"What about the meeting?" he asked, his voice still carrying thatmanding edge, but softer now.
"Is it toote to attend?"
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"Not at all," Barry shook his head quickly, still stunned. He sighed in relief. Thank God for that call, he thought. If Brown hadn’t found Penny when he did, today might’ve ended in disaster.
Xavier had been seconds away from throwing away everything they had worked so hard for.
He could understand Penny was Xavier’s only heir, but that was too much.
Usually, for businessmen, it was always work over everything else. But for this man, it’s his daughter over everything else.
Barry couldn’t wait to meet his niece finally. His sons have also been very eager to see her too.
Xavier rose from his chair, straightened his dark suit, and headed for the door. Barry followed close behind.
As they walked through the long marble hallway, workers and staff stood still, bowing as the brothers passed. No one dared to meet Xavier’s eyes. His presence was like thunder, loud even in silence.
Most barely breathed.
Because in Bloodsworth Inc., there was one rule: If you breathe wrong, you’re fired.
And on bad days?
Xavier didn’t wait for mistakes. He’d storm into reception and fire everyone. There was even a day he fired Barry, for simply questioning their foreign market strategy.
So when the doors to the conference room opened, every shareholder leaped to their feet.
The storm had entered the room.
But today... he was smiling.
And that was more terrifying than his fury.
####
"You should listen to our miss and leave youngdy before you’re dealt with," Hughes spoke out for her mistress ring at the girl before them
"Or what? Amon maid speaking back at me. It seems you don’t know your ce." Stacey raised her hands to p Hughes and Penny caught it immediately.
"How dare you try to hit my maid." Penny pushed her aside and Tracey lost her footing, her juice spilled over her body, as she crashed into the designer bags and other essories she just purchased.
Laughter broke out from a few passersby. Even Hughes had to cover her mouth to hide her chuckle.
She stared at Penny with wide eyes wondering if she was seeing a ghost. The Penny she knows will never fight back.
They always mocked a bullied her and she always endured.
The same bitch that always did their school work and worked like their ve, when did she gather so much courage as to embarrass her like this?
She frowned. She won’t take this. She must make Penny pay, she must embarrass her back.
She climbed to her feet, shaking with fury. "Thief!!" she suddenly screamed, pointing at Penny and her staff her voice high-pitched.
Heads turned. Security guards and sales staff rushed toward the noise.
No one liked thieves. They must always get punished, especially in open ces like these. But when they reached there, they were all stunned to see the same fat girl they were used to.
Only that this time, she was standing with a woman and two gigantic-looking men.
"She’s stealing! This fat, low-ss girl is pretending to shop like she belongs here! She can’t even afford these clothes!" Stacey’s voice rang out, loud and vicious, drawing a crowd like bees to honey.
Murmurs rose in waves.
People turned, whispering.
They looked at Penny’s face, then at her shopping cart.
Their eyes judge her appearance. Her clothes were simple. Her purse was old. Despite the guards and quiet dignity, she didn’t look rich.
The other servants who had been shopping for groceries turned to look at the scene and rushed over to support their mistress.
They have been given orders to protect Penny at all times no matter what, they would never let anything happen to her.
"What’s going on here?" a sales rep pushed through the crowd. His eyes flicked to Penny, then narrowed at the sight of the full carts.
He knew her.
Everyone here did.
All the workers, the staff, the cleaners...
She’s their boss’s useless daughter. The one he has warned to never be given anything in there for free even if she owns the ce.
While most of them pitied her, others hated her for no damn reason.
Every eye staring at her judged her without an idea what had happened.
Even if she was with bodyguards, they all looked likebined thieves.
"Miss Penny, what are you doing here?" the manager, Gabriel, asked sharply, his brows furrowed.
Penny raised her head slowly. Her calm eyes met his. "What does it look like, Gabriel?" she replied evenly. "Am I banned from shopping like everyone else now?"
Gabriel’s lips tightened. He shook his head. "No, you’re not banned, Miss. But you..."
"She has no money," a female staff member interrupted, her green eyes filled with disdain. "If you think being our boss’s daughter means you can just take whatever you want, think again. This isn’t a charity."
The words were loud, meant to humiliate the girl. Though their boss never said anything about not letting her in, they didn’t want her here either.
She’s an eyesore. They had no idea why such a girl was even bold enough to stand in public ces.
Once upon a time, Penny would’ve lowered her head and apologized even when she did nothing wrong. She would’ve epted the mockery, the insults, the invisible chains ced around her by people who thought they were better than her.
But today?
Penny straightened her back. Her voice was still soft, but it carried weight. "Did I say I can’t pay for what I picked? How dare you use me wrongly?"
The green-eyed staff flinched hiding behind the other staff members. For the first time, she had no words.
Murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.
"This is ridiculous. Why would someone with four full cartse here to steal?" A man asked.
"And in a mall filled with cameras and security guards? That’s just stupid." Another woman said.
"Exactly! Why use someone when they haven’t even tried to leave without paying?" Another person spoke up and one by one everyone’s mind changed towards her.