Chapter 6

She didn't know what caused Vincent to suddenly act like this. Why was he suddenly pretending to be a caring, attentive father by bringing Mackenzie to the mall for her birthday? She got worried.

Judith noticed the long silence and asked, "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Chloe wanted to say that nothing was wrong, everything was perfect as always. Because she had never told the truth about the unhappiness and abuse she experienced living with Vincent. Her family didn't know about the disparaging remarks or the endless parade of women he slept with.

But since she was about to be separated from Vincent, wouldn't it be better for her to gently mention the topic to her mother? She wanted her support. Surely her mother would understand her feelings!

"Mom, Vincent and I–" Chloe was trying to form a good sentence. She had to be careful, as she knew how much her mother loved Vincent. Thus, she hoped that her mother would change her mind after she told her the truth.

"Mom, what do you think about Vincent?" 

"About Vincent?" Judith was surprised at the unexpected question. "Is there any problem between you two?"

"Well, yeah… I–" Chloe swallowed her saliva as she tried to brace herself. "--I want a divorce…"

"DIVORCE?!" Judith almost dropped her phone when she heard that forbidden word. "Chloe! What on earth is wrong with you?! He is too good of a man for you in the first place. He's the perfect husband and you want to divorce him?! You should be grateful that he's willing to marry you!"

Judith continued to scold her daughter nonstop, not even allowing her to get a word in. "If you have a fight with Vincent, apologize, cook him a good meal  and let him do what he wants to you in the bedroom! Don't disobey his words! That's what it takes to be a good wife!"

Chloe felt her heart was crushed by her Mom's words, though it wasn't surprising. After all, his mother had  always been on Vincent's side even before they got married. Chloe decided that she would talk to her mother about this after the divorce had been settled.

"It's nothing, Mom. I'll talk to you later," Chloe said.

"Good, don't think about divorce, and don't be an ungrateful woman!" Judith scolded once more before she hung up.

Beep. 

Chloe stared at her phone and sighed heavily. She didn't like having to hide things, but what choice did she have? She clenched her phone for a second, unable to contain her anger at her mother's actions. 

Negative thoughts started swirling in her head. She was scared that Vincent might do something to her daughter to vent his anger. 

She hated to call that bastard right after she left, but she had no choice.

She dialed Vincent's number, and Vincent picked it up after only one beep.

— 

"Yes?" Vincent asked as if there was nothing wrong between them, as though their argument just a few hours ago didn't happen.

"Where's my daughter?" Chloe asked with a sharp tone, unable to hide her panic and anger.

"You mean our daughter, Mackie?" Vincent looked to his left and grinned smugly, "She is still choosing whatever toys she wants for her birthday. We're in a toy store."

"Give the phone to her, NOW!"

"Sure," Vincent gave the phone to Mackenzie and told her about it. 

"Hi, Mommy!" Mackie sounded so jolly because her dad didn't forget about her birthday. "Where are you now, Mom? I thought you'd pick me up at Granny's home."

"Ah, M—Mackie, are you good there?"

"Yup! I'm with Daddy! Why aren't you here? I want to celebrate with Mommy and Daddy together!" 

"Ah— Uh… Mommy has a little trouble on the road. You should have fun with your dad first, buy anything you want there," Chloe tried to act as if nothing was wrong, so that Mackenzie wouldn't notice any difference. 

Mackenzie might only be seven, but she was smart and often asked too many questions that Chloe couldn't answer. 

"Dear, would you mind giving the phone back to dad?"

"Okay!"

Mackenzie returned the phone to her dad, Vincent, and then resumed picking a new toy she wanted. 

"So, what else do you need?" Vincent asked. His light tone infuriated Chloe. This man seriously had no conscience. Even after she mustered up her courage to sign that divorce paper and revealed her pent-up anger, Vincent acted as if nothing bad happened. 

They were just the two souls entangled in a cold relationship. It had been like that for the past 7 years, after all.

"What the hell do you want, Vincent?" Chloe asked, full of suspicion.

"What do you mean? I missed Mackie's birthday because I was busy. Of course, I have to keep my promise to her," Vincent replied. "What? Just because you want to leave, you think you can cut me out of my daughter's life?" 

Vincent continued to talk.

"I'm not stupid, Chloe. If we get a divorce, I bet you'll definitely stop me from seeing Mackie, unless I send you money. Do you think you can use our daughter to scam me, you dumb bitch? I figured out your plans!"

"If you want to be a good mom, you should remember that you need me if you want the best for you and Mackie. Otherwise, you're nothing."

Chloe closed her eyes as she tried to curb her anger over Vincent's degrading words, but this was Vincent's normal way of speaking though. He was always condescending and underestimated everyone in his life. No one was good enough for him, especially not her. 

Yet, Chloe stupidly put up with it for a long time. 

"Vincent, just tell me which mall you're at right now. I will take Mackie with me-" Chloe said. 

"To where? A shabby motel where it's dirty and god knows who's crawling around there? You're not bringing my daughter to such a shitty place. You can stay there by yourself.  Good luck leaving the luxury place we had." Vincent said. 

"Any place is better than living with you," Chloe retorted. "Just tell me where you are. I will bring Mackie!" 

"Well, if you insist…." Vincent grinned as he leaned on the wall. Seriously, he didn't know what had gotten into him. He was still disgusted with Chloe, obviously. He couldn't even look at her face the way he did when they were dating, but a part of himself still refused to sign that divorce paper. 

"If you want to meet with your daughter, you can either return home now or meet her at my Mom's Birthday party tomorrow. I'll be there with Mackie." 

"You!" 

"Not like I wanted it, but my mother invited you, right? After all, you're her good daughter-in-law," Vincent said, and his tone got even more condescending. "Oh, how wrong she is."

Chloe bit her lower lip. Vincent put her in such a difficult situation.

Obviously, she couldn't return to the house because it would be difficult to explain to her daughter the whole problem. Mackenzie might even beg her to stay. She didn't know about her father's behavior, or why it was wrong.

So, the only choice she got was at Dorothea's— Vincent's Mom, birthday party tomorrow. She could bring Mackie somewhere before telling her slowly that they would live separately from her dad. 

"So, where do you want to meet Mackie? Home, or my Mom's birthday party?" Vincent asked. "It's either one of those places or you don't see her at all."