Chapter 578: You’re alive

"How about my death?! Didn’t you think it was a nonsensical sentence?! Did it make sense to you?!"

Thick silence hung in the air, with Penny’s voice echoing.

Nathaniel’s eyes shook as he gazed at the person sitting on him. He furrowed his brows, but the panic and adrenaline surging through every fiber of his body made it difficult to process the information.

Angel and Mark furrowed their brows and cast Zoren a look for answers. But alas, Zoren gazed down at the pit with equal confusion.

Penny gripped Nathaniel’s collar as tightly as she could, her body shaking with all the emotions swelling in her chest.

"You didn’t do anything to me?" she breathed out a jagged breath, almost laughing. "How dare you speak such things when you and I... know what you did to me?"

Nathaniel clasped her wrist, wiggling aggressively to break free from her grip. However, with the exhausting activity of the day and her weight, he couldn’t. All he could do was struggle and shout back.

"Miss Penny! You’re being nonsensical! Please let me go! I haven’t done anything to you! It’s probably someone else!" He kicked in the air, but everything he did was futile. "It’s the wrong person! Whoever wronged you is probably an imposter! Please! I’ll get you justice—whoever posed as me!"

Listening to his yells only made her grip his collar tighter. She gazed at him and observed him with gritted teeth.

"Miss Penny! I’m innocent! Don’t do this to me! I don’t deserve it!"

The more she listened, the more her body trembled with anger. Why? Because most of what he said were the very words she had shouted at the top of her lungs. But they all fell on deaf ears.

"Get me... justice?" Her voice was low and full of sarcasm, but it was enough to stop him. "You’d get me justice?"

Nathaniel froze, thinking he had finally had a breakthrough. "I will find the person who wronged you! After all, I also have grievances with that person—whoever they are! This wouldn’t have happened if not for that person, right?! We’re on the same side!"

"Miss Penny, I would never—ack!" Nathaniel stopped as he felt her hand wrap around his neck. He clasped her wrist, using every bit of his energy to stop her. However, at this point, he knew she would kill him.

She would do it.

"Ack!" he struggled beneath her, kicking the air and then the ground, slapping at her hands and grabbing them. None of his actions succeeded. If anything, her grip on his neck only tightened.

"Miss..." he breathed one last time. "... please..."

Slowly, the remaining strength Nathaniel had slipped out of his control. He still tried to pry her hands off of him, but to no avail.

"She’s going to kill him," Mark panicked, unsure whether he should step in now or if Angel would. He turned to Angel, but the latter only watched with wide eyes, as if his mind had gone blank.

"I’m going—" Mark halted when he caught Zoren’s figure from the corner of his eye. When he turned his head, all he saw was Zoren sliding into the pit. "Master!"

Mark jogged another step, only to see Zoren land perfectly.

"Penny." Zoren clasped Penny’s arm but didn’t pull it away. He simply held her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Stop now."

Penny didn’t budge and squeezed Nathaniel’s neck harder.

"Penny." This time, Zoren’s call was stern and adamant. "Let go."

Her grip on his neck tightened even more, but when Zoren squeezed her shoulder, she clenched her teeth. She ground her teeth angrily, letting out a long growl before she finally let go.

"Ah!" Nathaniel twisted to the side, coughing and gasping for air. "Hah! Ah!"

He grabbed the ground, taking deep breaths through both his nose and mouth. Groping his neck, his entire body shuddered. Just now, he had almost died. Actually, he briefly felt death caressing him. It was a miracle Penny had stopped.

Zoren, on the other hand, kept his hold on her. He watched her slowly look up at him, and for some reason, he knew a tear had just rolled down her cheek.

"Penny," he called gently, assisting her to stand up. But just before he could say anything, Penny held his arms. Her hands were shaking, and they felt cold, as if they had come straight from a bucket of ice water.

"I’ll have to go," she whispered, making his brows furrow. "I need to think."

"Penny."

"Please," she whispered. "I need it."

Zoren pressed his lips into a thin line, letting out a shallow breath as soon as he heard her short plea. He nodded slightly, allowing her to let go of his arms. Penny didn’t hesitate to turn to Nathaniel, who was still on the ground.

When Nathaniel gazed up at her, hands still on his neck, tears quickly formed in the corners of his eyes.

*

*

*

Hugo idled by the entrance where Penny and Zoren had gone. He was whistling, walking back and forth, waiting for any sign that something terrible was happening.

"Why did they go back..." Hugo trailed off as he noticed an approaching figure from the corner of his eye. Turning his head, his breath hitched as his back stiffened.

"Pe—Penny!" he called, grinning awkwardly as he stood by the entrance. "What’s up?!"

Hugo’s shoulder tensed as she stopped in front of him. He maintained his large grin, brows raised while her eyes remained fixed on him. For a moment, Penny just stared at him, as if studying him.

"Penny?" he spoke. "Is there something wrong?" Did she remember what he did to her that night in the hospital?

Despite the smile on his face, Hugo was on high alert, expecting she might launch another vicious attack on him. Everyone was aware that Penny had been drinking tonight, and when they saw her come down with Zoren, they instantly knew that was the drunken Penny.

"Hugo," she called, as if to gauge a reaction from him.

Hugo furrowed his brows but still answered, "What?"

The reaction that quickly appeared on his face suggested he wasn’t used to being called like that. She took a step forward, making Hugo almost take a step back. He resisted.

"Yes, Penny?" he asked, observing her in case she was going to attack. When he saw her hand raise slightly, he braced himself to stop whatever it was. Much to his surprise, Penny simply raised a finger and then poked his chest.

"Huh?" Hugo gazed down at his chest, catching Penny’s finger poking it a few times. "Penny?"

Penny slowly gazed up at him, blinking. "You’re