Ch. 406..410: Divorced My Scum Husband, Married His Evil brother Chapter 406-410
Chapter 406
Mr. Peterson watched as the little girl turned around and was about to leave. His heart was itching to tell the truth because the little girl deserved to know where her mother was now.
He clenched his fist as he was in a dilemma.
Should he hide the fact that Mackenzie's mother must be suffering in the Principal's office right now…
Or should he tell her the location, with the risk of losing his job…
He wasn't a good man per se, but he did have a conscience for a little kid. Seeing how confused and worried Mackenzie looked as she searched for her mother, he couldn't hold it anymore.
So he opened his mouth, "Mackenzie…."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Peterson?" Mackie stopped on her track and spun back towards her drama teacher.
"I think I saw your Mommy going to the Principal's office, you should check there first," he said.
"Oh! Okay! Thank you, Mr. Peterson!" Mackie smiled wide. She looked so innocent, and that hurt his heart even more.
He watched as the little girl dashed out the backstage. He sighed pitifully. He knew he should've pitied Mackenzie and her mother, but he would lose his job soon, so he pitied himself first.
"At least I did the right thing…."
…
Mackenzie rushed to the Principal's office, afraid her Mommy would get hurt randomly.
But she stopped when she saw Mrs. Andrew— the Principal and another old woman with whom she was quite familiar.
Mackie approached the two old ladies and greeted them, "Good morning, Old Aunty Maria!"
Maria and Mrs. Andrew were surprised when they saw Mackenzie suddenly popping out of nowhere. Mrs. Andrew was the one who panicked because Mackie's parents were still inside, and they must have been fighting.
Though, hearing all the raging screams from Mr. Vincent Gray, it was obvious that he was beating the crap out of his wife.
But now they had a new problem.
Mrs. Andrew was the first to speak, "M—Mackenzie, why are you here?"
"Um, Mommy is inside, right? Is she with Daddy? I heard Daddy screaming from afar!" Mackie innocently said the most disturbing thing as if it was fairly common in her household.
"T—That's not true. You should return to your friend," Mrs. Andrew said, but Mackie didn't buy it.
She shifted her attention to Old Aunty Maria and asked, "Daddy is inside, right?"
…
Maria crossed her arms on her chest but kept her mouth shut. She was not allowed to touch this little girl because her boss still valued her as his successor, despite being a girl.
Mackenzie narrowed her eyes as she realized something wasn't right. She glanced at the two old women simultaneously and puffed her chest as she ordered like a Young Lady from a rich family, "Open the door for Mackie. I want to see Mommy and Daddy!"
…
Mrs. Andrew and Old Aunty Maria said nothing, trying to ignore her existence as they knew they couldn't touch her.
Mackie started to get annoyed. Obviously, Mommy and Daddy were inside, but why wasn't she allowed to join? It had been a while since she saw Daddy!
Mackie saw the key dangling in Mrs. Andrew's chest pocket. So she suddenly jumped and snatched the key from Mrs. Andrew.
"AH! No, the key!" Mrs. Andrew panicked and tried to grab Mackie, who dodged the old Principal's hand.
Mackie stuck her tongue out to mock Mrs. Andrew and went to the door to unlock it.
Mrs. Andrew glanced at Maria, asking for help. But Maria kept her mouth shut and crossed her arms, indicating that she would not do anything to Mackenzie.
If she was just a random girl, Maria would subdue her and throw her out of the window. But this was Vincent Gray's daughter, Mackenzie Rose Gray.
She didn't dare to hurt her as it would ignite the wrath of her boss.
Knowing she wouldn't get any help, Mrs. Andrew got up and grabbed Mackie's hand before she unlocked the door.
"No! Mackenzie, get back to Mr. Peterson!" Mrs. Andrew yelled.
Mackie turned her head towards Mrs. Andrew and glared at her. Despite being a girl, she still inherited one trait that the Gray family has: intimidation.
"Hii-!" Mrs. Andrew subconsciously jolted out of fear when facing the little girl. Her hand loosened, and Mackie took the chance to bite her wrist until Mrs. Andrew screamed out of pain.
She fell on her back after Mackenzie pushed her and unlocked the door.
Click.
Mackie slammed the door open, and she saw her Daddy pulling her Mommy's collar until her feet didn't touch the ground.
His fist was raised up, ready to punch her.
Mackie saw her Mommy's hands were really red and bruised. Her face was also bruised in a few spots and leaked blood.
But her Daddy wasn't good either. His face also had a few bruises with blood dripping from his temple, which looked scary.
