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"Your Mommy is in the hospital?" Chloe asked. "How long has it been?"

Chloe never got any news from her side of the family for a while, so she had no idea that Chelsea had been hurt—possibly attacked by someone until she had a horrible scar.

She felt a little guilty for not contacting her family anymore. But it was mainly because Chloe knew she had to cut contact or she'd keep getting harassed by her mother and sister.

Who would've thought that things would be a mess during her absence?

"Umm, Mommy visits the hospital today to treat her scar, Aunty," Aaron informed. "She told me to go with her even though I have school…."

'So she's going for a plastic surgery or something similar…' Chloe assumed. 'But does she even have enough money to do that? I don't know what they're doing now since I've stopped giving them money.'

'Maybe it's the stress from money that makes her hit Aaron like this? Oh, that's still not a valid reason to hit a kid until his cheek is swollen badly like this.'

"This is the first time your Mommy hit you like this, right?"

"Nope!" Aaron shook his head. "Mommy hit me four times already!"

"FOUR TIMES?!" Chloe almost got a heart attack. She never expected things to go this bad while she was missing. "H—How about the others?"

"Um, they got hit once each. It's because we were noisy at night…." Aaron reported. He looked sadder as he continued reporting his Mommy's abuse. "I don't want to get hit anymore. Aunty, can you tell Mommy not to get angry all the time?"

…

Chloe was unsure how to answer that question. As much as she wanted to help and protect her nephews, she was also still in a difficult situation, and there was no way she would tell Vernon about this.

Vernon already had enough problems for himself and made a huge sacrifice by allowing Dorothea into their lives. She couldn't just ask him to do everything for her.

'Besides, Aaron and the others still have their parents. I have no way to take them in, and I'm not sure if Vernon will allow me to do so.'

"Where is your Daddy? Maybe I can talk to him first," Chloe asked.

Aaron got even sadder once his Aunt mentioned his father. He shook his head again, but he said nothing.

He stopped snacking on the chocolate and lowered his head in silence.

"Aaron?"

"He's gone," Aaron replied curtly. "Daddy is gone."

"Gone?" Chloe had a lot of bad assumptions from that one word. The image of her childhood without a father figure flashed in her mind, and she shook her head quickly to ward off that bad thought.

"Um, Daddy hasn't been home for so long. I don't know where he is right now…." Aaron said. "Mommy has gotten angrier each day, and Grandma is too old to take care of us. So I start helping her to do house chores now…."

'What is happening with them? Why is everything a mess?' Chloe wondered. 'What happened with that useless bastard anyway? Did he just walk away from his family like what my dad did back then?'

Chloe got irritated just thinking about it. She knew Tommy wasn't exactly a father who could provide for his family, but at least he didn't hurt his wife and sons. It was the least he could do.

'Talk about bare minimum,' Chloe complained.

Chloe stared at Aaron, who snacked on another chocolate bar, but he ate it slower this time. He looked sad, especially with his swollen cheek.

Chloe also accidentally discovered a bruise on his palm. Chelsea seemed to hit the little boy's palm with a metal ruler.

Her heart ached so badly. Though she didn't have a good relationship with her sister, she always saw her nephews as her sons. She wanted them to have a good childhood and be well cared for so they grew up to be good men.

Now that Tommy had already left and Chelsea had become abusive, she felt she had to step in and do something to save her nephews.

But how?

'Should I call Child Protection Service? But what will they do next? What if they don't find enough evidence, and it will only enrage Chelsea even more? What will she do to these poor boys?' Chloe started having bad thoughts as anxiety took over her mind. 'Even if they do find enough evidence, what will happen next? Will they take the boys' custody and give it to foster parents? Since I'm the only one of their relatives, and my situation is way too complicated right now.'

Chloe was torn between the boys' problem and her own. She also wondered if there was a way out for now.

Just as she tried to ask more from Aaron, there was a loud yell in the parking lot.

"AARON! COME OUT!"

Aaron and Chloe turned their heads at the same time and saw Chelsea standing not far from Chloe's car.

She tapped her heel while crossing her arms. She looked so pissed, as if she could eat a child right now.

But the most shocking thing was the scar on her cheeks. It really looked like the Joker scar from that Batman movie. It was horrifying and looked scarier because Chelsea was glaring right now.

'Oh my god, Aaron isn't lying when he said she looks like the Joker. No wonder other kids are scared of her. What happened, seriously?' Chloe had a lot of questions popping up as she kept staring at Chelsea for a while.

Aaron's face paled instantly. He looked at his Aunt Chloe and begged, "Aunty, please tell Mommy not to hurt me again. I don't want to get beaten. I will be a good boy, I promise!"

Chloe darted her eyes at Chelsea and Aaron simultaneously. She swallowed her saliva as she faced such a difficult decision.

She wished to take Aaron home, and if she could, she also wanted to take the rest of the boys. But she wasn't in the right condition to do so.

'I guess I have no choice...'