The Season of Our Love Is Gone
Chapter 1 “Ms. Sanders, here’s the proposal for your fake death. According to this, you’ve chosen to fake your death via ‘falling off a cliff’ on the day of your wedding, on live stream, is that correct?”
“That’s right.”
The staff looked serious. “If you ‘die’ on live stream, that means you’ll never be able to return to society under your current identity.”
Penelope Sanders gripped the document in her hand a little harder and nodded decisively. “I understand. And I’m sure of this..”
As she walked out of the building, she immediately caught sight of the huge billboard on the tall buildings across the busy street. There was a video playing on loop—the one where Eric Fulmer was announcing his engagement to her to the world.
Eric was handsome and looked like he was made of money, while she was very pretty and attractive in the video too. Even the cars driving by were attracted to the video and slowed down as they passed.
In the video, Eric had an arm around her waist. He had always been a curt, straightforward person who rarely dealt with emotions. But this time, his eyes were red and teary, and his voice was also very shaky as he spoke.
“Today marks the most important day in my life, because Ms. Penelope Sanders has agreed to marry me, Eric Fulmer. Therefore, I would like to cordially invite everyone to witness our wedding next month through our global live stream. I’d love to have you all there!”
Words then appeared on the screen, detailing everything Eric had ever done for her.
“He fell in love with her when he was 19 years old; started a company when he was 20 years old to measure up to her family’s wealth; flew to Payris nearly 200 times a year when he was 22 years old just to visit her while studying overseas…
“And eventually, his romantic gestures won her heart over, resulting in marriage.”
Penelope read the words with ridicule in her eyes. She then lowered her head and tapped on her phone screen, looking at the screenshot of a chat in her gallery. On the top right corner of the screenshot was a photo of a woman she didn’t know, looking straight into the camera. She held her skirt up, showing the camera her red and swollen butt cheeks.
“Ricky, look at what you did to me! My butt hurts so much… You’d better come here and give me a massage in half an hour or I’ll cry my eyes out! And I won’t forgive you no matter what!”
Eric had replied almost instantaneously after that. “I’m coming.”
The whole world was jealous of Penelope for finding herself a man who loved her so much. However, she was the only one who knew that Eric had been “sponsoring” a college student outside of their relationship for two whole years.
Tears blurred Penelope’s vision. She suddenly felt as though she were in a trance.
Her parents died when she was 19 years old, and Eric had been the one gently cradling her in his arms when she cried so hard she nearly passed out. He was also the one who had sworn to the heavens that he would take care of her for the rest of her life.
Once, he broke his leg on a rock while protecting her. He even brought her all over the world to taste the finest steaks simply because she made an offhand remark about how much she liked them.
She knew all of his bank account passwords and his phone password, and every profile picture of Eric on his social media platforms had her in the background.
Even on the day of his proposal, Eric cried and told her that he would never be able to leave her for the rest of his life because he was irrevocably in love with her. He later made her promise that they would be together even in death.
However, right after promising her the moon during his proposal, Eric went out that very night to see his side chick and spent the night with her.
Penelope closed her eyes in despair as she replayed the scene of Eric’s proposal in her head. Since he had betrayed her trust through and through, he no longer had the right to complain if she didn’t uphold her promises to him as well.
She was going to fake her death under the eyes of millions, wipe away all traces of “Penelope Sanders” from the earth, and disappear from his life for good.
She wiped away the tears in her eyes and was just about to stand up when she suddenly felt a force against her shoulder. A tall figure appeared, crouching down to help her up to her feet before pulling her into his embrace.
“Didn’t I ask you to wait for me to pick out the diamond ring, Penelope? Why did you come out by yourself and squat at the roadside?”
Eric looked anxious when he saw the tear tracks on her face. “Why are you crying? Did you get hurt?”
Penelope didn’t answer him. She just stared at him quietly.
The concern and anxiety on his face didn’t seem fake. However, the strong scent of fresh tangerine perfume on his body told her that this man had just been intimate with that side chick of his.
