Chapter 464: Right, sugarplum?

The morning was spent with Allison lecturing everyone over breakfast. Apparently, she found out about Penny’s marriage to Zoren when Zoren came to visit. His reason for visiting? He was asking for her parents’ permission for them to live together.

What upset Allison the most was the fact that Penny had kept her wedding a secret, not even telling her own mother. What made her even more furious was discovering that Charles, Haines, Hugo, and Atlas had all come to some sort of agreement with Zoren about his requests.

Thus, it was hell.

Allison rarely got angry, but today she was. And when she was angry, no one dared speak. Therefore, the entire morning was spent enduring a terrible breakfast and nonstop scolding.

"Ah, my goodness," Penny muttered as she leaned against the front passenger seat, hugging herself to console herself after the rough morning. "Mom is scary when she’s mad. I couldn’t even get a word in to explain my side."

"Why would Renren come here and drop a bomb like that?" she continued in a horrified tone. "That guy... maybe after hovering between life and death for so long, he’s become fearless."

This was definitely not how Penny had imagined revealing her marriage. To be fair, she hadn’t really imagined how it would go, because she certainly didn’t plan on doing it anytime soon. Still, now that Zoren had taken the initiative, a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders.

’I’ll talk to her once she calms down, and I’ll introduce Renren properly,’ she thought, knowing her mother deserved that courtesy.

As Penny nodded to herself, she noticed Atlas’s impassive expression in the driver’s seat. Since Penny had left her motorbike at Zoren’s place and there were no cars available for her to use, she had no choice but to ride with him to work.

"First Brother, what did Mom mean when she said you and the others agreed with Renren?" she asked, genuinely curious. "I couldn’t catch everything she was saying. She kept jumping from one topic to another."

Atlas didn’t react, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"First Brother?" Penny prodded again.

"He was asking if he could take you home to live with him," Atlas responded, though she already knew that. He cast her a disinterested look. "We agreed."

Penny raised her eyebrows in confusion. "You agreed?"

"Mhm," he hummed, eyes still on the road.

"But why?"

Atlas didn’t answer this time and treated her questions as if they were coming from a ghost. Penny kept pressing, testing to see if he’d respond to anything. He remained silent until they arrived in front of the Prime Group’s building.

"First Brother, are you really okay with me living somewhere else?" Penny asked as the car came to a stop.

Atlas finally looked at her. "No."

"Then why did you agree to Renren’s unreasonable request?"

"Are you asking because you don’t know?"

"Would I waste my breath if I knew?" she retorted.

"I agreed because, in the end, it’s not my decision to make," Atlas said with a dismissive wave. "Go. I’m late for work."

Penny pouted but shrugged. "Well..." Turning away, a mischievous smile crept onto her face. ’It’s not such a bad idea to live with Renren. If I’m with him, I can focus on his health.’

As she stepped out of the car, she paused when Atlas called her name again.

"Penny."

She turned back, tilting her head. "What?"

"Are you free later?"

Deep lines appeared on Penny’s forehead. "Free... for what?"

"Dinner."

Penny blinked, tilting her head further. "Well, I don’t have much work today," she muttered, contradicting what she had said an hour ago. She quickly ran through her schedule in her head, realizing her evening was indeed free.

"I’ll send you an address. Meet me there later."

"Huh?"

"Go," Atlas said, gesturing for her to leave right after dropping that cryptic message.

Still confused, Penny watched him speed away. She stood outside the building, staring at the car’s rear.

"What’s that about?" she muttered, her head tilted slightly. "He’s acting a little strange."

Actually, all of her brothers were acting strange. In her mind, her marriage alone should’ve been enough to make them hunt Zoren down with pitchforks. But not only were they not hunting him, they were also considering his request with an open mind.

Was the world ending?

"Is it because they think it’s a dying man’s last wish?" she blurted under her breath, scrunching her nose in dismay. "That’s probably it. I guess there are some perks to being sick his whole life—he gets sympathy so easily."

Shaking her head, Penny decided not to dwell on it anymore. The cat was out of the bag, thanks to Zoren, and now all she needed to do was calm her mother down. Everything would be fine eventually. With that in mind, Penny turned to enter the building.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice from the side.

"Penny! What a coincidence, seeing you here!"

Her face twisted even before she turned to the owner of the voice. She already knew who it was.

"Oh, my goodness... here comes the second omen of the day," she whispered, taking a deep breath before turning toward the person. Sure enough, her face twitched when she saw Ray — and the woman beside him.

Ray had his arm draped over the shoulder of a beautiful woman as they approached Penny.

"If this isn’t fate—"

"I work here. This isn’t fate," Penny cut him off before he could even begin his nonsense. She glanced at the woman beside him and sighed inwardly, feeling sorry for her. ’He obviously came here to show off.’

Ray grinned, his eyes squinting. "Come on, Penny. It’s not like I came here on purpose to show you that my girlfriend and I are having a romantic walk together."

"Since when did walking become romantic?"

"Everything is romantic with the right person," he said, turning to the woman beside him. "Right, sugarplum?"

The woman pursed her lips, raised her brows, and puckered her lips toward something. Confused, Ray followed her gaze — only to see Penny already walking into the building.

His charming smile vanished. "Penny! Did you hear me? I’m on a date! Can you tell Renren I’ve moved on now?!"

Penny didn’t look back, dismissively waving him off. She wasn’t interested in the least. Her only thought was, ’Your cousin already knows you moved on — long before you started this little performance.’