Chapter 89

With her objective achieved, Penelope planned to take the first ferry back to the city that afternoon.

Theodore, however, wouldn't finish his work until the last ferry of the day.

"I can wait for you," she offered, though it was purely for show.

"That works," he replied, taking her at her word.

"..." Penelope cleared her throat. "Actually, I shouldn't disturb you, Mr. Stapleton. I should get back and start preparing the proposal.”

He shot her a sideways glance. "If you're only going to treat me as a client, then

don't barge in while I'm changing again. I might have to call the police."

Her eyes darted playfully. "And what if I'm treating you as my husband?"

"Then please try to exercise some self-control."

"..." Did he think she was some kind of predator?

Theodore finished buttoning his shirt and turned to leave. At the door, he paused. "Oh, and don't forget to take your medicine."

After he left, Penelope pouted for a moment before a wave of pure elation sent her diving onto the bed. She rolled around several times, then quickly called Nathan to share the news.

"Ms. Laurier, you actually got Mr. Stapleton to budge? Do you have any idea how difficult that is? Even the chairman has been getting the cold shoulder from him."

"Really? I would have thought that as his son, Theodore would give Mr. Johnson some consideration."

"Mr. Stapleton is strictly professional. He never mixes business with personal matters."

"I see."

So, it really was her five-minute pitch that had won him over, not because she had taken advantage of her status as his fiancée.

She filled Nathan in on how the project department should support her efforts.

She would remain behind the scenes for now but would maintain close communication to work with the team.

Seeing that it was almost time, Penelope grabbed her bag and headed downstairs.

As she passed the swimming pool, she saw the con artist being escorted out by two police officers. The woman was still protesting loudly.

"I didn't mean to scam them! They approached me, asking if I was Ms. Laurier from KINY Group. And my last name is Laurier! At first, I was just going to get a free meal out of it but then they started stuffing cash and luxury goods into my hands! I... I couldn't resist the temptation!"

"It's not my fault! It's theirs for being so stupid! I mean, with brains like that, how

do they expect to land any deals? It would be a miracle if they ever succeeded at anything."

The woman was

bundled into a

police car and driven away. Just then, Rebecca and Zebulon

emerged, their faces thunderousnet

Rebecca was bruised from the fight, Zebulon had been groped, and to top it aff off, they had been scammed.

If they weren't trying so hard to maintain their composure, they probably would have burst into tears.

"You were the one who found her. Why didn't you do your due diligence?" Zebulon grumbled at Rebecca.

Rebecca shrank back. "I heard her say she was from KINY Group, so I just wanted to ask. I had no idea that, by some crazy coincidence, her last name was also Laurier."

"You're useless! You can't do anything right!"

"Well, you fell for it, too!"

"That's because I trusted you! I assumed you had already confirmed her identity!"

"But if it weren't for me, you would have been... taken advantage of by her."

"Shut up!"

Afraid she would laugh out loud, Penelope slipped away before they could see her and headed for the ferry.

Zebulon had always been incompetent. Back when they were in the project department together, he couldn't close a single deal, big or small.

She used to give him some of her smaller accounts so his performance numbers wouldn't look so pathetic. That probably gave him the false impression that he was actually capable.

Mr. Sullivan knew his son's

knew

limitations, which was why he had

placed him in a less critical

departmen

But he couldn't stand to

see his son be a complete failure, so

he had given him this opportunity.

And the result was...

Ha. Just wait. When they found out that she was the new head of the KINY Group

project, they were all going to cry.

Back home, Penelope threw herself into her work, communicating with the project

team while refining the details of her proposal.

She was working diligently. Rebecca, meanwhile, was also working.

...