Ch. 586..590: Divorced My Scum Husband, Married His Evil brother Chapter 586-590
Chapter 586
Vernon was busy in his office, as always. He was ten times busier than before because he had to accelerate some of his projects and plans to take advantage of the situation created by Dorothea before.
Now that his Big brother would be occupied for at least three months, he had a lot of meetings with Vincent's business partners. They were starting to jump ship and cooperate with Vernon because they had already sniffed the instability in the Gray company, so they had to save themselves first before that century-old company started crumbling.
Vernon had just finished a meeting with two more of Vincent's business partners and struck a quick deal with both of them for his next project. He checked his watch and sighed, "Almost five. I got to leave now after handling one more project with Diamond. I don't want Chloe to wait for too long for our dinner."
Vernon was also excited about Chloe's recovery. He couldn't wait to see her in full health again, doing anything she liked without worrying about her cast.
'And I have to protect her better from now on, so there'll be no more accidents that will lead to Chloe or Mackie getting hurt.'
Vernon entered his office and saw Diamond busy with her phone, scrolling through something that Vernon thought would be Tiktok or Twitter.
"You can relax later, Diamond. Don't laze around," Vernon chided.
Diamond looked up, and her eyes glimmered excitedly when she saw her Boss. She got up and yelled, "Sir! Check all social media's trending!"
Vernon frowned, "What's up there? Is it about the scholarship problem from the Gray foundation? I know it already, it's been trending for a while."
"No! There's a new one that pops up today! Holy shit, it's crazy!" Diamond couldn't hide her excitement any longer. She didn't even care that she was talking to her Boss.
Vernon's frown grew deeper. Diamond was acting weirdly excited now, as if the social media trend was big and important today.
'Maybe it's just another meaningless celebrity gossip,' Vernon thought. "Just put your phone down and go to work!" He scolded.
Diamond shook her head, "Sir, you have to see this video first!"
She shoved the phone screen in front of Vernon's face, and the first thing Vernon saw was the title.
-
Trending: Sisters fight. Two sisters are related to Vincent Gray?!
-
Vernon's eyes widened. She snatched the phone from Diamond's hand and pressed play.
—Video start—
The video was set in the parking lot of a hospital. There was a creepy woman with a Joker-like scar across her cheek, and Vernon identified it easily as Chelsea.
Chelsea was looking around as everyone was watching her, facing a beautiful woman that was definitely Chloe. Chloe held a boy Vernon didn't recognize, but it must've been one of her nephews.
"What are you looking at? Are you scared to see my scar?" Chelsea scoffed and suddenly pointed at Chloe, "Then you should blame this bitch! She is a two-faced bitch who sends someone to attack and carve this scar on me!"
Everyone gasped, and Chloe looked astonished.please visit
Vernon clenched the phone. He was angry when he heard that bitch dared to slander his beloved.
Even if that bitch didn't know that Vernon was the one who sent the attacker, she should've known that Chloe was a kind woman that wouldn't do such a thing!
Vernon thought that Chloe would be crying or at least accept everything as she got scared easily.
But to his disbelief, Chloe actually fired back, "Watch your mouth, Chelsea! If you keep slandering me like this, then don't blame me if I take this to the court! Let's see how much you can pay for your bullshit!"
Chelsea's eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, then she boasted with a loud voice that echoed around the parking lot, "I AM THE FUTURE WIFE OF VINCENT GRAY! DO YOU THINK I CAN'T PAY YOU? I CAN FUCKING BUY YOUR LIFE, YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT!"
—Video end—
Vernon was left speechless after the video ended abruptly. That last sentence was the video's highlight, creating a buzz.
There were a few top trending hashtags on Twitter regarding this issue.
#VincentGrayWife
#VincentFutureWife
#VincentandJoker
#JokerLady
Fortunately, there was no hashtag regarding Chloe, and nobody on social media tried to go around finding out about Chloe's identity. Because she looked very normal compared to Chelsea, who looked like a female Joker.,
Vernon returned the phone to Diamond and asked, "Go and start searching if anyone wants to know about Chloe's identity. Make sure to tell the IT team to take down any of them mentioning Chloe."
Diamond's excitement died when she realized that her Boss must've worried about Chloe's safety. She nodded, "Certainly, Sir. I will tell our IT team to take down anything mentioning Chloe."
