Mackie woke up early the next morning. She was the one who knocked on her Mommy's door and woke her up, "Mommy, wake up! We will visit Gran in the hospital today!"

Chloe woke up after hearing her daughter's voice early in the morning. She had a terrible dream last night, which made her restless for the rest of the night.

She dreamed she was in a morgue, visiting her mother's corpse. She stood right beside a corpse inside a body bag. 

She thought it was her late mother inside, but when she unzipped the body bag, it was actually Secretary Maria hiding inside the bag. 

The old hag opened her eyes and glared at Chloe with red eyes as if she couldn't wait to kill Chloe and stuff her inside the body bag instead.

It was a terrible dream that Chloe didn't wish to revisit, so she stayed up late at night until she only had three hours of sleep until dawn. 

Chloe stretched her limbs before she got up from the bed. She washed her face and opened the door to see Mackie's door wide open, and the little girl was busy checking her closet because she wanted to look good in front of her Gran. 

Chloe leaned on the door frame, staring at her daughter from behind. She was sad that Mackie was too excited to see a dead person. 

'Is it too early to tell her that her Gran has already passed away?' Chloe wondered. 'I don't want to make her cry so early in the morning.'

Mackie made a little twirl while holding her dress and asked, "Mommy, should I wear this one?"

Chloe sighed and replied, "Dear, it's really cold outside, and we're going to visit the hospital. You don't need to dress up. Besides… your Gran won't be able to see your dress anyway."

Mackie tilted her head. She didn't understand what her Mommy was saying but obeyed her suggestion and stopped searching through her dresses.

Chloe decided to pick a simple long-sleeved shirt, warm jeans, and winter jacket and boots for Mackie, "You can wear this, dear. Don't worry, it won't be long for us to visit the hospital."

"Um!" Mackie nodded excitedly. She couldn't help to meet her Gran in the hospital. She still thought that Gran was just really ill, so she had to get hospitalized. 

Meanwhile, Chloe dreaded the whole hospital visit.

She didn't know if she could calm Mackie once the little girl realized her Gran was dead.

She also didn't know if she could calm herself down. She feared she'd break down in tears upon seeing her mother's cold corpse. 

But she had to face the truth that her mother was dead, and it was because of Chelsea and Vincent. No amount of denial could change that fact. 

Chloe went upstairs to prepare breakfast. It was still early in the morning, but she already saw Vernon sitting on the stool near the kitchen countertop, staring emptily and yawning a few times.

Vernon could barely sleep last night because he got a call from Diamond around ten. She informed him that Maria had brought two henchmen and tried to kidnap her in her apartment. 

Her motivation was obvious, that mole Diamond just fired must've told Maria about the whole thing, and Maria wanted to do something to Diamond as revenge and a way to weaken Vernon's position.

It was fortunate that Diamond had a bad hunch since the moment she fired that mole, so she called her brothers to come to her apartment. Maria was intimidated by a cop and an attorney and left without doing anything. 

-

'Sir, you need to be careful. I have a bad feeling about the hospital visit today,' Diamond told her last night. That sentence had been lingering in Vernon's head for the whole night.

Though everything had been prepared according to plan, he was still worried that something out of the equation might happen in the hospital. 

'That old bitch, I should've killed her sooner. She is far more troublesome than Vincent,' Vernon thought. 'She already guessed that I was up to something since long ago, it was thanks to Vincent's favoritism that he didn't suspect a thing until it was too late for him.'

-

Chloe approached him, who was still in a daze, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to wake him up, "Good morning, Vernon."

"Oh—!" Vernon snapped out of his daze and stared at Chloe, who smiled at him for a second before taking the apron. He decided to put his worry aside because, at this point, there was nothing he could do other than make sure everything was safe for Mackie and Chloe. Thus he asked, "Are you sure you want to visit the hospital today?"

Chloe paused for a while and nodded, "I have to. I already promised Mackie, and I have to prepare cremation for my mother as well."

Chloe noticed that Vernon looked concerned and assured him, "It's okay, Vernon. I will be fine. I also don't need to worry about Mackie and my safety because I have you, right?"

eαglesnovel`c,om Vernon nodded, "Don't worry, I will make sure you are well protected until you're done with the visit. You have my word." 

**

Chloe, Mackie, and Vernon ate their breakfast at dawn. She prepared themselves for the hospital until they were ready around seven.

Vernon used an old car with a fake plate number to avoid detection from Vincent or Maria. The atmosphere in the car fell still as he drove through the snowy morning.

Vernon and Chloe were tense, but Mackie seemed to be enjoying the snowy trip to visit Gran. She wondered why Mommy and Uncle were so nervous and asked, "Mommy, Uncle, is everything okay?"

"Ah—everything is okay, dear," Chloe replied. 

"But if everything is fine, why are you so nervous, Mommy? I thought we're visiting Gran," Mackie commented. "I think Gran will be happy with us visiting."

Vernon, who had been silent the whole time, finally opened his mouth, "Just sit still, Mackie. Don't worry, we're going to reach the hospital as soon as possible…"

"… and get this over with," he said in a very low, almost inaudible voice.