Chapter 969: Manifest

[FLASHBACK]

Penny sat on the floor, her back against the concrete wall. Her eyes were wide open, but she couldn’t see anything other than darkness. If not for the sting in her cracked lips, she wouldn’t even know this was reality.

"Back in the hole again," she whispered, her voice echoing in the small square room where she had been tossed after starting a fight with another inmate who had put a target on Heart’s back. Because of Heart’s burned face, she had been subjected to bullying and other horrible things.

But now that Penny had taken Heart under her wing, she had already declared that no one was to touch her. However, some other troublesome people still tested Penny’s patience. So, they got the smoke they were looking for. Even so, Penny had been thrown into this place with no windows for sunlight to filter through. It was the worst place one could be thrown because this place was meant to break one’s soul—just not Penny’s because her soul was already broken when she was still outside the prison walls.

"It’s the..." she trailed off, getting a little deafened by her own voice—the only sound she could hear in this place. "... I’ve been here for five days now."

There weren’t any clocks in this place, but counting was the only thing she could do to keep herself sane. Hence, Penny didn’t have to wonder how long she had been here because she was counting. Was it accurate? Not really, since she had time to sleep as well. However, she was certain that her estimate and the reality didn’t have much of a gap.

"Five days in here means... another five days less from my execution date," she whispered, laughing to herself as she shook her head. "Way to go, Penny."

Way to go.

What a way to waste her remaining days.

Penny cocked her head back, feeling the cold concrete against the top of her head. She rested her arms on her bent knees, closing her eyes as she drew a deep breath. The air in here was still, with the smell of dry pee, dung, and concrete mixing in her nostrils.

"But then again, how am I supposed to spend the remaining days of my life?" she wondered, keeping her eyes closed as she thought that there wasn’t any difference whether they were open or closed. "Is there even a guide?"

Penny’s routine already consisted of constant masses and church services, listening to the pastor’s lectures, and repentance. However, she knew that all of that was just so she could accept her fate.

It wouldn’t change anything.

No matter how much she listened to the pastor’s sermons, nothing would change.

Penny pulled her head back, only to throw it against the wall. She bumped the back of her head against the wall, each time growing harder.

BAM!

Thud!

After hitting her head for the umpteenth time, Penny heard her body fall to the floor. She didn’t feel it, though—her heart and body were already numbed from everything. She lay there on the floor, feeling heat on the back of her head.

"The hole..." she whispered, her eyes opening and closing weakly. "... does make me a little depressed. Time to get out."

Just as Penny’s eyes slowly closed, she saw light from the door. A slight smirk appeared on her face as her consciousness slowly slipped away from her fingers. The voices around her grew loud and then distant, and then there was nothing but an old friend called darkness.

*

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*

[PRESENT TIME]

Despite being imprisoned for a crime Penny didn’t commit, she had always known something was at play there. She was nothing but a scapegoat to take the fall. It could be personal or not, but she knew that regardless, nothing would change.

She fought for as long as she could remember, claiming innocence even if her throat bled. But in the end, she accepted that nothing was going to change. Her family turned their backs on her, and not a single soul believed her. Perhaps even the Heavens didn’t know.

How could they when it was merely her word against the evidence pointing at her?

"What... did you say?" Penny’s mouth fell open as her brows wrinkled, staring at Finn in disbelief.

Finn pressed his lips together, studying the look of surprise on her face. "Someone... believed you, Penelope. That’s how he got involved in all of it. Zoren Pierson... believed you when he saw the news, and that’s why he was called a madman for getting himself involved."

"I know," he whispered, lowering his head slightly. "Because I called him a madman too."

"..." Penny hung her head low, wide-eyed.

Moments ago, she and Finn were simply talking about Jonathan—who he was, his relationship with Nina, Jonathan’s life, and his position in the Pierson family. After all, Penny couldn’t understand why Jonathan Pierson would attack her specifically.

Why did Jonathan have to be there during her execution date?

What were his motives?

And why the Bennet family?

All of this could shed light on Jonathan’s plans in this lifetime. Although Jonathan would most likely tweak his plan, it was still better to know what else happened while Penny was incarcerated.

While Finn was answering the first on the list of questions, a name was brought up: Zoren Pierson.

Now, their discussion was diverted to why "Hugo" would put a hit on Zoren Pierson. Jonathan mentioned it during the reunion, after all. Penny had always believed Zoren had nothing to do with her in the past. If anything, they were simply connected because Nina married into the Pierson family. But that was all there was.

"Penny, Zoren was more involved in this case—your case—than you can imagine," Finn breathed out. "Would you believe me if I say that a madman married you—your corpse, to be precise—just to host a funeral for someone he never met in his life?"

He smiled wearily. "Isn’t he... a madman, Penny?"

If this wasn’t fate, then Finn didn’t know what to call it. In this lifetime, Penny and Zoren had ended up together without knowing what happened in the past.

Finn slowly looked away, his eyes on the window. "Zoren taught me... that he usually manifests things, so they happen. He believes in the law of attraction. So, at times, I wonder to myself if my death... is something I manifested. Or is your relationship in this life also something he manifested?"

Just how powerful must a person’s will be for them to manifest something and for it to actually happen in another lifetime?