Chapter 469 469

"I was waiting for you but accidentally fell asleep. Sorry," Chloe muttered. She got up from the bed and strode leisurely towards Vernon. Vernon stood still as Chloe walked right behind him and helped take off his shirt that had been unbuttoned, putting it on the laundry bin at the edge of the room and returning with a new set of pajamas.

"You should take a warm bath if you're too exhausted, it will make you feel better," Chloe advised. "I will be waiting outside."

Vernon was unresponsive and didn't take the pajama from Chloe's hand. Instead, he kept staring at her with his brows creased. He wondered if he actually got drunk from just a bottle of beer and started hallucinating.

Realizing that Vernon wouldn't take the pajama, Chloe put it at the edge of the bed. She walked past Vernon, heading towards the door before Vernon grabbed her waist and stopped her from leaving.

"Vernon—Ah!" Chloe was startled when Vernon suddenly pulled her from behind and buried her in his embrace. He locked his arms around her waist, ensuring Chloe couldn't escape him.

They stood in this position for a while until Chloe started getting uncomfortable with the heat emanating from Vernon's body. She started wiggling her body around, trying to break free to no avail.

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"L—Let go, you're sweating…." Chloe complained. But Vernon didn't care because he had a big question flying around his head.

"Why are you here, Chloe?" Vernon asked.

"Am I not allowed to be here?"

"That's not what I meant," Vernon quickly rearranged his words. "I thought you were still too scared to face me right now. I don't think we will have a normal talk for days after we had a fight this morning." Vernon tightened his embrace subconsciously, unwilling to be separated from the light of his life. "I thought I'd be deprived of you for a while."

Chloe sighed. She said nothing but rested her head on his strong chest. If she had to be honest, she would always be scared of Vernon whenever he glared or yelled at her. That fear might be innate because Vernon was physically very similar to Vincent, just bigger, stronger, and scarier.

But that fear never lasted long because no matter how angry Vernon was, he would never hurt her, and she knew how tender his heart was.

But she knew how prideful Vernon could be. His heart might be tender, but he would still act tough in front of her despite his heartache. Chloe thought she should take the bold initiative, or their meaningless fight would never be resolved.

She believed that as long as she treated him sweetly, Vernon would eventually melt.

And she was right. Vernon was melting right now.

"How am I supposed to be scared of you when you embrace me so lovingly?" Chloe teased. "Besides, I know that you never meant to hurt me."

Vernon felt there was an arrow that shot his conscience. He wanted to admit that he had a lot of grudges and wanted to hurt Chloe as bad as he could just so she could feel his pain.

But he abandoned that idea once he realized Chloe was hurting. Both of them were hurting, and both of them felt solace when they were together.

They were meant to be together since the first time they laid their eyes upon each other.

"I'm sorry," Vernon muttered.

"For?"

"Everything," his voice started shaking. "I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for thinking that you don't want me. I'm sorry for yelling and scaring you. I'm sorry for everything."

"Why do you think that I don't want you?" Chloe asked. "Vernon, you're always the dearest in my heart."

"But not romantically, right?" Vernon asked.

Chloe's body stiffened, "W—Well, of course, I saw you as my dearest little brother back then. You were just a little boy, so I treated you as such."

"I'm a big man now. Can you see me as a potential spouse?" Vernon asked again. He wrapped his arms around her waist tighter than before, ignoring the obvious discomfort from Chloe because he was sweaty.

He closed his eyes as he waited for Chloe's answer. Though, he already knew what her answer would be.

She'd probably say that she wasn't ready.

That she was still too busy thinking about her problem right now, and Vernon had to accept that answer despite his heartache.

Ultimately, he was just a second choice, a spare tire, because Chloe's love life with Vincent wasn't working as intended.

Chloe paused before answering, "Vernon, you told me this morning that I need to be logical and not act like an idiot. Well, my logic told me that I should never give you a chance."

"That I should leave after I'm done divorcing Vincent, because no matter how much you hate your family, the blood of Gray family still runs in your vein, and Vincent put a deep scar in me, that I just despise all the Gray men equally."

Vernon felt his heart shattering inside. Though it wasn't his ideal dream, he'd still be happy if Chloe treated him as a spare tire because her love life with Vincent wasn't working.

But Chloe actually had the idea of leaving him completely. No matter what he did to make her stay, she would still leave him because he was from the Gray family.

'That's not fair…' Vernon despaired. 'That's not fair at all.'

Vernon's logic started sinking as his despair started eating him up from inside, 'I don't want this. I refuse this to happen. Not when I already have her by my side right now.'

He started having malicious thoughts. His mind unknowingly started creating various plans on how to trap Chloe.

Even if he had to lock her up forever, probably chain her so she wouldn't be able to escape. He even thought of running away with her, abandoning all his plans and staying hidden in any part of Europe as long as they could be together.

'Not fair. This is not fair.'

'I will never let her leave me….'