Chapter 434
The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the hall.
The guests who were being escorted out all turned to witness the scene.
“Penelope, how dare you hit my mother!”
Yvonne rushed forward, only to be met with a firm slap from Penelope as well.
“You knew everything your mother was doing. You probably even helped her!”
“You hit me… you…”
“You should be glad all I did was slap you both!”
Yvonne lunged at Penelope like a madwoman, but Donald’s roar stopped her.
“That’s enough! You’re acting just like your mother!”
Yvonne’s eyes turned red as she stared at Donald in disbelief.
“Dad, you’re defending her!”
Donald took a deep breath, ignoring Yvonne and turning his attention to Penelope.
“Penelope, please, will you come home with me? There’s so much I need to tell you.”
“No,” Penelope said flatly. “Your home is not my home. It never was, it isn’t now, and it never will be.”
With that, she ignored Donald’s pleading gaze and turned decisively to leave.
She hadn’t gone far when she heard Yvonne’s exaggerated laughter behind her.
Did getting slapped drive her crazy?
After taking Professor Lee home, Penelope and Timothy went to visit their mother’s grave.
She didn’t need to go online to know that the day’s events had caused a massive stir. Her mother would once again be at the center of a public firestorm.
“Mom, I’m so sorry. I’ve disturbed your peace even after you’re gone,” Penelope said, wiping the headstone.
“Mom would have been more upset if you’d just taken their abuse without fighting back,” Timothy muttered.
Penelope lightly tapped Timothy on the forehead. “Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t go back to the Bishop family and I’ll never acknowledge them. never have you, Dad, and this little brat. Das Having you as my family is more than enough for me.”
“What, are you ditching your husband now?” Timothy teased, raising an eyebrow.
Penelope resisted the urge to tap him again. “Are you closer to your brother-in-law or to your own sister?”
“He got me into the core R&D department at his company.”
“And?” Penelope narrowed her eyes.
“I’m closer to you,” Timothy grumbled.
After today’s fiasco, Judy’s reputation was in ruins. If she backed off now, Penelope would let
itat
it go. But if she dared to provoke her again, next time, she would make
her pay a much heavier price.
After leaving the cemetery and dropping Timothy off at his school, Penelope went home to cook a meal, packed it in a container, and headed to the hospital.
She and Theodore hadn’t seen each other in five days. They had both been busy and had wanted to give each other some space to process their feelings.
But she missed him, and she couldn’t resist going to see him.
At the hospital, she peeked through the glass window of the room and saw Mrs. Stapleton sitting cross-legged on the bed, rocking back and forth and muttering to herself.
Due to her mental state, the incident where she had hit Gloria with her car was resolved with Gloria accepting a settlement and Mrs. Stapleton being admitted for treatment.
The whole affair had caused Mrs. Stapleton to have a complete mental breakdown, and it was uncertain when she would recover.
Theodore wasn’t in the room, so Penelope decided to look for him downstairs. But as she reached the elevators, she heard voices coming from the adjacent stairwell.
“Theodore, you probably don’t know this, but Penelope… she’s a Bishop, too. She’s my father’s daughter! You hate the Bishops, so you should hate her even more It was because of her, that unwelcome guest, that our back door was opened that day. Lorraine only ran outside to pick up the hair tie she’d dropped!”
“She’s the one who really killed Lorraine!”
It was Yvonne’s voice.