Ch. 436..440: Divorced My Scum Husband, Married His Evil brother Chapter 436-440

Chapter 436

He thought that as long as Mackie was happy with the celebration, he had nothing to worry about, and he could go on with his date with Chloe.

After all, he mostly saw Mackie as 'Chloe's daughter' or 'his niece' rather than a special little girl with a special place in his heart.

But after she called her Daddy— whether intentionally or not— it still put an enormous guilt in him. He felt guilty of thinking that Mackie was not as important as Chloe.

Now that his heart had melted by the little girl, he started thinking whether he should take this father-daughter relationship with Mackie more seriously.

"Damn, never know that my heart will tremble because of a little girl. Is this a sign that I will be a good father when I marry Chloe later?" Vernon wondered. He knew that marriage was still far from happening, but he was already thinking about it.

Marrying his beloved woman was like the ultimate reward he would collect once all this mind game with his Big brother was over.

"Now, not only will I marry my beloved woman. I will also get a daughter as my first child," Vernon grinned as he found his ultimate reward so satisfying. "Now I have two reasons not to fail when dealing with my Big brother."

**

Vernon was well rested for the whole night until morning came. He cooked breakfast for his small family.

Mackie still had a whole week off school after the autumn festival and was happy to accompany her injured mother.

Chloe was still trying to prepare Vernon's suit despite being told not to. Maybe it was already in her bond to do something even when she was sick.

"This is the least I could do," Chloe insisted while going back and forth from the laundry room to Vernon's bedroom, giving him his apparel one by one.

"Are you going to have a meeting today?" Chloe asked just to open a small talk while she handed the tie.

"Mhm, I'm going to meet my Big brother," Vernon said nonchalantly.

Chloe's body stiffened in an instant. A trace of dread leaked from her expression despite trying her best not to show her fear.

"W—What's that for? Did you… um… m—make an obvious mistake?" Chloe stuttered as she continued asking. She was trying not to be nervous, but it wasn't effective at all.

She was still scared of him, afraid that Vincent might do something to harm her or her new family, but Vernon was relaxed as if meeting a monster like Vincent was just a menial job for him, so Chloe had to try to match up with his energy.

She had to act tough despite the fear in her heart.

Vernon glanced at Chloe and smiled thin, "Don't be too nervous. I know what I'm doing."

"S—Sorry, is it too obvious?"

"Yeah, your reaction is too obvious. But it's fine, I know that you're still trying to fight off the fear," Vernon grabbed his car key and gave Chloe a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm off to work now. Just tell Diamond if you need anything, and use Ubereats if you want to eat anything."

Chloe felt a little bashful after the small peck. "Mm, thank you, and… g—good luck, Vernon…." Chloe said.

Vernon left with a smile and went down to the basement. His smile disappeared the moment he entered his car.

He sat in his car for a while, trying to brace himself as he was about to meet with his Big brother, who might have sniffed his attempt to overthrow him.

He looked so lax in front of Chloe because he didn't want her to be nervous, but truthfully, he was probably more nervous than she was right now.

"You can't fuck this up, Vernon. Remember, you have two girls you have to protect," Vernon used that as a chant so he wouldn't appear nervous in front of his Big brother. Vincent was intelligent and perceptive, so Vernon needed to be perfect with his pretense. He could pick up some of Vernon's nervousness and accuse him of something.

Vernon took a deep breath before he started the engine and left his apartment.

**

"This way, Sir."

Vernon was escorted by the lobby receptionist to Vincent's office. He put his hand inside his suit, silently wiping the sweat on his palms to appear less nervous. He followed the receptionist to the elevator and stopped at the top floor.

That wretched old secretary was standing near the elevator as she had expected his arrival.

"Good morning, Mr. Phoenix Gray," Secretary Maria bowed respectfully. "Mr. Vincent Gray has been waiting inside."

"Is he alone?" Vernon asked. He didn't want to see his Big brother fucking another woman. He'd always imagine that bastard forcing Chloe to watch him fornicating with another woman, which might trigger him to beat the shit out of Vincent.

Secretary Maria paused briefly, "Please follow me, Sir."

Vernon frowned when Secretary Maria refused to answer his question. He was already in full guard, thinking this might be a trap.

