Vernon stared at the spaghetti and meatballs served to him. The food looked good, but he had no appetite. Because the one who cooked this wasn't Chloe...

Shailene noticed his reluctance and said, "I would be offended if you're not eating the food I made. I hate you, but I won't poison you over it. So don't worry and eat it."

"Well, that's not what makes me reluctant...." Vernon replied.

"What's the cause then?"

...

"Tch, fine, I'll eat it," Vernon grabbed the fork and started eating the dinner served by Shailene because he didn't want to tell Shailene that her food wasn't as good as Chloe's.

Shailene lowered her head and smiled thinly as she was happy. She cooked simple stuff for Vernon when they were in uni.

He would thank Shailene for it, even going as far as praising Shailene for being a good girlfriend, and it was Shailene's pride to be able to do so for her loved one.

"How is it? Tasty?" Shailene asked.

"Uh... yeah, tasty..." Vernon replied, even though he had a different opinion in his head.

'It's bland. There's no difference in the spaghetti meatballs that you made compared to the store-bought instant spaghetti meatballs.'

'Chloe made me spaghetti meatballs once, and the sauce is so good, I actually licked it clean. Maybe you should ask for her recipe instead.'

Vernon finished the spaghetti meatballs slowly. He was dissatisfied and still feeling so hungry because he had just finished bland spaghetti meatballs.

But he said nothing because he didn't want to make Shailene angry because he was the one who needed her help.

Shailene drank a glass of water before wiping her lips with a tissue, "Okay, we can start the counseling now, come in."

Vernon followed Shailene into the home office. He laid on the same chaise lounge and stared at the ceiling as Shailene turned on the heater with lavender aromatherapy that eased Vernon's mind.

Shailene picked up her note and sat on the seat beside the chaise lounge, and started the counseling;

"Alright, Mr. Phoenix Gray. Let's pick up the session with the topic from the last session."

"The one when you said that Chloe is a groomer and pedophile?"

"Yes."

"Well, fuck you, Shailene," Vernon cursed without hesitation. He didn't yell this time, as he knew that yelling would only tire him out.

"Hm... you haven't changed your opinion?" Shailene asked back.

"Never, She is not like that. All she did when I was a kid was take care of me, and teach me how to be a good kid even though my family was a mess."

"So you don't you fucking dare calling her pedophile and a groomer. I know her more than you ever will!" Vernon claimed.

Shailene sighed. She was trying to help knock some sense in Vernon's head since he was obsessed with Chloe.

But it didn't seem to be working.

"Besides, I'm not here because of that. If you keep trying to convince me that Chloe is a manipulative woman, then I might as well leave and never come back."

Vernon got up from the chaise lounge, but Shailene quickly grabbed his wrist and said, "Okay, I think we started on the wrong footing. Let's just forget about what I said before and we can start by discussing other topics."

...

"Fine."

Vernon returned to lay on the chaise lounge so they could resume the session.

Shailene was relieved that Vernon was still open for discussion, or else, how would she be able to knock some sense in Vernon's head that his Big sis Chloe was a toxic, manipulative woman?

"I know that you're still angry at me about what I said before, and I apologize about that," Shailene said. However, she didn't directly say that she was wrong in her opinion about Chloe.

"As you should!" Vernon nodded in full agreement.

"I know that you're still angry with me from the previous session. So I suspect that you have another problem with her, correct?"

"... Yeah, I do...."

"How about we start with that?" Shailene suggested. "You may tell me about the new problem."

Vernon sighed. He stared at the ceiling for a while and started talking;

"I accidentally made her mad. So mad that she refused to have lunch with me today," Vernon said. "She told me that I said something offensive, so offensive that it hurt her heart."

As he told the story, Shailene watched how Vernon's expression gradually became sadder. It seemed that he was devastated by this problem because Vernon never showed that kind of sadness in front of everyone, not even when they were still dating.

Shailene clenched the pen in her hand, trying to endure the heartache that she experienced.

She was angry and envious because Vernon never showed that sad expression to her, to the point that she thought Vernon was incapable of showing remorse and feeling grief.

'I'm not special, I know that,' Shailene thought. 'But I still stupidly want him back....'

"Did it hurt you badly when she said that she didn't want to have lunch with you?"

"Mm..." Vernon nodded weakly. "It might be something simple. But it's so devastating to me. My mind is constantly thinking about it. I wonder what did I say wrong and how am I able to fix it, so she will accept me back."

"That means she is very important to you, right, Vernon?"

"Of course!" Vernon proclaimed without hesitation. "She is the sole reason for everything that I'm doing right now! I will never think about opening a business, broadening my reach over my sectors! I did everything because I wanted her!"

...

"I see..." Shailene started writing something in her notepad. She threw a quick glance at Vernon, who was still staring at the ceiling.

The heartache started to bother her a lot, but she tried to endure it for the sake of professionalism, "Vernon Phoenix Gray, you claimed that you love your Big sis Chloe, even went as far as saying that you did everything for her. But it seems that you know nothing about her."

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