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"I know..." Chloe lowered her head. She stared at their joined hands and continued, "I know that you're hurting, Vernon. That's why I want to help you heal from your wounds."

"And you're doing it by trying to get Dorothea inside our family? That's ridiculous!" Vernon snapped. "The way for me to heal from my wounds is by kicking that woman out of our life! She needs to leave us alone or die!"

"Besides, do you want Mackie to be around with an abuser? What if Dorothea got annoyed by the tantrum of a child and started hurting her? Dorothea abused me when I was around Mackie's age back then!"

"I seriously don't understand your way of thinking, Chloe. So please, please enlighten me because I don't think anyone understands your logic right now."

There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. To say that he was pissed would be an understatement.

He was always enraged whenever Chloe tried to defend Dorothea. She could do that simply because she didn't experience the pain that Vernon got.

She was just a bystander listening to his side of the story. But she didn't feel pity for him.

She felt pity for that old bitch instead, just because she looked old and brittle, while Vernon looked strong.

"Vernon, take a deep breath, relax...." Chloe tried to calm him down because she knew it was a sensitive topic. She allowed Vernon to let his anger burst and stayed silent the whole time because she knew that all Vernon needed was to let go of his frustration so he would listen to her.

"As much as I want to put Dorothea inside our small family, I still believe that you have more right to decide than I do," Chloe said. "Your anger is valid, everything you feel about her is valid, and I'm not going to question or challenge that."

"But, if I win our bet, I just want you to give her just one chance--"

"--To stay with us? Fuck no!" Vernon interrupted. His face was so bitter that Chloe dared not to stare at his face for too long.

Chloe shook her head, "Not that. I just want you to give her one chance to talk with you. You don't need to accept her, you don't even need to meet her after this. Just one chance, and we will never see her anymore, okay?"

...

Vernon peered suspiciously at Chloe, "Just once? Are you sure?"

"Yes, just talk with her once, and listen to what she is saying," Chloe said. "You don't even need to think twice about kicking her away after she finished talking. Okay?"

"And you will be okay with it?" Vernon asked. "You know that I will kick her away immediately, right?"

"Yes, I know," Chloe felt pain in her heart. If she could be honest, she'd be happy if Vernon really gave Dorothea a chance to make amends. Maybe they could start fixing their relationship somehow.

But she didn't want to force Vernon to do something against his will. She just wanted Vernon to start healing from his past trauma, and in her mind, facing his trauma was the right way to go.

"Just let her talk to you, you don't even need to say a thing."

...

"Alright, if you say so," Vernon finally agreed. "As long as you already know the result. Because it won't be what you're hoping, Chloe."

"I know, I just want the best for you," Chloe said. She said it in a very soft, almost inaudible voice. But Vernon still heard it because he was leaning on her shoulder.

Vernon could sense her concern. He still didn't understand why Chloe cared so much for that abuser.

Shouldn't she be the one who took the biggest stance against Dorothea? After all, Chloe was abused by Dorothea's son, Vincent. And she should hate that old woman more after getting Vernon's story about Dorothea's abuse as well.

'I don't understand you, Chloe,' Vernon thought. 'Why couldn't you just take my side without question asked? It would be easier if you could just agree to what I say and ask, it's not that hard.'

Vernon still felt betrayed in his heart. Still, in his heart, he wanted Chloe to never think about Dorothea anymore. They had so much to do in the present and future without Dorothea in the picture.

'But a deal is a deal. I lost the bet, and I don't want to lie to her,' Vernon thought.

Thus, he opened his briefcase and fished Chloe's phone out. He separated their joined hands, which made Chloe nervous.

She thought Vernon was pissed out because she brought up the topic of Dorothea again.

"Your hand, open it," Vernon commanded.

Chloe opened her hand nervously. She was afraid that Vernon would do something unpleasant to her because she pissed him off. After all, Vincent also started very sweet towards her before he devolved into a degenerate monster.

