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"What will you do to help them? What will you do when CPS comes to ask us about those kids? What will you do about their schools? Do you think it\'s easy to manipulate data like what I did with Mackie\'s?" Vernon started attacking Chloe with the truth about the whole thing. "You\'re too naive, Chloe. You don\'t know what you\'re talking about!"

Chloe gasped. She started staggering as her knees felt weak.

Vernon was right.

She had zero idea of what to do to protect the boys. All she did was bring trouble into their small family because she got emotional watching how the boys must\'ve been traumatized after the whole incident.

"I—I will find a way…." Chloe said shakily. Even though she didn\'t believe in herself right now.

"Why don\'t you just return those kids to the police station and let them handle this? I\'m sure they\'d put those kids in a right foster home," Vernon said ruthlessly.

"I can\'t do that!" Chloe snapped. Just the idea of them having to go through another strenuous phase in life as foster kids and possibly getting separated was enough to make her upset. She didn\'t know if it was her mother\'s instinct kicking, but she would do anything to prevent that from happening. "Vernon, can we find a middle ground in this? Maybe I can do something to help while you\'re handling those boys. You know I can\'t leave them, right? They\'re my nephews, I see them as my sons as well…."

Vernon was beyond pissed right now, but he couldn\'t be angry at his beloved either. He was conflicted between tolerating everything that Chloe did or yelling at her for being so illogical.

But in the end, he just couldn\'t handle it anymore, "That\'s it. We\'re done with this conversation."

Vernon turned around and opened the door.

"W—Wait, but we haven\'t solved this problem yet!" Chloe insisted. She tried to reach Vernon\'s arm to stop him from leaving. "Vernon, listen to me, please!"

"Not now, Chloe," Vernon replied. "I don\'t want to shout and yell at you, and I\'m so close to doing that right now."

"So let me go, I need some time by myself right now," Vernon said.

"T—Then, I will return to my room—"

"No, you should stay here in my room," Vernon said. "I don\'t want you to do stupid things, not on my watch."

Chloe gulped, "Where will you go then?"

She was scared that Vernon would go to that bar and get crazy drunk again. The last thing she wanted was another drunk emotional Vernon and lots of trouble.

"Not sure yet," Vernon said. He looked over his shoulder and noticed Chloe\'s worry. So he added, "Don\'t worry, I won\'t go to that bar anymore. I just need sometimes alone to cool my head."

Chloe reluctantly released Vernon\'s arm to let him go. She watched how he grabbed his car key from the table and left the penthouse. It seemed that he wanted to go far away from her.

\'Maybe because he sees me as nothing but trouble…\' Chloe lamented.

She tried to keep her positivity because she knew that Vernon didn\'t think of her that way. He put up with her because he loved her. At least, that was what he always showed.

"But until what point will he keep tolerating me and my problems?" Chloe asked herself and found no answer to that. She was scared that, at some point, she would become nothing but a deadweight for Vernon and would only slow him down in his process of toppling Vincent.

Chloe sat on the bed and put her palm on her chest as she tried to ease the heartache.

She tried to think positively that everything they experienced right now was just part of a relationship.

But her mind started to get dominated by bad, depressing thoughts, and she began to have one stupidest idea.

\'Should I just give myself up in exchange for everyone\'s safety? I\'m sure Vincent would take his time to beat me to death, and that\'s okay, as long as my family is safe….\'

That idea hovered in Chloe\'s mind for a while until she realized that she was being crazy.

She shook her head to ward off that dangerous thought, "No, I can\'t back down now. I\'ve been too far into this fight with Vincent, there is no way he will let everyone off just because I give myself up."

"The only possible way to handle this is to help Vernon somehow. I can\'t keep relying on him," Chloe said to herself. "But how? How am I supposed to help when I can\'t even leave the apartment without a driver by my side? I can\'t even go to my usual spot for restaurant and grocery because Vincent might be searching from me, so I have to keep myself safe…."

Chloe sighed. Again, she found a wall that she couldn\'t pass.

She dropped her body on the bouncy bed and stared at the ceiling of Vernon\'s room. Her mind was floating, thinking about Vernon, who had been under a lot of stress lately.

"I\'m so sorry, Vernon," Chloe murmured. "I\'ll try to be less of a burden somehow…."

Thus, Chloe closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

**

Vernon went to the basement and entered his car. He sat in the driver\'s seat and turned the engine. He stared straight ahead, ready to press the gas pedal and leave the apartment. He thought that going around New York would definitely give him peace of mind, at least for the night.

He clenched the steering wheel as he hesitated. He should\'ve left by now, but he just couldn\'t.

He imagined Chloe, who must\'ve felt extreme guilt right now.

"Well, she should feel guilty!" Vernon yelled. "She did so many stupid things! Does she not realize that she\'s endangering herself?! Goddamn it!"

Vernon punched the steering wheel to let out his frustration. He was exhausted these days. Many things are happening, from his mission to take down his Big bro, Chloe getting attacked by Vincent, transferring Mackie to another school, to Dorothea coming into his life.