PAMPERED

166 An old friend from her memory

[WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. READ WITH CAUTION.]

When the Bennet children returned home, they stopped at the sight of Allison, Jessa, and even the chefs in the dining. All of them were sitting around the dining room, their faces revealing their exhaustion. It didn’t seem like they were ignoring each other. But more like they were too busy mentally cheering themselves up.

“Now, I feel bad for them, Penny muttered, thinking they wouldn’t be so exhausted if not for the charity cause.

But then again, the food for tomorrow wasn’t because Penny asked them to do it. Her brothers were the ones who proposed to take the role.

“Penny, you and Slater should go first, Hugo remarked, earning his little sibling’s attention. “First Brother and I will have to help in the kitchen.”

‘Me?‘Atlas frowned and secretly glared at Hugo, but the Second Brother returned his glare with an angelic smile.

Penny, on the other hand, raised her brows. “Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea, but her words. simply flew by because Slater tugged her arm.

“Penny, let’s go.”

As Penny reluctantly followed Slater to fix the things they bought, Hugo and Atlas joined the kitchen to offer help. Looking back to her first timeline, those two were unnecessarily clumsy in the kitchen,

The charity event might’ve been hosted by Lily, but it was her brothers who gave her the idea. Lily was taking the role of being a president of the fan club far too seriously.

“Penny.”

Penny hummed as she packed some necessities they would give away tomorrow.

“Why did you choose the location?” he asked out of pure curiosity. “I know Brother Hugo and Brother Atlas gave Lily the idea of doing a charity event. However, you’re the one who chose which area we’re going to do it.”

This time, she slowly lifted her eyes and smiled. “Well…” how would she explain it?

Penny rubbed her chin and thought of someone in her previous life. “I told you about an old friend, didn’t I?”

“You mean the one you want to give a greeting card to?”

“Mhm.”

“She lives there?”

“Yep.” Her lips stretched from ear to ear. “She has a poor memory. So, she might not remember me at all. But I will never forget her.”

“Penny, just how many friends have you got?” he frowned. “Your friends are popping out of nowhere like mushrooms. Even the fan club, you managed to get some star students to sign up for it. Do you know how awkward it was yesterday?”

“What do you mean?”

“Because First Brother is challenging all of them and because Ray once pursued you, our brothers aren’t really happy they were there.” Slater explained. Since Penny was on the stage, and then was crowded by a lot of students, once she came down, she was unaware of the other side of yesterday’s assembly.

“Oh…” Her lips formed an o–shape. “Well, at least, Ray didn’t die.”

‘If looks could kill, he would have been buried yesterday!‘ was what he wanted to say, but let it go. “What is this friend like?”

“Hmm?”

“The one who might not remember you, but still you wouldn’t forget about her. What is she like for you to not forget about her?”

“Well…”

The question pulled Penny to a sad memory of the curled up a little as she set her eyes on him again.

“She’s… scary”

–

past back when she was in prison. Her lips

“Huh?” Deep lines appeared between Slater’s brows while Penny smiled from ear to ear. Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.

*******

Meanwhile, somewhere in District 10, a woman’s grunt and scream could be heard from outside the shabby small house. Things falling such as cutleries and furniture synced along with her painful grunts, falling on the floor and joining her in there.

“You stupid bitch!” a man’s yell was also heard, launching powerful kicks on every part of her body. “That’s all you do! Cry and speak so stupidly! Why don’t you just die, huh!?”

Despite the endless assault, the woman balled her body on the ground and shielded her head from the kicks. She had been beaten to the point she could no longer feel the pain. All she could feel was the fear of whether this would kill her today or she would get to live another day for more beatings.

“Ah!”

“Bitch…” The man panted for air as he finally stopped throwing kicks at his wife. “Ah, shit! Why did I marry such a stupid cunt fuck this life!”

He ruffled his hair in irritation and the last surge of his anger compelled him to kick her one last

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The woman stayed lying on the floor even until her husband’s voice disappeared.

“Hah… Finally, she dropped her arm from her head to the side, revealing her bruised and swollen face. One eye almost closed up because of the swelling, while the other was still healing. There were also large bruises on the corner of her mouth.

But the bruises on her face were nothing compared to the new and old scars and bruises underneath her ragged clothes. Yet, despite her pitiful situation, her eyes lingered on the door of the small apartment without any tears falling from them.

She stayed like that for god knows how long, and when she finally regained the strength, she tidied up the house without a word. After a long time, the house looked like it wasn’t turned upside down.

Hours later, a teenage girl came home to a tidy house. She happily announced her arrival, intuitively checking the kitchen where her mother was at. Her mother’s back was turned on her while she was preparing dinner.

“Mom, I’m home!” the teenage girl announced once more and joined her mother in the kitchen. But alas, the second she stood beside her mother, her smile instantly faded.

“Mom,” she whispered, staring at the new bruises on her mother’s face. “Until when are you going to stay in this place?”

Her mother turned to her and forced a smile. “Grace, it’s alright. It was my fault, your dad didn’t mean it,” yet her reassuring smile paled in comparison to her swollen face.

Grace, the teenage girl, pressed her lips and walked away without saying anything. Her eyes, however, glinted as if she already realized if nothing was done, her mother would eventually die in the hands of that sick man, who was also apparently her father.

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