Chapter 802: Zoren’s wife... or husband.

Penny was right. The one thing she was most curious about was something Zoren couldn’t answer. After all, Penny remembered her first life, while Zoren was completely blind to it.

"Hmm," Zoren hummed, rocking his head slightly. "I have no idea, but perhaps you’d get a clue from the current one."

"It’s not a real clue since so many things have changed."

"But my relationship with him is not something you’ve ever touched. Thus, it wouldn’t have been affected... much?" he argued meaningfully. "Or am I wrong?"

Penny hummed, pondering his words. "What is your relationship with him?"

"Not bad."

"Renren, you do understand that I need more than that to make sense of it."

"Haha. You’re right," he chuckled. "What I meant was... it’s not that bad. Meaning, I considered him my heir."

"Your what?"

Zoren flashed her a playful smile, clearly expecting that reaction. "Dean Pierson is young. He is smart and capable. He has qualities that I do not have. For instance, he managed to gather the majority of the family to support him."

"He’s the perfect head of the family," he continued with quiet confidence. "You once asked me why I let things unfold as they did—getting myself into accidents or falling into schemes. It wasn’t as if I was trying to die, but rather, they were things I didn’t foresee or prepare for."

Hearing his explanation made her furrow her brows, tilting her head to the side. "What does that mean?"

"My wife, I am neither immortal nor perfect. With everything I have to think about and reconsider, there are times I slip up as well," he clarified, his tone calm and sincere. "That is the purpose of Benjamin and Mark—that is the essence of having help and assistance. If I could do everything and think of everything by myself, I’d have to be omniscient."

"My point is, Dean has never schemed like they did. Moreover, he’s always been alone, yet he has survived being alone. Even so, being alone can only take you so far. It’s what I’m trying to show him by sending Mark off somewhere and leaving myself open," Zoren emphasized with a touch of admiration. "And he’s young. I follow tradition; he doesn’t. In fact, he’s the only person in the Pierson Family who wants change."

"I admire that," he added with a nod. "So, I’m harsher on him than I am on others."

If Dean was going to lead the family with such a mentality about change, he would face far more hardships than competing with someone like Zoren Pierson. Therefore, Zoren was never easy on him.

They didn’t have a typical friendly relationship, but there was certainly mutual respect.

"So... you’re worried because he might hate you?" Penny asked, only to see him laugh briefly.

"I don’t care if I’m hated or loved. It’s not going to change me," he returned. "I’m just... concerned, that’s all."

Penny studied Zoren’s face before her lips curled into a proud smile. She carefully hooked her arms around his shoulders, looking at him with love and appreciation in her eyes.

"Can you shut up?" she asked, making his brows rise. "Haha. Because whenever you open your mouth, my heart just melts."

Zoren chuckled. "You don’t have to cheer me up."

"If cheering you up was my intention, I would’ve done something different. There’s another easy and effective way I know." She winked playfully, watching as his lips stretched into a wide smile, his perfect teeth on full display. "It’s just... how do I say it?"

Penny tilted her head, searching for the right words in her heart. "I think I could never fall in love with anyone else the way I fell for you," she said, her smile returning as she expressed the feeling in her heart so accurately.

"That’s right," she affirmed with a nod. "No one will ever make me fall so hard. No one else, just you."

"Are you sure?"

"A thousand percent."

"How can you say that with confidence when you’ve..." He trailed off, smirking. "Never mind."

Penny giggled. "When I what?"

"Doesn’t matter anymore."

"But I’m curious~!"

"Haha." Zoren chuckled as she tried to coax the answer out of him. Holding her hands to stop her from poking his side, he looked her in the eye and breathed out, "I was about to say something very unpleasant—foolish. But then I remembered: you are you. There are no what-ifs.

Penny grinned, her cheeks turning pink. "Now I’m even more curious. Tell me, tell me—tickle, tickle, tickle~"

What Penny didn’t realize was that she had just answered the one question lingering in Zoren’s mind earlier. The question he hadn’t brought up because it wasn’t that important, but had slightly bothered him.

But now, his heart was at ease.

There were no what-ifs.

Even if Dean had approached Penny without any bad intentions, the best they could have been was to be friends—or perhaps their relationship would still be the same. Just as Penny was certain of her feelings for Zoren from the very beginning, he was equally certain her feelings toward Dean were genuine and unchanging.

How they started didn’t matter. It barely added any value to how Penny and Zoren had come to this point in their relationship.

---

Meanwhile, in the Bennet Mansion...

"Oh, Atlas!" Charles called as he and Haines carried their fishing equipment through the front door, only to see Atlas walking down the stairs in his pajamas. "What are you doing here?"

Haines furrowed his brows, watching as Atlas tilted his head to the side.

"I come home here," Atlas said matter-of-factly, blinking at the confused looks on their faces. When his father’s next question came, he finally understood.

"Isn’t tonight the Pierson Family gathering?"

Atlas nodded. "It is."

"Then how come you’re not there to support your little brother and sister?!" Charles frowned deeply, ready to scold Atlas if he didn’t have a good explanation.

"For what?" Atlas’s expression remained neutral. "I don’t want people mistaking me for his wife... or husband. Though I don’t swing that way, I wouldn’t be the wife if I did."

With that, Atlas continued on his way, leaving Charles and Haines standing there with twitching faces. Slowly, Charles looked at Haines, only to see him shrug.

"He does have a point," Haines said with a nod. "In today’s times, Charles, a lot has changed. We wouldn’t want our in-laws mistaking Atlas for Zoren’s wife... or husband."