She turned away to avoid the stench of perfume on his body, lowering her eyes to hide the hint of disgust appearing in them.
If just seeing her teary face sent Eric into such a state of frenzy, Penelope wondered how he would react when he saw her lifeless body on the day of their wedding ceremony.
A long while later, after Eric had thoroughly checked Penelope everywhere for any injuries and concluded that there were none, she said softly, “I’m just on my period. It hurts.”
Chapter 2 Eric’s hands stilled, and his voice sounded tight.
“I’m sorry, Penelope. I’ve been so busy lately that I forgot it’s that time of the month for you. Let’s go back into the car, alright? There’s a hot water bottle in there.”
Penelope silently followed him back into the car, letting Eric put a heating blanket over her and press a hot water bottle to her tummy.
In the past, Eric had memorized her time of the month and knew it better than the back of his hand. However, over the past few months, everything had changed.
The car still smelled heavily of the tangerine perfume, making Penelope recall that photo in his car she had just seen a while ago. That woman had been leaning heavily against the door, her clothes in disarray, while Eric looked at her with a lustful smile on his lips.
The driver stopped at the door of a jewelry store. However, Eric didn’t move.
Penelope turned toward him and caught him mid-smile as he messaged someone with a cute cat as their profile picture.
Seemingly realizing Penelope’s eyes were on him, Eric quickly locked his phone screen and reached over to pat her on her head. Then, he gave her his black card and said, “Penelope, be a good girl and buy whatever you want in there, okay? Something just came up at the company, but I’ll be back in a while to pick you up.”
Penelope quietly got down.
Before she had even managed to find her balance on the curb, Eric had already signaled to his driver to turn around. The car disappeared out of sight within seconds.
The staff from the jewelry shop immediately swarmed around Penelope when she entered. “Ms. Sanders, Mr. Fulmer arranged for you to choose from 34 ring designs! Take your time with them.”
Penelope looked away and shook her head at the staff, saying, “Don’t bother. Just pick any one of them and it’ll do.”
After all, she was planning to “kill herself” on her wedding day. And a dead bride would never have a chance to put the ring on her finger anyway.
Penelope didn’t heed Eric’s instructions and went home right after picking out a random design.
The first thing she did as soon as she got home was to grind some coffee beans to make herself a fresh cup of coffee. She had been unable to sleep for nearly two weeks. Coffee was the only thing keeping her awake at this point.
Suddenly, she received a message notification on her phone. Her hand holding the coffee trembled when she looked at the screen. The coffee splashed out of the cup, causing scalding drops of brown liquid to land on her chest, but Penelope didn’t even notice it. She just kept her eyes glued to the screen.
Ingrid Hason had just sent her another message. Even worse, it was a video message this time. The video was mostly blurry, with only close-ups of flesh on flesh. However, the voices in the video could be very clearly heard.
Ingrid was panting loudly as she caught her breath, only to say, “Ricky… Is my butt nicer than hers?”
An inexplicably familiar voice then replied, “You’re a lot sexier than her.”
Then, a familiar hand reached toward the woman’s butt and pinched the flesh hard. On one of the fingers was even the rare diamond ring that Penelope had personally designed.
Penelope shook all over. She used the last ounce of her energy to turn off the screen on her phone.
She forced herself to think about other things to try to distract herself as she went through the documents from the company about to fake her death—Doornail Corporation—about her package, which included her new identity afterward.
She never received a single message from Eric for the rest of the day. Just as she was about to go to sleep, her phone suddenly rang again with a message notification. Penelope lowered her gaze and saw that Ingrid had sent her tons of photos this time.
The first photo was that of Eric’s face. He was sleeping peacefully next to her. The next few photos were all Ingrid’s selfies. Her body was littered with all sorts of bruises and love bites.
“Ricky said that he wanted to cover every inch of my body with his marks before letting me go. Has he ever wanted you as badly as he wanted me, Penelope?”
