Ch. 671..675: Divorced My Scum Husband, Married His Evil brother Chapter 671-675

Chapter 671

"Alright, you two should go downstairs to take a bath and rest first," Vernon said to Mackie and Chloe. "I will go back to my room to take a bath and change my clothes as well."

"Um, okay, Uncle!" Mackie nodded.

Chloe smiled and nodded, "Then you should rest first, I will cook lunch in about an hour."

Vernon wanted to say that Chloe didn't need to do a thing today because she had just done something incredible by defending herself and her daughter against Maria and her men.

But Vernon knew that Chloe needed to busy herself so she wouldn't be reminded of what happened just now, so he just nodded and allowed her to do whatever.

Vernon's smile vanished as he entered his bedroom. Though Chloe and Mackie didn't blame him, he was still very angry at what Maria did to them.

Honestly, he wanted to do the worst for that old bitch. He wanted to personally snap her neck and cut her into pieces, then feed her mutilated corpse to the pigs. It was the most appropriate punishment for Maria because she was truly a madwoman who treated everyone except Vaughn and Vincent as pigs. Vernon could feel Maria's contempt for everyone around her, as if everyone was lower than a subhuman in her eyes.

Unfortunately, he didn't want to stain his hand with blood, not when he would use the same hand to hug his beloved woman and daughter.

"Now that she is dead, all that is left is Vincent," Vernon muttered. "I cannot rest until Vincent is dead or suffers fate worse than death. He deserved the worst pain imaginable for hurting my beloved woman for the past ten years."

He knew he might sound cruel, but he felt very dissatisfied after ending Maria's life in the tamest way possible.

So he decided to plan a fate worse than death for his one and only Big brother.

Vernon grinned as he had an idea in mind.

"Thankfully, his ex-slut contacted me a few days ago. I know she must've been triggered seeing the news online about Vincent and Chelsea."

Usually, Vernon wouldn't even bother talking to any woman other than Chloe unless necessary. But he knew one thing about Vincent's ex-slut;

She was batshit insane and was hopelessly obsessed to be the next Mrs. Gray.

She contacted Vernon a few days ago to ask for his assistance to get back on her feet and return to Vincent's side.

Fortunately, Vernon had a better idea instead because he wanted to make sure that Vincent would suffer for the rest of his life.

"Let's see, Big bro. You abused my woman for ten years, so you deserved to be abused for the rest of your life."

**

Chloe and Mackie finished cleaning themselves after about an hour. Chloe told her daughter to play in her room while she cooked lunch for them.

As she went up, she saw Vernon with a pink apron that looked mini for his big body. He was chopping vegetables and also preparing the hot oil in the pan.

Chloe approached him and patted his muscly arm, "You're not supposed to cook, Vernon. It's my job."

"It's fine," Vernon replied. "I want to help you cook something for lunch, then I'll go to handle something."

"Something?"

"… it's not something nice to hear, Chloe. It's better for you not to know," Vernon said.

Chloe went silent after that. She connected the dot easily and decided to help Vernon without saying anything.

As they finished cooking the food for lunch, Chloe went down to call her daughter and then ate together as three.

Mackie ate lunch happily, though it didn't taste as good as usual, so she knew that Uncle must've been the one who cooked lunch today.

She glanced at her Mommy and asked, "Mommy, can I meet with Gran and the boys today?"

Chloe stopped eating her food once Mackie dropped that question. She glanced at Vernon, who didn't seem to be bothered by the question, either because he had tolerated their existence after Maria's death or because he was just too distraught by the whole thing right now.

Nevertheless, Chloe thought Mackie had seen way too much anyway, so meeting with her cousins shouldn't be a problem. She should probably watch over them and listen to the kids' conversation in case one of the boys brought up Chelsea.

'I should probably tell Dorothea about this as well, so she can help in case I'm not around.'

"You should ask your Uncle first. He's the one who allowed the boys to live with us," Chloe said.

Mackie shifted her attention to her Uncle and asked, "Uncle, can I meet with my cousins? I miss them so much."

Vernon smiled at Mackie and nodded, "You can. It must be lonely for you to play all by yourself."

