Chapter 318

The man who spoke was tall and thin. He raised a hand to strike her.
But in the next second, Penelope’s hand moved faster.
Crack!
The room fell silent. The other thugs stared, wide-eyed.
The little lamb they’d captured had just revealed its claws.
“You idiots,” Penelope said, her voice dangerously low. “Chasel played you for fools.” ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ.net
The slap had been sharp, and her words were delivered with an unshakeable confidence that momentarily stunned them.
The man with the beard pushed his way to the front. He was clearly the leader. “Say that again.”
He was holding a knife, its edge glinting in the faint light. His eyes were cold and hard.
“Do you have any idea who I am?” Penelope asked, her gaze even colder than his.
The man, Hunter, let out a short, harsh laugh. “I’ve seen plenty of people who aren’t afraid to die, but I’ve never seen one so eager to get there.”
“Have you ever heard of the Stapleton family?”
“The Stapletons? So?”
“Open your damn eyes,” Penelope snapped. “I am the Stapletons’ daughter-in-law.”
Hunter burst out laughing. “You?”
“Me. Penelope Laurier.”
“Lucien the drunk’s daughter?”
“I told you, I am not his daughter!”
“You know how ridiculous you sound? It’s like a worm claiming it can fly, that it
married a prince in a castle in the clouds. Ugh, why am I even talking fairy tales with you?”
Penelope gritted her teeth and slapped him.
Crack!
Everyone froze again, including Hunter.
This was insane. A captive, slapping them around like they were children.
“You
“Are you all morons? Can’t any of you use the internet? A simple search will tell you whether or not I’m Mrs. Stapleton Jr.”
Hunter’s left cheek was burning. His grip on his knife tightened. He was a second away from plunging it into her…
“Boss!” one of his men suddenly yelled. “Hey, look! I think… I think she’s telling the truth!”
The man ran over, holding out his phone for Hunter to see.
Hunter looked at the screen, and his brow furrowed. The others crowded around their eyes darting from the phone to Penelope. They were all dumbfounded.
“She… she really is Mrs. Stapleton Jr.!”
A wave of panic washed over them.
“The Stapletons? We can’t mess with them!”
“That bastard Chasel! He set us up!”
“What do we do now? I heard that Stapleton kid is ruthless. Even Lester won’t cross him. We just kidnapped” his wife! We’re dead!”.net>
The men grew more agitated by the second. Even Hunter’s face had lost its menacing edge, replaced by a sickly yellow pallor.
“What are you afraid of?”
At the sound of the voice, Chasel limped into the room.
The moment he saw Penelope, his eyes lit up with a vicious glee.
“Chasel, your son of a bitch! You told us you found Lucien’s daughter, that she married well and could pay off her father’s debt! You didn’t tell us, She married Theodore Stapleton
“What now? You’ve signed our death warrants!”
Hunter lunged at Chasel, but Chasel dodged him.
“It’s simple,” Chasel said with a sneer. “Kill her. Then no one will ever know you took
her.”