"Did your Second Brother tell you?"
For a mont, Penny was speechless. When Hugo showed her the clip of their little wrestling fight, he also told her that Atlas, Zoren, Charles, and Haines knew about it. Although the older n didn’t delve too deep into it because of their conversation afterward, Atlas and Zoren seed to be more aware of the situation.
However, neither Atlas nor Zoren had said a word about it. Hugo, following his intuition, had snuck into her room to tell her himself. He reasoned that Penny should know so she could avoid any future embarrassnt, and she was grateful for that. Even so, Penny and Hugo didn’t criticize Atlas or Zoren because they believed they had their reasons. If she were to criticize them, she’d have to criticize herself first—after all, she didn’t want to bring it up.
But now...
’I guess Second Brother and I were wrong,’ she thought. ’First Brother might have his reasons for not telling , but it seems Renren simply didn’t have the ti to explain everything that happened.’
Zoren hadn’t said it outright, but Penny was almost certain that this was what Zoren and Atlas had discussed.
"Renren, how did you know?" she blurted, realizing she was caught. "I an, how did you figure out Second Brother already told about this?"
Zoren smiled. "I didn’t, but I had my intuition."
What a deadly intuition he had.
"When you were in the hospital, your Second Brother didn’t show up on the second day. And the ward had this faint scent of alcohol. I’ve spent a lot of ti in hospitals, so I’m quite familiar with all these strange scents," he explained indifferently as he leaned back, eyes on her. "Considering your relationship with him, I was sure he’d be curious about your drunken antics. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together."
"Wow..." Penny’s mouth fell open, almost clapping as he sounded so smart explaining his thought process.
Zoren smirked. "Then you confird it."
"Huh?" She crinkled her nose. "I didn’t confirm anything."
"You did," he nodded. "By not asking why I gave you water while I have wine. Your First Brother was worried, and considering your personality, even if you don’t drink a lot, you know that steak is best paired with a sip of wine."
"Oh..." Her mouth ford an ’O,’ and she rocked her head. "Wow... I feel dumb."
Zoren chuckled, leaning forward to cup his face. "You’re not dumb. Just... relaxed."
"Heh..." Penny let out an awkward laugh, feeling a bit speechless. "Sorry."
His brows rose at her sudden apology. Before he could ask, she explained.
"When Second Brother showed how I am after passing out drunk, I realized I might’ve been the one who caused trouble here that night," she admitted, referring to the night she drunkenly ca in and not only spewed a bunch of nonsense but also caused more trouble for everyone. "It’s a little late, but I’m sorry about that. You shouldn’t punish them, though."
Because even if they had opened fire, it was Penny’s fault. That was sothing no one could deny.
"Will you stop ?" he asked out of curiosity, and she shook her head.
"I’m just saying," she replied quietly. "At the end of the day, they’re your n. Just like I have my own terms and conditions with mine, I understand you have yours."
Pleased, Zoren nodded. "They’re being punished because even though I find it hard to think that you could’ve gotten hurt, they were at fault too. Normally, they wouldn’t open fire so carelessly."
’But if I were them, I would shoot myself too,’she thought, biting her tongue. ’After watching that clip with my brother and guessing that’s Penelope Bennet from the previous life, opening fire was the right call.’
After all, even Penny was scared of herself whenever she looked back at the person—or rather, the monster—she had beco during her sentence. There wasn’t a trace of herself in that Penelope. The fact that she had t up with Slater’s attacker only solidified her determination never to return to that place.
Now, her curiosity about what she had done to Atlas lingered in her mind.
"So, it’s alright. Don’t worry about them, and I’m sure they’re not holding it against you," he reassured her with a subtle smile. "Moving on. Since you’re already aware of what happens when you drink, I want to let you know that I finally found out how we got married."
"Really?" Penny perked up as Zoren nodded. "How?"
He chuckled. "Let’s finish our al. It can wait..." He trailed off when he heard her fork tap on the plate several tis, suggesting she was forking out multiple pieces of at at once.
"I’m done!" Penny announced just one minute later, eyes fixed on him. The at was tender and almost lted in her mouth, so she quickly swallowed it down. A few seconds later, she snapped her eyes at him. "Done!"
Zoren was speechless for a mont, glancing at her now-empty plate. The at had disappeared in a split second. His mouth curved up as he took a sip of wine.
"Renren..." she called somberly. "I want to know now."
"I know you’re curious, but we’ll get there." He winked at her, guiding the last piece of at on his plate to his mouth. "Don’t worry."
Penny pouted, thinking Zoren was trying to make her die of curiosity. It took her a mont to realize that wasn’t the case. Her husband wasn’t that heartless. Instead, Zoren’s slow reaction and stalling were his way of giving her ti to prepare herself.
After the al, Zoren took her hand, leading her to his study. He sat her down on the couch and handed her the investigation files his n had gathered, detailing the events from when Penny got herself drunk to the present.
Penny’s mouth slowly opened until her jaw was almost hitting the floor. She looked up at him, wide-eyed.
"I got us married...?"
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