"Chloe… my Chloe…" Vernon murmured. "I… I don't know how I am supposed to live without you. You're my guiding light. Even through the darkest ti, I only have you in my mind…."
Chloe heard Vernon murmur about sothing. But he was muffled since he buried his face in her lap and cried because she felt that her skirt beca damp because of the tears.
'Wonder what he's murmuring about,' Chloe thought. But she shrugged it off and caressed Vernon's head, "Big guy, why are you crying?"
Vernon lifted his face and stared up at Chloe with tears and snot that made his usually handso and intimidating man look like a lost child who had finally reunited with his guardian.
"I'm—"
Snort!
"—not crying!" Vernon defended himself while he kept trying to suck the snot back to his nostril. Chloe couldn't help but giggle. She pulled a few sheets of tissues, wiped the tears, and then the snot.
She smiled at Vernon, still staring at her so dependently, "Now, do you understand that I never have any hatred towards you? Never in my life do I ever think about hating you."
'But what I overheard is different…' Vernon replied in his heart. He knew that the conversation between Chloe and his late father would forever be a thorn in his heart.
Maybe he would confront Chloe about it later.
But for now, he just wanted to feel the warmth of his beloved woman without any kind of argunt or fight. After all, he deserved to be spoiled by Chloe after they went through so much, right?
'Let enjoy this for a while. I know we have so many things to work on, but I don't want to rush it and scare her in the end,' Vernon thought. 'I will take my ti to lt her heart until she can fully open up to .'
'Ah, let enjoy this for a while. This feels so nice…' Chloe thought as she caressed Vernon's head. 'To have soone who would look at you with so much tenderness. I wished Vincent would look at like then when we were still together….'
Chloe quickly warded off the thought when Vincent's face appeared in her mind again. She didn't want to keep rembering that bastard.
Vernon kept on kneeling and resting his head on her shoulder. Chloe glanced at the clock on the wall and realized they had been in this position for at least thirty minutes.
Thus, she warned him, "Vernon, are you satisfied? It's already half an hour since you're kneeling. Don't you feel tired?"
"No," Vernon replied curtly. He refused to move and wrapped his arm around her thin waist tighter than before. "Don't wanna."
"What do you an you don't wanna?"
"Mm… let stay like this for a while. I like hugging you," Vernon said.
Chloe sighed. She didn't understand how this man could beco so sticky. He was like a baby koala that hung on his dear life to her.
"Well, Vernon, you called because you want to talk about sothing, right?" Chloe opened the conversation first, or else they might get stuck in this position for hours.
And it worked. Vernon paused for a while and reluctantly released his arm around Chloe's waist.
He was disgruntled and annoyed because he knew that Chloe had brought up the topic because she didn't want him to hug her for too long.
"Fine, let's talk about it," Vernon said.
He returned to the sofa to sit directly facing Chloe.
He knew the severity and seriousness of the topic, so he had to resu his serious face despite his eyes kept looking at the lap that he rested on just now. He imagined how comfortable it'd be to just… sleep there and forget about everything.
Vernon joined his fingers together, staring straight at Chloe, and said, "Be honest with , Chloe. You t soone today, right?"
…
Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she had 100% expected Vernon to talk about it.
'I wonder how he knew about my eting with Maria. Nevertheless, it has happened, and I can't do anything about it other than admitting…' Chloe thought. 'I also have to make sure he puts his own safety as priority.'
"Yes, I did," Chloe replied. "I t with Maria, Vincent's old secretary. I t with her in the coffee shop near Mackie's school."
…
"And how did you two set up a eting together? Was it through text?" Vernon continued investigating. He wanted to know if Chloe was actively chatting with soone else outside, especially Vincent and his cronies.
"She ca up to right after I sent Mackie to the school. She refused to move out of the driveway, and refused to leave until I'm willing to have a talk with her," Chloe replied.
"And what is the reason why you agree to talk to her in a place she set up?" Vernon asked. " You can always talk in the school's parking lot, right? You must have a good reason for wanting to talk to her in that coffee shop, knowing how dangerous it is."
"I—" Chloe stopped when she realized the real reason might piss Vernon off. She also didn't want to admit it to anyone because she found it shaful.
'I can't say that I agreed to talk with Maria mainly because I want to know what happened to Vincent. It would make look pathetic….'
Thus, Chloe tried to find another reason that was also logical and was also a legit reason.
"Maria told there is a rumor around the Gray family that I left because I want to run away with another man. Vincent spread misinformation about , so I thought… I have to straighten a few things before everyone in Vincent's— and YOUR family see as a cheap slut."
"I—I see…." Vernon thought the reason was solid. Though, he also had a feeling that wasn't enough for Maria to lure Chloe. So he suspected that Chloe wasn't telling everything.
'Did she hide sothing from ? Or am I just overthinking?'
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