Chapter 1567: Her second prison

[SHORT FLASHBACK]

The bags under Penny’s eyes were dark, and exhaustion was written all over her face.

She opened the lab door and lingered at the entrance, looking around the empty laboratory. A deep sigh escaped her as she dragged her feet inside and dropped her duffel bag to the floor. She stopped at the first row of counters, her gaze landing on the stack of documents in front of her.

Penny casually picked up the first one. The bandage wrapped around her hand looked worn, like it needed changing — but she clearly hadn’t had the time.

"I..." she mumbled, her body suddenly tipping forward as dizziness washed over her.

Clutching the edge of the counter, she closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure if she’d just fallen asleep standing up for a few seconds, but when she opened her eyes again, she snapped back to full consciousness.

"Goodness," she whispered. "When was the last time I slept?"

To be honest, she was not that sure. And what she meant was proper sleep, not just short naps like what she had been having.

Her body screamed for rest.

Penny had just spent two full days and nights working on a project for Global Prime Logistics, which, ironically, got her scolded. She couldn’t survive another sleepless day.

But then, her eyes fell on the stack of documents.

"I can’t sleep," she told herself, dragging herself onto a stool. "I need to finish this."

She shook her head, hoping it would jolt her awake. She could’ve been sleeping right now, if not for the fact that she kept putting other things first—like helping out at Global Prime. But Penny’s life choices weren’t always the best, and now, after wasting all her energy on something that had nothing to do with her, she had to catch up on the research papers that were her responsibility.

The lab was quiet—eerily so. On days like this, Penny welcomed the silence. Silence meant fewer distractions.

But while she was mixing a substance in a test tube, a sudden buzzing sound startled her. Distracted, she accidentally swirled too hard, and hot liquid splashed onto her finger.

"Ah—" The sudden heat made her drop the test tube. Out of habit, she tried to catch it.

She normally wouldn’t have even tried. That would’ve been dangerous. But two days without sleep made her react without thinking. The contents spilled onto her hand as she jerked away, the tube shattering on the floor.

"Ouch—ouch!" she hissed, quickly tearing the bandage from her hand. A large cut across her palm was already red and swollen. She winced as the dried blood clung to the fabric, peeling off painfully. The back of her hand was now burned where the mixture had landed.

"Ouch..." She tossed the soiled bandage aside and stared at her scarred, battered hands.

She winced again—the back of her hand was blistering. The pain made her rush to the bathroom, where she ran it under cold water. The brief relief was welcome, but the sting remained.

"Ugh..." She examined the burn under the stream. "This looks awful."

It was horrible.

At this point, she might as well just chop the hand off.

"I should’ve slept," she muttered, snapping her eyes to the mirror.

The reflection nearly startled her. She barely recognized herself.

"I only stayed up two days," she whispered, "and I already lost this much weight?"

She hadn’t realized—it had been a month or two since the last time she looked in the mirror. No wonder Atlas stared at her with so much disdain.

Compared to Nina, Penny looked like the physical embodiment of neglect.

A bitter smile touched her lips as she turned away from her reflection. She grabbed a towel she had left nearby, soaked it in cold water, and wrapped it around her hand.

Back in the lab, she followed the buzzing sound—it led her to the duffel bag she’d dropped earlier. She fished out her phone and glanced at the screen.

Nina.

Penny wasn’t exactly thrilled to see the name, but she answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"Penny, didn’t you say you’d come over today to help me?" Nina began, skipping any greeting. "I canceled all my appointments tonight—even my date—because you promised."

"Oh." Penny tilted her head. "Right. I’m sorry. It slipped my mind."

Nina’s frustration was immediate. "Penny, how can you do this to me?! Do you really hate me that much? I already apologized for that last time, didn’t I?"

"I know, but I burned my hand—"

"Nina, just let her be!" Slater’s voice suddenly cut in from the background. "Why would you even believe her? She’s just making up excuses again to sabotage you."

"No, that’s not—" Penny tried to defend herself, but Nina spoke again.

"Penny..." Nina’s voice had grown colder. "If you don’t want to help, just say so. Don’t lie. It’s not like I’d get angry—it’s just upsetting when you say you’ll do something and don’t follow through. Next time, don’t offer if you don’t mean it."

Click.

The line went dead, leaving Penny staring at her phone as the beeping echoed in her ear. Slowly, she lowered her hand and let out a weak scoff.

She was tired. Exhausted.

"Since when did I offer to help?" she murmured. "She’s the one who asked for a favor..."

Yet again, Nina had twisted the truth, and Slater had happily played along. Even if Penny had tried to explain, Slater would never take her side.

"Whatever," she muttered, cradling her injured hand as she dragged herself to grab cleaning supplies.

She returned to the mess, cleaning the floor in silence. When she finished, she resumed her work, treating her second-degree burn like it was nothing more than a paper cut.

This was her life. Just another day in the lab.

The same laboratory that had once welcomed a curious, enthusiastic young woman, and watched that spark slowly fade away.

The place that had witnessed her many accidents, and how her loud reactions had grown into quiet indifference.

A place she once called her second prison.