Chapter 97

Well, that was fast. Mrs. Sullivan had suddenly remembered she liked fish stew.
“Are you talking to me?” Penelope asked, pointing to herself.
Mrs. Sullivan’s smile faltered slightly. “Of course I’m talking to you, dear.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I still have to clean up this pile of ‘junk.”” Penelope brushed Luna’s hands away and bent down to start sorting through her things.
Mrs. Sullivan leaned against the doorframe. “No rush. You finish up. We’ll wait for you.”
Trying to curry favor but still too proud to get her hands dirty?
Penelope smirked and, while sorting through her belongings, pulled out her phone and made a call.
“Lilian, it’s me.”
“Penelope! I was just about to call you. I was worried I’d seem too opportunistic.” “Not at all.”
“I can’t believe you’re at KINY Group now, and in charge of the mall project, no less.”
“I remember your company was very interested in that project, weren’t you?”
“Not just then. We’re still interested. Very, very interested. Penelope, if you give us a chance, I will personally come to your house and build a shrine to you.”
“We’ve decided not to move forward with Stone Group on this
“Hey, hey, what are you saying? What do you mean, not moving forward?” Mrs. Sullivan, who had been leisurely watching Penelope crawl around in the dirt, shot upright at those words.
“Penelope, let me take you to dinner tonight,” Lilian said, quick on the uptake.
“As long as it’s not fish stew.”
“Fish stew? Forget that. I’ll treat you to the best steak and lobster in town. Anything you want.”
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that the very mention of fish stew today makes me want to vomit.”
“Should I come pick you up?”
“I’m still cleaning up this mess.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll help you!”
“I’ll send you the address.”
“Perfect.”
After hanging up, Penelope saw Mrs. Sullivan standing right in front of her, staring intently. She ignored her and opened her phone to send the location.
“Who were you just on the phone
with? What were you talking about, partnerships? Are you cutting Stone No, absolutely net
Group out? Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn.net
you dare send that address.
Don’t
Penelope arched an eyebrow. “If I don’t, who’s going to help me clean up all this junk?”
“You have Luna!” Mrs. Sullivan said, her voice rising in panic.
“Now, where is Lilian’s contact information?” Penelope murmured, scrolling through her phone.
“I’ll do it! I’ll clean up all this… this stuff.”
Penelope let out a soft snort and stood up, moving to the side.
“You’d better do a good job. Make sure everything is clean and organized. And if anything is broken, you’ll be replacing it.”
Penelope crossed her arms and
leaned against her own doorway, assuming the same posture Mrs. Sullivan had held just moments before an amused look on her face. Mrs. Sullivan had never been so humiliated. But the thought of her company going under, of becoming poor… no, she would rather die.
Gritting her teeth and swallowing her rage, Mrs. Sullivan began to pick up the very items she had so gleefully. thrown on the ground. The satisfaction she had felt the was now replaced with a burning shame.
“That book is dirty,” Penelope pointed out, her eyes like a hawk’s.
Mrs. Sullivan took the book and meticulously wiped it with a tissue Luna handed her.
“My red dress… which blind idiot tore it?”
Mrs. Sullivan was that blind idiot. She took out a notepad and wrote it down,
adding it to the list of things she would have to pay for.
“Wait, where is the other one of my ruby earrings?”
Mrs. Sullivan started searching through the pile, turning everything over again and
again, but it was nowhere to be found. She grimly added it to the notepad.
…