Chapter 745: Just how different is he?

"Lily!"

"Penny~!"

"Oh, God! Thanks for coming! I thought you wouldn’t make it, considering the short notice."

"Seriously?" Lily squinted at Penny, holding her arm. "You think I wouldn’t drop everything for you? It’s the first time you’ve called me for help, so how could I refuse?"

Mark pressed his lips into a thin line, watching Penny and Lily talk so happily and energetically. Even after spending months with Penny, he hadn’t seen her interact with her friends like this. Well, he’d seen her with Nina, but Penny hadn’t been this carefree and playful.

Perhaps it was the setting that put her in such a good mood.

"Miss Penny, since your friend is here, I’ll step out," Mark remarked politely, lowering his head out of respect. But as he turned to leave, Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Penny, he looks familiar," Lily blurted out, making Mark’s shoulders tense as he paused for a moment. "Have I seen him before?"

’Please don’t tell her,’Mark thought, gulping nervously before carefully resuming his steps.

Lily cast Penny a curious look, only to see Penny shrug. As she watched Mark’s retreating figure, she pounded her fist into her palm.

"Mark!" Lily exclaimed, rushing over and stopping in front of him. "Oh, my God! It’s really you!"

Mark let out a shallow laugh, glancing at Lily awkwardly. "President."

"Hehehe! You still remember!" Lily clapped, clearly pleased to see a member of Penny’s fan club.

Not that Lily didn’t see other members regularly, as most of them shared the same elite social circles. But Mark was a rare sight.

"It’s good to see you!" she grinned from ear to ear. "How are you? What are you doing here?"

"Good, and uh..." Mark sighed deeply, looking at Penny for help.

One thing Mark hadn’t anticipated as an adult was encountering people who knew about his "dark" past. But after being deployed as Penny’s head of security, he kept running into them. He felt as if he would keep seeing them until this past eventually caught up to him.

Unbeknownst to him, the answer was just around the corner.

"Lily, it’s a long story," Penny said as she approached, standing beside Lily. "But for now, help me with this first."

Lily gave Penny a grin. "Of course!" she nodded, then turned to Mark. "By the way, Mark, I’m planning a reunion party for the members of Penny’s fan club. You should come."

"You’re hosting what?" Penny and Mark gasped in horror.

"Hehe." Lily giggled, her cheeks turning pink. "After that incident at the nightclub, I’ve been seeing my therapist. She suggested I try something new or reconcile with some old hobbies or passion, so I thought it would be nice to be surrounded by people who share the same passion as me."

"And that passion is...?" Penny scoffed. "Me?"

Lily didn’t hesitate to nod excitedly. "Penny’s fan club lasted until we graduated, and from what I hear, there’s even a ’Penny Rule’ that symbolizes freedom and kindness—you’re like a goddess of justice. All hail Penny!"

"Oh, my God..." Penny muttered, feeling a sense of dread creeping over her. Mark gave her a helpless look, as if to warn her not to attend. If Penny did go, Mark would have no choice but to accompany her as her bodyguard.

He didn’t want that. Anything but that.

"Hehe. I’m still planning it, so don’t worry~!" Lily clapped, placing her hands on Penny’s shoulders. "You still have time to mentally prepare yourself. The playoffs are still ongoing, and Ginnie’s team is winning. For now, let’s focus on finding the perfect outfit for your wedding~!"

With that, Lily turned Penny around and pushed her toward the rack of clothes. Penny looked back at her.

"Lily, I’m not getting married tonight. You know that, right?"

"But you’re meeting your husband’s family for the first time, right?" Lily beamed, squinting her eyes with joy. "It’s basically the same thing!"

Was it?

In the end, Penny had no choice but to let Lily go through the rack of clothes, holding up different options to see which ones would suit her. With Lily’s help, Penny didn’t have to try everything on—Lily’s sharp eye could already tell which outfits would work.

Lily was certainly a certified "girlie"—a pro, some might say.

******

After hours of picking out outfits, the two friends took a break for some snacks. Resting her legs on the couch, Lily looked at Penny with a smile.

"You’re nervous, aren’t you?" she pointed out, watching Penny glance over at her.

"Is it that obvious?" Penny replied, flipping through some papers she was reading. "It’s my first time meeting my husband’s family, so I want to put in some effort."

She stopped and chuckled. "Though I’m sure my husband wouldn’t mind if I showed up in anything, it doesn’t hurt to look presentable."

"Well, considering your husband is Zoren Pierson, I’m sure you’d want to make an effort." Lily nodded, reminded of Zoren and her first impression of him. "Penny, what’s he like as a partner?"

"Hmm?" Penny furrowed her brows but answered, anyway. "He’s nice, understanding, and always considers my feelings."

"Oh..."

"Why?"

"Well, how do I put this?" Lily pursed her lips, thinking for the right words in her heart. "No offense, but Zoren Pierson’s reputation isn’t exactly good. I mean, people want to curry favor with him, but I’ve heard he can be pretty ruthless. When I thought about it, I figured those claims might be unfounded. He looked so cool that night at the bar, making sure everything was handled without it going public."

"Just thinking about it if that goes public, people would surely think that elites are crazy again," she added with a murmur and a sigh of relief. "Also, he helped a lot with my case against my ex. So, I approve! Not to mention, many people are reaching out to me and our family because they think I’m friends with the Piersons. It’s amazing, you know? Zoren Pierson — wow! He’s the elite among the elite, the idol of all idols, and a legend."

Penny looked at Lily, reminded that her friend was a social butterfly. It wasn’t surprising that she’d heard things about Zoren.

’Now that I think about it, Renren does have that reputation,’ she thought. ’Before I got to know him, I was also wary because of what I’d heard.’

Zoren had already told Penny about his past, but she hadn’t seen that side of him herself. She couldn’t imagine him being cruel, given all she’d witnessed was his leniency.

’Just how different is he? I wonder.’