His eyes glanced at each corner of the area, checking whether there might be a camera. But everything was normal, so he wondered why this old hag refused to answer such a basic question.

Secretary Maria stopped in front of the door and knock three times, "Sir, Mr. Phoenix Gray is here."

"Oh, let him in!" Vincent replied from inside.

Secretary Maria opened the door for him, and once the door was wide open, Vernon saw his Big brother sitting on the sofa, drinking a cup of coffee while talking to someone sitting across from him.

It was an old woman in her late 50s. She wore a long-sleeved beige knit dress, showing her slim figure despite her senior age.

Vernon's heart skipped for a second when his eyes met with that woman who stared at him with a deep yet somewhat hostile gaze.

"Come in, Little bro, it's been a while since we have a little family reunion."

Chapter 437

"Come in, Vernon. It's been a while since we had a little family reunion," Vincent said. He pointed at the seat next to him with his head, telling his little brother to sit beside him while they faced the woman who gave birth to them, Dorothea Gray.

Vernon was a little surprised by how well he looked. From what Chloe told him, she struggled so hard that she smashed a vase on his temple.

Other than the small patch on his left temple, he didn't seem seriously injured, unlike Chloe, whose hands were useless for a month or so.

"Vernon? What's with your silence? Come in," Vincent repeated.

Vernon got stiff in an instant, unsure if this was a trap set by his Big bro or just a coincidence.

Nevertheless, he had no way to retreat as he didn't want to rouse any suspicion. He walked in and sat right beside his brother on the sofa.

"Hold on, let me finish reading these first."

Vincent was busy reading some of the documents on the table, letting his mother and little brother converse while he was working.

Vernon and Dorothea stared at each other for a long time, but no word came out of their mouths. Dorothea obviously gave him a condescending gaze, while Vernon responded by giving that old woman a contemptuous look.

Obviously, both were hostile to each other for a reason only known to them.

"Alright, I'm done with the document," Vincent smiled meaningfully. He gave his Little bro a side glance and added, "This document is about you, Little bro."

Vernon acted surprised, though he already knew what was in the document, "About me? What did I do wrong?"

"Well, not exactly wrong," Vernon leaned on the sofa. He crossed his arms while his eyes still focused on the document on the table. "I got a report from that old secretary. It seems you made a deal with one of my business partners who works in distribution."

"Oh, yeah, I made the deal a few days ago. But I was too busy with work, so I forgot to inform you. It was just for distributing my beverage product to the US next year, around July," Vernon informed everything as if he was the most honest man on earth. "Did I offend you Big bro?"

"Not exactly," Vincent shrugged. It wasn't hard for him to dig through Vernon's company secret; he had made it clear from the first time the brothers came in contact.

He didn't really care because he believed Vernon would never try to scheme against him. He was just the same cute Little bro trying to imitate his ever-powerful Big brother.

"I don't really care if you use my business partners. It's just that old hag— Secretary Maria, who insists that I look at this and then question your action," Vincent said. He gave his Mother a quick look and added, "Also our Mom, she also insisted on me reading about this."

Vernon already had an intense dislike for his mother. Now that she was actively trying to push him down to the hell hole, he did not need to act courteously toward her.

"Do we really need her here, Big bro?" Vernon asked sarcastically while looking at Dorothea.

"I should be the one who says that," Dorothea finally opened her mouth. She crossed her leg and scoffed, "Why are you here? Why don't you just stay in London?"

"Because I want to expand my business," Vernon replied without trying to hide anything. "What's wrong with that? I thought the Gray family valued money so much. Why are you trying to reprimand me for doing what our family does best?"

"Because I know it's not just about expansion. I know you're coveting your Big brother's power, that's why you're trying to snatch his business partners, right?"

Dorothea's accusation was actually correct. Vernon was trying to overthrow his Big brother's powerful position in almost all parts of the core business in the US. He had his hands on food and beverage, transportation, furniture, and even groceries.

The only thing he wasn't interested in was the entertainment industry. Thus, by establishing his own advertising firm and branching out to entertainment, Vernon got a solid foothold to survive in New York.

But now he wanted more.

