Chapter 6

The next day, Penelope got dressed and prepared to go out.

She had plans to meet Marcus Carter and wanted to leave a little early.

But just as she came downstairs, she ran into Adrian and Moira.

Penelope couldn't tell whether Adrian was doing it on purpose, but he mentioned that Moira wanted to go clothes shopping and needed another woman to accompany her. He made it pretty clear that he expected Penelope to come along.

Moira also reminded Penelope that she'd promised to buy her a gift but hadn't gotten around to it yet. She insisted that Penelope join them.

Unable to turn her down, Penelope had no choice but to follow them out.

Throughout the outing, Adrian showered Moira with attention, practically forgetting that Penelope was walking behind them.

Watching the couple ahead of her, Penelope couldn't understand what Adrian was trying to accomplish.

She'd already made up her mind in this second life. She would never get involved with him again.

There was no reason for him to be so wary of her.

Lost in thought, she barely noticed when the three of them reached the entrance of a store.

Without warning, the advertising sign overhead came crashing down.

There was a deafening bang.

At the last second, Adrian rushed toward Penelope and pulled her into his arms, shielding her with his body.

Moira fell to the ground, staring at them in disbelief.

Penelope's mind went blank.

Why?

Why had Adrian abandoned Moira to protect her instead?

When she saw tears welling up in Moira's eyes, Penelope quickly pushed Adrian away and hurried to help her up.

"Moira, please don't get the wrong idea! Adrian was the one who brought me along today. He probably just didn't want me getting hurt because Mom would blame him when we got home. That's why he protected me first."

Just then, her phone rang.

It was Marcus.

Penelope quickly answered, grateful for the excuse to leave. She waved goodbye to the two of them as she hurried away.

"I... I have plans with a friend, so I need to go. I won't stick around and be a third wheel. Have fun, you two!"

An hour later, Penelope finally met up with Marcus.

She was still shaken by what had happened earlier.

Noticing how tense she seemed, Marcus pulled a little stuffed bunny out of his pocket, hoping to cheer her up.

He spent quite a while trying to make her smile, and eventually, some color returned to her face.

Marcus studied her expression thoughtfully.

"Pen, I remember you used to smile all the time. Why does it feel like you're a completely different person now?"

Penelope thought back to everything she'd endured.

After all that suffering, simply being alive felt like a luxury.

How could she possibly be the same carefree, innocent girl she'd once been?

She couldn't stop wondering what she could do to convince Adrian that she'd truly gotten over him and would never interfere with his relationship with Moira.

Seeing her lost in thought, Marcus waved a hand in front of her face.

"What are you thinking about? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Penelope snapped out of her thoughts.

An idea suddenly occurred to her.

If she accepted Marcus, wouldn't that finally convince Adrian that she no longer had feelings for him?

But wouldn't that be unfair to Marcus?

He was a good man, and she wasn't wholeheartedly in love with him.

She didn't want to deceive him.

So she decided to tell him the truth.

"Marcus, I'm in a difficult situation right now, and I need someone who can stay by my side as my husband."

She hesitated before continuing.

"If I agreed to be with you but couldn't give you my whole heart, would that bother you?"