"Good, I don't want her identity to be revealed. Things will get messy," Vernon said.
"Yes, but you shouldn't be too tense, Boss. As far as I know, everyone is talking about the female Joker, Chelsea. She really looks like a maniac with a creepy smile and scar that would scare everyone around her," Diamond said. "Now that she mentioned Vincent, everyone starts questioning if it was true that the lady was Vincent Gray's future wife."
"Vincent will do something about this," Vernon said. "And it won't be pretty."
"Oh, for sure, Sir. He will probably order all of his PR team to take this down. But it'd be too hard to do because it's such big news right now. Everyone is talking about it. I think the official accounts of many gossip news outlets are starting to pick this up as well," Diamond said confidently. "It won't be long until this news about Chelsea the crazy Joker lady and Vincent Gray will be covered in mainstream media!"
Diamond thought that Vernon would be more excited than this. But he looked concerned instead, "Sir, are you still thinking about Chloe?"
Vernon nodded, "I don't want people to start inquiring about her identity."
"Don't worry about that one, Sir. I will do my best to keep her identity concealed!" Diamond assured. "Besides, you should be happy! Chelsea's blunder means that Vincent will be very, very busy trying to handle the attention!"
Chapter 587
Vernon sighed, "I suppose you're right. I should be happy that Chelsea made that kind of claim in public, now everyone's attention will be on them, and my Big brother will be even busier as he has to handle the Gray foundation scholarship problem, and also this one."
"Yes, Sir. You get so much space to do your thing now, and I believe everything will be on our side before Vincent even realizes it!" Diamond was fired up. Though she didn't have any connection with Vincent Gray, she still had animosity against that bastard who dared to hurt her best friend, and also for daring to ask Diamond about her price, as if she was a prostitute.
Vernon knew that he should be happy about this, but he couldn't help to get distracted by his ever-growing worry about his beloved.
Now that her face was on the internet, it wouldn't take long until someone noticed the beautiful woman as Chloe Gray, Vincent Gray's wife.
'And that means I have to accelerate things or else people will always think of her as Vincent's wife, and I don't want that,' Vernon thought.
"Diamond, we should call it a day for today," Vernon said abruptly.
"Eh? But you said you want to finish the preparation for Vincent Gray's cosmetic advertisement project, Sir," Diamond said. "This will be the best time, right? With Chelsea's Joker-like face, everyone will start mocking Vincent's cosmetic products to be put on that woman's face, so she actually looked like the Joker with make-up!"
Diamond was right.
This was the right time to launch Vincent's cosmetic product advertisement because people would be laughing and mocking the product. The people would do smear campaigns against the brand even without Vernon trying to manipulate anything in the ad. That would save him from Vincent or Maria's suspicion.
"We can do it tomorrow. But I have to go home today, I want to check on Chloe and ask her about this whole thing," Vernon said. "I bet she still doesn't know that she went viral. She doesn't use social media."
"Ah—okay then. I will do overtime to finish the advertisement's paperwork," Diamond volunteered with a devilish grin pasted permanently on her face. "I can't wait to see that bastard getting stressed out over people's mockery."
"Thanks, Diamond. I'll make sure to give you a bonus for your pay," Vernon said. He grabbed his briefcase inside his office and left as soon as possible.
**
"So, do you have a plan to marry my second son?" Dorothea asked as she helped Chloe to cook in the kitchen.
Chloe allowed Dorothea to enter the penthouse kitchen to help her with lunch and dinner because Chloe planned to cook a lot for Vernon and Mackie.
Meanwhile, Mackie was dancing around while watching some kind of dance tutorial on Youtube. It was enough to distract her so she wouldn't stay in the kitchen, insisting on helping even though she wasn't even tall enough to put her hands on the kitchen countertop.
Chloe sighed. She knew that Dorothea would eventually ask that question, "I'm not sure," she replied while cutting rows of carrots skillfully. "I haven't even been divorced with Vincent yet, and it'd be difficult to force Vincent to sign that paper. So, marrying Vernon is still a far off dream for now."
"But you do want to marry him, right?" Dorothea asked.please visit
Chloe paused momentarily and nodded lightly, "I'd love to. He has grown to be a good and responsible man. He is good with Mackie, so he is probably good with our next children if we decide to have more later."
