"Co on... don’t die like that. You can kill him now. I’m not in the car anymore."
Penny, seated lazily in the open backseat of a car, muttered to the body lying motionless on the ground.
It was the rider—the one who had tried to shoot Jonathan—only to end up run over by Penny’s bodyguards. If Mark had been even a second late, Jonathan would’ve been dead. And given how their car was moving, his death might’ve taken Penny with him in an inevitable crash.
"Co on..." she mused again, offering a smile to the first responders as they cleaned her minor wounds. "Thank you."
One of them smiled back and nodded. "You’ll still need to get checked at the hospital, just to be safe."
"Mhm." Penny humd, watching the responder leave with her kit. Her gaze drifted past her, landing on Jonathan, who was being tended to a few feet away.
Unlike her little scratches and the bruising on her leg, Jonathan had taken the brunt of it. The window had shattered on his side, glass slicing into his skin. Most of the cuts were shallow, but one nasty wound on his knuckles needed stitches—likely from sothing he’d hit during the short but intense road incident.
Jonathan was already staring back at her, face sour.
"That wretched witch..." he muttered under his breath—only to realize soone was still cleaning his wounds. The dic gave him an awkward smile but said nothing.
After all, Penny’s snide comnt had been loud enough for everyone to hear, as if her words could miraculously resurrect the rider to finish the job. Jonathan, anwhile, just used the mont to glare daggers in her direction.
To anyone who didn’t know them, one question naturally ca to mind:
Why were they even together?
"Miss Penny." Mark approached, standing beside the open car door. "I’ve already inford the master. I’ll be taking you to the hospital now."
Penny looked up at him and blinked. After a second, she raised a finger and pointed.
"Make sure to drag that guy with us."
Slowly, Mark turned his gaze in the direction she pointed, landing on Jonathan.
"Yes," he said with a low bow. "I’ll return after finishing the police report."
"Mhm."
With that, Mark excused himself. Police had already blocked off this stretch of highway, and dics sward the scene. Luckily, aside from Penny and Jonathan’s relatively minor injuries, only the rider had died... and one of Penny’s escort cars now had a wrecked bumper.
While Mark handled the officers, Penny and Jonathan—now separated—found themselves staring in the sa direction.
The body on the ground.
Neither said a word. The blood pooling beneath the corpse, the twisted limbs, the shattered helt, and the scattered bits of flesh didn’t seem to faze them.
Penny pressed her lips into a thin line, hugging herself in the blanket soone had wrapped around her.
"Just now..." she whispered, "... he really was going to put a hole in his head."
Her eyes slid back to Jonathan. He hadn’t moved, still staring at the corpse, his gaze unfocused.
I guess he didn’t see that coming either.
Jonathan’s mind raced.
He had almost died — there was no doubt.
If Penny’s people hadn’t intervened, he wouldn’t be here right now. But why? Who wanted him dead?
As ironic as it was, there were plenty of people who might want him gone, given everything he was involved in. But this? This was too soon. Too sudden. Too bold.
Who was it?
Which one?
His thoughts swirled like a broken record, trying to pin down who might have been behind the attack. Just like Penny, he was certain the rider had co for him, not her.
Then, a chilling thought crossed his mind:
Was it... her?
The woman he’d made a deal with?
But why? His brows furrowed. We’re allies now—but that doesn’t an forever. Still... I don’t think she’d cut off this early.
A frown overtook his face. The identity of the person behind the attack remained a blank.
"Sir, we’re taking you to the hospital now." One of the dics interrupted his thoughts. "Let help you."
Jonathan let the dic assist him as he continued trying to unravel the mystery in his mind.
---
So ti later...
Zoren rushed into the ergency room, pale and panicked. Even though Mark had filled him in with a detailed report, it didn’t stop the tightness in his chest.
His eyes scanned the room. The mont they landed on the familiar figure reclining lazily in the corner, his breath hitched, and he sprinted toward her.
"Penny."
Penny’s eyes lit up. "Hubby~!"
"Penny, what..." Zoren trailed off as he saw the small plasters on her skin. His heart clenched. Standing beside the bed, he reached out and gently touched her forehead, his thumb brushing the end of the plaster.
"I’m fine," Penny said with a grin, offering him the sweetest smile she could muster. "Just a few scratches."
She pointed across the room. "He, on the other hand, needed stitches."
Zoren turned his head slowly. His eyes quickly found Jonathan. The mont their eyes t, sothing shifted in him. All he saw was red.
"Jonathan..." he breathed, jaw clenched. In three long strides, he was at the other bed. Without hesitation, he grabbed Jonathan by the collar and yanked him up, his body trembling with fury.
"Hey, this isn’t my fault!" Jonathan raised his hands. "If anything, that woman is the one who trespassed into my car—"
Before he could finish, a fist smashed into his cheek.
The punch was so sudden that the pain didn’t register until Jonathan hit the floor, landing hard on his butt.
Gasps and shouts erupted in the ergency room. Nearby nurses turned at once.
"Hey! No fighting in here!"
"Ugh..." Jonathan groaned, touching the corner of his mouth. Blood stained his fingers. "You—"
"That woman," Zoren growled, his voice like ice, "is my wife. And she’s the one who saved you from dying tonight."
His fist remained clenched, still trembling. "If she hadn’t been there, I would’ve killed you myself. Don’t you dare pin this on her."
He pointed down at Jonathan. "Fix this problem... or I will."
With that, Zoren turned and went back to Penny to get her out of there.
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