The Principal's office was a mess. Everything around the room was flipped or shattered. Even the big desk was turned upside down.
Mackie was stunned, and so did Chloe and Vincent.
They turned their heads at the door simultaneously and stopped what they were doing when they saw their daughter.
…
…
"Mommy? Daddy?" Mackie murmured her parents' name, and the first thing that came to her mind was…
"Why are you fighting again?"
…
Mackie turned her attention toward her Daddy first. She truly missed her Daddy. It had been at least half a year since the last time she saw him, and she had a lot to tell.
But her Daddy looked unwell and downright terrifying right now. She was holding her tears because she never saw her Daddy looking so scary.
Then, she turned her attention at Mommy and saw her choking;
"Daddy, let go of Mommy! She is choking!" Mackenzie yelled, and Vincent quickly released his hand off of Chloe's collar.
"Urk! Ugh!" Chloe fell to the ground. She coughed a few times as she tried to grasp for air.
"Mommy!" Mackenzie rushed towards her Mommy and tried to lift her up, but her Mommy was too heavy, and Chloe was too battered to get up quickly.
"Look up, Mackenzie…"
Chapter 407
"Look up, Mackenzie…"
Mackie looked up when her Daddy called her, and what she saw was her Daddy's dark eyes, full of repressed rage.
He was like a monster ready to swallow her whole.
"What did you see now, Princess?" Vincent asked. He tried to smile but realized that his smile might've terrified his daughter.
That, and he didn't have the urge to smile because he was still pissed off that he had lost his chance to finally punch Chloe in the face.
"Daddy looks so scary…."
"That's because Daddy had a little argument with Mommy," Vincent replied. But Mackenzie didn't buy it.
She had been fighting against bullies for a while now and knew that her Mommy and Daddy weren't just 'having an argument.'
"Daddy…" Mackie murmured. "Why are you beating Mommy again? She is hurt…."
"Ahaha, I'm not beating her without a reason. Your Mommy did a really bad thing by not being obedient to me, that's why I have to punish her a bit," Vincent said. He glanced down at Chloe, "Besides, your Mommy said it's fine, right, Chloe?"
"Really?" Mackenzie shifted her gaze at Mommy, who was still trying to recover. "Mommy, are you really alright?"
…
Vincent clenched his fist silently as Chloe didn't even want to comply and tried to nod, at least, so Mackenzie would still see him in a good light.
He was already angry at Chloe for daring to fight back, and now she also refused to play pretend? Vincent was seriously thinking about beating her in front of her daughter just to make an example.
But he didn't and tried to explain to her daughter more;
"Your Mommy is not feeling well too, just like Daddy. This is why you shouldn't try to argue with Daddy, it will do you no good," Vincent said.
"Really? But Mommy and Uncle fight often, and Uncle never hurt Mommy!" Mackenzie retorted, innocently spilling that Mommy lived with an 'Uncle.'
Vincent smirked maliciously as he realized he could just get the information about this man from his daughter.
'It seems Chloe is trying to replace my spot by telling Mackenzie to call that bastard as Uncle. It won't be long until she called her Daddy, huh?' Vincent thought.
Chloe might refuse to say it because she tried to stupidly protect this man's identity.
But Mackenzie was too young to understand a secret.
It might hurt his pride, but getting her daughter spilling the secret wasn't as bad as desperately torturing the bodyguards.
He would just count it as her daughter taking his side— the Gray side. The side she should be staying on right now because she would be his successor in the future.
"Ohh, so you live with an Uncle now?" Vincent asked.
"Yes! Uncle is so kind— well, he is very mean sometimes, but he is very kind to Mommy!"
"Mind telling Daddy who is this Uncle's name?"
"Un! His name is Uncle—Urp!"
Chloe gathered her strength as her adrenaline kicked in. She lifted her hand and grasped her daughter's mouth, covering it with her palm and stopping her from spilling Vernon's name because if she did, everything Chloe had done so far would be in vain.
She kicked her heels out to free her movement and got up. She quickly grabbed her daughter.
She gave Vincent a quick look before dashing out of the Principal's office, taking the chance as she realized that Vincent was stunned by her sudden strength.
Chloe rushed past the wretched Mrs. Andrew and Secretary Maria and ran through the corridor with Mackie in her arm.
Luckily, the corridor was mostly empty because everyone gathered in the auditorium to watch the kids' stage play, so nobody would see her like this.
She rushed to her car and took out the key from her jeans pocket. She shoved her daughter into the car first before she drove the car out of the parking lot, not caring about anything as her survival instinct kicked in.
