"Don't look at me as if I'm forcing you. This is for your own good," Vernon said, quoting the sentence that Big sis Chloe usually used to force him to do homework or study when he was a kid.

Vernon scooped another spoonful of risotto and a meatball and shoved it into Chloe's mouth right after she finished eating the previous one, giving Chloe no way to refuse.

"This is the food you made, risotto as a main with lots of veggies and meatballs. I guess you're trying to give me a healthy meal, huh?" Vernon asked, and Chloe nodded since she couldn't speak right now.

Vernon lowered his head to hide a thin smile lingering on his lips. He remembered that Chloe always cooked healthy meals for him every day. She ensured that Vernon got all the vitamins, protein, and carbs he needed. She acted almost like a nutritionist, in fact.

But it still made him happy that she watched over his health and ensured he ate well.

Vernon raised his head and resumed his flat expression;

"By the way, You're not going anywhere until you eat everything, then we're going to a restaurant near the office for another lunch," Vernon added.

Chloe's eyes widened, she was already feeling full after eating two spoonfuls of food, but Vernon kept forcing her to eat until she ate half of the food she made for Vernon.

This was basically her food for at least three days. Since Vernon was a big boy, he ate two portions of what regular people ate per meal.

She munched the last meatball weakly and swallowed it. Vernon gave her one of his banana milk to wash it all down.

Chloe lay weakly on the sofa. She was breathing heavily, unable to recover after eating so much food, and her stomach literally bulged a bit.

Vernon watched her for at least ten minutes and was pleasantly surprised, "You don't feel like vomiting at all? You ate half of my portion, you know."

Chloe waited for a while and was also surprised by her body reaction. Because she didn't vomit anything.

She ate so much food that could allow her to function for three days straight, and she didn't even feel the retching feeling!

Chloe looked at Vernon in disbelief, "I—I don't know. Usually I— I would retch and vomit everything…."

Vernon saw this as a chance and asked, "And why so? Is it because of me?"

Chloe shook her head adamantly. It was most definitely not because of Vernon. Her eating disorder developed when Vincent called her a disgusting narwhal or a fatty whale.

He would laugh at Chloe for eating even the smallest thing, telling her that she looked so disgusting for eating anything when she was fat.

Over time, she felt nervous whenever she had to touch food. The nightmare of Vincent ridiculing her for eating even the smallest thing made her automatically vomit everything she ate unless she ate slowly and alone.

Because the more she got watched by anyone she was scared of, the more she wanted to puke her guts out.

'But, Vernon is literally feeding me right now, and I don't feel the retching? Why? I don't even understand…' Chloe pondered.

Vernon had a theory in his mind and asked to get more information, "Then, what makes you vomit everything you ate before?"

Chloe didn't dare to answer because that meant she would tell one of the horrible things Vincent did to her.

She lowered her head, and Vernon got impatient, "Chloe, do you have… an eating disorder? Bulimia?"

Chloe jolted, and she distanced herself from Vernon immediately. She looked straight at him with fear in her eyes.

Her reaction confirmed it, which also stunned Vernon because that was a wild guess.

He never thought that Chloe had an eating disorder— even developed bulimia since she was such a healthy woman before marriage.

He remembered that Chloe was such a foodie that she would try all recipes in a cookbook in the Gray mansion kitchen because she could get all the ingredients she wanted without paying. Vernon would always be her guinea pig for tasting the new recipe.

Which was all great, by the way. She was a talented cook.

"Chloe, about that bulimia—"

"STOP!" Chloe interrupted before Vernon could proceed with more questions. "I—I don't want to talk about it, please…."

"Why?" Vernon frowned. "Obviously, you reacted when I said that you had bulimia. Just tell me what's the problem, how did you develop an eating disorder, or… who is the culprit. You can tell me everything, you know."

"I—It's not that simple…." Chloe replied.

"What's not simple? Just tell me what went wrong," Vernon said lightly, thinking the atmosphere was comfortable enough for Chloe to open up.

Chloe went silent. She had two solid reasons not to tell Vernon about her problem.

First, she didn't want to ruin Vernon and Vincent's brotherhood. They had a good relationship, and Vincent had a project with Vernon. She didn't want to be the downfall of such a great young man.

'If I told him about it, he would probably confront Vincent. I know how much of a monster my ex-husband is, and I don't want to drag Vernon in this,' Chloe thought.

Second, she just didn't open up so easily because…

'Because you look so much like Vincent. Even if you're not him, to open up to someone who looks exactly like him is… difficult,' Chloe said in her heart.

'Besides, I can't trust you, Vernon. You're not my cute little Vernon anymore. You've proven yourself to be more than capable of ruining my life, just like your Big brother. You're a man with schemes and hidden interests, I don't want to get used and ruined by another man….'

Chloe got up from the sofa and distanced herself, "I—I have to leave now. I'll return home."

"But— Chloe—"

Chloe completely ignored Vernon and went out of the office, leaving Vernon alone, wondering what went wrong with his sentence.

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