Chapter 32 “Let’s leave the boys. Finally, I am not the only woman stuck with these noobs.” Francine said, letting out a huge sigh of relief. Killian scoffed, “You are hardly a woman.” Francine pinned Killian with a glare. “Well, then, Penelope can be my date tonight. Sorry, babe.” She batted her eyelashes at him innocently. She pulled Penelope along with her. Killian and Freddy could only watch helplessly. There were two hot women on the loose. “Are you just going to let them go?” Killian stared at their backs worriedly. “I trust my woman.” Freddy shrugged. “Why are you worried? Penelope isn’t your woman, is she?” He continued, looking at him pointedly. Freddy hoped for an answer but instead Killian simply grunted. *** “I bet you have a lot of friends to stand in as a bridesmaid.” Penelope said, trying to ease the awkwardness. Who could possibly make a stranger their bridesmaid? “Uhm… Penelope… Can I call you Penny?” Francine asked. They were both walking along the beach sh
The auction was in two days. Killian had hoped to spend time some time with Penelope. But Francine hogged her all to herself.“Sometimes, Francine is all too energetic for her own good.” Killian commented in the private lounge of the hotel. It was afternoon and he needed to preoccupy himself from barging into wherever Francine and Penelope were.“And, sometimes you are all too prissy for your own good.” Freddy retorted with a frown. They might be childhood friends but he wouldn’t allow Killian to take a jab at his woman.Several women tried to gain his attention as he exuded wealth, charm and handsomeness. But Killian couldn’t be bothered to spare a glance at any of them. Only one woman was on his mind.But, she wasn’t there.Freddy stared at Killian with worry. Killian’s mind seemed to be preoccupied.“You okay, man?” He asked, putting his phone aside after texting Francine.Killian waved a hand dismissively, “Nothing man,” He answered, taking a swig of his whiskey.Killian picked h
The woman led them to a table with a beautiful view. It stood alone in a corner, giving some air of privacy. He pulled the chair out for Penelope and settled into his thereafter.“Here is the menu.” He passed a menu each to them. Call on me when you have decided. I will get you some tea in the meantime.” The woman said and attended to other tables.The language was foreign to her. “Uhm… What are you having?” she peeped over her menu and asked Killian.“It is written in Mandarin.” He pointed out and read the menu out fluently. She settled for steaks while he had a traditional dish.“That was a delicious meal.” Penelope complimented the woman.The woman held a hand to her heart. “Thank you. We will to create moments for our customers.” She said. Then, an idea popped in her head. “How about a picture of you two, huh?”Killian wanted to object but Penelope beat him to it with a mischievous smile. “Sure!” She squealed. If he was willing to play the couple card, she would see it to the very
For some minutes, Killian simply stared. He was unable to make a decision. Penelope turned and swam around, “This isn’t fun.” She said with a sigh, almost to herself but the wind conveyed it to Killian’s hearing.Penelope had her back turned to him.“Hey.” She heard behind her, making her turn.She let out a huge gasp out of surprise. He was standing right in front of her. “You are not such a bore, after all.” She whispered to him.Killian furrowed his eyebrow. “I wonder if this is right.” He said.The gap between them began to close.“It is up to us to make that decision.” She responded, lowly. Her eyes took him in. The muscled planes on his chest are smooth with no hair in sight. He looked like he was chiselled by a carver.Her hands itched to feel him. Like a self-powered motor, her hands lay on his chest. Her touch made him gasp quietly. His eyes became dark with want. All sense of righteousness began to drift away.Penelope’s hands toured his chest like they were in the wild for
“The Xing diamond is one of a kind. I heard it would be put on auction today.” A woman gleefully told the two women dressed exquisitely next to her next to her. One of them gasped, “Xing Fei? My husband must get it for me. I want it for myself.” Her eyes dimmed with greed. The other two women snickered. They all wanted it for themselves, too. They quickly dispersed to persuade their husbands. Penelope walked by them to look for any familiar face. Killian had sent Francine to inform her that he needed to sort out his stolen items. Her phone was in the car, too. So, there was no one to accompany her to the auction. Instead of the dress Killian chose, she settled for another one at the last minute. It was the last dress that caught her eyes right before leaving the mall. The golden gown flowed behind her, pooling around her feet. The bodice had a drape over her bust with tiny straps to hold her backless dress. A draped rested on her butt to conceal her behind with a little tease. She
Francine spoke about the other men. “There is Vlad Pochensky. He works with the military confidentially with the military.”“And, Jared King. Killian’s father.” Coincidentally, the man turned his gaze towards their direction. He was wearing a sun glass indoors but his glare behind the glasses was intense.Penelope locked gaze with him. He had been the one that orchestrated her abduction. The man seemed to have an unspoken vendetta against her.“What is his deal?” Penelope couldn’t tame her curiosity.Francine furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?” She stared at Penelope whose breath became heavy as she continued to stare at the man. “Is this some shared telepathy between Killian and you?”Penelope had no idea if Francine knew about her abduction. “He just seems… unapproachable.”Francine narrowed her eyes at her. She could feel there was more to it but she suppressed her urge to ask. “Well, Killian loathes his guts. Jared doesn’t have the best of reputation anyway.”“And, who is t