Penelope was unusually calm. However, she didn’t do anything for the next seven hours but stare at the phone screen until daylight.
When Eric finally came home, he saw Penelope sitting on the couch in a fetal position, her eyes bloodshot while she stared at her phone screen, her hands shaking.
Eric was taken aback. He hurriedly went up to her and pulled her into his embrace. “Penelope, why are your eyes so red? Have you been crying?”
Penelope turned off her phone screen and simply rubbed her eyes a little.
She then looked at Eric, whose clothes were still messy and disheveled, and smiled very faintly. But anyone could tell it wasn’t genuine.
“It’s nothing. I just had a nightmare.”
Chapter 3 Eric’s tense body relaxed when he heard that. Then, he massaged Penelope’s temples and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “Don’t worry about it anymore, Poppy. Your hubby’s back now, and he’ll protect you from all the bad dreams!”
He looked at Penelope’s sorry state, feeling his heart soften. He then kissed her deeply on the lips and said apologetically, “Penelope, I was wrong to have left you at the jewelry store yesterday. But I’ll make it up to you. Let’s go buy a few properties tomorrow to cheer you up, alright?”
Penelope still said nothing, but Eric assumed that it was a silent yes. He then picked her up and brought her back into the bedroom, pulled the blanket over her, and stayed by her side all night while looking up land and properties for sale.
…
The next afternoon, Eric personally brushed Penelope’s hair, fed her a huge bowl of nourishing stew, and then brought her to Monumental Properties.
The manager there brought Eric and Penelope around the display units and showhouses they had. If Eric noticed that Penelope’s gaze lingered just a fraction of a second longer on a certain property, he immediately told the manager to book it. It didn’t matter that Penelope wasn’t even the least bit interested in any of the properties.
While finalizing the paperwork, the manager brought both of them to the golf course behind the company.
There were a few founders and CEOs there, with many of them having done business with Fulmer Industries before. When they heard about what Eric had just done, they immediately crowded around him to tease him.
“You really spare no cash for the woman of your dreams, huh? I had my eyes on a few of those properties, meaning to turn them into a vacation home for me and my wife, but you’ve already booked them all!”
“Hey, Mr. Fulmer, can’t you let me have the manor in Hallesouth instead? I’ll make sure to give you a handsome discount the next time our companies collaborate again!”
Eric just poured a cup of coffee for Penelope and said, “I don’t have the final say in things like these. I’ll only agree to it if Penelope here agrees to it.”
Meanwhile, Penelope pretended not to have heard a thing as she pushed back the coffee Eric handed her. “I’m not thirsty.”
The man who had just spoken earlier, Jack Ziegler, knew then that it was a lost cause. He just sighed heavily and went back to his seat.
“Didn’t you say that you wanted to play golf? Here, I’ll play with you,” Eric said with a gentle smile as he carefully held Penelope’s hands.
She was just about to reject him when they suddenly heard a commotion coming from Jack’s spot.
A young woman had fallen to the ground with a loud cry, and Jack was grabbing at her while hitting her repeatedly with a golf club. He yelled, “Aren’t girl caddies like you just meant to be playthings anyway? How dare you push me away? I’m going to kill you!”
Eric turned to look and immediately froze in his spot.
Penelope followed his gaze and looked over as well. She immediately saw the same face that had appeared multiple times in her phone text messages, but now, it was in the flesh.
Ingrid was wearing a pure white sporty outfit today, complete with a tank top and a short tennis skirt. She was sitting on the ground, looking like a pure, innocent college girl who was weak and helpless.
Jack continued yelling degrading things at her, and Ingrid began to sob. She kept looking over at Eric, as if asking him for help.
Penelope was just about to look away when she suddenly felt a lightness on her hands—Eric had let go of her. He said anxiously and rapidly, “Penelope, I think my friend just ran into some trouble. Wait for me here.”
Without waiting for her answer, Eric stormed toward the other golf platform.