Mackie's doe eyes brightened instantly, "Thank you so much, Uncle! I want to play with them! I will bring all of my toys so they won't get bored too!"

Chloe was slightly worried about the whole thing, and Vernon immediately noticed it.

Honestly, he understood Chloe's worry. She was very protective of Mackie, so she didn't want to expose Mackie to the harsh truth because she was too young.

But Chloe underestimated the mental fortitude that the little girl had.

Mackie was a very strong little girl. She also went through a lot in school as Vincent turned everyone in the school against her.

She was also strong enough not to cry when Maria ambushed them and was brave enough to stand against Vernon because she didn't want Vernon to yell at Chloe.

She was a strong little wolf that reminded Vernon so much of himself when he was young. They were both feisty, had a strong will, and never broke down, even if they faced harsh realities in their respective families.

And with Chloe around her daughter, Vernon knew that Mackie would grow up to be a great woman in the future.

Chapter 672

So Vernon gently patted the back of Chloe's hand, gave her an assuring smile, and said in a low voice, "She will be fine, trust me. Our Little Wolf is a strong little lady."

Chloe still didn't understand why Vernon would approve it so easily, but his assuring smile surely calmed her heart a little.

Since she couldn't back down now, she finally agreed to bring Mackie to her cousins, "We can go in an hour, okay?"

"Whoo! Thanks, Mommy!"

Mackie rejoiced as she finally didn't have to spend the whole day alone in her room anymore. She didn't have too many toys for the boys, but she had books, so she already planned to bring some of her books for the boys today.

Vernon chuckled when he saw Mackie's excitement. Mackie was truly a happy virus that every family needed. She turned the somber mood into a fun one as if she hadn't faced a difficult day today.

'My little wolf…' Vernon thought. 'I will protect you.'

**

Vernon went out somewhere after lunch, and Chloe didn't dare to ask, knowing it must've involved cleaning up Maria's mess.

Instead, she helped her daughter pack some of her books into her bag so that she could bring them to her cousins.

Mackie checked at her Mommy, who didn't look too happy, "Mommy, why are you sad?"

"Ah, it's nothing, dear," Chloe tried to force a smile. Of course, she couldn't simply say that she didn't want Mackie to go and meet her cousins because she was worried.

"Do you not want me to go?" Mackie asked innocently. "If you don't want me to go, then I can wait until I can meet my cousins."

"…" Chloe sighed. "I still want you to go, Mackie. I'm just worried the boys might say something that will make you cry."

Mackie connected the dot instantly. Since her experience today, she realized that Daddy must've been so mean since he allowed that old woman to hurt them.

"Mommy, may I ask something?"

"Yes."

"Did Daddy do something to Gran?"

Chloe's heart jumped when that question came out of the blue. She looked at her daughter, who stared at her with her doe eyes.

She didn't know how Mackie connected the dots, especially when Chloe hadn't told her daughter about Vincent before.

"W—Why would you say that, dear? Gran died because of her age. People usually pass away when they are too old…"

"Um, okay then…." Mackie lowered her head. She wasn't satisfied with the answer because her little heart felt something was amiss. But it seemed that Mommy simply didn't want to talk about it.

"How did you get that idea anyway?" Chloe asked. "Did your Uncle tell you something?"

Mackie shook her head, "It's because of that scary old woman, Mommy. She is Daddy's assistant, right?" Mackie mentioned Maria. "She was also in the school during Autumn Festival. She was sitting on the bench in front of the Principal's office when you got beaten by Daddy that day."

"So I thought, Daddy must've done something to Gran too, since that old lady is also in the hospital with us."

Chloe was astonished by her daughter's intellect.

She knew that Mackie was very smart, but she didn't expect one small misstep on her part would cause a chain reaction in Mackie's brain, making it easier for the little girl to connect the dots even without any kind of hints.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, Mommy," Mackie assured. "You don't need to tell me anything until you are ready. I know you have your own reason to hide it from me."

"Oh dear…" Chloe hugged her daughter and patted the back of her head gently. She knew that she couldn't hide things forever from her daughter. But she tried her hardest to keep her innocence because Chloe didn't want Mackie to have a bad childhood. She didn't want Mackie to have the same experience as Chloe growing up. "I'm so sorry, dear. I really don't know what to say to you. But trust me, I did everything because I love you, and I promise you will know about the whole truth once you're old enough, okay?"