Something gnawed her at insides. She held her tummy and tried to ease it with her fingers.“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Penelope asked warily.Killian maintained his expression till a smile creeped over his lips. “Got you!” He said and let out a small laugh.Penelope let out a huge sigh of relief.“You should have seen your face.” He pointed out mockingly.Penelope wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or be offended for being mocked. She was glad to see that it was some silly joke. But something on his face played it believingly without an iota of doubt.“Let’s have our seats.” He guided Penelope to their seats which were next to Francine’s and Freddy’s. Their seats were at the front row, just on the opposite side of Jared and his friends.“Right about time.” Francine said as soon as their butts hit the seats.The auction started for several items till it was time for the ultimate item of the night. The item was in a glass. Reflection bounced on it. It looked out of this world.“
They all stated their orders to the waiter. Penelope requested for a chicken burger.“Chicken burger?” Francine asked. “Looks a little inappropriate for dinner.”Penelope shrugged, “It was what she craved to eat.”The waiter came with their orders and they dug into their meals. A minute later, Penelope stopped eating.She used her fingers to part the chicken part. Her vision was blurry for a second before it regained its focus.The chicken looked pinkish. Her stomach summersaulted and grumbled.“Penny? Are you okay?” Francine inquired. It got Killian’s attention as well.“Penelope.” He asked with his eyebrows furrowed. He stared at the chicken in her hands.Penelope held a hand to her mouth. She grabbed the waiter at the table next to theirs and asked for the restroom.Francine leaped from her seat and ran after Penelope. Killian was on his wondering what to do.“Francine will take care of her.” Freddy assured Killian. He had a look of concern etched on his face as well.***Penelope
“Congratulations, Ms. Penelope Fords.” The board members erupted in a series of congratulations. She had been voted as the new CEO for Ford Company and all affiliate companies.The new reached Stanley Ford and he was beyond livid. The woman took the one thing that he hoped would still be his if he was granted bail. But his court judgement had been life sentence till death without any chance of parole.It was at that moment that a foreign substance rolled down his cheeks. He didn’t bother catching it because he deserved all that had happened to him. He allowed himself to be driven with so much power, molesting women, blackmailing them and killing simply because he thought he could get away with it.In the end, Penelope Ford won. She provided the DNA evidence, sending Delilah and her daughters away. She didn’t take the house from them because she had no use for it. She, more than most people, understood what it felt like to have no roof over your heads.She wished she could be steel hea
“Max! Fran! Come out!” Penelope screamed at the top of her lungs, wondering where they had hidden. It was their moving day. The boxes had been tapped, packed and waiting for the moving truck.She tried again and went to the back exit to look for them. The kids were testing her patience lately. They had ben rebelling against her since she mentioned that they would be moving to the city. But Max had given her a condition- to move in with Killian.They wanted to spend as much time with her and Killian as well. The thought stressed her out because it further added more pressure on her decision making.“Come on, Max! Fran!” She called outside and was on the verge of giving up when she heard some movement nearby. There was a store room where she kept the supplies.“Max? Come out here!” She ordered sternly. He came out in slow steps with Fran in tow.“Really? Both of you are unbelievable. I am the parent here! As much as I allow you some freedom doesn’t mean you should undermine my authoriti
Revenge never felt this sweet and bittersweet.It had been a couple of days since Jared King trended for the fraud he was. His doctor who forged a report of his ailment had his license revoked as well. So, yeah… Revenge tour was bittersweet as many people lost their jobs, sources of income all to rebuild a system that had fallen into the hands of power-drunk men.Penelope took it upon herself to visit some people before she returned to the countryside. One of those people was Nathan Hoffman.“You have a visitor.” She heard his PA relay to him.“Was there an appointment?” She heard him ask in a tired voice. Her heart bled for him. She imagined the PA shook her head when she heard no response. “Let them in.” He gave his permission.Penelope waited for the PA to come out to accompany her in.“Nathan.” She called as soon as she set foot into his office. He raised his head slowly. A glimmer of light shined in his eyes at the appearance of Penelope.“Penny.” He whispered, almost disbelievi
