Chapter 679
+25 Bonus
After the officer stepped out and closed the door, Penelope drew a deep breath and forced down the resentment in her chest. She leaned back and said, “I can tell you. But I have one condition.”
Sydney’s gaze remained cool. “What condition?”
Penelope held her gaze for a long moment before she finally said, “Get me out of here.”
The demand almost made Sydney laugh. “You think far too highly of me. You’re involved in a major drug case, not something I can fix just because I want to.”
If Sydney remembered correctly, Penelope and Megan faced the same charges: kidnapping and assisting drug trafficking.
The second charge was one the country pursued without mercy. The fact that Penelope dared to ask was one thing. Sydney would not even consider it. No matter how powerful she became, she would never involve herself in a case like this.
“On your own, no, probably not.” Since Penelope raised it, she had clearly thought it through. “But with Julian, definitely. Or, if you don’t want to ask him, the Hutton family could do it too.”
The first part did not surprise Sydney. The second did.
“You want me to go to the Hutton family for you? They’ve spent their lives being upright and principled. Why would they bend the law for me, an outsider?”
She admitted it to herself now. She had grown attached to Florence and the others. They had treated her well. Still, she had never let herself overstep.
Even before, when Theodore protected Megan without regard for right or wrong, Sydney had not gone to the Hutton family to argue.
Theodore was Florence’s husband and the siblings’ father. She was only a friend.
Sydney understood which mattered more. She would never be so foolish as to force the Hutton family to scold Theodore for her sake.
And yet now Penelope could suggest, without hesitation, that Sydney ask the Hutton family to abuse their power in a major drug case.
At that, Penelope’s expression changed. After a brief silence, she said, with quiet meaning, “What if, to the Hutton family, you’re more than just an outsider? What if they already want to make it up to you?”
What she meant was, “What if you’re the daughter the Hutton family has been searching for all these years?”
But she could not bring herself to say it. She could not accept the idea of Sydney living like a princess from now on. Thus, she said half and withheld the rest.
Something in those words struck Sydney hard.
Her fingers clenched. Her eyes locked onto Penelope without blinking. “Penelope, what exactly do you mean?”
At the clinic earlier, Jeremiah had said something similar. Now Penelope’s words seemed to align with it.
Jeremiah had said that the Hutton family had caused her adoptive parents’ deaths. Penelope said they wanted to make it up to her.
1/2
Chorter 679
+25 Bonus
Sydney’s face remained expressionless, her features settling into a natural coldness.
Penelope flinched. “What could I mean? I already told you. If you get me out, I’ll tell you everything.”
“I’m only asking one thing.” Sydney could not focus on anything else. She went straight to the point. “You said the Hutton family wants to make it up to me. Why?”
As soon as the question landed, the room seemed to freeze.
Penelope curled her fingers tighter, afraid that one wrong word would give everything away. At the same time, she knew she had to convince Sydney she was sincere. If Sydney walked away, she might spend the rest of her life rotting here.
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney)