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Thus, Mackie jumped from her chair and approached her mother. She put her hand on Mommy's lap and looked up at her with determined eyes, "Mommy, you can tell me everything. I will understand."

"…" Chloe sighed and patted Mackie's head. "Alright then, I will let you see Gran as soon as possible."

"Yay! Thank you so much, Mommy!" Mackie hugged her Mommy before she returned to her table and resumed eating her breakfast again. 

Chloe had relief in her heart because it seemed her daughter had begun to mature slowly. Though it still wasn't the same kind of slow growth from childhood innocence to teenager that Chloe wanted, at least Mackie had the chance to understand things around her slowly.

'Unlike Aaron who has to endure terrible reality and has to mature extremely early…' Chloe thought. Aaron was way too mature for his age. Sometimes, Chloe wanted to tell him it was okay to ask for toys or tell his Aunt if he wanted something.

But so far, Aaron always told her that he was happy and content with everything because he could eat good food, hot water, and a comfortable place to sleep.

On top of that, he didn't get beaten, which was the most important thing for him.

It was tragic for Chloe to keep listening to him because he must've been severely abused and starved by Chelsea to the point that none of the boys even asked for toys or anything else. 

'At least, Mackie doesn't have to suffer like the boys. I promise I will give her a good life, and I'll let her know the truth about her father soon, because she went through a lot of pain caused by Vincent,' Chloe promised herself.

Mackie finished her breakfast and went downstairs to read some storybooks she got from her Uncle.

Chloe ate slowly, thinking about what to say to Mackie about her Gran. 

Of course, she couldn't say that Aunt Chelsea murdered her Gran in cold blood by backstabbing her three times. Though Mackie had developed some understanding of the world around her, something like that was just too tragic and grotesque.

"Maybe I should tell her that her Gran died because of old age, that's the most logical and humane alibi I could give," Chloe murmured. "But that means I have to tell the boys about it. Maybe I just need to tell Aaron not to tell the truth to Mackie."

"Ugh, this is such a difficult problem, how should I handle this?" she complained. 

Vernon left his room about thirty minutes later. He was only wearing his boxer that could barely cover his bulge. He yawned a few times as he joined Chloe at the dining table and ate breakfast. 

Chloe stared at Vernon for a while and then asked, "Vernon, can I visit the hospital not far from the police station before? I want to check on my mother's body."

Vernon stopped munching the toast. He turned his head towards Chloe and replied curtly, "No."

"B—But, I need to check on the corpse! What if it rots before I can give her a proper funeral? Or at least let me cremate her body and keep the ashes!" Chloe protested.

"Because it's too fast, Chloe," Vernon said. "It's only been a few days since the murder. Vincent must've been searching for you and those boys frantically right now. The best we can do to stay safe is at least two weeks."

"No, that's too long. Her body might rot at that point!" Chloe insisted. "Come on, Vernon. Let me see her for the last time. We can hold the funeral later, but Mackie wants to see her Gran…."

Clank!

Vernon dropped his utensils the moment Chloe mentioned Mackie. He glared at Chloe, holding his anger, "Why are you bringing Mackie into this? Do you not know how dangerous it will be?!"

"Ssh!" Chloe tried to cover Vernon's mouth so he wouldn't be too loud. "Mackie might hear you!"

Vernon zipped his mouth instantly, but he still glared at Chloe, demanding an answer.

"Mackie is asking about her Gran, and the reason why her cousins are staying with us for an indefinite amount of time. I was thinking about making up a lie to cover it again. But then I saw the seriousness in Mackie's eyes, then I realized that Mackie doesn't need to be coddled all the time," Chloe said. "She already has an understanding of what is happening around her, and I… I can't keep lying at her, Vernon…."

"And you will tell her that her Grandmother was murdered by her Aunt?"

"Of course not!" Chloe rejected. "I will tell her that her Gran died of old age. I just don't want to keep Mackie in the dark for too long. I'm afraid she'll start searching for the truth from someone else, and I don't want her to get a harsh truth, or even a twisted lie from Vincent."

Vernon's expression eased up after getting an answer from Chloe.

Truthfully, he also understood that Mackie had to know about the situation with her family sooner or later. No amount of coddling from Chloe would be enough to stop Mackie from discovering the truth about her family.

Though Chloe still had to lie about the cause of Judith's death, this was a step in the right direction of what they should do for the little girl. 

Thus, after a moment of consideration, Vernon finally nodded reluctantly, "Fine, I will let you check on Judith in the hospital. But under one requirement."

"What is it?"

"I will let you come with Mackie inside the hospital protected by at least four bodyguards surrounding you, and I will be waiting outside. In case those bodyguards haven't given me any report of what you two are doing, then I will come in. I don't fucking care if I found Vincent inside," Vernon said determinedly. He held Chloe's hand and squeezed it tight. "I will never let you get hurt, not after what happened before in Mackie's school."