Afraid of punishment, Chloe quickly apologized, "Ah, Vernon, I'm sorry for--" her sentence was interrupted when Vernon suddenly put her phone that he had confiscated for the whole month into her palm.

Chloe stared at the phone for a while and asked, "What is this?"

"You won," Vernon replied. He sighed, feeling a little regret for telling the truth. But there was no turning around now, so he explained, "Dorothea hasn't told Vincent about us, and she has been actively helping us. She restricted the Gray foundation's scholarship for all of the awardees for three months straight, so none of those awardees will be getting their money."

"Vincent is on a hot seat right now. He got a lot of calls from investors and business partners, asking about the current stability of the company, because those scholarship awardees have been blowing social media with their tweets, so the topic of Gray foundation's sudden halt of income has been trending these days."

"Dorothea successfully turned the whole company upside down, and her deed is not reversible, so Vincent simply has to deal with this problem for the next three months, giving me a lot of options to start taking over."

"I can snatch more of his business partners and continue shaking his position. I can create even more problem to make it difficult for Maria too, so she won't be able to investigate about all of my current works," Vernon admitted. "Dorothea really helps us, surprisingly."

Chloe was dazed while listening to Vernon's explanation the whole time. She truly believed that Dorothea had changed and would never intend to harm her family, especially Vernon because she seemed to have regretted her past abuse towards Vernon.

She also believed that Dorothea truly wanted to turn her life to find happiness for herself.

But Chloe never expected Dorothea to actually do the crazy shit. She actually went against Vincent and turned Vincent's life upside down for the next three months.

It was a genuine surprise, but now that it had happened, Chloe was unsure if she'd want this.

Because she didn't want Dorothea's life to be in danger.

"Where is she now? Did she get caught by Vincent?"

"No, she's laying low somewhere. She won't answer any of Vincent's calls, and the staff in the Gray mansion doesn't know where she is. She said she's staying in Greece on a vacation, but she's currently untraceable," Vernon replied. He glanced down at the phone in Chloe's hand and muttered, "I think the only way to find her is through you. I bet you're the only one who can communicate with her right now."

"So go on, call her," Vernon commanded.

Chloe looked at her phone and then at Vernon simultaneously. She started hesitating, seeing how displeased she looked, "A--Are you sure?"

"Huh? What do you mean? It's in our deal, right?"

"I--I know. But I don't want to displease you even more. I don't want you to get angrier," Chloe muttered.

Vernon crossed his arms and looked away, "Go make a call for her before I change my mind. You earned it, and you have the right to call her."

Chloe hesitated. She stared at her phone for a while before gripping it and finally turning it on.

Then, she scrolled through her contact and found Dorothea's name.

She gave Vernon the last glance, and after realizing that he was gripping his arm tightly to hold himself off, she realized that it was her only chance to call Dorothea.

So, she pressed the green button.

It only took a few beeps until Dorothea picked up the call. This surprised Vernon because he thought Dorothea might've been dead somewhere, drowning in alcohol or overdosing on heroin.

Chloe glanced at Vernon again and decided to turn the phone on loudspeaker, so Vernon could hear what Dorothea was saying and to show that she didn't try to do something against him behind his back.

--Loudspeaker--

"Dorothea, it's me, Chloe," Chloe mentioned her name, afraid that Dorothea might be too drunk to remember.

"Yes..." Dorothea's voice was rough as sandpaper. She also sounded very weak, "I never expect you to call. I thought... you've forgotten about me."

"How could I?!" Chloe snapped out of distress. "I've been worrying about you the whole time!"

"About me? Why?" Dorothea sounded genuinely confused. "You're better without me, Chloe. I just hope that you're doing well with Vernon, and uh... please tell Mackie that I love her. Granny really wants to meet her, but I'm so busy right now."

"Good bye, Chloe."

Dorothea was about to hang up the call when Chloe suddenly yelled, "VERNON WANTS TO MEET YOU!"

--