He didn't want to just sit there under the mercy of his Big brother. Vernon wanted to steal everything from him, including Vincent's wife and daughter.

But of course, he had to pretend that Dorothea's accusation was simply a baseless slander.

Vernon chuckled mirthlessly, "You're just being stupidly paranoid. So you mean that I'm not allowed to return to my city? I was born and grew up here," Vernon raised one brow as he taunted his mother, "Come on, Mrs. Dorothea Gray. I know that you're an old widow with mental issues, but can't you even trust your own son? Maybe you should get a better psychiatrist."

Vincent laughed when he heard Vernon taunting their mother. He didn't really care about his pesky, obviously-mentally-ill mother. He didn't toss her to the trash can because Dorothea was a socialite. Despite her age, she was well-known in many elite circles, which meant Vincent had to keep her around to maintain his reputation.

Dorothea got triggered whenever someone talked about her mental illness. She was diagnosed with severe depression ever since she was in her 20s.

Her late husband— Vaughn Gray, created a huge crater in her heart, making her numb and depressed with all of his cheating and abuse. No matter what crazy expensive things she bought, she still couldn't fill that crater in her heart, and Vaughn left her so devastated with the love she didn't even want to trust men anymore.

Even now, she actively sought therapy with Shailene because she was still hurting eleven years after Vaughn's death.

"Say all you want, you treacherous bastard. I know that you're trying to topple your own family. I can sense it," Dorothea said. "You can't fool me."

Chapter 438

"You can't fool me."

Despite all his confident smile and uncaring attitude toward his mother, Vernon was actually deeply hurt by Dorothea's accusation.

He knew that he wasn't a good man, nor was he a good son. But Vincent was even worse than him, and Dorothea seemed to care for Vincent despite all the horrible stuff he did.

'Favoritism does exist,' Vernon thought. 'This old bitch never even cared for me when I was young. She was too busy drinking and crying like a madwoman.'

'Well, she was barely functioning by herself. She should be grateful that Chloe took care of me when I was young.'

He was also curious about Dorothea's relationship with Chloe.

From what he remembered, Dorothea absolutely despised Chloe because she didn't come from a good family, but Vincent insisted on marrying her, and she had gotten approval from Vaughn before his death, so nothing was stopping Vincent from marrying Chloe.

'Huh, I remembered that my late father never liked Chloe as well. I wonder how she could get his approval. Did Chloe do something to satisfy that perverted bastard?' Vernon's gaze darkened for a split second. He started suspecting that Vaughn Gray might've done something to Chloe when she was young.

But he should save this question for later. He needed to keep his professionalism here and acted like a careless, ignorant son.

"I'm not even trying to fool you," Vernon shrugged. "Though, even if I want to get half of my inheritance, and also the connection from the Gray family, I should be able to do that, right, Big bro?"

"Yeah, it's your right to have half of the inheritance," Vincent said. "I don't even know why our parents wrote you off. You're my only sibling, and nothing can change that."

"Vincent!"

Vincent shifted his attention to Dorothea and gave her a malicious gaze, the edge of his lips curling up, "What? Didn't I tell you that I won't stop him if he wants to claim his inheritance? Though Vernon is not a greedy bastard like you claim him to be. So he has never asked for his share. He built his own business without the family's help."

Dorothea gnashed her teeth as she stared at her sons who joined forces against her. She knew she wasn't a good mother to Vernon and didn't care about him. Surviving Vaughn's crazy habit wasn't easy, and she only had enough energy to pour his motherly love into one son. Naturally, she took Vincent. He was far brighter and much more capable than Vernon.

Too bad, even this one son dared to mock her like this.

Vernon glanced at his Big brother, who seemed to be pretty genuine about the whole brotherly connection between them, which was ironic since Vernon had nothing of it.

He didn't see Vincent as a good older brother because Vincent was only gentle to him if he was obedient or 'lesser' than him.

Back when they were young, Vincent would show his anger or annoyance, sometimes even yelling at Vernon when Vernon showed a bit of his brilliance in school. He picked that up very quickly, so he stopped trying to be as good as his Big bro academically.

In fact, as long as he acted dumb or careless, Vincent would be pleased and wouldn't see him as a rival.

