"Divorce. Hah, what a stupid idea. I am the Master of Gray family, there is no way I will ruin my reputation by getting a divorce."
Vincent crumpled the divorce paper in his hand and threw it into the fire pit. He didn't hesitate to throw it into the fire because the idea of divorce was out of his mind as he had never intended to divorce her since day one they married.
Vincent stared at the paper, which was engulfed in fire, and turned ash. He felt one burden had been lifted off his shoulder as he had made his decision.
"See how you will survive when I make sure to destroy everything around you, Chloe Gray."
…
Vincent stared at the fireplace idly when he heard a knock on the door.
Vincent turned his head and asked, "Who?"
"Big brother, I'm here!"
Vincent's mood improved instantly when he heard his little brother's voice, Vernon. He walked to the door and opened it to greet him.
Vernon had a big smile on him as he hugged his Big bro, "Big brother!"
Vincent was caught off guard when Vernon suddenly hugged him. He paused for a second and gently tapped Vernon's back, "Welcome, Vernon. You're earlier than I expected."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtVernon released his hug, and Vincent told him to sit on the seat directly facing Vincent's office desk.
Vincent was actually quite happy when his little brother was around. He acted like a big dog most of the time, even when he was just a kid. Vernon was a feisty dog that made Vincent happy.
"Did you have breakfast? We can eat first," Vincent offered.
"Ah, no need, Big brother. I had breakfast at home!" Vernon replied with a wide smile that showed his teeth
"Oh-ho, you look so happy, champ. Did your girlfriend cook you a good breakfast again?" Vincent teased, and Vernon puffed his chest proudly.
"Of course! She is the best cook, no chef can fare against her!" Vernon claimed, much to Vincent's amusement.
"Really? Why don't you bring her food to me, so I can try it," Vincent asked.
Vernon's smile vanished instantly. He stared at his Big brother with a slightly hostile gaze, "Never, Big brother. I will never share anything she made with anyone."
"Not even your Big brother?"
"Not even you," Vernon said.
Vincent noticed the hostility. Vernon wasn't the best at keeping his emotions. He was like an open book, making it fun to tease him.
"Hahaha, okay, okay, it's fine. Big brother won't take anything from you," Vincent said, and Vernon gradually relaxed. He stared at his Big brother, who looked more tired than usual, so he asked;
"Big brother, are you okay? You look…"
"Tired?"
"Yes…"
"Heh, of course I am. There are lots of things I have to deal with in the office, and the new head maid who managed everything is nothing but an incompetent old bitch. She can't even hire a good chef, let alone a good suit stylist for me."
"Suit stylist?"
"Yes, I have a maid who prepared my suit for me. I have a bunch of stuff in my walk-in closet, and it's a hassle to do that kind of menial task every day. So I hired a stylist for that," Vincent explained. "Though, I still hire them with the title of a maid, because I don't want them to think they're high and mighty for being my personal stylist."
…
"Big brother, that kind of task… wasn't that a task for…."
"Wife?"
"Yeah," Vernon nodded. It was an old value that was maintained in the Gray family. Even their mother did that to their late father, even if their marriage wasn't harmonious.
"Heh, that's what Chloe usually did. It's her job, after all. But that bitch decided to run away, even though I gave her everything," Vincent replied, pitting Chloe again.
Vernon started remembering what his sister-in-law usually did every morning.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe would cook breakfast, wake Vernon and Mackie, and then prepare Vernon's suit for the day. It seemed ingrained in her mind as Vernon never asked her to prepare his suit, so she must've done it out of habit.
"So now you hired a stylist to replace her?"
"Hmm… none of them were good enough," Vincent replied. He got pissed whenever he talked about this problem. "I've fired three of them. They can't even prepare a suit for one man every day. It pisses me off."
"Then… how about sister-in-law, Big bro? Did she do a good job?"
"She is… acceptable," Vincent replied, not wanting to admit that Chloe did an excellent job preparing his suit. She was meticulous and understood how to make Vincent look formal or lax, depending on the event he attended.
But to admit that a woman did a good job meant he was lower than her, and he didn't want to show that he was weaker than a woman in front of Vernon who idolized him.
'Acceptable?' Vernon was a little conflicted by his Big brother's answer because he expected Vincent to either say that Chloe was doing a good job or a terrible one.
The word acceptable sounded very vague and neutral for Vernon to judge.
Vernon had grown suspicious of his Big brother. He thought Vincent was prone to insulting and ignoring Chloe since that was all their late father did to their mother.
But when Chloe showed so much pain in her eyes, to the point that she gained courage just to hide her trauma— Vernon already guessed there was something horribly wrong with Vincent's treatment of her.
But still, Vernon had to be careful of what he said and asked because his Big brother wasn't a person you'd want to mess around with.
"By the way, you're here to give me the list of the people suspected to be her benefactor, right?"
"Yes, Big bro!" Vernon took a document from his briefcase and put it on the desk right in front of Vincent. "I have filtered the people based on their location, age, marital situation, business stability, and relationship with your company."