Naturally, Mackie knew that her Mommy loved her so much. Though she always questioned why Mommy hid so many things from her.

Mackie always wondered why Mommy always cried when she was alone or why she was so thin and frail when they lived in the mansion.

Mommy always said it was natural for Mommy to be thin and frail. It was also natural for her to puke in the bathroom and cry alone.

But once they lived with Uncle, she realized that Mommy was lying.

Mommy wasn't supposed to be frail and thin, and she wasn't supposed to cry every day because she was always happy and healthy with Uncle, but not with Daddy.

Mommy always told her that Daddy wasn't around because he was busy with work. But Uncle Vernon was also very busy with work but still had time to play with her. He even had time to take Mackie to the restaurant, and watch movies.

He even had time to watch Spongebob Squarepants together on the weekend, so Daddy had no reason not to be around.

Mackie began to pick up weird things happening around her Mommy and Daddy after that, such as how Daddy beat Mommy up in the Principal's office, yet Mommy still tried to defend Daddy.

And the most recent was the presence of that old woman, Maria. Mackie knew that she was Daddy's Assistant and that the old woman always looked down on them when they lived in the mansion with Daddy.

Lastly, she was never hugged by Mommy and Daddy together in one big, warm hug. But Uncle and Mommy hugged her together and even kissed her cheeks, which she liked a lot!

'Uncle is definitely better than Daddy in every way,' Mackie thought. 'Maybe we should live with Uncle forever if that makes Mommy happy. I don't want to live with Daddy if it only makes Mommy sad...'

Chapter 673

Mackie carried a bag full of books for her cousins. They went to the thirteenth floor, where the two suites with connecting doors were located.

Mackie held Mommy's hand tightly as they stood in front of the door. The little girl was nervous and excited because it had been a long while since she last met with her cousins. She wondered if her cousins still remembered her or if they had already forgotten about her.

Chloe smiled at her daughter and said, "Don't worry, your cousins are excited to meet you again. They've been asking to meet you many times."

Chloe pressed the bell twice until someone opened the door from the inside. As the door was opened, Mackie was met with the sight of her older cousin. They looked at each other in shock before Mackie's eyes brightened, and she jumped to hug him.

"AARON!"

Aaron was stunned. He didn't react for a while until he heard his little brother's voice chirping behind him.

"Is that Boss Mackie?"

"Hey, it's Boss Mackie!"

"Boss Mackie! Boss Mackie!"

The other boys rushed to circle their only cousin and hugged her tight. Aaron finally realized this was the real Boss Mackie, the female cousin they could lean on because Mackie was strong yet also loving at the same time. She has the same warmth as Aunt Chloe but is more relatable because they were around the same age.

Thus, Aaron opened his hand and hugged Mackie back. He felt comfort and safety as he hugged Mackie, as if things would be fine as long as she was with them. He looked up at Aunt Chloe, who stood right behind Mackie, and Chloe smiled at him.

She put her index over her lips, signaling Aaron to keep the murder a secret because Mackie didn't know about that yet.

Aaron nodded. Of course, he didn't want to make his cousin sad because of what his mother did to their Gran.

Chloe was a little sad seeing how easily Aaron could understand her instruction. He was far too mature for his age, but she could do nothing right now except send all of the kids to the child psychologist later.

"Now, now, you guys can play inside," Dorothea said as she approached them. "It's not good to be noisy outside."

"Granny!" Mackie smiled at Granny Dorothea, who looked healthy as always. She was so happy that at least one of her grandmothers was still alive and well.

Mackie and Aaron finally stopped hugging, and Mackie said, "I bring my books with me, let's read together!"

"Whoo! Reading!"

"I want to read by myself!"

"Boss, can you read it for me?"

Mackie led the pack as they entered the room.

Chloe told them that they could go to the next room to play all by themselves, which they did. Thus, Chloe and Dorothea had time to be alone.

