"He said Slater killed him once. He claims this is his second life, and he was reborn. Crazy, isn’t it?"
Penny held her breath, her eyes widening as she stared at Hugo’s face. "What did you say he said?"
"Hm?" Hugo cocked his head slightly. "That Slater killed him?"
"And...?"
"That this is his second life — he said he was reborn and returned in ti," Hugo shrugged, simplifying the absurd claims he’d heard earlier. "It’s crazy. The guy’s insane. I an, if he really traveled back in ti, why would he bother killing Slater? And why live such a pathetic life?"
Hugo pushed himself away and sat on the edge of the bed. "If it were , I wouldn’t be as pathetic as him. Co on, if I traveled back in ti, I’d hit the lotto jackpot overnight and beco a millionaire. What a crazy guy! Of all the excuses he could co up with, he chose sothing so bizarre."
While Hugo rambled on, deep lines appeared between Penny’s brows. She lowered her eyes, her heart racing, as she clasped the sheet over her lap tightly. Unlike Hugo, who dismissed the man’s claims as ridiculous, part of her believed the story.
After all, she too... had gone back in ti.
If Penny hadn’t changed her life, she was certain everything would have played out the sa way as in her first life. The early years of her life as Penelope Reed had felt like watching a replay: the twins had started picking on her before they could even speak, and Jessa had been harsh over the sa things.
Things only changed when Penny began making her own moves. However, even though her changes positively impacted the Cortez family, it didn’t necessarily an they affected other people’s lives. For instance, one of her neighbors still got divorced, and another had caught her husband cheating.
Penny knew all of this — even her neighbors’ deepest secrets that they never told anyone — from her ti doing fortune-telling. In conclusion, her own life had changed, but that didn’t an the fates of others had. Unless, of course, she had interfered, like she had with Grace’s life.
’I made all these changes carefully,’ she reminded herself, glancing at Hugo, who was still rambling about winning the lottery and making easy money. ’I was careful because I’ve already seen what can happen if you aren’t cautious in changing your life — and those around you — early on. That’s one reason I chose to establish myself abroad, to stop ddling in people’s lives. But if soone is foolish, despite knowing the future, it could still backfire.’
Going back in ti wasn’t as easy as one might think. The laws of cause and effect still apply. Things could spiral out of control very easily if one wasn’t careful. Penny knew that very well. She learned her lessons not just one ti, but many tis before she was able to grasp how to make all these changes without it backfiring on her.
’But this is strange,’she thought, lowering her gaze, deep in thought. ’Third Brother killed him in the past? How?’
In retrospect, Slater might have been the most annoyingly loud and expressive among them, but despite his hurtful words, he wasn’t the type to harm anyone physically. Even when he despised Penny in their first life, the worst he did was pull pranks on her as a child and shoot down her confidence as an adult.
He was an — even evil at tis — but not evil enough to kill anyone.
’So why? I an, how?’ Penny hissed internally, closing her eyes as a headache began to strike her. ’While I was in prison... what was happening outside?’
As she rummaged through her mories, she suddenly stumbled upon one she had almost forgotten. It was a strange visit she had received a few months before her execution. This mory had lain dormant in the deepest parts of her mind because she had deed it unimportant.
Why?
Because after that first visit, the man had never returned. He hadn’t shown up again, nor had he returned her calls. He had simply vanished. So Penny had assud everything he said back then was nonsense, just another person adding to her misery.
But what if what that man said was true?
’Damn it,’Penny ntally cursed, running her fingers through her hair. ’I haven’t even found that damn Nathaniel because of the Specters, and now I have one more person to track down.’
"Penny? You okay?"
The headache that had been pounding in her head stopped when Hugo called out to her. She slowly looked up, eting his curious gaze.
"You’re a little pale," he pointed out, scooting closer. "Are you okay? Are you in pain?"
"Mhm. I’m okay." Penny forced a smile. "I’m just frustrated. That nut job made frustrated."
His brows rose, and he nodded in understanding. "I know. He made angry too. Even if he’s crazy, it’s still really frustrating."
"Mhm."
"Anyway, Penny, I’m curious about sothing."
"Hmm?"
"I just rembered Zoren and First Brother talking about your drunken state. But they were being discreet about it."
Penny tilted her head. "What do you an, my drunken state?"
"I don’t know," Hugo shrugged. "I asked First Brother about it, but he just said sothing ridiculous. He’s ssing with ."
"When I’m drunk... I sleep," she said with certainty. "Second Brother, the only ti I didn’t sleep after drinking was that night when I saw you wrestling with sobody. I rarely drink, but when I’ve had too much, I always end up sleeping."
"Are you sure?" Hugo asked, looking a bit doubtful. He wanted to believe her, but Atlas’s reaction had been too strong to be baseless. Atlas wasn’t paranoid like Slater — he wouldn’t worry for no reason.
"Want to bet on it?"
His brow arched. "Are you sure?"
A smirk tugged at her lips. "I’ve slept too much today, so I don’t mind. I’m also curious why First Brother and Renren keep telling not to drink ever again."
And just like that, they started their little experint — one Hugo would later regret.
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