"However, I don't want him to solely focus on me," Chloe said. "He is still young, and we don't know when I will get divorced with Vincent. I don't want him to wait for too long until I'm too old. If he has another woman that he likes, then I will let him go."
Dorothea smiled. Chloe hadn't changed since the first time they met. She still prioritized everyone around her except herself.
Depending on the situation, it could be a good or bad trait, but it was endearing for Dorothea.
"Well, I'm just making sure that you won't reject him once he proposes," Dorothea said. "And trust me, Chloe. Vernon will find a way to make it happen. I don't think he will marry anyone except you, that's why he's trying his hardest right now to topple Vincent, right? He did it all for you."
"…"
Chloe said nothing, but her cheeks visibly reddened. She would be an idiot if she didn't see all of his efforts to separate Vincent and her. He also did so much to topple the Gray century-old businesses, so Vincent had no room to retaliate.
He would never do such dangerous stuff behind his big brother's back if he didn't love her.
Chloe knew he loved her. She just didn't want to be his only target in case he failed to topple Vincent down.
'Maybe I'm just too pessimistic,' Chloe thought. 'I just can't imagine him ruining Vincent. That monster is far too powerful, and I don't want Vernon to get hurt because he tries to protect me.'
They finished making a late lunch for all of them before continuing to make dinner. Around five, all the food was served on the dinner table.
"Wow, we cooked so much," Chloe said as she wiped the sweat dripping from her forehead.
Dorothea smiled, "This is Thanksgiving worthy of food."
"Hahaha, yeah, I was so happy to be able to use both of my hands. It's liberating," Chloe said. She turned around to grab a lunch box full of food and handed it to Dorothea. "I'm sorry, Dorothea, but… you know…"
Dorothea smiled and accepted the food they had cooked just now, "It's fine, I understand."
Dorothea got up slowly from the chair and walked towards the penthouse door.
"Granny!" Mackie rushed towards her Grandma and hugged her waist. "Granny, where are you going? Why don't you eat with us? Uncle will be home soon!"
Chapter 588
"Ah--" Dorothea didn't expect her granddaughter to ask her to stay. So she was stunned for a second before she replied slowly, "Mackie, I still have things to do in my room. That's why I can't join you for dinner."
"Awww..." Mackie pouted sadly. "Then, can you join us for dinner tomorrow?"
"T--That I can't do as well. You know that Granny is very busy, right?"
"Umm..." Mackie naturally knew that her Grandmother was very busy. It was the main reason Mackie was never allowed to stay for too long with Granny in the Gray mansion, because she would have to meet with her socialite friends by three, and then to another party by five, et cetera.
But it was still sad because Mackie expected Granny to eat with them daily since she lived in the same apartment as them, just on a different floor.
"Can you at least eat with us for Thanksgiving, Granny?" Mackie asked. "Or Christmas, I want to open Christmas presents with you!"
Dorothea looked helpless as Mackie kept asking her to attend events she obviously couldn't do since Vernon would be there. She wasn't allowed to be in the same room as Vernon.
Thus, Chloe came to the rescue. She gently patted Mackie's head and said, "Dear, you should let your Granny go. She still has things to do."
"But she hasn't promised me to eat together for Thanksgiving!" Mackie insisted. She tightened her hug on her Granny.
Chloe and Dorothea looked at each other pitifully. Of course, if possible, they'd love to be together for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
But they had to adhere to Vernon's rule since Vernon tolerated Dorothea enough.
"Dear, how about we eat lunch in Granny's apartment tomorrow. That way we can still eat with her, right?" Chloe suggested.
"Umm... okay then..." Mackie was still sad that Granny wouldn't be with them for Christmas or Thanksgiving, but at least they could still eat together in her apartment. 'I will ask Uncle about this later! I'm sure he can join us too during the weekend!'
Mackie slowly released her hug and allowed Dorothea to leave. She gave Mackie and Chloe a sad look, "Thanks for allowing me to help you here. It's been fun."
"I should be the one who thank you, Dorothea. I won't be able to finish all of them on time without your help."
Dorothea had a little smile on her face before she left.
Despite agreeing with the terms, Mackie was still sad. She returned to the living room and then silently played with her iPad.
