Penny was placed on a flat rock while Caleb headed toward the spring to rinse the mushrooms he had picked.The minute he left, the other women rolled their eyes at Penny. “Why would you come on a hike if you need someone to carry you on their back? Do you know what it even means to go on a hike? Everyone here has a higher standing in society than you, but none of us are as pampered as you are. "You’re the only one who needs a man to carry you up.” Penny held a wild fruit in her hand that Caleb had picked during the hike. Apparently, the tree bore fruit once a year, and only those lucky enough would get to eat those fruits. She tossed a fruit in her hand while turning to look at the woman who had spoken to her.“Well, you can get Caleb to carry you on his back later if you’re jealous.” “You!” The woman was infuriated. She sneered when she saw the last group of people arriving. “Ms. Strauss is not feeling well, but she walked over here by herself too. Let’s wait and see w
The noise attracted Caleb’s attention. He thought Penny was being bullied and immediately took off his gloves to walk back toward them.“What’s going on?”Nobody knew what to say.Penny munched on her fruit, a nonchalant look on her face as she said flatly, “She started crying because she felt sorry for you.” A confused look soon replaced by an incredulous expression appeared on Caleb’s face. “What? Is she insane?” Penny nearly spat out the food in her mouth, and she had to force herself to regain her composure before drinking water to hydrate herself. Khloe froze. Then, she sniffled as she spoke. “I'm just feeling upset after Ms. Sullivan berated me.” “What did she say?” “She said that I’m a mistress trying to force my way into a relationship.”“Well, aren’t you?” Caleb found the whole thing ridiculous, and he put on his gloves again before turning to look at Penny. “Stay away from her. I don’t want you to end up as bizarre as she is. Penny had to force herself
Someone gulped. The food they were eating suddenly seemed much less appetizing than it had been. Penny took a disposable bowl and brought Caleb some soup. “Try it, Caleb.” Caleb took a sip, and he was pleasantly surprised. He was an extremely picky person when it came to his food and clothes, but even he found the soup extremely tasty. The rest were eating dried food, which made the pot of mushroom soup even more valuable. Penny brought Liam and Winston a bowl of soup each but did not do so for the others. Those who had been picking on her just now gulped, but they tried to dissuade Winston from drinking the soup.“Winston, aren’t you worried you might get poisoned?” Winston downed the contents of the bowl in one gulp. “Why should I be scared? I’ve got Caleb paving the way for me.” The mushroom soup was prepared using wild mushrooms and water taken from the mountain spring, so it tasted amazing. All four of them had seconds. About half of the soup remained, and eve
Penny had landed on the corner of a cliff, and she used the lights shining above her and around the spring to get her bearings. Francis was lying about five feet away from her, and no one was helping him to his feet. She was just about to go help him when she saw one of the masked men walk toward Francis with a dagger in his hands. Penny practically lunged over, but the dagger still found its way into Francis’ arm. Francis was a man who had experienced plenty of hardships in his life, and he did not make a sound. Penny grabbed the handle in fright just as the lights around them grew even brighter. The people who had been stargazing nearby had come over. The women had started screaming because they had spotted several poisonous snakes, which was why they had decided to move. They did not expect to see Penny holding the handle of a dagger buried inside Sir Fergerson’s body. Some women began screaming again as the masked men standing close to Penny abruptly moved to stand in f
Liam smiled slightly. “Everyone’s saying Penny was deliberately planted here to date you, but I don’t believe that.” Caleb did not say anything. He had turned extremely silent. He did not get any sleep that night. The doctor dropped by the next morning. “Sir Fergerson would like to speak to you two.”Sir Fergerson had been admitted into the intensive care unit. Caleb and Liam went in to see him after putting on protective gowns. Sir Fergerson forced himself upright and looked at Caleb, using his eyes to tell him to come closer. Caleb approached him. The smell of disinfectant flooded his nostrils as he listened to Sir Fergerson say in a halting, bitter voice. “Don’t date Penpen, Caleb.” That sentence was practically a death sentence for Penny. Before hearing that, Caleb had assumed everything that happened last night was a misunderstanding. No matter what, Penpen would never have attacked Sir Fergerson. However, the sentence Sir Fergerson just uttered confirmed that s
Penny was now confined in a room without windows. There was only a transparent glass on the ceiling through which she could see the blue sky.She had no idea if she was in the city or in the suburbs.Nor did she know how long she had been unconscious. By the time she regained consciousness, she was already in this room.She thought of the small snake that had bitten Caleb and belatedly felt frightened.The snake's venom was potent enough to be lethal. She wondered how Caleb was doing and what Casby's purpose was."Open the door! Open it!" she shouted, banging on the room's only door. However, after two hours, there was no response.She sat on the floor, feeling exhausted. Finally, she heard footsteps outside.The door opened, and Casby walked in.The room only had a clock on the wall, and it showed that it was 9:00 pm. Casby saw her curled up on the floor, her arms tightly hugging her knees. He smirked.He knelt on one knee, grabbed her chin, and examined her face.Penny tr
Casby finished the drink in his cup and decided to sleep on the couch for a while.He suddenly woke up at midnight, got up to prepare some food in the kitchen, and brought it to the room where Penny was confined.Penny was still sitting on the floor, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw him enter.He pulled her up, guiding her to a chair next to a table where he placed the plate."Eat something first."His tone was gentle as he pulled out the chair for her.Penny watched him warily, even momentarily wondering if he was mentally ill.Caspian looked at her, his eyelashes drooping sorrowfully."Penpen, things are too complicated. I don't know how to explain it to you. Just think of it as if there's someone with a bad temper living in my body."Penny did not respond.Caspian raised his hand, wanting to comfort her. He then realized he no longer had that right, so his hand hung in the air before he quietly withdrew it."There are people outside. You can't leave yet, but I’ll help
Casby repeatedly told Sir Fergerson about these events."Grandpa, your proudest grandson was treated like livestock on the experimental table. At that moment, he was no prodigy. In the eyes of those people, he was just a rabbit waiting to be dissected. And all this was because you agreed to let him undertake that mission."Grandpa, why is Caleb so lucky? He's now the heir and gets to receive your affection. I'm the one who has to bear all this because I'm his elder brother. If I weren’t his brother, I wouldn't have had to protect him, right?"Francis' health was already failing, and he could hardly bear hearing these things.Just imagining Caspian, such an outstanding person, being experimented on in a lab made Sir Fergerson vomit blood repeatedly.In his youth, Sir Fergerson was known for his iron fist. In his old age, family became his priority.His two most beloved grandsons were Caleb and Caspian.He had thought Caspian was dead all these years and handed over Fergerson Corp