Dorothea served tea to Chloe as they sat on the long sofa. She looked at Chloe worriedly and asked, "What's wrong with you today, Chloe?"

"Hm? There is nothing wrong with me," Chloe said as she sipped the tea. "I just asked for Vernon's permission to bring Mackie here, so she can play with her cousins. She's on a long winter break, so she's very lonely in her room."

"Besides, I think the boys want to play with Mackie. She is like the leader of the group," Chloe said.

Dorothea knew that Chloe was trying to hide something nefarious, but the exhaustion in her eyes was too obvious to fool Dorothea.

"Just be honest with me, Chloe. Did something happen? Did Vernon hurt you?"

Chloe was surprised by Dorothea's accusation. She shook her head immediately, "No, no! It's not about Vernon!"

"Then something really happened, right?"

Chloe zipped her mouth. She didn't want to tell Dorothea about what happened in the hospital because she didn't want to replay the moment when she had to be violent just to fight against those ambushers who tried to take her daughter away from her.

But looking at Dorothea's seriousness, Chloe knew that she wouldn't let her off until Chloe told her something.

Chloe sighed deeply, "We got ambushed today in the hospital."

"We?"

"Yes, Mackie and I visited the hospital where my mother's corpse was stored in the morgue. I want to show Mackie because I know that eventually she has to know about the death of her Gran," Chloe said. "Vernon sent four bodyguards for us, but when we entered that morgue, we got ambushed by Maria and six men."

"Maria?!" Dorothea's eyes widened before they turned sharp. There was a hint of hostility in her eyes as Chloe mentioned that name. "That bitch is still trying to ruin my family after so long, huh?"

Chloe didn't really know the relationship between Maria and Dorothea. She thought everything was alright between them because Maria had been Vaughn's assistant for decades until his death.

"What's wrong? Do you have bad blood against her?" Chloe asked.

"Hah, bad blood is an understatement," Dorothea said coldly. "That which has a weird obsession with my trashy dead husband. She is a regular woman hired by Vaughn when she was young, then Vaughn simply brainwashed her with his crazy way, just like how he tried to brainwash Vincent and Vernon to be a degenerate bastard just like him."

"She treated Vaughn like God, and validated every degeneracy he did. I tried to get rid of her from the Gray family, but Vaughn always kept her around," Dorothea said. "After Vaughn's death, I tried to kick her again, but by that time, Vincent already took her in and I have no more power against her. She has become a thorn in my eyes."

"Where is she now?" Dorothea asked. "Since you came back with Mackie, does that mean she failed to do anything to you? Did she run away after that?"

"No, she didn't run away," Chloe replied. She paused for a moment and continued, "She's dead now."

Chapter 674

"She's dead now."

"Dead?!" Dorothea's eyes widened. "Did Vernon kill her? Or was it one of his henchmen?"

"I… I don't know, it might be me who caused her death," Chloe lowered her voice as she also felt heavy in her heart. She gently held Dorothea's hand, asking for emotional support as she continued, "When I was ambushed, I immediately carried Mackie in my arm so she wouldn't get hurt by those men who were fighting against each other. But Maria actually told one of the men to separate Mackie from me. He forcefully tried to yank Mackie away, and I can't let that happen."

"Mackie's cry was like a trigger to me, when I heard her crying in pain while hugging me even tighter, I realized that I have to do something or my daughter will get hurt. So I attacked that man and claw his eyes until he was writhing in pain on the floor, then I strangled Maria until she could barely breathe."

"Vernon joined soon after that and cleaned everything up. He told me to leave Maria with him, so I released her," Chloe said. "But I don't know if she is actually dead because of Vernon, one of his henchmen, or because of me. But I know that she is dead, because there is no way Vernon would allow her to live. She's too dangerous and she knows too much about us."

"Honestly, good riddance," Dorothea said. "It doesn't matter who killed her. She deserved all the pain in this world. She has been nothing but a female hyena that lurks around Vaughn and Vincent!"

Chloe smiled bitterly. She knew that Maria deserved all the pain in this world for all the shitty things she did. But she still disliked the idea of violence.

She didn't want to remember how she attacked that man and Maria before and definitely regretted showing that side to Mackie.

