Chapter 688

Lorraine, Mr. Johnson, Norton, and now Mrs. Stapleton-Theodore had endured too much. Penelope was terrified he would break down, though she later thought that breaking down might be better than staying so tense. But he never did.

He handled Mrs. Stapleton’s final affairs perfectly, honoring her last wish to be buried with Lorraine. He managed everything at home and took care of his aging grandfather.

Penelope wanted to spend more time with him, but he refused.

“Penelope, you should run, just like you did six years ago. I won’t blame you this time.”

“What if I don’t run this time?”

Theodore sneered. “Do you really think I’d believe you again?”

He didn’t trust her anymore. Not ever again.

It was then that Penelope was finally forced to admit that leaving Theodore six years ago had been a mistake. She had told herself it was for his own good, but he hated her for it. She had told herself it was for her own good, but even after six years, she still couldn’t stop loving him.

She was reaping what she had sown.

Since Theodore didn’t want her around, she had no choice but to take the two children home with her.

The summer break ended in a blink of an eye, and the children started school. Life seemed to be returning to normal, except that Theodore never saw her or spoke a single word to her again.

One day, Natalie had a rare day off, and she and Penelope were lounging on the sofa, chatting idly.

“I saw Marico last night after filming wrapped up,” Natalie said suddenly.

Penelope hummed. “Was he looking for you?”

“We’re not close. Why would he look for me? He’s hooked up with an actress from our crew. It’s strange, it seems like every set I’m on, he manages to hook up with one of the actresses.”

“Sounds like your industry is his personal playground.”

“Hmph. If it was just one, that’d be one thing. But he was juggling two at the same time, and they ran into each other. We were in the middle of a scene, and they started fighting right there.”

“That dramatic?”

“One of them put the other in the hospital.”

Penelope elicked her tongue. “If I were one of those women, I’d team up with t the other one and beat the

crap out of Marico. Neuter him so he can’t hurt anyone else.”

“I don’t care if he hurts other people, but he better not hurt me—”

Before Natalie could finish, her phone rang. It was the police.

After listening to what the officer said, Natalie was stunned into silence for a long moment.

“Alright, I’ll be right there.”

She hung up, still in disbelief.

“The actress who started the fight called the police.”

Penelope was confused. “What did she report?”

“She’s accusing Marico of raping her.”

“What?” Penelope sat up. “That can’t be right.”

Marico was a scumbag and a womanizer, but he didn’t seem like the type to force himself on someone.

“I don’t think so either,” Natalie said.

“But why did the police call you?”

At the mention of this, Natalie’s anger flared.

“The actress is accusing Marico of forcing himself on her last night. But Marico fold the police he wasn’t even with her. When they asked for an alibi, he gave them my name.”

“You were with him?”

“He was harassing me, trying to.. Anyway, got so mad I just started yelling at him. It went on for a while, almost an hour, and the time overlaps with when the actress claims the assault happened.”

Penelope was impressed. “You can yell at him for a whole hour?”

“I could’ve gone for several more, but my throat got dry, so I stopped.”

Natalie stood up. “I should just tell the police I didn’t see him at all last night!”