face got paler and paler as if blood had been drained out of her body. It seemed that the shock was too much for her to handle.
"Damn it, I should call an ambulance!" Diamond panicked. She grabbed her phone and was about to call 911 when Chloe suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"Don't call 911, Diamond," Chloe said. Her voice was still shaky, but at least Chloe's eyes had been refocused.
Diamond let out a relieved sigh. She put her phone down and sat right beside Chloe, "Are you alright? I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't expect you to have that kind of reaction."
"N—No, it's alright," Chloe replied. She took a few more deep breaths to calm down. "It's just shocking to me, because I thought… I thought I had perfectly sheltered her this whole time."