Chapter 482
Penelope told Hannah to stay put and quickly went outside.
A group of men in work clothes, all burly and powerfully built, stood in the hallway. Wilma and a male colleague from their firm were trying to hold them back but were easily shoved aside.
“If you have something to say, say it to me. But you’re not taking another step inside!” Penelope said, blocking the doorway.
“You’re not Hannah. We have nothing to say to you!”
The leader, a man built like a bear, grabbed Penelope’s arm to move her. But Penelope caught his wrist, twisted it back, and the man cried out in pain.
The others saw this and immediately closed in around her.
Penelope raised her fists. “If you’re here for a fight, let’s take it downstairs. No need to disturb everyone else!”
Her tone was audacious.
The eight or nine large men exchanged glances. While they weren’t afraid of her, fighting wasn’t their goal.
“Who are you?” the bear-like man asked, rubbing his sore wrist.
“I’m the other owner of Studio HANELO. My name is Penelope. Ms. James is lying
in that hospital bed, and I’m sure you know why she was injured. So if you have any business, you can take it up with me,” Penelope said coldly.
“What do you mean, we know? We don’t know a thing about her injury, how she got it, or who did it. Stop making baseless accusations!”
“Did I say your people injured her? Why are you so defensive?”
“I-I’m not defensive, I’m just…”
“We’ve already called the police. I’m sure they’ll find the culprit soon, so there’s no need for you to be so anxious.”
“Why would we be anxious? We…”
The man realized Penelope was twisting his words and stopped himself before he could fall further into her trap.
“Ahem. We came here today to settle a score with her!”
Penelope narrowed her eyes. “Settle what score?”
“She got into an argument with one of our coworkers yesterday morning. You know about that, right?”
“So?”
“She hit him, and now he’s in the hospital! She needs to apologize and take responsibility!”
“You’re saying the coworker Ms. James argued with is hospitalized?”
Penelope frowned. Hannah had said her attacker was the man she argued with, someone named Buck Now they were claiming he was in the hospital. This was…
“You’re lying! Ms. James only argued with him. She never laid a hand on him! How could he be injured?
Wina protested, rushing to
Penelope’s side.
The lead man glared at Wilma. “Are you blind? We all saw that woman push Buck.
She knocked him to the ground.”
“He lost his footing and stumbled backward. He fell on his own!”
“Bullshit! We all saw your boss shove him. At first, we thought it was nothing, but when he got home, his tailbone was killing him. He went to the hospital, and it turns out a bone is broken. He won’t be able to work for months. You have to pay his medical bills, lost wages, compensation for pain and suffering, physical therapy, and you need to hire him a caregiver. And on top of all that, you have to go to his house and apologize.”
“He broke a bone just by falling on his butt? And he fell on his own! This has nothing
to do with Ms. James!” Wilma’s face was red with anger.
“Look, the man is in the hospital, waiting for treatment. Now, are you going to pay up or not?”