Chapter 551: Who are you?

Patricia had been watching everything unfold from the sidelines when Zoren suddenly appeared. The second her eyes landed on him, bitterness and fear swelled in her heart. Yet, despite her fear of Zoren, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

How could she leave when she was staring at a man with such a divine presence?

It wasn’t like she didn’t know that Zoren was considered a legend. But with him standing in this crowd, he definitely stood out. She watched how everyone looked at him with admiration—from both men and women alike.

If only Patricia could stand beside such a man. Everyone would be so jealous. But alas, Zoren hated her, and he terrified her more than anything. Patricia only snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her mother’s voice join the situation.

She knew it was going to be bad, and thus, she was trying to sneak away when she heard her mother call.

"Patricia!"

All her life, Patricia knew that whenever her mother called her in that tone, it was good news. Or sometimes, it was just Mrs. Miller boasting about her. But right now, this call was akin to a bucket of ice—blocks of ice—being poured over her.

Her neck twisted like rusty metal as the crowd parted, leaving Patricia in full view.

"M-mom," Patricia stuttered, forcing a nervous smile.

Mrs. Miller hissed and shook her head. "What are you doing, Patricia? Mr. Pierson is here! Even if you wanted to keep everything private, you still need to help your brother out of this embarrassing situation!"

"Patricia?" Theo furrowed his brows, unsure of what was happening.

He had heard that his little sister was dating a very important person, but he’d gotten used to Patricia’s lies and didn’t believe it. Moreover, Theo had been so busy that he hadn’t had time to even think about it, especially since Patricia refused to introduce him to this supposed important figure.

"Patricia, don’t tell me the person you’ve been secretly dating is... Zoren Pierson?" Theo blurted out. Despite his low voice, those nearby heard him.

The people who overheard gasped in shock.

"Is that true?"

"Oh, right! I think I heard them talking about it earlier."

"Talking about what?"

"Don’t you know?" the person who had heard Theo’s comment turned to the others who hadn’t. "Here’s the thing..."

The gossip spread quickly, summarizing how Patricia and Mrs. Miller had been boasting about Patricia’s boyfriend, claiming that Patricia was going to marry into the Pierson family. This detail would have stood out more if it weren’t for the intense drama involving Mr. Ito and the revelations of the night.

"Really?" After listening to the gossip, another woman scoffed. She turned to Zoren, then to Patricia, who was now being dragged by her mother. "She’s dating..." she trailed off, moving her gaze to Zoren again. "...him?"

For some reason, many women didn’t want to believe it. Some men were skeptical too. After all, looking at Zoren, he didn’t seem like the type to have such a preference. Not that Patricia was unattractive, but compared to some of the women present—especially with Penny as a point of comparison—Patricia appeared... average.

"Well, who knows? Maybe he doesn’t care about appearances."

Another person snorted. "Men like Mr. Pierson don’t care about appearances—they care about value. You know what I mean?"

"Then again, Mrs. Miller didn’t seem like she was lying. She wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of all these people if there wasn’t some truth to it."

Benjamin frowned deeply, bitterness filling his heart. He cast a look at Penny, who wore a neutral expression. ’Miss Penny! What are you doing?! Are you really going to let these two take the spotlight and claim your Thursday Guy!?’

Benjamin felt like tearing his hair out and weeping in disbelief. How could he tolerate this? How could he let it happen? Back then, he tolerated it because it was private and Zoren didn’t seem to care much. Benjamin believed his boss when he said he wasn’t in love with his Thursday Girl—that she was simply a precious friend.

Even so, this was frustrating. All Benjamin wanted to do was hammer the nails into these people’s coffins!

Meanwhile, Atlas, Hugo, and Slater turned to look at Penny. Their lips were curved downward, clearly displeased.

"Penny, what’s the meaning of this?" Hugo, who was closest to Penny, inquired. "I’m hearing some very malicious comments, and I don’t like them."

"Second Brother, there must be an explanation. I don’t think Zoren would do that," Slater murmured, surprising both Penny and Hugo. He pursed his lips, looking at Penny with concern. "Right, Penny?"

Atlas, standing a little farther away, couldn’t hear his brothers, but he kept his focus on Penny’s expression.

’If you show the slightest hint that you don’t know about this...’Atlas thought, ’...I’ll tear him apart right now.’

Penny knew exactly what her brother was thinking. Thus, she maintained a neutral expression, keeping her gaze fixed on her husband.

’Dean is here,’she thought. ’And we don’t know who else might be watching.’

She pressed her lips together, her eyes glinting as she watched the mother and daughter now standing before Zoren. She lifted her gaze to her husband, who had stood like a statue this whole time.

’What are you going to do, Renren?’

In all honesty, Penny wasn’t sure what Zoren would do. Keeping Patricia around was part of the plan to control the situation and anticipate what was coming. According to Zoren’s explanation, it was easier to predict the enemy’s next move this way.

’I’d be fine if you don’t deny it,’ she thought. ’I’ll explain it to my brothers, and they’ll understand.’

Meanwhile, Dean squinted at Zoren and the Millers, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

’Did he actually fall for that?’ Dean wondered, aware that someone was imposing as the girl Zoren had been fond of. But he doubted Zoren hadn’t caught on by now. Dean suspected the plan was bound to fail.

He glanced at Penny, trying to gauge her reaction. However, she seemed to be watching the situation unfold with equal curiosity, confusing Dean even more.

’So... does she know? Or not?’

While everyone was wondering what was going on and what would happen next, Mrs. Miller stood proudly in front of Zoren.

"Mr. Pierson, it seems my Patricia is being shy," she said with a grin, pushing Patricia forward. "Patricia, come and tell Mr. Pierson how these people are treating us badly."

In other words, she was asking Zoren Pierson to stand up for them.

"Hah..." Patricia smiled nervously at her mother before lifting her gaze to Zoren. "Zo—"

Patricia couldn’t even get a word out because Zoren finally spoke.

"Who are you?"