"I just hope that bad things will end soon," Chloe said. "I'm just so tired having to deal with people like Maria all the time."

Dorothea sighed, "Well, you know that you won't be free until Vincent is defeated, right? Someone needs to kick him out of his high horse so he will realize he has been a fool the whole time."

Chloe stared at Dorothea, who had sipped her tea just now, and asked, "You're not mad that the Gray family will be destroyed after this? Vincent is the life of that company, without him, the family war will definitely happen and everyone wants a slice of that cake."

Dorothea calmly sipped her tea again and replied, "I've spent my entire life trying to maintain my family. I tried my best to make up for my absence from Vincent as a mother, but he never appreciates anything that I do for him."

"I realize that everything I did in the Gray family won't stop that family from ending anyway," Dorothea said. "They don't care about my well being. They just want me dead, so they can split my inheritance."

"That's why I realized that I have to leave. Nobody in that family wants me, not my son, and definitely none of those branch families," Dorothea said. She looked down ashamedly. "I know it sounds shameless. I don't want anything from you for Vernon. I'm already happy to have a life like this. I've always wanted to take care of many children properly to make up for what I did wrong to Vincent and Vernon."

Chloe listened to her reasoning and thought it was a fair reason.

Dorothea made many mistakes when she was young, so living here and helping Chloe take care of the boys was the least she could do to gain her approval and, hopefully, Vernon's approval as well.

"Anyway, don't think too much of her death, Chloe," Dorothea assured. "I know that you're nervous because you're usually a very lovely lady who won't hurt a fly. But this is a different case, your daughter almost got taken away from you."

Chloe nodded slowly, "I guess so too," Chloe said. "I just can't imagine being separated from my daughter. She is the reason that I'm still standing until now. There are times when I want to give up under Vincent's abuse, when I thought that death would be better than living with a monster like him."

"But I can't kill myself, not when I still have a daughter to protect, and I definitely don't want to hurt, let alone kill my daughter," Chloe confessed. "She is the reason for everything, Dorothea."

Dorothea nodded and then hugged Chloe. She patted her on the back and said, "I know, Chloe. I know that you're a great mother. I should thank you for raising Mackie to be a good little girl, because without you, she might turn into another Vincent. I will never forgive myself for spoiling him to the point that he turns into a megalomaniac."

Chloe and Dorothea spent the next hour talking from one simple topic to another. She didn't want to brush off any more topics about the ambush and Maria.

Dorothea was also very happy today because she got good news about Maria's death, that witch was seriously unbearable. So they decided to celebrate Maria's death by baking an apple pie while the kids were having fun in the next room.

While Chloe and Dorothea were busy making the dough, the connecting door suddenly burst open, and the three younger boys rushed towards Granny Dorothea and Aunt Chloe.

"Granny, Aunty, there is an emergency!" Mike said as the oldest of the three boys.

Chloe and Dorothea stopped their activity and asked the boys instead, "What happened? Did you have a fight?"

"N—No! It's Boss Mackie and Big bro Aaron! They are crying!"

Mackie's eyes widened. There had never been an instance where they fought before, "Did they fight?"

"No, they are just whispering to each other, and then they cry!" Mike reported. "Aunty, Granny, please help them, they look so sad!"

Chapter 675

Chloe looked at Dorothea, and Dorothea gave her a sign to go, "You should check on them, I'll keep the boys here for now."

"Okay," Chloe nodded. She told the other boys to stay with Granny as she went to the other room through the connecting door.

Chloe saw Mackie and Aaron hugging while crying together, though she didn't know what had happened yet. Looking at them hugging so tightly, she already guessed in her mind.

Chloe took a deep breath and approached Mackie and Aaron.

She stood right before them and patted their heads, "Can you two tell me what happened? Why are you crying?"

Mackie and Aaron sobbed, but they stopped hugging each other and faced Chloe in front of them. Mackie wiped her tears and replied between her sobs, "Mommy, why didn't you tell me that Aunt Chelsea hurt Gran?"

