He had never been friendly with the staff. Never showed emotion. Which was why it still surprised her every time she saw him smile.
Because he only smiled at one person.
The fat girl with the quiet eyes.
To everyone else, he was a monster. A vicious demon.
A man who yed like a child because he never got the chance to grow up like every normal child. One moment he was seven, and the next, he was 25.
Hughes banged on theb door, her fists aching from the force. "Master!" she cried. "Please, Master!"
Finally, the door opened. The faint smell of chemicals drifted out, and there he was.
Her master.
But he looked so different.
More handsome...
More normal...
His hair was perfectly tied to the back, beard shaved and normal again, showcasing his perfect chin.
He looked like a god straight outta hell.
Hughes dropped to her knees. "Master Osvaldo," she choked out, tears in her voice, "they’ve taken Miss Penny away."
Osvaldo’s eyes sharpened. "Penguin?"
She nodded hard. "Master Chris came and asked for her. Barnaby said he... he said..." She couldn’t stop herself. Everything she’d heard, spilled from her lips like water breaking through a dam.
She thought. Hoped he’d rush out immediately.
He would fight for her.
That he would save their miss Penny from his fake family. The one that always made him smile.
After all, he was in love with her, right? So it wouldn’t hurt him to rescue her, would it?
But Osvaldo just stood there.
Silent.
And then, after what felt like a lifetime...
"Hmm."
He hummed, soft and unreadable.
And then he closed the door.
<fnb002> Newest update provided by f?i?n?d?n?o?v?e?l?</fnb002>
Hughes stared at the wood, stunned.
Not a single word. Not a single step.
Her hands trembled as she pushed herself up from the floor. Her knees ached.
Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe Miss Penny really was just another toy. Maybe she was nothing to him after all.
And if that was true... then what were they fighting for?
Maybe it was time to give up.
Time to ept that Ariana would be their new mistress. The madam of the house. The one who would tame their mad master.
Maybe Osvaldo was a monster... and he deserved whatever came next.
They had all believed Penny was the one.
But now... she was gone.
And Ariana, if she stayed the night, would take her ce.
<strong>####</strong>
Inside theb, Osvaldo paced the floor like a ghost trapped in a memory. His bare feet whispered across the cold marble. His fingers dug into his hair as he smacked his own head, trying to force the panic away.
He had to stay calm...
He must stay calm...
If he lost control now, he’d lose everything.
He’d lose his penguin. The only thing that mattered right now.
"Penguin," he whispered, exhaling even, eyes squeezed shut.
"Penguin," he said again, like her name could hold him together.
He pictured her, soft, warm, always fussing over him with those gentle scolds. The way she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t watching.
Her annoying insecure behavior and how she tried to hide herself from him. He smiled.
The sound of her voice, like honey and wind chimes when she calls his name.
He didn’t know why she calmed him.
She just did.
That little woman was his medicine.
His anchor when the storm inside him grew too strong.
"Penguin," he whispered onest time.
Then his eyes opened, and he moved.
He took the back door out of theb and slipped into the night like a shadow.
<strong>####</strong>
The back of the Adkins mansion loomed in the distance, cold and quiet under the moonlight. Osvaldo crept forward, his body tense but his mind focused.
He’d done this before, back when they starved him during his worst moments. Back when he woke up so weak, all he could do was crawl to the kitchen like a stray dog.
He’d stolen bread. Fruit. Anything he could find.
And every time, he heard the servants whisper the next day. How maids were punished for missing food. How no one dared ask who had taken it.
He had be a ghost in his own home.
A thief of his own survival.
But this time, he wasn’t here for food.
He was here for her.
His Penguin.
And he would find her, no matter what.
<strong>####</strong>
Inside the Penthouse, Ariana arrived, her steps graceful as a cat. Behind her trailed the rest of the Adkins family, cold and proud. And a maid. Her newly appointed handmaid. The same person they believed had helped Penny stay the night without a scratch on her body.
Their goal was simple, make Ariana survive the night so that they could kick Penny out for good.
Hughes’s eyes widened when she saw the maid walk in with them. Rosie had betrayed them.
"Where is the madman?" Abby asked the maid who had been acting so bold all week. It’s only a matter of hours, she’ll make sure she punishes this maid to thest.
"Far away from here mistress," Hughes responded.