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"I fucking hate this."

Vernon had already lost count of how many times he muttered that sentence.

Because the truth was… he really didn't want to admit his defeat, not in this case at least.

He could lie.

In fact, he WOULD lie if it wasn't for Diamond, who stopped him before.

She was right. If he lied to Chloe about this, he'd only delay the inevitable and also have to face Chloe's anger and disappointment, two distinct emotions that Vernon never wanted to appear on Chloe's face.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down and opened the car door.

He grabbed his briefcase and slammed the car door to express his frustration again.

Vernon felt his feet heavy as he walked to the elevator and went up.

Ding!

"Oh, fuck!" Vernon cursed spontaneously when his heart jumped upon hearing the sound of the elevator reaching the top floor. He wanted to laugh at himself for acting like a coward right now.

But truly, this shit was ten times more nerve-wracking than having to meet Vincent.

Vernon dragged his feet to the front door of his penthouse. He would usually use his fingerprint to unlock it and enter without thinking twice because it was his penthouse, after all.

But not today.

He stood in front of the door for a long time before he pressed the bell that hadn't been used for a long time.

Ding-Dong!

Vernon pressed it a few more times until he heard a footstep from the inside, followed by a click on the door.

Chloe opened the door carefully. She peeked from the gap and was relieved to see Vernon.

She opened the door and asked, "Vernon, what's wrong? Why are you pressing the bell?"

…

Vernon said nothing, but he stared at Chloe with a deep gaze full of unknown intentions.

Chloe quickly caught the sadness in his eyes, and she got worried immediately, "Oh no, did something happen?" she asked. She inserted her hand inside Vernon's arm and pulled him inside.

Vernon said nothing, but he followed Chloe to go inside his penthouse. She led him to sit on the sofa and gently wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. Vernon looked up to stare at Chloe's face.

She looked very concerned and instructed, "Stay right here, okay? I will make you tea first so you can relax. Do you want a snack?"

"… Yes," Vernon finally opened his mouth, much to Chloe's relief. It would be a disaster if Vernon didn't even want to open his mouth because that meant the problem Vernon had to face was a big one. It stressed him out so much he'd prefer not to speak rather than yell at Chloe for no reason.

Chloe had picked up most of adult Vernon's habits after living together with him for so long.

Chloe put the tea and bowl of Doritos on the coffee table in front of Vernon. She sat beside him and asked, "Can you tell me what happened? I'm worried about you."

"I don't feel like it," Vernon refused, but he kept staring at Chloe.

Chloe thought that Vernon wasn't in the mood to tell her about the problem, but she was glad that it didn't seem to be a huge problem that'd stress him out for days. Chloe was always sad to see Vernon working until he was exhausted and still had to deal with many problems outside of his working hour.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk about your problem, then I'll let you sit here for a while. Call me once you feel better. I'll be downstairs in my room, okay?" Chloe got up from the sofa, but Vernon quickly grabbed her wrist. Chloe cast her eyes down at Vernon in response, "Vernon?"

"Don't leave. I need you here," Vernon said. "And yes, there is a problem, and it involves you— it involves us."

Chloe frowned.

She returned to the sofa and waited for Vernon to speak.

Vernon wanted to grab the mug first and drink the herbal tea to calm himself down, but his finger was slippery because of the cold sweat on his palm. So he struggled just to grab it.

"I'll grab the mug for you," Chloe volunteered. She held the mug and slowly put it in front of Vernon's mouth, allowing Vernon to sip the herbal tea without using his hand.

Vernon looked at Chloe's right hand, which was still covered with a cast, yet she still wanted to help him with menial stuff like this. He was grieving whenever he saw that cast because it proved he failed to protect his beloved woman.

Vernon took another sip before nodding, signaling Chloe that he had had enough of that herbal tea.

Chloe put the tea back on top of the coaster.

She gently intertwined her fingers around Vernon and joined their palms together. She didn't care if Vernon's palm was sweaty, as she knew that Vernon had a lot on his mind, and holding his hand was the only thing she could do to calm him down when he didn't want to tell the problem.

"My palms are sweaty, let go," Vernon said.

"It's just sweat. I'm here so you can feel better," Chloe insisted. Instead of letting go, she twined their fingers tighter, so Vernon couldn't push her away.

She felt it was her duty to be there for Vernon, especially after all he had done for her.

…

…

They held hands together for a long time until Vernon started regulating his breaths. His body felt warmer as their hands were joined, and he slowly leaned towards his beloved and rested his head on her shoulder.

He was staring emptily at the TV in front of him and wondered if things would be better if he had just lied to Chloe.

After all, Chloe would always believe him. Then, he could find that old bitch Dorothea somewhere and kill her, so she wouldn't be able to say a thing to Chloe anymore, and they would happily live in a lie he created.

Because the happy family he envisioned didn't have Dorothea in it.

"Chloe, this is about Dorothea," Vernon murmured.

Chloe jolted lightly, her fingers twining with Vernon's fingers tensed in an instant, and Vernon noticed it all, "I—Is that so? Did you find out if she actually helped us or not?"

"I did," Vernon replied.

"So, did she help us or not?" Chloe asked.

…

There was a long silence from Vernon. His mind told him to lie now, and with that, Dorothea would never be able to disturb them again.

But his heart said a different thing.

His heart told him not to lie and face his defeat like a real man. Which he found ridiculous because he was probably the most callous man on earth.

But even to his beloved, he could even utter a single lie anymore.

Because if he lied now, he'd feel immense guilt that'd continue to hunt him until he told the truth.

But he still wanted to test Chloe's loyalty to him before he told the truth.

"Chloe, do you really want to make a good family with me?"

"Huh? W—what's with that question?" Chloe's cheeks reddened instantly. She stuttered as she got flustered, "Y—Your question shocked me…."

"Just answer it," Vernon insisted. "Just tell me that you want to make a good family with me. You, me, and Mackie."

'And two more children to be Mackie's little brothers or sisters,' Vernon added in his heart.

Chloe still found the question to be so out of the blue, but she nodded shyly, "I—I do. I want to have a man that can protect me and… uhm… a good father for Mackie. I want a normal family."

"Just the three of us, right?" Vernon asked. "Nobody should come into our perfect little family."

Chloe found the question to get weirder. She didn't know what Vernon truly wanted to hear from these questions.

"Why do you keep asking about this, Vernon? What's wrong?"

"I just need your assurance," Vernon said. "I don't want someone else to be in our small family, there is no more room in my heart."

Chloe gulped. She wanted to mention Dorothea, but she was unsure if it was the right time to say so.

"Um, how about Dorothea? If she's proven to be innocent and actively tries to help us, will you accept her too?"

"No," Vernon refused decisively.

…

Chloe went silent.

She wasn't surprised by the answer, though. It was obvious that Vernon's heart was closed off for Dorothea. She knew he was entitled to it, knowing how horribly Dorothea abused Vernon back then.

Vernon scoffed after hearing nothing from Chloe.

So Chloe still had that idea of putting Dorothea inside their small family in her mind, "You're naive, Chloe. You should know that I won't yield just because you want me to. The emotional scars that she made in my heart are just too horrible. Nothing can change that."