And the only thing she wanted to do right now got the hell away from the school.
"Mommy…" Mackie stared at her pitiful Mommy. She saw Mommy's whole body shaking, and her hand looked red and swollen.
Her Mommy didn't respond. She kept her silence while driving through the road. So Mackie kept her silence as well.
She looked down and fiddled with her fingers, wondering what had just happened.
It wasn't the first time she saw her Mommy and Daddy fight. But this was definitely the first time she saw that kind of mess, and how her Daddy looked so vicious he didn't even smile at Mackie.
"Where are we going, Mommy?" Mackie asked after a while.
Chloe bit her lower lip. She was thinking about going back to the apartment. But at the same time, she worried that Vernon might try to search for her right now.
Since her phone was completely broken after she smashed it and then used it twice as a projectile to stop Vincent in his track, Chloe now had no way to call Vernon.
So she had to go to Vernon's office, "We're going to Uncle Vernon's office."
"Um… okay…" Mackenzie nodded. She noticed her Mommy's voice was coarse, like sandpaper, as if she had screamed a lot. It "Mommy, why did Daddy beat you? Why was he so angry at you?"
…
"We can talk about this later, okay? Mommy…" Chloe was still shaken by her fight with Vincent. Had it not for her daughter, who suddenly interrupted, she might have died. "We need to go somewhere safe first."
"Okay…" Mackie looked out the window as she was trying not to pry even further. She was curious and also anxious about her Mommy's well-being.
She gained a new perspective after living with Uncle Vernon for a while, and that was…
Not every argument between adults ended with the man beating the woman.
Every time there was an argument between Mommy and Daddy, Mommy would be locked up in the room with Daddy and returned with so many bruises.
But when Mommy argued with Uncle, Uncle never hit her, not even once.
He locked Mommy inside his room a few times and bullied her with a big police stick though, but Mommy always came out with blush and looked really shy, instead of tears and sorrow in her eyes when she was with Daddy.
So that sparked a question in her innocent mind.
'I wonder if Mommy was truly happy living with Daddy before….'
Chapter 408
Vincent stood still in silence, staring at the wide open door before his eyes scanned around the Principal's office.
"Hm, more mess than usual," Vincent muttered. He had to admit that he had forgotten to control himself and chased Chloe around the office like a madman.
But that was because Chloe refused to obey.
Things wouldn't have gone this bad if she could just... give up her useless struggle and lower her head meekly like the obedient wife she should be.
Vincent was much calmer now after they were confronted by Mackie, who suddenly slammed the door open. It was a surprise indeed, and not a good one.
He wanted to maintain a good persona in front of his daughter until Mackenzie was old enough to understand the value of a Gray family member.
"Well, it doesn't really matter. Chloe has helped me tremendously by being the stand-in when I'm not around Mackie. So my daughter still has her innocent view on me."
"I guess I should give Chloe an appreciation for covering up for me many times," Vincent murmured. He contradicted himself as he found it ridiculous. "Hah, probably not, it's her job as a mother to maintain a good family image."
He darted his cold eyes at the door and saw that wretched old Secretary standing at the doorway.
"My apology, Sir. I failed to stop the Little Lady from interrupting your good time with Mrs. Gray," Secretary Maria said.
"It's fine," Vincent shrugged. "It'd be worse if you dare to land your hand on my daughter."
Secretary Maria observed the damage around the Principal's office before she spotted the destroyed phone on the floor, "Is that Mrs. Gray's phone?"
"Yeah, she smashed it to the ground once, and threw it twice at me before I smashed it in half," Vincent looked down at Chloe's destroyed phone that was beyond recognition and muttered, "It's unfortunate. I thought I could use it as a way to blackmail her more. It'd be fun."
"Now-" Vincent glanced at every corner of the Principal's office and asked, "Did you tape the whole thing?"
"Yes, Sir," Maria nodded solemnly. "Every corner of this office has been embedded with a hidden camera, so we got everything on tape," Maria thought that her boss would finally take things to court, "Will you use some edited evidence in the court, Sir?"
"No, I just need it to relieve myself every night. Looking at her fighting back gives me a new kind of itch."
**
Chloe parked her car in front of Vernon's office building. She entered the lobby with her face still bruised badly, her hands shaking, and swollen blue. She endured all the pain and grabbed Mackie's hand.
She could hear the gasp from the receptionist and a few staff around. But none dared to speak because it wasn't their right to say anything.
