Chapter 405
The sight of the three massive machines made Penelope’s breath catch in her throat.
The excavators rumbled, their powerful demolition arms poised. At a single word from Theodore, they would swing down, and with one strike, punch a gaping hole through the historic family home.
“Stay in the car. Just watch,” Theodore instructed Penelope before getting out.
The moment his feet hit the pavement, Hans and Donald stormed over, their faces masks of fury as they hurled questions at him. But Theodore silenced them with a single sentence, deflating their outrage instantly.
Hans seemed to be trying to pull rank as the family patriarch, his tone shifting between earnest reasoning and heartfelt pleading, but Theodore remained entirely unmoved. With a flick of his wrist, he signaled, and the three machines slowly began to raise their long arms.
Donald, realizing that reasoning with Theodore was useless, hurried over to Penelope’s car.
Penelope had intended to stay put, but seeing Donald’s panicked expression as he clasped his hands, begging her, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity. She opened the door and stepped out.
“Ms. Laurier, on behalf of my family, I apologize,” he pleaded. “Please, talk to Theodore. He can’t tear down this house. If he does, our families will burn every bridge between us. It’s bad for everyone! We have to think of the bigger picture.”
Penelope arched an eyebrow. “My husband is standing up for me, and you want me to tell him to back down and ‘think of the bigger picture’? I have more self-respect than that.”
“If he really demolishes the Bishop estate tonight, how do you think the world will see him?” Donald sighed heavily. “Arrogant. Ruthless. Impossible to work with. He just took over Zenith Group-who will dare to partner with him after this!”
“People aren’t stupid. They’ll ask why it happened,” Penelope countered with a slight smirk.
“No matter the reason, destroying a family home is going too far!”
“Even if that family insulted and beat his wife?”
Donald fell silent.
“Frankly,” Penelope added, “people would probably laugh at him if he didn’t do something.”
“I know we wronged you. Again, I am so sorry.” Donald started to bow, but Penelope quickly stepped aside.
“You didn’t do anything to me, so I won’t accept your apology.”
“But on behalf of my family-“
“You can’t speak for them,” she cut in sharply.
Donald’s brow furrowed in
frustration. He couldn’t persuade her. Just then, one of the excavators swung its arm, and with a sickening crunch it tore down the Bishop estate’s courtyard wall. The main house was next th next in a final desperate act, Donald gritted his teeth and ran, planting himself directly in front of the building.
Penelope frowned. The house could be rebuilt, but she couldn’t let anyone get hurt, especially not Donald. He was a famous actor; if he were injured, the media backlash would be catastrophic.
As the courtyard wall crumbled, Hans stared in stunned silence for a moment. Seeing that Theodore still had no intention of stopping, he opened his mouth to shout in fury, but then caught himself. After a brief pause, he strode toward Penelope.
“If you don’t stop him, then I’ll tell him every last detail of how his own negligence led to his sister’s
accident. You want mutual
destruction? Fine. Let’s see whe\.net’
burns first. Hans was Imd, shamelessly laying his dirtiest card on the table.
Penelope had anticipated this. She calmly pulled out her phone and played the
video she had from that evening.
On the
screen, Hans could be seen
spewing vile insults as he swung a belt, striking a young woman again and again. The other members. Sof
the Bishop family didn’t intervene;
instead, they joined in with their own
jeers and taunts
their faces alight
With the cruel thrill of bullying
someone weaker.
She hadn’t recorded it herself, of course. A crew member from the brand’s livestream had been secretly filming. After she’d left the Bishop estate, she found him and bought the footage for a handsome price.