Eric had always been mindful of his interactions, keeping a respectful distance from other people when necessary. However, throughout this interaction, Eric’s eyes never left the injury on Ingrid’s leg. He kept looking at the injury anxiously without even giving Penelope another backward glance.
When Ingrid left, Eric finally rushed back to Penelope’s side. Yet she could still hear from his anxious tone that something was off.
“It was just a misunderstanding. I’ve already offered to give up the manor in Hallesouth to Jack in exchange. Let’s just treat it as a charity case…”
Penelope was taken aback. Then, she nodded lightly.
A split second later, Eric looked down at his phone and carefully angled the screen so that Penelope wouldn’t be able to see anything on it. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead. “Penelope, something’s gone wrong with the paperwork. I’m going to talk to them about it.”
As soon as he said that, he quickly rushed off without another glance.
Penelope watched quietly as he left. It wasn’t until he was finally out of her line of sight that she finally unclenched her fist. Her long manicured nails had cut into the flesh of her palms, and blood smeared all over her hand. Still, she didn’t seem to feel anything. She could only stare at the new messages popping up on her phone.
“Ricky’s such a wild animal… He insisted on doing it with me in the restroom, saying that it would be a lot more thrilling in here…”
After sitting for a long time, Penelope stood up and headed toward the female restroom. The lighting there was dim. Every stall door in the restroom was wide open, save for the last one in the back. The sounds of wet flesh slapping against wet flesh echoed loudly in the enclosed space.
The closer Penelope walked toward the closed stall, the more clearly she could hear them panting against each other.
After a particularly loud thump, Penelope’s ears bled from the increasingly loud and vigorous wet slapping sounds coming from within. She could even hear the man growling lustfully as he thrust harder and faster.
The voice was so familiar that Penelope didn’t even need to see him to know who he was. She just clapped her hand over her mouth and forced herself to swallow her sobs.
Chapter 4 There was a low hum, and then the wet slapping sounds finally stopped. However, the sounds of wet lips kissing and sucking on soft skin came right after.
Penelope couldn’t bear to listen to the sounds any longer. She kept her hand pressed to her mouth as she stumbled out of the restroom.
She made sure to take the long way so that she wouldn’t run into anybody and ran in the opposite direction of the restroom. Then, she hid on the couch at the back of the pantry. Penelope panted and gasped loudly, her tears rolling down her cheeks without stopping.
She thought that she had already grown numb to the situation because she had seen photos and videos of them before, but when she really encountered them in real life, she still felt the stabbing pain in her heart that made her want to pass out. She couldn’t stop thinking about the few times when she and Eric actually did it.
They didn’t do it very often, but each time he slept with her, he was always very gentle. If she so much as whimpered in pain, he would immediately stop—no matter how uncomfortable it was for him. In fact, there were a few times when she had hinted that she would like to try new things, but he would always turn her down, telling her that it would be hard on her.
At first, Penelope thought that she had finally found a man who treated her as precious as gold.
But now, it seemed that Eric was probably just dissatisfied with how boring she was and decided to seek out a more thrilling experience with someone else.
Penelope pressed her hands against her face, but the tears kept streaming down from the gaps in her fingers.
Eric called, but she silenced her phone and just let the screen continue lighting up with the call notification.
At the same time, Ingrid’s text messages appeared again.
“Ricky was so rough with me today… Did we scare you? Aww, but I guess it was my fault, after all. I mean, he did give up the Hallesouth manor to Mr. Ziegler as a form of goodwill just to save me just now…
“Oh, Ricky also said he’s giving me this ring!”
Penelope recognized the ring immediately. It was the same ring Eric used to wear on his finger.
The diamond in that ring was an extremely rare blue diamond that Penelope obtained only after visiting Argayle, where the mines were, for three whole months. She spent months carving and designing the rest of the ring, carefully and precisely hammering each prong while bent over her workbench for long periods, which then caused a lifetime injury to her waist.
She had spent half a year perfecting every micron of that ring, but now, Ingrid was wearing it on her finger.