Chloe sighed. It was such a difficult situation to handle. Mackie didn't know what was wrong with her Uncle and Grandma, and there was no way to tell her that Grandma had been awfully abusive to her Uncle when he was young.
'I just hope that Vernon's heart will somehow be softened so he will allow Dorothea to be with us during Christmas and Thanksgiving,' Chloe secretly wished. She didn't dare to hope for it because she knew Vernon wasn't the forgiving type. Vernon's tolerance towards Dorothea was already a big thing that only came once in a blue moon.
Besides, it was too early for him to forgive Dorothea. It would probably take years to be together as one big family.
**please visit
Vernon returned home around five-thirty. He unlocked the penthouse door with his fingerprint and opened the door abruptly. His worry might've been exaggerated, but he just couldn't be relaxed when he had this bad thought that Vincent might've tracked Chloe's location because of that video.
"Uncle!" Mackie's face brightened when she saw her Uncle at the door. She rushed and hugged her Uncle's thigh.
Vernon calmed down after he saw Mackie. If his little girl was here, Chloe must be with her somewhere. Vernon patted Mackie's head and asked, "Where's your Mommy?"
"Um, she is taking a bath. She's been sweating because she cooked a lot for dinner!" Mackie chirped happily, much to Vernon's relief.
'Okay, that means Vincent is still busy with that Gray foundation problem. Maybe he still hasn't noticed the news about Chelsea on social media. Things will get crazy once he knows about it though,' Vernon thought.
Mackie noticed that her Uncle wasn't in a good mood. He looked very concerned for an unknown reason.
"Uncle, are you okay?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"You look worried, Uncle. Are you okay?"
Vernon sighed. He smiled at his daughter and lifted her up. Vernon carried Mackie with one hand and then patted her head, "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired from work."
"Then you should have dinner with us! Mommy cooked a lot, we're having a feast today!" Mackie said.
"Haha, I'd love to eat with you two," Vernon ruffled Mackie's hair. He walked to the dining table carrying Mackie. He clicked his tongue in awe when he saw a variety of foods that he liked served on the table. It was still fairly warm too.
Vernon put Mackie on the chair before he sat right next to her, "I can't wait to eat, but we should wait for your Mommy first."
"Let me call her!" Mackie jumped from the chair and went down. She returned while holding her mother's hand. "We're here, Uncle!"
"C--Careful, Mackie. You might trip...." Chloe said while she followed her daughter to climb the staircases.
Vernon's lips finally perked when he saw Chloe in her pajamas, still trying to dry her hair with a towel. This kind of sight was what Vernon craved the most.
Mackie pushed her Mommy to right next to her Uncle, filling Mackie's usual spot while the little girl sat facing them instead.
Chloe's cheeks reddened when she was seated beside Vernon, she didn't know why she became so shy, but she greeted him meekly, "W--Welcome home, Vernon. I've cooked a lot for our dinner today to celebrate my recovery."
Vernon smiled. He grabbed the chair and slid it closer to his side until their knees rubbed on each other. He gave her a light peck on the cheek and asked, "Congratulations for your recovery, I'm not too late for dinner, right?"
Chapter 589
It was around eight when they finally finished the buffet, and Mackie got sleepy after eating so much.
She kissed her Mommy and Uncle good night and then went down to brush her teeth and sleep, leaving Chloe and Vernon alone at the dining table of the Penthouse.
Chloe busied herself by putting all the dishes in the dishwasher while Vernon watched from the side.
He crossed his arms. There was a lingering worry despite seeing Chloe in full health in front of him.
'How did she bump into Chelsea?'
'Why did she try to protect that little boy?'
'Did she realize that she was being recorded by so many people?'
'Does she know that she and her sister are trending on so many platforms right now?'
Those questions lingered in Vernon's head. He waited until Chloe finished putting all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher before he asked, "Did you stumble into something interesting today?"
Chloe paused for a moment. She turned around awkwardly to face Vernon and tried to force a smile, "I—I don't understand what you mean, Vernon. Stumble into something?"
"Yes, maybe an old face that gives you trouble," Vernon said.
"…" Chloe gulped. Her face got paler instantly, and she shook her head, "I—I don't understand what you mean, Vernon."
Vernon clicked his tongue, "Come on, just come clean about it. You know that you're a bad liar, right?"