His eyes looked like they had seen a ghost. He was right. Everything he held dearly would soon become a ghost of his imagination. "T-thank you all for spending today with this old man." He concluded his speech and left the center stage. People began laughing, smiling and toasting to him. A clip played in the background for everyone to see. It was a collage of photos with music attached to it. Stanley smiled so much, his cheeks burned. Slowly, the pictures turned from pictures of his to pictures of the bruises he afflicted on Lola. Everyone gasped at the gory pictures, covering their mouths at the sheer horror of those images. Soon after, names from the black lists were called. Several funds of the government that was diverted. Stanley gasped, shaking his head disbelievingly. "No! None of this is true." He tried to plead with his guests who had adored him some minutes ago, now turned their backs on him.No one listened. People started to leave the parties because soon after, siren
"What have we got?" Killian asked.Boyles held a cigar in between his lips as he took a deep long drag."A lot. Depends on where you want us start." He spoke after putting the smoke in the air. His feet casually crossed over each other on her work desk. She had a study in a makeshift basement.It was no news that Boyles knew about where she was, even though she never revealed where she was writing from in any of her letters.He was the one that anonymously tipped Killian about her whereabouts. They knew because he confessed the minute he set foot into her household, right before plumping into the chair in front of her desk.He was always an enigma thag no one could decipher."His offshore accounts. We must look into it. Several events had been hosted, especially art works which we know he couldn't give the middle finger about. Most of them are usually sent to another location." Killian inquired, looking at the spread papers and files before him."I will have my men on it. I got you an
Penelope woke up to the light streaming down softly on her face. She groaned a little due to the sudden intrusion on her vision she opens her eyes.She adjusted her position and met a wall behind her. Her hand darted to the back to feign the object."Careful, love. Unless you want to stir him awake for another round. I don't mind, though." His voice vibrated against her neck, turning on very early in the morning.She bit her lips and retracted her hand. As tempting as his offer was, she couldn't even summon the strength. The previous night was a tryst that left her moaning her lungs out and causing her to be sore down there.If she somehow made it out of her bed, she would claim victory. The night was sweet, slow and rough. Everything she wanted and desired. She clamper he thighs shut while reminiscing."Talk to me. What are you thinking about?" Killian asked, slipping his hand around her waist and pulled her flush to his front, not condoning any space between them. He let out a sigh
Killian didn’t hold back on having fun with Max and Fran, especially not on his Black Gold credit card. But he didn’t mind. Anything to see the joy on their faces, he was willing and ready to do it.Sometime in the evening after having lunch with the kids, Max asked, “Okay, Dad. Why are you sulking? Don’t you like spending time with us?” Max inquired, dumping his fries on the plate and meeting his gaze.He turned away from the view of the buzzling locals outside the window, “Of course, I want to spend all the time I can get with you.” He spoke defensively.The two arched a brow, “Then, why are you sulking?” Max asked again.“I am not sulking.” He answered with a scowl on his face.Max and Fran leaned back at the same time, seemingly choreographed before concluding. “Sulking!”Killian let out a sigh.“Come on. Talk to us.” Fran spoke this time. She pushed her food away, grabbed the napkin to clean her hands and crossed her arms, expectantly.Max leaned back into his seat, waiting as we
“Stay in here and don’t leave the car, Penny.” John warned sternly, debating on whether he should turn back home because of the danger he might be putting his daughter in. Evelyn would have his head if she found out about it.She had warned him against it but didn’t listen to her. How could he? The only opportunity he had to save his dying wife, not taking it would mean losing her to that bastard disease that was eating her up from the inside.All he wanted to do was take his wife’s pain away. The society shouldn’t fault a man for the means he takes.In quiet strides, he went into the building with his hands tucked inside both his pockets. Occasionally, he would look behind him, straining his neck to check the car to see if anyone was near it.After some minutes, gunshot was heard, startling Penelope where she sat. her heart raced as she looked around, wondering where her father was.The kite was in her hold when she poked her head out of the window, looking into the darkness that ove
She looked down at their joined hands and looked back up at Killian. “One step at a time, remember?” She spoke and pulled her hand out of his. “The children are far more important right now.” She added and stood up from the couch. “Goodnight, Killian.” She whispered the last part.“Goodnight, Penelope.” He spoke in a low voice, feeling dejected at her rejection. Although, he half expected it but it didn’t lessen the ache he felt in his heart. He grabbed the comforter nearby and used it to cover himself after taking minimal clothing pieces off. That had been his bed for the past few days.The thought made him chuckle. How could a billionaire squeeze his length into a couch for days? Ms. Flores would have aneurysms if she ever saw him in that uncomfortable position. His bed was much more comfortable than the hard couch. He wondered why Penelope didn’t buy a more comfortable one when she easily could.Think of this as a means to an end, he tried to comfort himself internally.Just when h