Chapter 549

Theodore’s expression darkened. Anyone else would have shrunk back in fear, but Penelope only urged him on, even giving him a shove.
“Hurry up!”
Penelope pushed Theodore again in her desperation.
Theodore shot her a deep, piercing look before finally pulling out his phone and dialing Hamilton. He was doing it for his friend, to stop him from doing something stupid—not because of Penelope.
The phone rang several times before Hamilton answered.
“I’m busy. I’ll call you back!”
“Stop this madness and pull over now,” Theodore said in a low, commanding voice.
“Stay out of my business!”
“Hamilton! I said pull over now!”
“You
“Stop screwing around and do it!”
Theodore was furious, and he was cursing. Penelope’s heart skipped a beat as she belatedly remembered who she’d just been ordering around—the head of the Zenith Group, a man who could cause chaos in Orenth with a snap of his fingers.
A sharp screech of brakes echoed through the phone. Only then did Theodore end the call, his face still a thundercloud.
“Uh, thanks. I’m going to go after them!”
Penelope’s only thought was to escape.
“I told you
“I know, you don’t want to see me again!” she cut him off. “I’ll take Hubert and we’ll disappear from your sight right now. I promise you’ll never see us again!” To prove her sincerity, she even patted her chest.
Theodore’s eyes narrowed. “As long as you know.”
Penelope could hear Kristin’s crying through her own phone and was too worried to argue with Theodore. She scrambled into her car.
As she was about to drive off, she remembered something.
“Hubert, open the window and say thank you.”
Now that Hubert knew Theodore was a good guy who had genuinely come to
rescue them, he felt a little embarrassed for misjudging him.
He rolled down the window and waved at Theodore.
“Thank you for helping me find my mom! Next time I see you, I’ll buy you some candy!”
Theodore’s stern expression softened into a small smile.
“Deal.”
Penelope didn’t dare look at
Theodore again and sped awa
She
got onto the highway and drove for a long time before she spotted Natalie and Kristin on the shoulder.
The mother and daughter were clinging to each other, their faces pale. They were both badly shaken.
Penelope pulled over. A quick look
around confirmed that Hamilton had already left, she gritted her teeth Her teeth Her fists had been clenched,ready to give him a piece of her mind.
How could anyone be so cruel?
He had already forced Natalie to give up her career and hide in a small town. Wasn’t that enough? Did he have to keep pushing her until she broke completely?
Hubert got out of the car and ran over, circling Natalie and Kristin several times. He only relaxed when he saw they weren’t hurt.
Penelope gently lifted Kristin from Natalie’s arms. Seeing Penelope, the tears Kristin had been holding back finally burst forth.
“Penelope… he was so scary… he was going to kill me and Mommy
“He’s a madman!”
“What’s a madman?”
“It means he’s sick. His brain is broken, and he needs shots and medicine!”
Kristin’s tears stopped, and she looked at Penelope with confusion.
“There’s a strange man in our town who eats things from the trash cans. Is he like that?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t just eat things from trash cans. He eats mud.”
“Huh?”
“So next time you see him, you have to stay far, far away, because he stinks.”
Remembering that Hamilton had
held her and that she had been in his
car, Kristin’s face twisted in disgust. Once she connected Hamilton with the odd man from her town, she wasn’t so scared anymore.