Chapter 1319: Penny’s office

[PRIME GROUP]

At one point in Penny’s life, she often found herself acknowledging that her office would never be as pristine as Zoren’s or Atlas’s.

How could it be when she had people grilling food inside? All while a friend was dramatically bawling her eyes out.

"Huhu! Penny! What am I going to do?! That idiot—he ruins everything!" Lily sobbed, unbothered by the thick smoke fogging up Penny’s office as she manually fanned the smoke detector. "It’s so frustrating I can’t stop crying!"

Penny ignored Lily, standing by the window as she tried to breathe in some fresh air and not suffocate. She crossed her arms, looking down at the bustling city center.

"Young lady, you should fan that thing even harder," Wild, the culprit behind all the smoke, instructed Lily, who stood near the door. "Otherwise, we’re all going to get a smoke bath in here."

Lily cried even harder but still followed Wild’s instructions.

"If my office is not a tourist attraction... then is it a park?" Penny wondered to herself. "A psychiatric ward?"

She had a medical license, but she was sure it wasn’t meant for this. The number of problems that had landed in her office—most of which had nothing to do with her company—was overwhelming. She had stopped counting after Patricia. There were just too many. And when she thought nothing else could surprise her, Lily came bawling her eyes out.

Lily’s problem?

Max.

Penny exhaled deeply, slowly peeling her gaze away from the window to look at Wild.

There he was, lounging on the couch, a small griller on the coffee table, a bottle of beer in hand, wearing a floral polo and shorts as if he were barbecuing at the beach.

"Uncle Wild, why is that damn meat so smoky?" she asked in disbelief. "I can’t even see anything in my office!"

There were plenty of other places Wild could do this, yet he seemed to have made it his ritual to grill in her office once every month or two.

Wild clicked his tongue and glanced at her. "Then don’t eat."

"Do you think I’d let this slide if I wasn’t going to eat?" she snapped, irritated. If it weren’t for the fact that Wild’s food was delicious, she would never allow this to happen. Another deep sigh escaped her as she shrugged. "Fine, fine. Just finish up already. And next time, can you do this on the rooftop?"

"What’s the point of that if it means you’ll forget that your stomach is more important than your boundaries?"

Penny’s frown deepened while Wild smirked.

"Don’t mind me," Wild said, tipping his head toward Lily, who was still fanning the smoke detector. "You should be more worried about her. She looks like she needs a friend."

"Huhuhu!" Lily turned to them, wiping her eyes with a white handkerchief. "Penny!"

"Lily, stop crying. I know those tears aren’t from frustration but from the smoke," Penny said, motioning toward the window. "Come stand over here. It might save your eyes from all this pollution."

---

Half an hour later, the smoke had finally cleared. With all the windows open and Wild’s "cooking show" finished, the three of them sat around the couches to eat.

Twisting a skewer with some leftover meat on it, Penny repeated, "So, you were teasing Max by telling him that Ginnie has a crush on my second brother?"

"Mhm." Lily nodded, still chewing. "I did that because I knew it would hurt his inflated ego to think that the girl he likes actually likes the guy he dislikes." She took another bite. "This barbecue is actually pretty good."

Wild smirked proudly. "You think Penny would let me grill in her office if she didn’t like the taste?" He nodded at Lily encouragingly. "Eat more, young lady. It’ll make you feel better."

"But it’s making me cry more!" Lily complained, biting into another piece of meat while still sobbing. "I’m so frustrated! How could this happen?! Instead of pursuing her, he set her up on a date! A date, Penny! A date!"

Penny didn’t respond and simply watched Lily eat while crying. Just like Penny, Lily was a foodie with a strange taste in everything. It was why they had gotten along so well since childhood.

"Does he really not like Ginnie that much?" Lily sobbed after taking a sip of water. "I mean, if he liked her, wouldn’t he have manned up instead of playing cupid? That’s my job! And then I called Ginnie, and she told me she had a good time with Senior Hugo! What does that even mean?!"

Wild looked conflicted as he chewed his barbecue, then glanced at Penny out of curiosity. He was waiting to see how she would respond, but judging by the blank look on Penny’s face, she had no idea. Or rather, she knew exactly what to say but was choosing not to.

"Lily, why don’t you just tell Max that Ginnie actually likes him?" Penny asked after a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I mean, if you really want Ginnie to have a love life, isn’t that easier? Max knowing she’s into him?"

"I can’t!" Lily groaned dramatically, making Wild raise a brow.

"Why not?" Wild asked curiously. "You’re making things more complicated."

Lily let out another heavy sigh, slumping her shoulders as she placed her skewer down. "Because if I tell him that, wouldn’t it seem like he only pursued Ginnie because he knew he had a chance?"

Penny and Wild fell silent, exchanging glances. As much as they hated to admit it, Lily had a point. Although ninety percent of what she said usually didn’t make sense, this actually did.

"Ginnie has liked him for so long," Lily mumbled. "And I thought if Max didn’t know that, he would make an effort and fight for her—just like he does with everything else. But that idiot... thinks he’s making some grand, touching sacrifice when all he’s really doing is being a fool—ugh! I’ll kill him!"