Chloe glanced at Aaron, and Aaron lowered his head ashamedly, "I'm sorry, Aunty. I can't help it. Boss Mackie asked about my mom, and I just… I'm too sad to lie…"

Chloe sighed. She couldn't blame Aaron either. He was just a child with a traumatic experience. Instead of scolding him, she should've comforted him instead.

She looked at Mackie, who continued sobbing. Her heart got heavy as she knew that Mackie went through a lot today, from one bad news to another. It was surprising that Mackie still had the energy to meet with her cousins.

Chloe opened her arms and wrapped her hands behind Mackie and Aaron's heads. She pushed their heads to her chest to comfort them and said in her gentlest voice possible.

"We can't reverse time, and we can't stop her from hurting Gran. But you two should know that I will never abandon you. You might lose Aunt Chelsea and Gran, but you still have me, Granny Dorothea, and also Uncle Vernon," Chloe said. She knew that, at this point, there was no use in keeping secrets anymore. Mackie already knew everything, and Aaron was too damaged to hide things for his age. All they needed was comfort and safety, and those were the only things Chloe could give them.

"You don't need to remember about bad dreams. You have me, just lean on me and everything will be just fine," Chloe said.

Aaron was the first one to react. He began to sob again. He gritted his teeth, trying to endure the pain in his heart.

The nightmare after that night never disappeared. Every time he closed his eyes, he'd be haunted by the image of Gran telling him to go as she tried to hold their crazed mother was forever engraved in his mind.

He didn't know if Aunt Chloe truly understood his pain or not, but one thing was for sure, he didn't want to remember that bad dream.

He'd rather dream of Aunt Chloe hugging him like this or dreaming of playing with his brothers and Boss Mackie. He wanted to dream of good things.

Mackie was no better. She was actually scared when that evil woman attacked them. She wanted to protect her mother but was too scared to even look. She couldn't erase the image of those big men coming out of the body bags.

But both of them were in the comfort of Chloe right now, wishing they had dreamed nothing but good dreams.

Chloe patted their heads lovingly. She knew it'd be hard for them to recover from this trauma. But she had decided to take care of them aside from sending them to a child psychologist.

"Don't worry about anything, as long as you're with me, Uncle, and Granny, everything will be just fine," Chloe comforted again. She repeatedly repeated that sentence to assure Aaron and Mackie of their safety.

It took a while until both of them stopped crying. They got sleepy after so many tears that they began to get drowsy and fall asleep not long after.

Chloe smiled and carefully lined them to sleep side by side on the bed so they could rest.

She kissed their foreheads and muttered, "Don't worry, Mommy will do everything to give all of you a good life. That's my promise."

Chloe tiptoed out of the room so she wouldn't make a noise. She closed the door carefully and then returned to the kitchen.

Dorothea had just finished baking two apple pies, so Mackie and Aaron must've cried for over an hour.

Dorothea served the hot pie on the kitchen countertop and let it cool down for a while before the boys could eat it.

She looked at Chloe, who had just come out, and asked, "Is everything alright?"

The boys quickly surrounded their Aunty and asked the same thing, to which Chloe replied with a nod, "Everything is alright. They are sleeping right now, so it's better not to disturb them, okay?"

"Yes, Aunty!"

"Yes!"

"Okay!"

Thus, Chloe spent her late afternoon eating apple pie with Dorothea and the three boys. Since Mackie was still sleeping, she decided to just cook the dinner with Dorothea and heated it once Vernon returned from whatever he was doing outside.

Dorothea checked on Chloe, who was busy dicing vegetables right next to her, and whispered, "Mackie and Aaron, did they cry because of Chelsea and Judith?"

"Yeah…" Chloe nodded. "Aaron accidentally told Mackie about the truth, and they are crying together because of it. I can't blame them though, they've been through a lot. So all I can do is to give them comfort and assurance of their safety. They finally fell asleep after crying for over an hour."

Dorothea stared at Chloe with sympathy. She knew that Chloe also went through a lot. She also suffered but still stayed strong for her daughter and nephews.

So Dorothea gently patted her palm and said, "You also suffered, Chloe. You're a strong woman on your own."

Chloe paused for a moment and smiled thin, "It's fine. My suffering will be all worth it once I get a good ending for all of us. I just want to be happy with everyone that I love."