Taking her time to get dressed, Penny began to carefully ponder the events of the previous night.She had a drink by the pool, courtesy of Jeremy, then went back to her room upstairs to change and rest.It seemed like nothing else had happened in between.Thinking it over, she could not figure it out. Had she done something to harm herself in her dream?It did seem like she had dreamt some inappropriate scenes last night.She massaged her temples, thinking that next time, she could not just accept drinks from others so carelessly.Still suffering from a hangover, she lay on the bed intending to rest. Just then, Laura called her.“Your phone was off last night. Uncle Sullivan seems to be waking up.”Penny suddenly felt wide awake and quickly sat up.“Did the doctor say that?”“Yes, the doctor tried to contact you last night but couldn’t. Your phone was off the whole night. If I didn’t know you were a goody-goody, I would’ve thought you’d run off to sleep with some random guy.”
After hanging up the call with Laura, Penny immediately called the hospital.However, the doctor informed her, “Mr. Sullivan showed signs of regaining consciousness last night, but his condition has gone back to how it was again today. We can’t be certain when he’ll wake up.”Penny lowered her eyes, feeling a tug at her heart.She initially planned to continue driving to the hospital, but just then, Susan also called her.“Your grandpa and grandma have come to the Sullivans' residence, specifically because they heard about your dad’s situation.”Penny’s face darkened. Both her grandparents were from Union County, and the few times she had been there, she had never visited them.It was mainly because after her mom gave birth to her, they had been disdainful toward her.In Union County, newlywed daughters-in-law were supposed to live with their in-laws for a while.Her dad, Zane, was the elder son, and he had a younger brother. Her grandparents had always favored the younger one,
Penny’s eyes grew cold.She had never interacted with her so-called grandparents. She had only visited them in Union County once when she was very young, accompanied by her mother. However, because her mother died early, her memories of that time were somewhat blurred.Nonetheless, she remembered that visit quite clearly because the two elders had threatened to hit her and her mother with brooms.At that time, her father had made a little bit of money.Maeve, being a filial person, believed that some of the money should go to the elderly couple, especially since they had raised Zane.Since Maeve and her younger brother Leo’s parents had long passed away, the relationship between the siblings was relatively good.However, before they even entered the house, the two elders assumed that their eldest son’s family was struggling financially and had come to ask for money. Thus, without waiting for Maeve to speak, they brandished their brooms.“Get out! You're a pig who can only birth
Spencer grew up in Union County. The youngest in their family had two sons, who were both doing well. Naturally, she favored her younger son.Back when her elder son wanted to marry Maeve, she disagreed. She thought Maeve did not look like she would be good at childbearing because of her small hips.She even had a fight with her elder son about this but could not change his mind in the end.It turned out that Maeve was already pregnant before their wedding, which made Spencer furious.If she had known Maeve was already pregnant, she could have saved the 3,000 dollars dowry. Angered, she scolded Maeve that very night for not revealing her pregnancy and artificially inflating her own worth.The day after Maeve and Zane got married, Spencer immediately gave them a crumbling side-room and took back the dowry.Maeve studied art, and her family background was decent. However, they were from a small county town, after all. How decent could they be?Not to mention, since there was no on
Susan herself did not like the old couple either; she detested them to the extreme. How could two poor country folks ever be allowed through the Sullivans’ door?From the moment they entered the mansion, greed filled the eyes of the two elderly people. It was clear they had their sights set on the property.However, in order to spite Penny, Susan had no choice but to agree to the old couple’s demands.“Mom, you’re absolutely right. How much is left on my brother-in-law’s mortgage?”“Nearly 400 grand, with a monthly payment of four grand. He’s almost 50 now, and his company is laying people off. If he loses his job, he won’t be able to afford the mortgage. You and your husband should give him 400 grand to pay it off.”Susan smiled and pulled out a card.“There’s 400 grand in this card. That should be enough to pay off his mortgage.”Spencer’s eyes lit up. She had not expected this woman to be so generous with money.She hastily took the card and rolled her eyes at Penny.At thi
In the Sullivans’ living room, Susan looked at the entering Asher with a cautious attitude.Asher had been in a bad mood lately due to the incident regarding his crotch.Susan did not dare to speak loudly in front of him.“Ash, did you make a move?”Asher sneered and sat down.“Since she dared to come to the Sullivan household, she should've been prepared for what I had in store.”Susan suddenly became anxious. She knew that Penny was currently favored by Sir Fergerson, and if anything happened to her, Sir Fergerson would investigate thoroughly.Given Sir Fergerson’s influence, not only would Asher face consequences, but the entire Sullivan family would be implicated too.“Ash, remember what I said. Keep your composure.”Asher slammed his cup on the coffee table, causing Susan to wince.He had become quite grim after the incident. He was unwilling to listen to anyone, especially Susan.He believed his current state had something to do with Susan’s affair with Sunny.If thei
Meanwhile, not far from the bar, one of the bartenders there was quite eye-catching.He looked over and happened to see Penny being dragged by two men into a private room of the bar.This bar was the only one without surveillance because all kinds of people frequented it. A large sign at the entrance stated—"Enter at your own risk; we are not responsible for lost belongings."Most people who came here were looking for some anonymous thrill.The wages for the bartenders here were much higher than other bars because they sometimes had to put up with harassment from patrons.Mason held a tray in his hand, not really wanting to meddle in other people’s affairs. Even though he recognized that it was Penny, who was Laura’s good friend, he still did not want to get involved.Just then, Laura called him, saying she was coming to visit him at work.Mason frowned. Given that, he had no choice but to intervene.A sense of menace crossed his face as he handed the tray to a colleague and st
Penny called Laura, who answered quickly. Initially, Laura had received a call from home, asking her to come back.“Laura, something has happened here.”From Penny’s anxious tone, it was immediately obvious that something was wrong.Laura did not hesitate. She quickly asked for the address and drove over.However, halfway there, she realized that the address seemed familiar. It appeared to be the same address Mason had just mentioned. Were Penny and Mason at the same bar?She did not have time to think further. Upon entering the private room, she saw Penny's neck covered in blood and was startled.“Penny!”Penny struggled to lift her head. Seeing Laura, she sighed with relief. The broken bottle in her hand immediately dropped to the floor.“Take me to the hospital.”Laura was extremely anxious.“Okay.”Not wasting any time, she quickly took off her own jacket to wrap it around Penny’s neck so as not to attract attention when walking through the hall.Her brows furrowed. Now