Penelope pulled Hailey into her room. “Tell me what is going on right now!” She said, dropping her bag on the bed.Hailey fidgeted. “N-nothing is going on.” Her eyes were downcast, fearful of meeting her gaze. She feared Penelope would see through her.Penelope paced back and forth. “I heard him talking about money. So, what does it want it for? Why are you giving him money, huh?”The barrage of questions overwhelmed Hailey so she snapped, “It is none of your damn business! Stay out of it,” She yelled and left Penelope’s room. The door slammed shut with a loud bang, startling Penelope.She was in utter disbelief. It was late in the evening and yet to have dinner. The day took a toll on her due to her health. Her feet carried her to the kitchen to fix something to eat.No one was in the kitchen, not even Ms. B. Hailey’s attitude bothered her. Something told her she was getting blackmailed by the man she saw her with earlier. But what could he be blackmailing her for?She would wait
“You can’t ignore me forever.” Killian said to Penelope with a sigh at the dining table. She made no comment and continued with her food.“It has been two days, Penelope.” Frustration peeked at the edge of his tone. She had completely served him the silent treatment ever since that night. Penelope didn’t bother talking to him during their check up with Doctor Humphrey who insisted on her resting. Penelope glared at him at the point in the examination room. She felt he colluded with the doctor.He pursed his lips and close his eyes for a second. “There is another event this evening. Everything has been arranged for. The makeup artist and stylist will be here in the afternoon.”Penelope scoffed. “Of course, I am escort. When it comes to your event, I must be your plus one. But it comes to my personal plans, you blow up about my safety and health. Your hypocrisy stinks, Mr. King.”It was 7:45 am on a Friday morning. The project would kick off the next day. Ms. B could feel the tension in
Penelope pulled out of Killian’s embrace and marched towards two figures. With great force, she pulled a man back and landed a punch, cracking the man’s jaw.“What the fuck?” The man groaned in pain. Penelope ignored him. The man had pranced on the woman against her wishes.Penelope had seen her wailing hand, trying to push the man away. She turned to look at the lady and was stunned. “H-Hailey?”She wore a dark makeup and dress scantily in a red gown. Her cleavage was bare for the whole world to see.Hailey quickly gathered her hair to shield her face but it was futile. She was caught red-handed. Penelope tried to piece everything together.“What is this?” Penelope gestured to the man holding his jaw in pain.The man spat out blood and balled his fist. He marched towards Penelope with intent. He drew his fist up, ready to strike but it got held.Killian held the man’s hand before it could connect with Penelope. Hailey’s eyes widened in embarrassment. First, it was Penelope. Then, Mr.
The man extended his hand for a shake, “Anderson Boyles.” He introduced himself. Penelope was reluctant to shake his hand but Hailey moved in front of Penelope and took his hand in hers. Hailey had a starry look as she stared at him.On the other hand, Penelope was wary of him. It was all just too convenient for him to step out of the shadows and be a knight in shining armor.“You don’t trust me yet?” Boyles inquired tilting his head slightly to the side.Penelope shrugged in response, not wanting to engage him. The less they spoke, the better for him. He was a handsome man and looked to have his c harms but his piercing gaze held a lot of emotions.“I will need some details. His name… Wh.” Boyles said but was interrupted.“Frank Bottoms.” Hailey squealed, then slammed a hand over her mouth in embarrassment.Penelope and Boyles exchanged a glance. The jerk’s last name really suited him, almost cracking their armors to laugh in unison.But Penelope cleared her throat and diverted her g
Penelope wore an overall jean, paired with a green round neck shirt. Her mood was on the high. She whistled as she tied her hair into a pony tail.She packed all her essentials and went to have breakfast before heading out to the shelter.“Someone is ecstatic this morning.” Hailey chirped brightly.It was nice to see her back in her usual demeanor.“Yes!” Penelope responded enthusiastically. She assisted the maids to serve the food. Killian walked downstairs in his sleep wear. the top was left unbuttoned, showing a little bit of his smooth, bare chest.Penelope quickly averted her gaze. She hadn’t forgot what transpired the previous night.“Good morning, Mr. King.” Ms. B greeted.Hailey and Ms. B disappeared from the dining area. It was just Penelope and Killian, each at the other end of the table.Penelope chewed slowly, aware of Killian gaze on her. She busied herself with eating.***“Penelope.” Killian called softly, after a long while. He could no longer endure the stretched sile
Killian paced back and forth in the hospital.His hands were bloodied but it was the least of his worries. He was barely holding himself together.Francine and Freddy were the first to arrive at the hospital.“Hey…” Francine pulled Killian into an embrace. “She will pull through out of this.” She consoled him, rubbing his back.“Man.” Freddy was devastated when he got the news. He picked up Francine from the studio and drove to the hospital like a maniac. “Heard from a nurse? Doctor?”Killian shook his head. “No one. She is in the OR. I don’t… I don’t know.” Killian was in despair. His hair was everywhere.Freddy patted him on the back and led him to have a seat. They all waited together.Hours later… A doctor came out.“She is out of harm’s way for now but she has to be monitored for some nights here.” The doctor said, his expression grave.Killian wasn’t sure whether to still be worried or be relieved.“Thank you.” Freddy said to the doctor.The doctor nodded. “One of you can see he
Everyone including Killian, Francine, Freddy, and Hailey took turns to watch over Penelope. For the past 24 hours, she slipped in and out of consciousness. The doctor had informed them that it was totally normal.On Monday, she was fully awake and devouring the meal Ms. B sent through Hailey.“Whoa, Penny. Calm down. My aunt can send more if you want.” Hailey said, chuckling.“This is so delicious and just perfect amount of spice.” She said mouthful of food.Hailey grimaced at the sight. “Who would have thought you would have this much appetite?” She asked, marvelled.Penelope shrugged and continued to eat, grinning with each spoonful of food.”Suddenly, Hailey’s face became gloomy.Penelope frowned. She pushed the food aside and turned to Hailey, “What is wrong?” She asked.“Frank.” Hailey replied.Realization dawned on Penelope. She had almost forgot about the man blackmailing Hailey.“What about uhm the man that gave out his card? Have you reached out to him?” Penelope inquired.“Y
“Fill her discharged paper works. She can leave at noon. Thankfully, the toxins didn’t do any damage to her organs. The only real damage was to the growing foetus.” Doctor Humphrey explained to Killian and Penelope.“Finally!” Penelope blurted. “Sorry!”Melissa smiled. “It is all right. No one loves staying at the hospital.” She said. “I hope I don’t see you strolled into the hospital anymore.” She said, sternly. Her voice, showing a bit of concern.Penelope nodded in understanding. Melissa took her leave thereafter.“Let’s get you home.” Killian said lowly.Van drove them home. Ms. B pulled Penelope into a bone crushing hug.“Ms. B.” Penelope said in shock.“You scared us all to death.” Ms. B, said teary eyed. “I am so happy to see you alive.” She continued, “We all thought the worst.” She finally let go of Penelope. “Mr. King informed me of your arrival. There is a feast that await you.”“A feast? Just for me? You shouldn’t have, Ms. B. That is too much.” Penelope said, her words sh
“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