Chapter 774: It’s poisonous

"Mhm. He is."

Deep lines appeared between Mildred’s brows as she looked at Penny in disbelief. Penny, on the other hand, simply let out a sigh. This wasn’t part of her plan. Aside from surprising Zoren, she thought gathering information behind the scenes would be helpful.

However, things were spiraling out of control.

She hadn’t shooed Mark away and warned everyone not to intervene unless her life was in danger. After all, she had promised Zoren and his men not to completely push them away—just like that time when she ended up with a stitch in her head.

In other words, she was certain Zoren’s shadow team and Mark were watching everything unfold. They weren’t intervening just because her life wasn’t in danger.

But they were wrong!

All Penny wanted right now was for them to save her. Hence, her regret for warning them not to meddle with her business—whatever it was. If only she had known there was someone like Mildred in the kitchen, she wouldn’t have told them that. Even though the grand entourage was embarrassing, it was probably better than this.

"Your husband... is higher than the First Branch?" Mildred repeated, gasping. Penny nodded, interpreting Mildred’s reaction as shock. "You mean the main branch?"

Penny nodded again. "His name is Zoren Pierson."

"You are... you are..." Mildred’s breath hitched as her eyes widened. "... you are saying... you are Zoren Pierson’s wife?"

"Yes." Penny sighed for the umpteenth time, glancing around cautiously before stepping closer. She reduced the distance between them and spoke quietly. "I didn’t want to say this before, for some reason, but yes. I am Zoren Pierson’s wife and he is my husband."

For a moment, silence enveloped them. Penny looked at Mildred apologetically. She felt guilty for dropping this bombshell and surprising the old lady, but Penny felt cornered. Was this what they meant by Pierson Privilege?

When in trouble or when things weren’t going their way, all they had to do was pull the Pierson card. This was exactly what Penny was doing now, and she could feel it in her bones.

"All this time..." Mildred dramatically reached out to Penny’s hand, her expression a mix of emotions. Just when Penny thought Mildred would console her, she had already prepared her speech to stop Mildred from "apologizing" to the matriarch of the house, but Mildred’s expression quickly changed to something bitter and displeased. She pushed Penny’s hand away. "You think I’d buy that?"

"What?" Penny said, confused.

"Penelope, you... I am... oh, God... please forgive this child." Mildred held her head, feeling dizzy as she thought of the things she’d told Penny and how Penny had kept going this far. "I already told you that you shouldn’t resort to lying."

At this point, Penny was speechless. She opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out.

Mildred shook her head, sighing heavily. "Penelope, like I said, you don’t have to lie. If I’m scolding you, then just take the scolding and listen! It’s for your own good. You don’t have to lie—it’s not good!"

"Not to mention, you’re claiming—" Mildred suddenly stopped, looking around the backyard where they’d been arguing. She stepped closer to Penny, grinding her teeth, and then spoke in a hushed tone. "You’re claiming to be the wife of the head of the family! Even at this age, I still know fear. Do you realize that making up such a lie could cost you your life?"

"Huh?"

"I told you!" Mildred said, repeating something she had mentioned before. "It’s a good thing it was the First Young Master from the First Branch involved in all this. Otherwise, it could’ve been terrible!" She continued, "Claiming to be the wife of the head of the family—Zoren Pierson would decapitate you. If not, he’d have your tongue cut off so you won’t use it again to lie!"

Penny gasped, but Mildred took it as Penny’s realization of her mistake. Mildred nodded and sighed for the umpteenth time.

"This girl..." Mildred shook her head. "I’ll warn you one last time, young lady. Listen to everything I say, and you’ll live a long, carefree life—except for one day each year. That day, you’ll do kitchen work during the family gathering."

It was a family tradition. Everyone complained about working in the kitchen instead of enjoying dinner with the rest of the family, but they still returned every year. Why? Because except for the night of the family meeting, they were all living like royalty—masters of their own homes and social circles.

It wasn’t a bad trade. After all, no one outside the family knew about this tradition, and not many of the members talked about it. Those in power weren’t eager to use it as an insult to those in the kitchen, as they had more important things to do.

Mildred shook her head and sighed heavily. "Young ones these days are scary."

"But I’m... telling the truth!" Penny blurted out in frustration. "Auntie, I’m not lying!"

"This—"

"Please! Why don’t you believe me?"

"Because if you were, you wouldn’t be in the kitchen!" Mildred scolded with a loud huff.

"What?!"

Mildred’s face crumpled. "If you were the matriarch of the house, do you think Zoren Pierson would just let you be here? No. He would send a grand entourage that would open doors for you straight into the family gathering! Now, I ask you, where is the grand entourage, and which door did you come through?"

Penny’s face twitched, and her previous regret deepened. The grand entourage she had thought was embarrassing, which she’d shooed away, her defiance against Mark’s advice, and then her asking him which entrance she should use to avoid suspicion—all of it came rushing back. She regretted it all.

It felt like she had made one bad decision after another tonight.

"Tch!" Mildred clicked her tongue irritably. "Tonight, you’re not going anywhere. I’ll keep my eye on you, so don’t even think about sneaking out again. I won’t take my eyes off of you."

"!!!"

HELP!

---

Meanwhile, in the family gathering, silence filled the air as tension reached an all-time high. No one spoke, many staring at Zoren’s dark and dangerous expression as he massaged his brows.

"This food... is horrible. It’s poisonous," he breathed out, his eyes glinting menacingly. "Get the person who made this out of here."