All they knew was the identity of this woman;
Mr. Phoenix Gray's second secretary and also his new secret girlfriend.
Chloe used the VIP elevator to go straight to the top floor. Mackie looked around in awe because it was her first time ever entering Uncle Vernon's office.
She wanted to comment on many things but decided to stay silent because her mother still endured so much pain.
Ding!
As the elevator door slid open, Chloe saw a glimpse of Diamond standing anxiously in front of the elevator.
But that anxiety turned into total shock when Diamond saw the appearance of her best friend.
She gasped and hurriedly pulled Chloe and Mackie out of the elevator, "Oh my god! Chloe, what happened?! Who did this?!"
Diamond's heart hurt when she started checking Chloe's body and realized that every time her eyes swept to a different spot in Chloe's body, she would always find a new injury.
She hurriedly lowered her head and checked on Mackenzie. She was relieved because Mackie didn't seem to be hurting anywhere.
However, while she was checking on Mackie, Diamond spotted Chloe's hands that were swollen blue.
It was still trembling and must be in so much pain she didn't even want to imagine what caused that injury in her whole hands.
"Chloe, tell me what happened!" Diamond yelled as she couldn't hide her anxiety.
Chloe shook her head, "It's a long story. Where is Vernon now? Is he inside?"
"He-" Diamond glanced at the CEO's office door and chewed her lower lip. "He blasted his phone trying to call the bodyguards. But they're suddenly uncontactable, and then he tries to call you. The call went through, but you didn't pick it up."
"I told him to wait, but he's getting too anxious. So he grabbed his car key and said he'll come to check on you in the school."
Chloe's eyes widened instantly. She shook her head vehemently and panicked, "Y--You need to call him now! Vi--" Chloe halted her speech when she realized that Mackie was with her, so she crouched before pointing at the sofa, "Dear, can you sit there for a moment? Mommy and Diamond have something important to talk about."
"Will Mommy be alright?" Mackie asked. She glanced up at Diamond, afraid that Mommy would get hurt again. Mommy was already in a very bad condition right now.
"Yes, Mommy will be alright with Diamond," Chloe said. "Sit there, it won't be long.."
"Okay..."
After ensuring that Mackie was on the sofa, Chloe dragged Diamond inside Vincent's office. She quickly summarized her fight with Vincent before telling Diamond to call Vernon because her phone was busted.
"Vincent is still in school, and if they meet... then everything will be in vain...." Chloe muttered with her coarse-as-sandpaper voice.
"Understood," Diamond fished her phone out and called her boss.
The phone beeped twice before Vernon picked up the call;
-
"DON'T CALL ME NOW, DAMN IT! I'M DRIVING TO FIND HER!" Vernon's voice blasted through the speaker. The phone wasn't even on loudspeaker, but it was still loud enough to make both women wince.
"Sir, Chloe-"
"I KNOW! SHE IS UNCONTACTABLE! STOP BUGGING ME, YOU FUCKING BIT-- UGH!" Vernon stopped right before he cursed his own secretary.
Chloe snatched the phone from Diamond's hand, knowing that Vernon would not stop panicking until he heard her voice.
"Vernon, it's me, Chloe...."
Chloe heard the car tire screeching in the phone the moment Vernon heard her voice.
Chapter 409
The moment Vernon heard the voice of his beloved woman, he pressed the brake so fast that he sure would cause an accident if he didn't drive in an empty gated community right now.
He stopped right across the school's parking lot and parked his car to the side while on a call with Chloe.
-
"C—Chloe, you—"
"I…" Chloe wanted to say that she was fine. But that was an obvious lie. Thus she tried to think of another method to calm the young man down.
Chloe was scared that Vernon might already be in Mackie's school right, and she did not want the Gray brothers to encounter each other.
So she muttered, "I'm in your office with Diamond and Mackie, can you return now?"
Vernon was about to say yes when he suddenly saw a figure of a man walking out of the school gate to the parking lot. The man was mid-thirty and covered with bruises and dried blood on his temple.
He didn't look like he was in pain, though— In fact, he had a thin smirk pasted on his lips.
Vernon didn't know what had happened to his Big brother, but he instantly linked him with whatever had happened with Chloe just now.
He clenched his steering wheel and muttered with repressive rage, "That bastard…."
Chloe instantly panicked. She knew that Vernon must've seen Vincent and triggered his wrath instantly. She had to stop them from meeting now, or everything would be over.
"V—Vernon, come back to the office now!" Chloe raised her voice desperately.
