Chapter 1566: Consoling the wife... or the husband (?)

Meanwhile...

Penny carefully held a small test tube up to the fluorescent light until it glinted. The corners of her lips twitched as they curled upward.

"This will probably work," she muttered to herself with a giggle. "Holy..."

Without wasting a second, she slid her stool over to the next counter to test it out. She’d been working on this for a while, tweaking one of Dean’s theories, which had led her to this promising new formula.

As Penny busied herself, Zoren quietly peeked inside. As usual, he moved silently, carefully avoiding anything he nearly broke the last time. He managed to slip in without disrupting her focus.

He quietly claimed the stool at the far end of the counter, resting his chin on his hand as he watched her.

"..."

His lips formed a subtle smile. Even when she’s busy, she looks so pretty.

Admiration lit his eyes as a gentle smile tugged at his mouth.

Once I wrap up some loose ends at the Pierson Corporation, I’ll quit.

Even if it meant being the fifth member of Penny’s team in the CEO’s office, and Atlas’s sacrificial lamb, he didn’t mind—as long as his office was inside hers.

How wonderful life would be if he could just go to work with her, spend the day at her side, and go home together—never a moment apart.

What a dream.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Penny’s panicked voice suddenly echoed through the quiet lab.

She frantically tried to stop the reaction forming in the antidote she was making—until she realized it was already too late.

"Shoot!" she cried, leaping over the other counter and diving for cover.

Seeing her panic, Zoren sprang from his seat, ready to shield her from whatever chemical catastrophe was about to unfold—but before he could reach her, Penny had already taken cover. He quickly dove under the counter himself.

BOOM!

A light explosion erupted in the lab, accompanied by the shattering of glass. A harsh chemical scent—something like super-concentrated bleach—wafted through the air, forcing both Penny and Zoren to cover their noses.

"Goodness..." Penny hissed, crouched behind the counter. "I was so close."

She peeked over the counter, only to spot Zoren doing the same on the other side.

"Renren?!" she gasped, seeing his hand raise in a sheepish wave. "Since when were you here?"

"Just now," Zoren replied, still covering his mouth as he waved the air in front of him.

Penny sprang up and darted across the lab toward the window.

"Renren, open the one on that side," she called while throwing open the windows on hers.

Following her instructions, Zoren held his breath as he opened the nearest window, stuck his head out for a lungful of fresh air, and then hurried to open more.

The smell intensified the longer it lingered without ventilation. Even with all the windows open, it clung to the room—sharp and suffocating, like bleach but twice as pungent.

They both remained by their respective windows until the thick stench finally began to fade.

"Penny," Zoren called across the room. "What happened?"

She frowned, shifting her disappointed gaze toward the counter. Even from a distance, she could see the bubbling, acid-like substance on the surface.

"That happened," she sighed. "I didn’t expect that reaction."

Once it seemed safe enough, they left their windows and cautiously approached the mess. Chemical droplets still dripped from the counter’s edge.

The reaction hadn’t been strong, but the way the liquid hissed against the tile and produced smoke was a clear warning.

"At least it didn’t melt through," Zoren said, half-expecting the tile to dissolve. "Careful. There’s broken glass on the floor."

"This is insane," Penny muttered, shaking her head at the mess. "This is driving me crazy."

Where had she gone wrong?

She didn’t rely solely on Dean’s theories—she’d even adjusted the more questionable parts—but none of her trials gave the results she’d hoped for. If anything, each experiment was worse than the last.

Her thoughts paused when she saw Zoren already holding a cleaning rag.

"Wait—" she said quickly, making him turn. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning up. Otherwise, you’ll get hurt by the shards."

She sighed, her lips twitching into a small smile as her expression softened. "That’s not the right way to clean this up. The cloth will react terribly to the residue."

"Oh."

"I’ll get the right tools," she said. "You stay by the window. Inhaling too much of this stuff isn’t safe."

"Alright."

He watched her head toward the back exit, vanishing behind the door. Zoren returned to the open window, letting the night breeze soothe his lungs.

I guess it’ll take a while for the smell to fade, he thought, glancing back at the lab. So this is...

Was this her life in her first life?

His eyes slowly wandered around the large, quiet lab. Penny had shared bits and pieces of her past, and he knew she’d been a scientist in her previous life.

According to her, she spent most of her time in a lab just like this.

Was this the place that held her captive... even before her actual incarceration?

"..." Zoren lingered in thought before quietly heading toward the door she’d disappeared through.

---

Meanwhile...

Penny was already rummaging through the storage shelves, gathering the proper tools to clean the hazardous mess. She froze for a moment when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind.

She looked over her shoulder, raising her brows slightly. "Renren?"

Zoren didn’t respond. He rested his forehead against her shoulder, tightening his hold on her. His heart clenched at the thought of his wife spending all day and night in the lab, working on some things that could potentially hurt her.

She couldn’t remain unscathed in all her experiments. But what bothered him was that even if she got hurt, he knew no one was there to console her.

"Did something happen?" she asked, sensing his mood dip. "Don’t tell me you’re not feeling well—"

"I just want to console you," he whispered, his eyelids drooping. "Is this the same lab you used to work in?"

Surprise flickered across her face before a soft chuckle escaped her lips. She lowered her gaze, her smile resurfacing.

"Mhm," she whispered. "It was."