He was a megalomaniac since he was a kid, probably also picking that up from their late father.

"Anyway, why is she here, Big bro?" Vernon asked, pointing at Dorothea. "I thought you asked me to come this morning because you want to discuss something important. I don't think she has any importance here."

Vincent chuckled again. He was pleased with Vernon's attitude, "Our mother is worried about my performance in the company since I became a little sluggish after Chloe left— that's what they said."

"Oh yeah? I thought you're doing good as always, Big bro."

"I am, she's just being paranoid. I think we need to give her a ride to the nearest mental hospital," Vincent joked.

Dorothea was trying to fight off the uncomfortableness in her heart, "I'm serious, Vincent. I got the report from Maria that you got sluggish and slow with work. I'm just looking out for you, since I don't want you to fall."

"I'm not gonna fall, you're exaggerating," Vincent replied lightly. "But if you're that paranoid, then let me tell you something—"

Vincent took his phone out and searched for something in his gallery. Once he got the right video, he played it and showed the screen to his mother.

Vernon couldn't see what was playing because the screen was facing Dorothea, but when he heard Chloe's voice shouting at Vincent, his heart dropped instantly.

—

'I'M NOT YOUR BITCH, YOU CRAZY BASTARD!'

The video was followed by the voice of something cracking, followed by Vincent's thundering voice shouting back at her;

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS, CHLOE GRAY!"

—

Vernon couldn't bear to hear the rest of the video because it was sickening just listening to it. He was clenching his fist so hard that he believed both Dorothea and Vincent would notice his rage had they checked on him.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Vernon said. He quickly got up and left Vincent's office.

He saw Secretary Maria standing not far from the door. He was trying to control his expression so Secretary Maria would overlook his boiling rage, but he was so angry that he doubted he could hide it from this old hag.

"Where is the toilet?" Vernon asked.

…

Secretary Maria stayed silent. Her eyes studied every inch of Vernon's face to read his mood. He waited thirty seconds before Maria opened her mouth, "Just turn left. It's at the corner near the pantry."

Vernon took a long step and rushed to the bathroom to calm himself. Secretary Maria watched his back.

Her cold, piercing gaze silently studied everything about Vernon. Naturally, she knew what was happening inside. Vincent must've been playing that video of him hitting Chloe. He just didn't shut up, marveling at how he regained his vigor after watching it repeatedly.

She didn't find that surprising, but Vernon's reaction was not within her expectation, "Did he get mad watching the video of Vincent beating Chloe? Why?"

Chapter 439

Maria knew that it would be quite disturbing for most people to see a man having a weird fetish by beating and suppressing his wife.

But Vernon wasn't part of that 'most people.' He was also part of the Gray family. He had the same blood as Vaughn Gray and his predecessors running in him, so he must've developed the same fetish as his father and Big brother.

"If he doesn't like what Vincent is doing, he shouldn't have that kind of reaction," Maria assumed. "He should be indifferent at least."

Maria had a few assumptions in her head. One of them was;

"Judging from his reaction, I think it's safe to assume that Vernon has something with Chloe, maybe a childhood crush? I remember him as a little kid being so sticky with Chloe at many parties hosted by the Gray family," Maria guessed. "Is it only a childhood crush, though? I feel like there's something more…."

Maria was already on full guard against Vernon. She had the gut feeling that Vernon wanted to attack his Big brother instead of worshiping or working together with him.

She didn't really care about these two brothers' relationship, but if it would threaten the stability of the company she devoted her life to, then she must do something.

"Let's just wait and see…."

**

Vincent proudly showed all the videos of him beating Chloe inside the Principal's office. He closed his eyes, engrossing himself in listening to Chloe's voice who tried to fight him back despite her hopelessness.

Her struggle was a big turn-on for him, so he had to cross his legs because he didn't want his mother to notice he got a boner.

Though, he didn't need to worry about that because Dorothea was too shocked to even blink her eyes, let alone check on him. She watched until she got to the part where Vincent strangled Chloe and pulled her up until her feet hovered above the ground. Then Mackie suddenly came in and tried to save her Mommy.

She gasped when she saw Mackie, who tried to rush in and save her Mommy, not knowing how dangerous it was to approach Vincent when he was in a crazed state.