"Ah—" Chloe sometimes forgot how bad of a liar she was. But she truly didn't want to make unnecessary trouble for Vernon. "How do you know about it?" She asked.
"… it's trending on many platforms. People are talking about the Female Joker because of Chelsea's disfigured face and crazy behavior," Vernon said. "Everyone recorded your fight with her, now everyone is searching about the identity of that Female Joker. The only thing we can salvage about this whole incident is the fact that you're not as flashy as her, so nobody really has any curiosity to search for your identity."
She sighed and murmured, "I'm sorry, I really don't know what to do against her. She keeps yelling at me, shouting in the parking lot and attracting people's attention."
Vernon leaned on the wall and said, "You should tell me what happened first so I get the gist."
Chloe sat on the stool and put her elbow on the kitchen countertop. She took a deep breath and started, "It happened today in the morning, right after I finished getting my cast taken off. I went to the parking lot, and saw Aaron crying in the middle of the lot with a bruised cheek."please visit
'… I think I already know how this story goes,' Vernon guessed. It was easy to predict because Chloe had a strong motherly instinct.
"So I brought him into the car, then hugged and coaxed him with snacks until he finally opened up to me about his problem," Chloe said. She felt heavy as she had to remember all the sad things Aaron spoke about his home these days. "He said that his Father had left without a trace, leaving his Mother and Grandma alone. His Grandma had become old, so he helped with house chores. Meanwhile, his Mother got attacked, and became very unhinged these days. She started beating Aaron and his brothers even for the smallest reason."
"He told me that Chelsea slapped him so hard because he said that her face scared the other kids in the hospital," Chloe said. "Now I know what he said was wrong, and Chelsea is probably not in the right mental state right now. But beating your kid is still wrong no matter what!"
Vernon gritted his teeth in silence while staring at Chloe. He felt conflicted right now.
Obviously, he was the one who caused this whole mess in Chloe's family. He just couldn't let his beloved get hurt repeatedly by his mother and sister, so he planned an elaborate revenge against Chelsea and Tommy first.
He ruined Chelsea's face and indirectly gave Tommy a job that paid him well while he did nothing, so he ran away with his groomed girl.
He loved seeing that useless family crumble to pieces. It was a good payment for using Chloe as their bank account, but they couldn't care less when she was being abused by Vincent.
But he was so blinded by revenge he forgot that Chelsea had four sons, and they were innocent.
Now, even Vernon didn't know what to do. Of course, he couldn't reverse the whole thing. Tommy had run away, and Chelsea's scar was permanent without intensive plastic surgery.
Chloe rested her cheek on her palm, "I don't know who attacked Chelsea, and I sympathize with her. I can even help to pay for her surgery if she wants. But no matter how bad the situation becomes, she still cannot hurt her children."
"Not everyone is as strong as you, Chloe," Vernon interrupted. "Just because you can persevere under pressure to be a good mother for Mackie, doesn't mean the others can do the same. Just look at my mother for example."
"She was beaten by my late Dad, and then turned on me to release her frustration," Vernon let out a heavy sigh as he remembered Dorothea again. "Chelsea is not as good of a mother as you are. She must be frustrated over something, and she released her frustration by beating her sons."
"But it's wrong!" Chloe insisted.
"I never said it's right. I just say that it's something commonly happening in real life. Mother hurting their own children to let out their frustration."
Chloe went quiet. She knew that Vernon was right in this one.
Dorothea and Chelsea were prime examples. Even her mother—Judith, also had her moments of breakdown, though she never beat Chelsea or her at least.
"I gave Aaron my phone number, and told him to call me if things got really bad in his house," Chloe said. "But other than that, I cannot do anything else. I—I want to protect those boys, Vernon."
Chapter 590
"No," Vernon replied curtly before Chloe could speak more about this problem. "We won't bring those boys into our house, Chloe."
Chloe was speechless. She hadn't even asked about it yet, but Vernon already had the answer.
"I know what you have in mind, Chloe," Vernon added. "I know that you think you can give those four boys--your nephews a sanctuary in our house. But you will soon realize that having too many children is a very difficult thing to do. I don't want you to get stressed out because you have to take care of five children at once."
Vernon remembered how Dorothea ignored him since she was already busy caring for Vincent. Everyone in the Gray mansion always saw him as a secondary thing. They couldn't care less because they already had their true Young Master.