"I will, just a moment-"
"NO! I need you now!" Chloe insisted. Vernon started noticing her coarse voice once she raised her voice, which gave him a shiver of fear.
"Chloe, your voice-"
As she realized that Vernon must've been stunned by her coarse voice, she tried to utilize it, "I… I'm in bad shape. I really need you here. Please, Vernon," Chloe said weakly. "I'm begging."
…
Vernon took a deep breath. He was contemplating whether he should open the door and reach his Big brother to give him a punch or two… three… or four.
But hearing Chloe's coarse and trembling voice begging him to come and find her because she needed him… Vernon thought it wasn't fair for him.
Because there was no way, he could say no to Chloe's plea.
So he curbed his wrath on his Big brother and made a U-turn. He was still on the call with Chloe as he drove through the city back to his office, "Stay in my office. I'll be there shortly."
"Y—Yes, be careful on the road, I'm not going anywhere," Chloe said before she hung up the call.
Vernon held his breath when Chloe said her last sentence.
-
I'm not going anywhere.
-
"Yeah, for sure I'm not letting you anywhere after this," Vernon muttered.
The thought of Chloe missing from his life was already a nightmare on its own.
He was also in a nightmare for ten years straight without her, and he certainly did not want to repeat that.
**
Chloe gave the phone back to Diamond and muttered a thank you.
She was about to return to Mackie outside when Diamond grabbed her wrist.
Chloe winced in pain but tried to hide it by biting her lower lip until it bled a little.
"Chloe, your hand…." Diamond looked worriedly. She gently held Chloe's bruised-swollen blue hand and commented, "This is not just some fall damage, isn't it? What causes this?"
…
"Him?"
…
Chloe nodded reluctantly. She wanted to hide it because she thought it wasn't something someone else needed to know.
But it was way too obvious to hide, and Chloe blamed Vincent for punching her hard.
"Vincent wanted to punch my face, and I tried to dampen the damage by using my hands to block it…." Chloe lowered her head ashamedly but was more ashamed when she could clearly see the difference between Diamond's hand and hers.
Hers was swollen so bad she couldn't see the line of her finger bones anymore. It was a miracle that she could still grab Mackie and drive here.
Diamond sucked a lot of air to calm herself down. She tried to stay calm because she knew her best friend needed her care, not her scream.
"Let me grab a first aid kit. Maybe we can do something about it-"
"No," Chloe quickly refused. "I think… I broke a few joints the first time Vincent punched my hand…" she confessed because she felt numb in a few spots and extreme pain in the other area around her hands.
Chloe lifted her head and stared at Diamond. She tried to force a smile and said, "Thank you for your concern, Diamond. But can we just act like nothing happens first in front of my daughter? I don't want her to worry."
Diamond's eyes started glazing with tears as she stared at Chloe. She was in so much pain just seeing her best friend hurt like this.
"W—Why are you crying, Diamond?" Chloe asked worriedly. She tried to wipe her best friend's tears but realized that her hands were swollen and ugly, and she had touched a lot of stuff before, so Diamond might not want her hand around her beautiful face.
"I wonder too, Chloe," Diamond sobbed. "Why am I crying? You should be the one who cried. You're in so much pain right now."
"You can cry, you can scream even, I don't even mind if you beg for me to go to the hospital. You should do that in the first place."
Honestly, Diamond wanted to scream and shake Chloe's arms, telling her to start acting like a normal human who experienced pain.
But Chloe looked so calm. It just made her feel so out of place.
"W—Well, I got used to this," Chloe replied, telling all the truth she had been hiding for so long. "Vincent beat me horrendously over the past ten years. But I usually fixed it myself because Vincent didn't allow me to go to the hospital. He said it's too expensive for me…."
Chapter 410
"He also said he didn't beat me too hard, so I should stop overreacting…."
Diamond covered her mouth as she tried not to gasp too much. She had been wondering why Chloe hid so much of the abuse she had experienced.
Every time Diamond asked, Chloe often just glazed at the fact that her ex-husband just beat her as if it was nothing serious.
This wasn't 'just beat her.' This was real torture!
Vincent Gray tortured her!
It was so fucked up when she realized that Chloe was so used to the abuse she didn't even try to cry anymore.
Diamond gently supported Chloe's hand on top of hers, so Diamond could check them without hurting Chloe.
She shook her head out of disbelief, "Chloe, let's go to the hospital. You can't fix this alone, you need to go to the ER!"
Chloe pulled her hand and tried to hide it behind her back, "It's nothing much. I think I just need to dip it in a bowl of ice for a while and it'll return to normal."
