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Chloe's cheeks reddened as she confessed. She was embarrassed, but at least she could utter this secret while Vernon was still sleeping, so he wouldn't know what kind of idea Chloe had when he was only fifteen. 

Truthfully, Chloe already had a bad feeling about Vincent when they were about to marry back then. She just felt that Vincent wasn't as good as he portrayed himself to be. 

He often acted so cold to Chloe, even going as far as snapping at her for the smallest problem. He looked like he had a lot of repressed anger. 

Her relationship cooled before they married, and Chloe wanted to leave, but Vincent already proposed to her, so she couldn't say no when the peer pressure was enormous. 

She then began to notice the fifteen-year-old Vernon. He was strong, smart, almost as tall as his Big bro, and was just a ball of sunshine.

Chloe would lie if she said she wasn't attracted to Vernon back then.

But she wasn't a predator and a cheater. She admired him, hoping Vernon would find the right woman that could treat him well.

Unfortunately, her relationship with Vernon around that time seemed to be worsening.

She didn't know what happened, but after late Vaughn Gray forced her to say those mean words about Vernon in front of him, Vernon began to alienate himself from her.

He refused any invitation to go and hang out and even refused to eat anything that Chloe cooked, which was something very strange. 

To top it all off, Vernon suddenly went to Europe only a few days after her wedding reception and simply disappeared from the earth until about a year ago when he showed up during Dorothea's birthday party, and his hostility to her was so obvious.

'Did he hear what I said to Vaughn back then? No, right?' Chloe began to get anxious. 'I remember that Vernon was supposed to be in school around that time, and he shouldn't be able to roam around his late father's office. He's actually forbidden to go there.'

'I didn't even want to say those mean words. I have a strong connection with Vernon. He's a good young man and I want nothing but the best for him.'

'It's just… back then… Vaughn threatened to call the whole wedding off unless I said those cruel stuff about Vernon….'

Her mind wandered back to when Vaughn Gray, the real Master of the Gray family, was still alive. 

—

"Truth to be told, Chloe. You are not my first choice for Vincent," Vaughn said as he puffed the smoke on Chloe's face as they were in his home office. "I admit that you're a good caretaker, you're beautiful, smart, and have been trained to be a good lady for Vincent."

"But you are also a low born. You're just a young woman from a single-mother family. You have no credibility or backing, and I just know that your family will only drag my son down."

Chloe could feel her heartbeat accelerating as Vaughn judged her.

"So I will call the wedding off," Vaughn said coldly. 

Chloe lifted her head immediately. She stared at Vaughn with eyes glazed with tears, "M—Master Gray, please don't call off the wedding. Vincent and I are both in love, and I've been waiting for this for a long time! Besides, what would happen if Vincent knows this? He will get heartbroken!"

"I don't really care about you. But I do care about my son," Vaughn said. "So you're right. I don't want him to be angry at me. But I have to test your loyalty to him first."

"Y—You can test me, Sir! I've been loyal to Vincent for years!"

Vaughn smirked maliciously, "Good, then say it to my face that you hate my second son, Vernon. Tell me that he is a good for nothing trash that has no future. Tell me that you would stay with Vincent rather than Vernon because Vincent is the better option."

Chloe was astonished by his instruction, "B—But, Sir, t—there is no connection between this and Vernon—"

"Say it or I will call off the wedding," Vaughn threatened. 

"B—But I have no such feeling for Vernon—"

"Say it now or you can leave, Chloe."

Chloe gritted her teeth. Her heart ached as she had to say those cruel words about Vernon, even though she adored him so much. 

'I'm sorry, Vernon. I hope you won't listen to these cruel words,' Chloe thought. 'I never mean these things, and never will. You are a boy I raised. I love and adore you so much.'

—

Chloe bit her lower lip as she stared at the handsome sleeping man who embraced her. The guilt was eating her from the inside. She knew Vernon didn't know what she said, but that still didn't make her less guilty for selling him out just to marry Vincent. 

Thus, Chloe kissed Vernon for the second time and said, "I'm sorry, Vernon. I never meant any of those words. I was forced back then. I hope you can forgive me."

Chloe finally wiggled her way out of Vernon's embrace and went out to check on her daughter. She wanted to tell Mackie to keep her voice down because her Uncle was very tired. 

Chloe closed the door and gave Vernon time to rest.

But Vernon quickly opened his eyes after the door was closed.

He stared at the empty space next to him on the bed and wondered. 

"If only I could turn back time. I would never leave you with Vincent. I will fight as hard as I could so we could be together, so you didn't need to suffer," Vernon murmured, regretting all the rash things he did back then because he was just too heartbroken to face Chloe.

He also wondered about the last sentence, "I don't understand what she was apologizing for. Was it about all the cruel things she told to Vaughn about me?"

If that were true, Vernon would be more than happy to know that Chloe never meant any of those cruel words to him and that she was just forced to say it.

But what for? Why did she have to be forced to be mean?

What was the use of his late father, Vaughn Gray, to force Chloe to mock him? 

"What was the point of her saying those words except to trash me in front of my father?"