Penelope closed her eyes and turned off her phone. She took some ice cubes from the pantry and iced her red, swollen eyes. Then, she took out her eyeliner and mascara to touch up her makeup that had long smudged off.
Right after reapplying her makeup, she walked out and bumped into Eric, who was loudly yelling her name while searching for her. He immediately pulled her into his arms, his voice tight with worry. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere since finalizing the paperwork. How could you just run off on your own?”
Penelope inhaled softly, but the sickening tangerine perfume immediately clouded her senses. She looked up at Eric’s face and tried her best to suppress the quiver in her voice. “Are you done with the paperwork? I’d like to visit Hallesouth next week. We can stay at the manor you just bought.”
Eric’s eyes flickered for a moment, and he said cautiously, “We’re about to get married very soon. Why would we go to Hallesouth? Penelope, don’t act so childishly. You can’t always make requests and expect me to fulfill them.”
Hearing that, the corners of Penelope’s lips lifted slightly. She briefly glanced at Eric’s finger. As expected, the ring wasn’t there anymore.
In the past, Eric would always fulfill her every whim and fancy. Forget going somewhere the next week; if she told him she wanted to go somewhere far that very afternoon, he would bring her there immediately. He used to call her lively and adorable for that, always surprising him with fun requests.
But now that he had a side chick, her same requests were labeled as being “childish”.
Penelope looked at Eric with tears in her eyes. She had known him since she was 19 years old, but this was the first time she realized how two-faced he was.
Seeing Penelope’s upset face, Eric felt a little anxious and bad for her. He massaged her temples and said, “Fine, if you want to go there, I’ll go with you. It’s the same no matter where we stay. I’ll make a reservation for the presidential suite at the Carlton Hotel for us. It’ll be a lot more comfortable…”
Penelope’s tears wouldn’t stop falling. There was a self-deprecating smile on her lips.
Eric wasn’t just two-faced. He was also a really good, pathological liar.
He moved to wipe the tears away from Penelope’s face. However, he suddenly heard someone next to him speak up. “Rick—Mr. Fulmer, I’d just like to express my gratitude for helping me just now…”
Ingrid was still wearing her plain white get-up. She had a look of innocence and helplessness on her face.
Eric froze. He then quickly waved his hand at her and said, “It’s nothing. No need to thank me.”
He then moved to wipe away Penelope’s tears again, but she pushed him away. “I’ve got other things to attend to. I’m leaving now.”
“Penelope!” Eric’s first instinct was to run after her, but Ingrid had already snaked her hands around his arm. It was just a moment of distraction, but Penelope had already disappeared around the corner after that.
Eric’s expression was dark as thunder. He flung Ingrid’s hand off his arm. “How many times have I told you never to appear under her nose? If she finds out, I’m going to kill you!”
Ingrid was frozen to her spot, her face turning pale. This was the first time she saw Eric losing his temper at her in the past two years. It was as if he didn’t care for their two-year relationship at all.
Feeling wronged, she bit her lower lip as tears gathered in her eyes. “I just wanted to get a part-time job here so that I could buy a present for you. I never thought that I’d bump into you both here. Also, she doesn’t seem to have found out about us… I worked so many part-time jobs just to buy a gift for you. Look, I even got bruises here and here…”
Her falling tears gradually turned into wracking sobs. She sobbed so hard that she kneeled on the ground and continued to shake. Her collar fell open when she tugged it down, revealing more than half of her breasts that were absolutely covered in hickeys and bite marks.
Eric’s eyes dimmed when he saw her like this and after hearing her explanation. He gulped many times, his Adam’s apple bobbing non-stop. Finally, he couldn’t hold back any longer and picked her up from the ground, carrying her away bridal-style.
Chapter 5 Eric never came home for the rest of the night. He only sent Penelope a text message, saying that he was working overtime at the company.
Penelope knew that he was lying to her, but she never questioned him or made a fuss. She just focused on dealing with her own things. Since she had made up her mind to fake her death and leave Eric, she was going to go all in and get rid of every trace of herself.