"He crushed your joints! You won't return normal because of fucking ICE!" Diamond grew frustrated with Chloe's reluctance, so she grabbed Chloe's wrist again to lift her hands up, showing Chloe how bad her hands were.
But before she could say a thing, the door was suddenly slammed open.
Vernon stood right at the doorway, his eyes darted and focused on Chloe. He could see all the bruises around her body in just a second.
Her face had plenty of bruises, but her hands were swollen so bad it didn't look slender anymore.
His rage shot up the next second, and he turned around, ready to find his Big brother.
"I WILL KILL THAT FUCKER!"
Chloe and Diamond panicked. They rushed towards Vernon. Diamond quickly blocked Vernon at the entrance while Chloe hugged him from behind.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Vernon shoved Diamond to the side, but he couldn't walk as Chloe was still hugging him from behind, and he for sure didn't want to hurt her even more.
Diamond quickly recovered and stood in front of her boss again. She flinched when Vernon glared at her, but she stood still as she knew that Chloe was also trying her best to hold Vernon.
Vernon grew frustrated by this. His rage was uncontrollable, and he knew what he could do to appease his fury.
And that was to beat the shit out of his Big brother.
"Vernon, don't!" Chloe yelled, trying to stop him as well. She wrapped her hands around his stomach, trying to pull him back into the office.
"WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING HIM? DON'T YOU SEE HOW BAD YOU LOOK?!" Vernon's voice continued thundering around the office that it was practically impossible for anyone not to hear his voice.
"I'm protecting you!" Chloe yelled. "I don't want you to get hurt, please stop!"
"I WILL JUST KILL HIM, THEN EVERYTHING WILL BE OVER!"
"NO!" Chloe grew increasingly desperate. She tried to reason with Vernon, but it didn't seem to work. "I don't want you to go to jail!"
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT JAIL!"
Amidst the chaos, a little girl sitting on the sofa was stunned when she saw her raging Uncle. He had never been this angry before. Even when he fought with Mommy, he never roared like this.
So that scared her so much she started calling his name, "U—Uncle…."
Everyone's attention quickly shifted to the little girl trembling and getting pale out of fear.
They went silent instantly, including Vernon, who was screaming like a madman before.
Mackie gulped as her Uncle's scary eyes glared at her. She saw how bad Daddy beat Mommy in the mansion before.
He would be screaming at her, but he was never as scary as angry Uncle right now.
So she thought… Uncle would beat Mommy too…
Mackie gathered her courage and jumped from the sofa. Her little feet trembled, but she walked towards her Uncle, who glared silently at her, waiting for what this little girl was about to do next.
Mackie raised her small hands and tried to hit her Uncle's strong thigh, "U—Uncle, don't get angry! You're scaring Mommy!"
…
"Uncle, stop being angry! Mommy will cry again! Daddy already beat Mommy today!"
…
The situation was tense, and Chloe quickly released her arm around Vernon and covered for her daughter instead. She hugged Mackie and looked over her shoulder, looking up at Vernon, who glared at the mother-daughter pair.
She was bruised, beaten, and obviously in so much pain. But she still decided to shield Mackie, afraid that Vernon might do something.
She believed that Vernon wouldn't hurt Mackie, but he was in so much blind rage she was afraid that he might lose control over himself.
…
…
Vernon clenched his fist. He was repressing so much anger that his veins popped around his neck.
But he turned around and tried to speak in a calmer voice at Mackie, "I won't beat your Mommy. But I need to talk to her. Come in, Chloe."
Vernon walked into his office and stood solemnly near the sofa. He said nothing, but his eyes looked straight, not wanting to look at Chloe.
Chloe slowly released her daughter and said, "You should stay here with Diamond, okay? Mommy will talk to Uncle first."
After witnessing what happened today, Mackie was afraid Uncle would do the same as Daddy did.
Mommy kept saying that getting beaten by Daddy was okay, but she would never believe it anymore.
Because she was also beaten by her bullies, which hurt so bad, she fought back until the bullies were afraid of her.
But Mommy never fought back, so Daddy never stopped.
"Mommy, will you be alright?" Mackie asked worriedly. "Mommy, it must hurt. Mackie got beaten once, and it hurts. I don't want you to get beaten by Uncle too…."
Chloe usually forced a smile when Mackie asked that question before. Because all she could do when she had to face Vincent was to force a smile and lie to her daughter that everything was okay.
But with Vernon, she was sincere with her assuring words, "Mommy will be alright if it's with Uncle."