Chapter 1584: The most pathetic fool

"How did it go?" Zoren asked, eyes on Penny seated beside him in the backseat. "Did they agree with your plan?"

The corners of her mouth slowly curled up, her eyes squinting slightly. "They did."

"I thought they wouldn’t agree."

"Hehe. I knew they would."

"How did you make them agree?" he asked, genuinely curious. He already knew about Penny’s plan—she had briefly mentioned it earlier when she said she’d be at Finn’s place, though without going into detail.

"Magic." Penny winked at him with a smirk, which quickly faded as she let out a small huff. "I’m still going to place a few people around Nina as a safety precaution, of course. But I hope it works."

"It will," Zoren said with a nod. "Anyway, do you want to hear what I found about your request from earlier today?"

Her brows lifted, blinking almost innocently. "I was right?"

"You were." Zoren tilted his head slightly. "My men managed to dig up some information. From what they told me, someone was already planning to leak it to a news outlet. I bought it."

Penny’s breathing slowed. "There’s no telling they won’t pass it to another outlet."

"They won’t. There was only one copy."

"One copy?" Her brows furrowed. "That’s strange."

Someone who schemes like that would typically keep backups, just in case Plan A failed. Unless... they were so confident in Plan A’s success that they didn’t think they’d need one. That kind of arrogance only meant one thing—the mastermind was bold. Too bold.

Zoren nodded, watching the realization light up her eyes.

"Arrogance is going to be the death of them," he said, his voice dark enough to chill the air in the car. "One more thing. The people who had been following you... they’re dead."

"What?"

"Mark looked into it. Angel too," he explained. "They retraced your steps from the moment you followed Jonathan to that orphanage, all the way up to today. And they found that ever since that day, someone had been tailing you."

"But they stopped after Mark infiltrated the orphanage," he added. "I guess they figured that following you any longer would eventually expose them. Unfortunately, they’re dead now. Mark and Angel managed to identify them—all of them were members of different gangs. Most likely hired hands."

Silence filled the car as Penny and Zoren locked eyes.

"They were violent, no doubt," Zoren said, reading her thoughts. "And they took no chances of anything getting traced back to them."

Penny bit her inner lip, lowering her gaze.

Anteca was mostly peaceful, but it was a large country with many states, some of which were known for their gang activity. So a few deaths, even ten, wouldn’t make the news, especially if it was gang-related.

She drew in a deep breath and snapped her gaze back to Zoren.

"Don’t worry about that anymore," she said. "Second Brother can handle it."

"I know." Zoren smiled. "I’m just glad to help. If you need anything else, just say the word."

"Of course." She winked, brushing it all aside for now and leaning into his side. "I married a rich guy, after all. I’ll take full advantage of that."

Zoren chuckled, pleased. He took her hand as she rested her head on his shoulder.

If Penny ever asked, he’d even take over Prime Group himself just so she could stay home. And if she ever got bored at home, she could sit on his lap all day while he worked. Whatever it was, today’s request alone had lifted his mood.

"By the way, Penny, aren’t you going to the lab today?" he asked.

She responded with a soft hum. "I’m taking the day off," she whispered, eyes closed. "Sometimes a day’s rest helps me figure things out when I’m stuck at a dead end."

Besides, she was no longer the Penny from her previous life—the version of herself that would never stop until everything was solved. In this lifetime, she had not only changed her life but also her ways.

Rest wasn’t a waste of time. It was recovery. A reset.

Rest could be progress too.

With that, the couple continued their ride home, leaving their worries outside their safe haven.

---

Meanwhile...

Dean pulled up in front of his villa but didn’t get out. His lips curved downward, eyes brimming with irritation.

There, just a few meters from his car, was a familiar vehicle: Belle’s.

"For God’s sake, I already told her I’m fine this morning," he muttered, clearly annoyed despite understanding Belle’s concern.

After all, she had already ambushed him that morning before he left for the office. He wasn’t clueless about how she found out either—of course Zoren would’ve told her.

Still, Dean didn’t appreciate it.

Now that he’d finally accepted that his first love and Zoren were in a real relationship, all Dean wanted was space. He didn’t want comfort or reassurances. How could he move on when Belle kept reminding him of his woes by telling him all the things she thought he wanted to hear?

"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dean threw his car in reverse and drove off. "So annoying."

The last thing he wanted right now was pity.

He already felt like a fool. A pathetic one.

That thought lingered as Dean aimlessly drove around the city. He thought about heading to a bar, but he knew it wouldn’t help. It hadn’t helped last night when he downed an entire bottle.

He didn’t want to go anywhere else either.

Eventually, he found himself pulling up in front of a building.

Looking out through his windshield, his jaw clenched as he recognized it—it was the lab where Penny’s current project was ongoing.

"Damn it," he muttered through clenched teeth. Still, he got out of the car and walked inside, ready to spend another night working on the antidote that woman needed.

Maybe he really was a fool.

But not just any fool—he was the most pathetic one of all. Even knowing there was nothing he could gain from it, he still wasted another night trying to help her.