Chapter 63 Penelope, I believed in you!

The words that followed, Lola didn't voice out, but everyone was an adult, they all understood her meaning clearly.

Just as Lola had predicted, after she finished speaking, Kemp indeed sneered, curling his lips in mockery.

"Ha!"

Kemp's gaze, disdainful yet sharp, swept over Penelope's face. "I bullied her? If she hadn't drugged me and thrown herself at me, would I have touched her?! My taste isn't that bad!"

Penelope didn't immediately defend herself, her expression slightly dazed.

She stared blankly at Kemp. If it weren't for the reunion and seeing it with her own eyes, she really wouldn't believe that his gentle face could also have an expression like the harsh winter, and moreover, such an expression on his face didn't seem out of place at all.

It seemed as if he should have been as cold and frosty to her, Penelope, as a snowy mountain. Those four years of mutual support and reliance seemed more like a dream.

"Penelope!"

It wasn't until Zackary's gritted-teeth voice echoed in the air that Penelope suddenly snapped back to reality.

She didn't want to bear these inexplicable slanders, so she spoke the truth, "I didn't drug Kemp! I was framed! I didn't throw myself at him either, I came to him just for Ethan."

"Framed?!" The sarcasm at the corner of Kemp's lips became more evident, "Penelope, don't tell me you're not Ms. Sullivan! Don't tell me that it wasn't you who willingly entered my room tonight!"

"Don't tell me, it wasn't you who shamelessly tried to seduce me time and time again in the underground garage of the Hunter Group building! Don't tell me, the person who almost killed my Penny in order to get into my bed, wasn't you!"

"It wasn't me!" Penelope retorted instinctively. Indeed, she had gone to the underground garage to find Kemp twice, but neither of those times was to seduce him.

As for Pennie's injury, it was nothing more than a play she and Lola had staged themselves.

"Penelope, you really have some nerve!" Before she could finish her sentence, her neck was rudely grasped by Zackary.

"Would you die if you didn't hook up with a man for a day?!"

Zackary's fist clenched so tightly that it creaked. He really wanted to smash this infuriating face with a punch, but in the end, his fist didn't land on Penelope's face, but instead, it fiercely hit the wall beside him.

Zackary's action, devoid of any novelty, served only one purpose - to make speaking incredibly difficult for Penelope.

But even if speaking was extremely difficult, there were some things she still had to say.

She slightly lifted her chin, like a resilient winter plum in the snowstorm, fragile, yet also stubborn.

"Yes, Mr. Spencer, I would die if I didn't flirt with men for a day! But, what does this have to do with you?!"

"Penelope!"

Listening to Zackary's almost roaring voice, the world-weary smile on Penelope's face grew even more pronounced. "Mr. Spencer, my brain is perfectly fine, it's not broken, you don't need to keep reminding me that my name is Penelope!"

She didn't have a particular fondness for being abused. She extended her right hand, struggling to pry Zackary's hand off. She turned her face to look at Kemp.

She had originally thought that she could speak some words to Kemp calmly, but upon seeing him, she couldn't help but recall the image of him in the dungeon, holding Ethan, gently soothing him over and over again, singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to him. She couldn't control the sourness welling up in her eyes.

So much so, that the words she spoke were tinged with a hint of choking back tears.

"Kemp, I know you don't believe me, but even if you don't, I have to say, the three times I, Penelope, approached you, it was all for Ethan."

"The first time was only to borrow money for Ethan's surgery. The second time, and this time, were all to fulfill Ethan's last wishes."

"Kemp, I'm here, I swear on Ethan's spirit, if I, Penelope, have ever had the slightest inappropriate thought about you in my life, may I be struck by lightning and die a terrible death!"

"If you think this is not enough, then let my soul scatter, let me die, and never reincarnate!"

Kemp's pupils suddenly constricted, he despised this shameless woman, but for some reason, as she held her chin high, making a resolute vow, an inexplicable panic surged in his heart, along with a sense of abandonment.

There was an indescribable pain in my heart.

That kind of piercing feeling was so intense that the heat rising from his body due to the effect of the medicine gradually dissipated.

Kemp had always been calm and composed, but at that moment, he didn't know what had come over him. It was as if he was unwilling to admit that Penelope had no improper thoughts about him. Without even thinking, the words had slipped out of his mouth.

"Penelope, if you truly had no ulterior motives towards me, would you have had Penny kidnapped just to remove the obstacle in your path?!"

Penelope stared deeply into Kemp's eyes, trying to see through his soul. She couldn't understand how he, once so wise and insightful, had been played around by a woman with ill intentions.

Seeing Penelope silent, Kemp assumed she was in the wrong. With a cold expression, he spoke, "What's the matter, lost for words?"

"Yeah, there's nothing left to say! Because no matter what I say, you guys won't believe me."

"But even if no one was willing to believe me, I still had to say, I, Penelope, have never done anything morally wrong. I, Penelope, have never hurt anyone. I, Penelope, am at peace with my conscience!"

"You didn't believe me, it didn't matter, because, I didn't need you to believe me. Later, I really didn't need it anymore."

In fact, to a large extent, Kemp and Zackary were the same, unable to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil. Therefore, she would never waste her energy on them again.

Penelope turned around, just about to leave this room that made her incredibly embarrassed, when a voice, still somewhat boyish yet firm and confident, sounded at the door of the room.

"I believed in you!"

Penelope suddenly looked up, only to see Lyman, dusty and travel-worn, standing at the room's entrance.

On his face, there was also a trace of the hardships of travel, but the warm smile on his baby face could melt the coldest frost.

He walked towards Penelope, step by step, against the light. He carried nothing with him, yet seemed to bring with him the fragrance of roses.

He walked up to her, gently grasping her small hand, with a heart-throbbing tenderness and longing, "Penelope, I believe in you."

"Mr. Hilliard......"

Penelope's lips quivered, and suddenly, her eyes welled up with tears.

Once, she thought she had been so sad that she couldn't shed another tear. But facing this man, who was clearly youthful yet had a heart so broad that it could encompass everything, she could still cry like a little girl, without any restraint.

"Penelope, I'm back!"

Ignoring the varied gazes of the few remaining people in the room, Lyman tightened his grip and pulled Penelope tightly into his arms.