Chapter 770: The curse of beauty

Imagine being in a dress from one of the most sophisticated collections of the season, designed by the most famous designer in the world, and then carrying huge black plastic trash bags. No wonder everyone in the kitchen was frustrated to be wearing their outfits just to work in the kitchen. Penny hadn’t felt the frustration until now.

Clang!

The soft noise of the trash bags hitting the large cans echoed in her ears. Penny clicked her tongue, checking her dress to make sure nothing had stained it.

"Lily chose this for me," she muttered. "If this dress gets ruined, she’ll be heartbroken."

Penny’s eyes snapped up as she thought, "But this dress is mine, right? Even if I tear it apart, it’s mine."

Even so, why did it feel like she was sinning if she didn’t take care of it?

Thinking about Lily’s nagging and reminders, her face soured. She shook her head, telling herself it was better to keep the dress as stain-free as possible. Otherwise, Lily would bombard her with questions. Lily was a bit nosy, so even if Penny put the dress away, it would still be evidence.

"Well." Penny drew a deep breath and turned around, huffing. "I still think the old aunt doesn’t like me that much."

With that, Penny shrugged and went back to the kitchen to get the rest of the trash. There was so much of it, and now she had to take out even more. "I’m back..."

Her face deadpanned when she saw additional bags of trash piled up in the corner. Everyone was still busy, but unlike earlier, they were more relaxed.

"There’s no way no one else can do this, right?" she breathed out, only to flinch when Mildred suddenly appeared at her side.

"No, no, no one else can do this aside from you."

Penny’s face contorted as she turned to face Mildred. "Auntie, what did I do to make you hate me? Is asking forgiveness too late now?"

"I don’t hate you." Mildred straightened her back. "But isn’t this your first year? As a newcomer, you should be the one doing this. Don’t worry. Everyone has done it before, so it’s alright. Next year, if you have the guts to attend, then you won’t be throwing trash... unless no one else gets married into the family."

Penny was rendered speechless, not even wanting to argue, since there was no point.

"Stop frowning, alright?" Mildred tapped her chin with the back of her hand. "Smile and be grateful. Now, go throw out the rest."

"Goodness."

"What?"

Penny forced a smile at her and nodded. "I said, yes, Auntie~"

"Mmph!" Mildred huffed, watching Penny pick up two plastic bags. When Penny straightened up, she flashed Mildred a bright smile before walking away to take out the trash.

As Penny dragged herself away, some family members couldn’t help but watch her.

"Everyone did that?" the young woman from Penny’s group earlier repeated to herself. "I didn’t do that, though. Did you?"

The other two guys shook their heads, snapping their eyes toward where Penny had gone. They sighed deeply, shaking their heads yet again.

"Aunt Mildred seems to be a lot stricter with her," said the depressed guy. "I wonder what she did to gain Aunt Mildred’s attention?"

"Did she offend her?" the other man wondered genuinely.

The young woman with them pouted and frowned. "I feel sorry for her. Although we didn’t talk much, she doesn’t seem like a bad person." She then cast the two guys a look. "Why don’t you help her?"

"Why don’t you?" they shot back.

"Can’t you see my dress? I bought it at the last fashion week in Paris," she said in a knowing tone. "I can’t be throwing out trash."

"I’ve already peeled enough potatoes."

"That’s trash," the other one argued. "If it were just fetching some ingredients, I’d probably help her. But trash? My mother doesn’t even know I work in the kitchen during the Pierson family gathering. I can’t take on more."

For them, kitchen work was already humbling — it was degrading. They were once proud young misses and masters in their households, so throwing out trash felt like sinking lower than they already were. Thus, even if they wanted to help Penny, they just couldn’t bring themselves to do it.

"Let’s just finish this so she won’t have to do it once she’s done with the trash," said the depressed guy, and the other two nodded.

Meanwhile, Mildred crossed her arms and peeked through the window, watching Penny drag the two plastic bags across the grass. Another woman — the one who had been quiet and almost got into a confrontation earlier — quietly stood beside Mildred.

"Auntie," the younger woman called softly, peeking at Penny through the window. "Why are you making things hard for her? Did she offend you or something? Though, I suppose she does look like someone who could offend anyone by accident."

Mildred huffed grumpily. "She’s too pretty," she mumbled, making the other woman look at her. "It’s better if she forgets about joining the family gathering now than later. Especially now that the head of the family is married, and from what I’ve heard, he’ll be bringing his wife tonight. We don’t want her stealing the spotlight."

Although none of them had met Zoren’s wife, the women here were all careful. They didn’t know what kind of woman Zoren was bringing into the family. There were rumors here and there, but Mildred thought it best to protect everyone for as long as she could.

"Not to mention, even if the new matriarch turns out to be decent, there are still others who wouldn’t like being outshined."

"The curse of beauty," she added with a sigh, shaking her head slightly. "With her cheeky personality, I don’t think she’d survive in this family."

The younger woman looked at Mildred and smiled subtly, appreciating her efforts even if it meant earning some resentment.

"You like her," she pointed out with a smile. "I guess she’s somehow cute and likable."

Mildred scowled and denied it, but the other woman simply shrugged. Just then, the two of them turned as Penny was heading back. But the second they did, they flinched, seeing someone standing just a few steps behind them.

"Young Master Dean?" Mildred tapped her chest as her heart nearly leaped out of her ribcage in surprise. "Why are you back here?"

Dean didn’t answer, slowly fluttering his eyelashes and lifting his gaze to the back entrance where he saw Penny coming in.

’I knew it. That was her.’