Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 529

Chapter 529: It was killing her
“It’s a different matter.”

“How is it a different matter?” Penelope’s voice rose to another pitch, causing everyone to wince slightly.

Theodore and Kaylyn noticed how Penelope was acting as if she had done nothing wrong. Did she think that as long as she was punished, her guilt was washed away as well?

Kaylyn was even more disappointed in her daughter. Even after suffering like this, Penelope could not understand what she had done was wrong. She could not help but say to her adopted daughter, “Penelope, what your father means to say is that even if you were punished, you still need to apologise to Ariana. You have, after all, hurt her the last time you met with her. Have you forgotten? You attacked her.”

Kayden felt like he was sitting in a daily soap setting. He turned to look at Emil and asked, “What’s going on?” Since when did Ariana get so close to the Ashford family that they were actually standing up for her?

And that too against their own daughter?

Emil turned to look at Kayden and said to him, “It’s a long story.” He sighed before relaying what happened to Kayden, whose eyes widened more and more by the time Emil finished speaking. Kayden’s mouth was hanging open.

Seeing this, Emil raised his hand and pressed his jaw right back.

“You mean to—”

“That’s right,” Emil knew what he wanted to ask and nodded, causing Kayden to lower his head and think over a lot of things. He asked, “So is she going to leave your family and return to her own?” His question caused Penelope to clench her teeth.

“I am not”! Penelope raised her voice again and this time Mateo closed his eyes and could not help but say,

“Can you lower your voice, Penelope? There is no need for you to scream; we can hear you just fine.”

However, Penelope was losing her mind and could not hear a thing that Mateo was saying to her.

She clenched her fingers and said, “I am not going to apologise.” Look at my condition and look at hers! My future is about to be ruined, but hers is fine; why should I apologise to her?”

While Penelope was fighting tooth and nail with her parents, Nicolai took the opportunity that presented itself to him, and he planted his hand over Ariana’s, who still went.

He felt her tremble as she looked at him before glancing at her father and brothers.

But here was the thing—even when she was scared—she did not push his hand away from hers. When he saw that Ariana was not willing to push him away, Nicolai couldn’t help but thread his fingers through hers.

“This is not an option,” Nicolai heard Thedore refuse at once. “You have hurt my daughter; not only that, you even try to harm her again and again, but you also wanted to keep her identity a secret from us. Penelope, don’t you think you need to apologise for these things?”

“No, I don’t!” Penelope hysterically cried. “I lost my face, my reputation, and my family because of her; why should I apologise to her when she is fine and I am not?”

“I am fine because someone saved me,” Ariana frowned and said to Penelope. “While you, on the other hand, tried to discredit and hurt me in every way possible. As for taking away your family, I never had such an intention. I didn’t even want to look for my family after the one where I grew up disappointed me so much.”

Did this woman mean to say that it was she who acted like a fool?

Penelope, who had not expected her to say such a thing, was stupefied.

She finally unclenched her teeth and said to Ariana, “No matter what, you were a threat to me. As long as you did not exist, I wouldn’t have to live in fear.”

“I could have gotten what I wanted if you did not take them away from me.” She stared pointedly at Nicolai while saying those words.

“It’s good that you know that you are lacking in every way compared to Ariana,” Nicolai remarked while eyeing Penelope coldly. He squeezed Ariana’s hand as she tried to pull her hand away from him. “However, it’s a pity that even after realising the things that you have done are wrong, you are still refusing to admit it. Forget about feeling guilty; I cannot even see any remorse in your actions and words.”

“You just need to say sorry, Penelope,” Kaylyn spoke from the side while looking at her adopted daughter, who was simply refusing to back down. “Is it that difficult?”

“It is!” Penelope turned and looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. “You all only care about her and cannot understand my pain and suffering. My wounds are not even a day old, and you want me to lower my head and apologise to her?”

She gritted her teeth and said to her mother, “I lived with you longer. I cared for you—you should be favouring me, but you refuse to look at me.”

Mateo turned and looked at his sister, who was refusing to admit defeat. He said to her, “There is nothing wrong with what we are doing. You should be grateful that we are not kicking you out of the house and even letting you stay with us.”

“Even after what you have done, we are giving you a chance to reform. What else do you want?”

She wanted everything to return to how it was!

“Just apologise, Penelope,” Keon started with a frown on his face. “Dad is right; you should apologise for the atrocious things that you have done. Isn’t it good enough that we are not holding you accountable and sending you back to the Harlow family?”

Penelope stood up, the chair screeched behind her, and she glared at her brother angrily, “Accountable? If there is anyone who should be held accountable: Then it is you all! He ruined my face. I am hideous, and no one knows whether or not my face will be the same or not! And it is all because of this woman, whom you all favour, and you want me to apologise to her? Impossible!”

Nicolai went to stand up, but Theodore had enough of it. He raised his hand and smacked his palms against the table. He glared at his adopted daughter and said to her coldly, “Enough, Penelope. It would be better if you apologised to Ariana. If you keep acting like this, I will take it as you and she can never exist under the same roof. Since that is the case, you might as well return to your family.”

“What!?”

Penelope’s eyes widened as she stared at her father, who threatened her for Ariana. Could he not see that she was much more worthy of staying here? She received an elite education; who was Ariana?

However, when she saw that her father was looking at her without even the slightest hint of mercy in his eyes, she gritted her teeth. With her lips trembling, she turned to look at Ariana.

Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to cry. Staring at Ariana as if she wanted to skin her alive, Penelope started speaking,

“I—”