After the wedding, Eric wasn’t going to find a single thing related to her anymore—aside from the corpse.
First, she gathered all the things they seldom used and put them into a box. She also put her personal and expensive items into the box and mailed them to Doornail Corporation. After all, her fake death package also included services to secretly dispose of and deal with her personal belongings.
Finally, she brought out a huge jewelry box from the safe inside her dressing table. Since she was an award-winning jewelry designer, all of her best designs she was the proudest of were inside this box.
They were the matching jewelry sets she had painstakingly designed and made for Eric and herself for every anniversary they had celebrated ever since they got together. There was only one set of each design in the whole world, and they belonged to them both.
The items included couple rings, couple watches, couple necklaces, and even couple brooches. Each jewelry piece was adorned with countless precious gems worth a fortune.
Every now and then, Eric would open up the box and admire each piece for a long time. He would touch them and hold them in his hands but never wear them out. The most he had ever done was show them off on social media.
He told Penelope that he wanted to save each jewelry piece for when they got older. Then, he would open up a museum to put each couple jewelry set she designed on display for public viewing.
…
Penelope dumped everything in the jewelry box into a gunny sack. Then, she donated them to a local charity.
The person in charge of the local charity thanked Penelope with tears in his eyes. He promised her that he would make sure every single penny from the auction of the jewelry pieces went to the poor and needy kids in the city.
Penelope felt light and unburdened as she made her way back home. However, she was immediately met with Eric, who looked extremely upset, waiting for her on the living room couch. He had been waiting for her for hours. As soon as Penelope came back, he rushed up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Penelope! Why did you donate all of the jewelry pieces that belonged to us both?”
Penelope raised her eyes to look at him. He was still shrouded in a chilly air as if he had just rushed back from somewhere. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with panic and anxiety.
Seeing that she wasn’t saying a word, Eric quickly pulled her into his arms. He was shaking. His voice also quivered because of how anxious he was feeling.
“I saw on the trending news that someone had just donated priceless jewelry to a local charity. The photos were of our matching couple jewelry! The ones you designed specifically for us! Didn’t we agree that we’d keep them until we grew old together? Why did you sell them off? Are you not planning to grow old with me anymore? Are you leaving me?
“Penelope, please, I’ll give you anything. Please, just don’t leave me…”
Toward the end, Penelope even felt a few tears dripping onto her neck. However, she just casually lifted her eyes and watched him cry. She didn’t react to him at all.
If he was truly so afraid of her leaving him, then why did he cheat on her with another woman? He was already crying so hard from the sudden, slight realization that she could be leaving him. How would he react on the day she finally “died”?
The corners of her mouth tugged upward. Then, she pushed him away and said faintly, “I’m just preparing things before our wedding. It’s not like we can’t live without those jewelry pieces. Also, we’re about to get married. Why would you think that I’m leaving you? Why are you behaving so suspiciously, like you’re acting out of guilt? Did you do something bad behind my back?”
Penelope’s eyes were calm, yet Eric’s heart thumped so hard it missed a beat when he met her gaze. He then pretended to loosen up and smiled at her before placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.
“What nonsense are you talking about? You’re the person I love the most in the whole world. I’d never do anything bad behind your back. I think it must be the pre-wedding jitters getting to me…”
She chuckled softly and interrupted his explanation, saying, “If you didn’t do anything wrong, then why are you so anxious? Alright, I’ve got a design draft to rush. I’m going back to work.”
Eric somehow felt his guilty conscience eating into him. However, as he watched her sketch her designs in her room, he forced himself to suppress the unease he felt and stayed right by her side from afternoon till the crack of dawn the next day.
He didn’t fall asleep until early in the morning. It was right then that Penelope cracked open her eyes and carefully picked apart Eric’s fingers that were curled around her wrist to free herself. Then, she grabbed her design drafts and went out.
Penelope had a long-standing collaboration with Diaz Diamonds. Before she left for good, she wanted to submit one final design for a necklace.