She wanted to yell at Mackie to stop or hug her so she shouldn't be in danger. After all, Dorothea had always loved her granddaughter and missed Mackie a lot after Chloe brought her away.

Vincent opened his eyes when he heard the gasp coming from his mother. He saw Dorothea with a pale face and trembling lips. Her eyes were red as if she had just watched a horror movie.

"Mom? What's wrong? Why did you make that kind of face?" Vincent asked. "Aren't you used to this stuff? I remember Dad beating you a few times before."

Dorothea quickly tried to fix her expression and looked away. She swallowed her saliva as she tried to maintain her composure.

"Did you do this often with your wife?"

"Beating her? Well, yeah," Vincent admitted without shame. "It's the usual thing in the Gray family. You told me when I was a kid that it's just a thing Dad did to de-stress, and you don't mind it since it's normal for a woman to obey her husband."

Dorothea's heart sank when she got the answer from Vincent.

She remembered that period when Vaughn started beating her even for the slightest mistake. She was too scared to fight back and too in love to leave him.

Besides, divorce was a huge shame back then.

So she endured, and when five-year-old Vincent asked her what Dad was doing, she answered that it was all okay, and Vincent shouldn't question his Dad's activity even further.

And who would've expected that small thing she said back then would hugely impacted Vincent's development, creating another cycle of abuse that the next woman had to suffer?

"Did you enjoy doing this?" Dorothea asked. Her voice was already shaking.

"Beating or cheating? Either way, I did both to de-stress," Vincent replied. "I didn't expect the method that my Dad did back then actually worked. I become less stressed and more efficient with my job. I should've done this way sooner."

…

Dorothea was unsure of what to feel right now.

She was heartbroken to know that her son was no different than his late father. They were both serial cheaters and abusers.

When Chloe reported Vincent's cheating to her, she already felt the pain in her heart, but she tried to ignore it as she thought it was just a one-time— or two-time thing that Vincent did, so Chloe had to tolerate it since Chloe was a low-value woman.

And about the abuse… Chloe never reported Vincent's abuse, so Dorothea thought Vincent was too good to stay with a useless leech-like Chloe.

Dorothea also thought that Chloe wasn't really the ideal wife of a Billionaire. She didn't have the class, nor was she born into an influential family. So she contributed nothing other than giving birth to Mackenzie.

When Vincent and Chloe were just married, Dorothea tried to open her heart to her new daughter-in-law by inviting her to many socialite parties.

But Chloe always refused without specifying the reason. Thus, Dorothea despised her daughter-in-law even more, thinking that Chloe didn't respect her as a mother-in-law.

'Can I still blame Chloe now?' Dorothea pondered in her heart. 'We're suffering the same fate….'

'But even if I sympathize, what should I do to help her or my granddaughter? I barely have any contact with her. I don't even think I have her contact in my phone anymore….'

Dorothea slowly turned her head to check on her son.

Vincent was smirking as he watched the video on his phone. His eyes were filled with lust and cruelty, and Dorothea couldn't bear to see them.

Because she saw the face of Vaughn Gray when he was hurting her, and she still couldn't handle the fear that always crept up whenever she saw those eyes.

Chapter 440

Dorothea suddenly stood up and grabbed her bag, "I'm leaving, I have other things to do."

"Huh… okay," Vincent replied without care. But he had a slight suspicion, "Mom, you don't feel bad about Chloe, right? You're the one who taught me about this, so you shouldn't feel bad. Chloe is just like you to some extent…."

Vincent smirked and gave his mother a mocking gaze, "You two can take many beatings from their husbands and tolerate cheating. Perfect obedient women for men like Dad and I."

…

"Sure thing, Son," Dorothea opened the door and walked away. She wore shades to hide the tears welling in her eyes as she opened the door.

She saw the old Secretary Maria who stood near the door, probably eavesdropping. Dorothea knew that Maria was a professional, she didn't even fall into Vaughn's seduction when she was young, but she was so cold, like a robot, sometimes Dorothea felt uncomfortable talking with her.

"I'm leaving first," Dorothea said.

"Yes, Madam, I will call your chauffeur to get ready."

Secretary Maria returned to her desk, and Dorothea walked to the elevator.

