anwhile, Penny stood on the balcony, hugging herself in her silk robe, her eyes on the almost ruined garden where Nathaniel had been slaving away for the past week.
"Tell right now," she whispered, her eyelids drooping. "Am I doing the wrong thing?"
Standing by the entrance was Zoren, still in his suit as if he had co to her as soon as he arrived. He leaned against the jamb, his arms folded across his chest.
"What made you think that you’re doing the wrong thing?" he asked.
Penny didn’t answer imdiately, staring in the sa direction with the sa look on her face. "Nathaniel betrayed in the past," she whispered. "However, even with that, I’m going to let him into my life and my people’s lives. I know what he is capable of, so... I’m not really sure if this is going to work."
"It will work," he reassured her without a second hesitation, peeling himself away from the jamb to approach her. Zoren carefully wrapped his arm around her fra, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Penny glanced at him and smiled subtly. "How are you so sure that it will work?"
"Because it’s you." He smiled back, giving her a knowing and confident look. "It’s you, so I know it will work."
"You’re too confident in ."
"I wouldn’t be worthy to be your husband if I didn’t believe in my wife." He snapped his eyes away, gazing at the pits in the garden that ruined its beauty. "Considering how you’ve been able to forgive and give people the second chances they didn’t even deserve, I’m sure everything’s going to work."
Chuckling, Penny leaned back until her body rested against him. For a mont, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the night breeze in the company of the man who made her heart warm.
"The board eting," she whispered after a mont of silence, reopening her eyes slowly. "It’s tomorrow."
"Mhm."
"Is everything okay?"
"Mhm. Thankfully."
Penny arched a brow as she glanced up at him, only to see him smile. "Did sothing happen today?"
"Nothing happened today."
"Are you sure?"
"Angel argued with ," he remarked with a slight shrug. "He won the argunt, and Benjamin was very happy about it."
Zoren paused as he drew a deep breath, looking ahead. "Normally, at this point, sothing would’ve happened. However, my security was so strict and tight that even I felt suffocated."
"But you’re unhard," she quipped, making him gaze down at her with a chuckle. "Isn’t that more important?"
"It is." Zoren nodded. "And I’m glad that, for the first ti in a long ti, it seems I’m going to attend the board eting without an accident."
Zoren might’ve made it sound light, but they both knew his security was very tight. Everything he ate was checked, and all ingredients went through a thorough inspection by his first line of defense. His cars and all the escort vehicles underwent inspections both before and after he rode in them.
It was suffocating, but considering Zoren’s history, these inspections were worth it.
After all, the Pierson Corporation was a bloody ss. It wasn’t just a eting among the board mbers, but also a ti for the mbers to bring down one another. There had already been too many instances when they tried to vote Zoren out of his position, taking advantage of the fact that he wasn’t there due to an accident.
It would be the sa this ti around.
"Take care," Penny remarked quietly, allowing him to hug her from behind.
"I will," he reassured her. "Though the board eting is not what I’m worried about."
"What is?"
Zoren didn’t answer right away, his eyes ahead. "The family eting."
"The family eting?" Slowly, Penny turned around to face him. "Why are you worried about that?"
"The board eting is easy since it only requires to be in good shape to run the company. That’s why, even when I get into an accident, I was never voted out, as they have full confidence in . The majority of the board is on my side," he explained in a knowing tone. "However, the family eting is more of an internal affair."
"Penny, the Pierson Corporation, and the Pierson family might appear the sa, but they are two separate entities." He casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, carefully choosing his words to ensure clarity. "One is for pure business, while the other is more about sothing for the business. It is a little complicated."
A little?
Penny almost laughed as she stared at him with admiring eyes. Even though that didn’t clear it up entirely, she sowhat grasped the vague explanation.
"In other words, they might not be able to bring you down during the board eting, but they can in the family eting?" she asked, and he nodded. "Were you worried about this before?"
"No."
"Why does it trouble you now?" she asked, and this ti, Zoren didn’t answer. He only stared at her with a smile, but that was enough for her to understand the reason. "...?"
"Don’t worry about it," he reassured her.
"Renren, if they want proof of your marriage, then—" she halted when he shook his head. "Why?"
Zoren pressed his lips together and pulled her waist closer. "Don’t misunderstand," he said. "I’m simply refusing this offering for one reason: I don’t want them close to you. It makes jealous."
"Are you joking right now?"
"I am," he chuckled. "On a serious note, I don’t want them near you because... they’re very unpleasant people, and I don’t want them tainting the air you breathe."
"..." This ti, Penny was rendered speechless. She looked at him with a deadpan expression while he was chuckling, as if he found his remarks very humorous.
"If I need it, I’ll be sure to tell you," he said, but deep in his heart, he knew that unless he was dead, there was no way he would let Penny ddle with the Pierson family’s filth. It was what Charles had told him.
If Zoren wanted to protect Penny from his own family, then the first thing he must ensure was that they wouldn’t be able to touch her. It was Charles’s mistake in the past, and it was sothing that sotis haunted him in his sleep.
That was letting his wife into the Bennet family and giving his own family the chance to hurt her.
"Learn from my mistake," Zoren remarked, raising her brows. He smiled. "That’s what your father told : to learn from his mistake."
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