After three days locked in the Willard mansion without a drop of water or a bite to eat, Penny was finally thrown out.
David Willard stood on the marble steps, arms crossed as two servants dumped her bags onto the wet ground.
"What you did was out of line, Penelope. I can't have a girl like you embarrassing our family," he said coldly.
He had never seen her as a daughter. If it weren't for her mother, he would've thrown her out long ago. In fact, this time, it was Maybelline's idea to kick her out.
"You already humiliate us just by existing. Now you want to add stupidity on top of that?" David snapped. "You're married, aren't you? Go find your husband. Even if he kicks you out, don't bother crawling back."
He didn't look at her again. He turned and walked inside.
Penny didn't flinch. She had already cried too much to cry again.
Penny barely blinked before Maybelline's voice cut through. "Look at you, Penelope. You dared to humiliate Ariana on her special night. This is what you get." Penny stared at her in silence.
They all knew the truth. Ariana stole her fiancé. Ariana humiliated her in front of everyone. But as always, Maybelline would side with her.
You're my mother too. Ariana is not your only child. Can't you just have a little empathy, just this once?" She had done every DNA test possible, praying Maybelline wasn't her real mother. But fate had been cruel, Maybelline was her biological mother
Maybelline scoffed. "Mother? Empathy? What do you have to offer, Penny, besides your weight and your empty head?" She started, completely out of line.
"You have no degree, no future, nothing. Just a fat, worthless girl trying to steal her sister's husband. Meanwhile, Ariana is graduating at the top of her class next month. She is the true daughter of this family and you're nothing." May spat.
But if only she knew… Ariana's grades had always come from Penny's hard work. Penny had written the papers. Done the research. Finished the projects.
But now that Ariana didn't need her anymore, she'd thrown her away like trash.
"You should be thankful we let you live here. Every day, you should kneel and thank your sister. She's the reason you exist," Maybelline said cruelly. "You want kindness? Be grateful I gave you life. What did your useless father ever do for you?"
The door slammed shut.
Penny didn't react. She just sighed, picked up her bags, and tossed them into her car.
She had heard those words so many times, they didn't hurt anymore.
And her "useless father"? She didn't even know who he was. Maybelline refused to tell her. But still, she insulted him every chance she got.
"That was too much," a maid whispered nearby.
"Is she really her mother?" another asked. "I can't imagine any mother saying those things, even if her child is useless."
"I heard she's not just useless. I heard she's the product of… you know," one servant muttered, placing a hand over her lips.
"The R-word?" another whispered. "I heard that's why Madam May never married into the royal family. They said she was eighteen when it happened… and forced to marry someone low instead."
"What a pity."
Penny heard it all. She always did. But she didn't stop. She started the engine.
It isn't the first time, everyone knew her story. She couldn't blame her mother for hating her, not when the entire Owlsgrave keep reminding her mother she was a product of rape every chance they get.
So what if she was born from something terrible? It wasn't her fault.
She has been hated since she was a baby. It was a miracle she had survived this long.
There was a time when she was five, her mother had pushed her off a cliff. But somehow, she had survived that.
When she was younger, her mother used to inject her with Pentobarbital. But what Maybelline thought to be harmful had turned out to be mere hormonal drugs. The injections only caused Penny's body to change. She gained weight rapidly, and nothing she did could stop it.
She has tried everything, to lose weight. Doctors, diets, exercise, starvation. Nothing worked.
She dreamed once of becoming a doctor, of studying the human body so she could figure out what was done to her. But David refused to fund her education.
"We'll train Ariana instead. You'll never amount to anything anyway."
So Penny studied in secret. Traditional medicine, chemistry, biology. She became an expert scientist with no one knowing. No one cares. That is why she has been able to help Ariana with every major project.
But it didn't matter now.
Right now, she has a husband to find. A fake marriage to end.
She wiped her eyes, hands steady on the steering wheel. She wasn't going to cry anymore.
She would find Osvaldo Adkins, apologize for the mix-up, and make him sign the divorce papers.
She didn't care who Osvaldo Adkins was or why he was hidden. If anything, she hoped he was just some spoilt, arrogant rich man who would be glad to be rid of her.
From now on, no more love, no more men, no more chasing after something that will never be hers. She would live for herself.
As she drove through Owlsgrave, the grand estate gates opened like they had been expecting her. No questions asked.
Penny looked around. Mansions surrounded her, glittering, luxurious, the kind you saw in magazines.
It looked more like royal castles being scattered around.
But one building stood out.
A penthouse at the far end. Different. Lonely. The glass was cracked. Grass overgrown at the entrance. It looked abandoned.
"Osvaldo must be in one of the real mansions," she muttered.
Just then, she saw a white car she knew too well.
Her stomach turned. That car belongs to Chris, there was no doubt.
And as if to confirm her words, she saw them stepping out of the car. The two last people she wanted to see.
.
.
A/N: Pentobarbital (PB) is a euthanasia drug that causes death within 15–30 minutes.