The owner was very pleased with Penelope’s design which had multiple layers of pendants. He wanted to sign her on as a permanent jewelry designer for his company, but Penelope just smiled and rejected his offer. She just lingered in the shop for a bit.
Eric had already woken up and kept sending her text messages to return as soon as possible. Penelope didn’t feel like seeing him at the moment, so she decided to stay out for a while longer.
The door chimed when a new customer entered, and the salesperson greeted the newcomer politely. However, there was no reply from the customer.
The strong scent of tangerine perfume invaded Penelope’s senses once more, and Ingrid’s sickeningly sweet voice was heard right next to her ear.
“Penelope? Are you here to pick your wedding ring? But why are you here alone?”
Penelope looked up and saw Ingrid’s innocent face right in front of her. However, this time, Ingrid’s expression was full of envy and disdain.
Chapter 6 So, Ingrid wasn’t content with just provoking Penelope through text messages anymore. She even decided to show up in person and challenge her like this.
Penelope wasn’t interested. She just frowned and turned to leave.
However, Ingrid maintained her infuriatingly innocent act and kept getting in Penelope’s way. “Penelope, do you like the photos and videos I’ve been sending you? I bet Ricky has never treated you like that. You’re just an old hag with no boobs or butt to make up for anything.”
Penelope stopped in her steps and smiled softly at Ingrid. “Indeed, I’m no match for someone like you. You’re just a squeaky toy who won’t stop squawking without a dick in your mouth.”
Hearing that, Ingrid’s innocent face immediately turned ugly, her eyes filling with hatred. “Ricky told me before that he’s only marrying you because he pities you for being an orphan. I bet if your parents were alive, they’d still kill themselves because you’re such a pushover—ahh!”
Penelope slapped Ingrid hard on the cheek.
Ingrid nursed her smarting cheek and glared at Penelope, her eyes full of disdain. “Penelope Sanders! You only dare hit me because you’re still a softie around Ricky who won’t even dare to speak up against him! No wonder your parents are dead and nobody else wants you! It’s not surprising, considering all the crazy things you do!”
Penelope couldn’t be bothered to answer her. She raised her hand again, but before she could slap Ingrid, Ingrid tilted over in her seat and fell to the ground.
When Penelope came back to her senses, Ingrid was already cradling her stomach on the floor. Some blood trickled out from her lower abdomen.
Before Penelope could even take her phone out to dial for an ambulance, someone shouted from behind her, “Iggy!”
It was Eric’s voice.
Penelope was just about to turn around when she was forcefully shoved aside. Her injured waist banged against the edge of a display table, paralyzing her momentarily as the excruciating pain shot straight down her nervous system. She immediately tumbled to the ground.
However, Eric, who had shoved her aside, didn’t even seem to realize that she had fallen. He just hurriedly staggered toward Ingrid as quickly as he could.
Eric hurriedly gathered the half-conscious Ingrid into his arms and comforted her, whispering, “Don’t worry, Iggy. I’ll send you to the hospital at once. I won’t let anything happen to your baby.”
Ingrid closed her eyes as tears began to fall. “Ricky… Penelope didn’t mean to do it…”
Eric stiffened at once. It was only then that he caught sight of Penelope on the ground, still in pain.
However, he was now shrouded with the panic and anxiety of possibly losing his child and couldn’t be bothered to check on Penelope. He didn’t even realize that Penelope was curled up on the ground in paralyzing pain.
He just shot her a dry look and said, “It’s an emergency. I’ll explain later.” Then, he immediately left with Ingrid in his arms.
Eric and Ingrid disappeared from view, yet Penelope was still in so much pain she swore she felt the throbbing in her bones. She couldn’t stop shaking and wasn’t even able to get a single word out. The only thing she could do was stay on the ground in a fetal position, waiting for the pain to ease.
The sales staff quickly called for an ambulance. Meanwhile, Penelope gradually lost consciousness on the floor.
While in her half-co