She accidentally ran into Vernon, who came out of the bathroom.

Vernon raised one brow and asked, "Leaving so soon? I thought you're going to pester us even more."

…

Dorothea stayed silent. She was in no mood to argue with her second son after knowing that she had accidentally raised her first son as a monster.

Vernon scoffed when he got no answer from Dorothea, "What am I doing anyway? Talking to a useless mother like you."

Vernon walked back to Vincent's office while Dorothea stood still, waiting for the elevator door to open.

Ding!

Dorothea quickly entered the elevator and went down. The moment the elevator door closed, her trembling legs gave up, and she leaned at the corner of the elevator, trying to compose herself after she learned about Vincent.

"What have I done?" she murmured, full of grief. "I've accidentally turned Vincent into a monster."

Dorothea always thought that Vincent was a perfect son for her. He was smart, dependable, and better at managing and expanding businesses than Vaughn.

But this twisted side of him changed Dorothea's view of him, and now she realized that she was all alone.

She entered the backseat of her car and told the chauffeur to just drive back to the mansion. She was done with today and probably for the rest of the week.

'Should I schedule another therapy session with Shailene? She might give me good advice on what to do to fix Vincent,' Dorothea wondered. 'Though, I already know most of her answers will revolve around Vernon. She always insisted on me taking Vernon's side for whatever reason.'

Dorothea started recalling her relationship with Vernon.

By the time Vincent was ten years old, Dorothea, who had endured most beating, eventually grew numb, and Vaughn got bored with her silence.

So he started cheating with various women instead. By the time Dorothea discovered she was pregnant with the second child, she was already in deep depression. She tried to cover up her pain by excessive drinking, thinking it would kill the new baby in her belly.

She refused to bear another child from that bastard. It disgusted her so much just imagining it.

Unfortunately, Vernon was a strong baby. He survived childbirth despite all her excessive drinking, and she was stuck on raising her bastard husband's new son.

Dorothea sighed, 'That's impossible. I haven't given a shit about Vernon ever since he was born, I don't think there's a way for us to mend our relationship,' she thought. 'I will tell Shailene about it, and see if she can give me a new perspective on how to fix Vincent, rather than dealing with Vernon.'

'And about Chloe…'

Dorothea felt uneasy. She never thought that Chloe had it hard in life. She was living her best life because Vincent was supposed to be the perfect son and obviously would be the perfect husband, so Dorothea thought Chloe was just a spoiled, opportunistic low-class girl who happened to be very pretty.

Now that she has learned the truth…

'Naturally, I prefer to just ignore this whole thing. Act like I've never learned about her suffering, so I don't need to worry about her,' Dorothea thought. 'But she has Mackie in her hands right now, what if she made the same mistake, and my granddaughter will turn out just like her father?'

…

Dorothea clicked her tongue and checked her phone to see if she had Chloe's contact.

Just as she expected, she didn't have Chloe's contact here. Either she just deleted it or never bothered to save it.

Either way, she wanted to call her estranged daughter-in-law to check whether she was taking care of Mackenzie seriously.

Because if Chloe made the same mistake as she did, she might as well hand Mackenzie to her so she could take care of her granddaughter.

"Obviously, I can't ask for Chloe's contact from Vincent. He would question me…." Dorothea bit her lower lip.

Well, she knew one woman who could give her Chloe's contact.

But she felt it would be very degrading to ask her because Dorothea always saw this woman as a lower-class woman who sucked on Vincent's money.

Unable to curb her worry, Dorothea was forced to abandon her pride and found a contact started with 'J.'

"Damn, this is so embarrassing," Dorothea complained. She pressed call, and the phone was instantly connected.

-

"G—Good morning, Madam Gray, can I help you with something?" the woman on the phone greeted humbly.

Dorothea rolled her eyes, sure this woman was humbled only because her daughter was married to Vincent.

"Judith, do you have Chloe's phone number? I need it."

"Ah… I do, Madam. But what is this for?"

"I just need to talk to her."

There was a long silence before Judith answered;

"Madam Gray, I'm so sorry for my daughter's doing. I know she's a whore, but please don't punish us, we're trying our best to bring her back, but she blocked our numbers!"