Vernon didn't want Mackie and their children to feel like they lacked motherly love because Chloe was too busy caring for her nephews.
"But I can't let them get abused by Chelsea!" Chloe stayed on her ground. Just imagining those boys getting hurt by Chelsea repeatedly was enough to make her heart ache. "Vernon, please, I--"
"No." Vernon crossed his arms as he frowned deeper. "We still have so many things to do right now. We're not yet to take down Vincent. Don't let your emotions take control of you, Chloe. It'll only bring us trouble."
Chloe finally zipped her mouth once she realized that Vernon was up to no negotiation right now. No matter how hard she tried to convince him, he just wouldn't budge.
So she could only lower her head, feeling conflicted about what to do.
Vernon sighed, "I did this for us, Chloe. I know that you have a good intention to protect those boys. But you should also know that we simply can't afford those four boys, and this is not about money, this is about your time and safety."
"You and Mackie are still in hiding from Vincent, adopting those boys would only make it easy for Vincent to find you," Vernon tried to repeatedly give Chloe an explanation that she could take. "This is also about time, do you actually have time to handle four boys plus Mackie at once?"
Chloe wanted to say she could take care of four boys and Mackie. She had done it many times in the past because Chelsea would always throw all of her boys at Chloe whenever Chloe came in for a visit.
But she got what Vernon wanted to say.
Mackie's safety was the most important. Adopting the boys would only expose them.
But still...
'Is this it? I can't do anything in the end because the situation is just not favorable?' Chloe wondered.
Again, it was easy for Vernon to read what was in Chloe's mind, and truthfully, he also felt guilty for putting Chelsea's son's life in jeopardy.
Though he would ruin Tommy and Chelsea's lives gleefully, he took no joy in hurting the kids.
Vernon approached Chloe, who was still sitting on the stool. He stood behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist, "I know your heart is in the right place, Chloe. It's also one of the qualities that I love about you."please visit
Chloe nodded. She had good intentions but was powerless because of the circumstances.
"I'm sorry that I can't do much for now, but I promise to do something for those boys. Maybe we can put them in a foster home with adopted parents?" Vernon suggested. "I will pay the parents professionally, you can have control over the boys' education too. But you don't need to be their caretaker 24/7."
Chloe nodded again. It was a good suggestion though she still wished she could directly become their mother to replace Chelsea's inability to do so.
"Alright, it's settled then. But you should know it will take a while for those boys to be released from Chelsea," Vernon informed. "We should have a sign of heavy abuse or Chelsea's unstable mental health to move the boys to a foster home."
"Luckily, we don't need to do much for that," Vernon said. "Everyone on the internet is already appalled by Chelsea's bold claim that she is going to be Vincent Gray's future wife. Everyone went wild because of that."
"Ah, that part...." Chloe remembered vividly how Chelsea looked so proud with her own claim, as if marrying Vincent was a big achievement for all women on earth. "I don't know how she becomes so obsessed with Vincent. I bet Vincent did something that affected her mind."
"Most likely," Vernon agreed. "Now we just need to wait until Vincent does something. I'm pretty sure things will get really bad between those two."
...
Chloe gave a quick nod which put Vernon in a better mood. He gave her a little kiss on the head before releasing her, "Well, I'm going to take a bath and work again. You're free to come to my room tonight if you want to."
Vernon winked at Chloe, signaling he was ready for another fingering session. Maybe they could do three fingers tonight. It would at least take four deep fingers for Chloe to be ready for the real thing.
However, contrary to his expectation, Chloe shook her head this time, saying, "I'm not in the mood, sorry, Vernon."
"... okay then, you should rest," Vernon said calmly, though he couldn't hide his disappointment.
"Yeah, I'll go to my room instead."
Chloe got up from the stool and walked away from Vernon.
Chloe returned to her room downstairs. She threw herself on the bed, closing her eyes as her heart grew restless.
Vernon was right, they couldn't do anything for now, and they should just wait until Vincent did something horrible to Chelsea, so Chelsea would eventually snap, then the boys would be put in a foster home.
"But no matter how many times I heard it, I just can't get used to that plan. It sounds very evil," Chloe murmured. "Is it wrong for me to feel pity for Chelsea, Judith, and especially the boys?"