Now, everything had changed.


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    As we were saying," Treadwell continued, "while you remain married to Mr. Osvaldo, you will be granted unrestricted ess to the Adkins fortune.


    "You can spend the Adkins money however you like. And I must say, Miss Penny..." he smiled, lowering his voice, "this fortune runs very, very long."


    This was the part no girl could refuse. It was always the money that made them stay. Even the proudest women had paused here, drawn in by temptation. But none had survived.


    To them, Penny would be no different.


    They were not offering simple wealth. They were offering power.


    The Adkins name held power that had been passed down for generations. It wasn’t the kind of money you see in magazines. It was the kind that made nations kneel, that made people disappear, that built cities and crumbled others. Silent money. Eternal money. The kind that never touched the headlines, but touched everything else.


    "I’m afraid I don’t need your money, Mr. Treadwell," Penny said, her voice soft and calm like a quiet storm.


    All three men stared at her like she’d grown another head.


    They were stunned. This was a first. No hesitation. No starry eyes. Just rejection.


    Fat girls don’t usually have choices, at least that’s what the world told them. People like her were expected to settle, to bow, to take what was given. So what on earth was going on?


    But Penny wanted the money. God knew it would change everything. No more cramped apartments. No more mocking stares from her family and everyone else. No more driving her beat-up Tata Nano. No more eating instant noodles on stic trays. She could rise above it all.


    But she had pride.


    And she would never, ever, let them belittle her again.


    "Do you know what you’re saying, Miss Penny?" Timothy leaned forward, voice urgent. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime offer!"


    "How about a one-year contract?" Treadwell asked quickly, a hint of desperation slipping into his tone. They couldn’t afford to lose her. If she walked now, it would be a disaster.


    There was no more time to threaten her or force her. This was the time to give her anything.


    "Two hundred million," Timothy said suddenly. "For one year. Take care of him for a year, and when you leave... you leave with two hundred million."


    Penny’s eyes narrowed. Her heart jumped, but her face showed nothing.


    Are these men mad? They were willing to throw a whooping sum of two hundred million?


    "Please," Willy added softly. "Our master... he needs you. We don’t know why, but you’re the only one who’s eversted a night with him without injury."


    Of course, shested without an injury, but Osvaldo had done something else to her. Something she didn’t want to remember.


    Had she been hallucinating? But everything that happened felt so real.


    They would give their master the benefit of the doubt and maybe he could recover if someone like Penny stays by his side. Who knows, maybe a woman is all he needed for his recovery.


    Penny had never imagined this day woulde. That she would be begged to marry a man. Not just any man, but the infamous, hidden, feared Osvaldo Adkins.


    She had once dreamt of being a housewife. Someone’s sweetheart. That dream had died the day Chris and Ariana shattered her world.


    This is the best offer she’d ever received.


    Babysit a madman. Pretend to be his wife. Survive one year. Walk away with more money than she could earn in ten lifetimes.


    "Fine," she said, atst, her voice firm.


    The room lit up with relieved smiles.


    "Just one year." She raised a finger. "No more, no less."


    The men nodded quickly.


    "You’ll prepare the contract?" she asked.


    "Already done," they said together, pulling out another golden scroll. Almost like Dewitt Adkins had foreseen this exact moment.