Chapter 256

“I’ll handle it.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me what happened?”
“He messed with you. That means he was in the wrong.”
Penelope was so touched she could have cried. She hugged her phone and kissed the screen. “You’re the best, honey. When are you coming back? I’m going to
welcome you home in a very special way.”
“Is anyone there with you?”
Penelope’s eyes darted sideways. “Nope.”
“I don’t think ‘way’ is the right word.”
“Huh?”
“The word you’re looking for is ‘position’.”
Penelope blinked. She saw Norton and Timothy across from her, trying to stifle their laughter. She cleared her throat. “I… I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do you need me to be more direct?”
“No! I’ll I’ll get myself all cleaned up and ready for you,” she said, feigning shyness.
“I was talking about your cooking position!”
“What?”
“Aren’t you going to cook me a welcome-home meal? Your posture is important. If it’s wrong, the food won’t taste right.”
Penelope saw the mischievous grin on his face. He was deliberately teasing her.
“Hmph! If you’ve got the guts to eat it, I’ve got the guts to cook it! We might just end up in the hospital before the wedding!”
She hung up, and Norton and Timothy burst out laughing.
“Penelope, are your conversations always this spicy?”
Penelope coughed. “It’s mostly your brother. He’s a closeted romantic.”
After dropping Timothy and Norton off at the university, Penelope took a cab back to the Johnson family’s villa. The master bedroom on the second floor had been transformed by the wedding planners. Celebratory signs were on the door, walls, and windows. The ceiling was covered with red and gold balloons, which also littered the floor The beading was a deep crimson, as were the curtains. Banners reading ‘Happy Wedding’ and ‘Our Joyful Occasion’ were everywhere.
For the first time, the reality of it hit her: she was getting married. She was marrying Theodore.
She waded through the sea of balloons and lay down on the large bed. The overwhelming redness of the room made her heart beat faster, her breath quicken. A sense of anticipation, almost impatience, washed over her. After Zebulon’s betrayal she thought she lost all hope for marriage. But… she was marrying Theodore.
The man was like a magician. She was captivated, ensnared, and utterly infatuated.
She slept until nearly noon. A call from the villa’s security guard woke her. A group of men in work clothes were at the gate, asking for her. They wanted to thank her in person for getting them their wages.
Penelope let out a sigh of relief.
From Zebulon’s tone yesterday, she knew he intended to let Louis handle
the situation. That’s why Son
ve
given him a deadline and immediately called Theodore Theodore must have warned Louis, who, likely having discovered her connection to Theodore, decided to distance himself from the mess as quickly as possible. With Louis out of the picture, Zebulon had no choice but to use the outstanding payment to pay the workers. He must have scrambled to get the funds together, terrified she would release the recording.
“Tell them I didn’t do anything,” she instructed the guard. “The wages are what they earned for their hard work. Now that they have their money, they should go home.”
With that, she dismissed them. She hadn’t done it for their gratitude; she had simply finished a job she had started.
Una called her down for lunch. After a shower and taking her time to dry her hair and get dressed, she was running late. Mr. David Anderson came upstairs to get
her.
“I’m ready, Dad! Coming down now!” she called out from her room. As she grabbed
her phone to leave, a call came in from Harold.
“Ma’am, Mr. Stapleton has been in an accident!”