Chapter 11

Blood was an odd thing. A dozen young men and women were locked up in the police cell, but Hannah immediately recognized Penelope despite the latter's back being to her. She had a head of curls. To her left was a young man in a black T-shirt. He was probably Sean, the one for whom Penelope had wanted to buy a car. Hannah had already looked into the matter. Sean's father was up to his brows in debt from gambling, and the creditors had come to Sean for the money. They'd heard Penelope had a crush on Sean, so they'd thought of having her repay the debt for him. Sean had been unwilling to do that, but the men had snatched his phone and called Penelope. She'd hurried to the restaurant after receiving word. Upon her arrival, her heart ached at seeing Sean's bruised face. She'd told the creditors that she could repay Sean's father's debt but wanted revenge. In other words, she wanted the people who'd beat Sean up to pay for their actions. She had an explosive temper and had grabbed a beer bottle to smash someone's head to avenge Sean. The commotion had attracted the restaurant owner's attention, and he'd called the cops. He knew these youngsters couldn't control themselves—the restaurant would have to cease operations if anyone accidentally died there! The restaurant was near a school and had police officers stationed nearby, so it didn't take long for them to arrive. Everyone was taken away for questioning. The people who'd beaten Sean up were used to these situations, so they knew what to say to brush the police off. Penelope was also worried Sean would be affected if things blew up. So, both parties had swept the matter under the rug, and the police had let them off after a lecture. Penelope was a minor, so the police needed to inform her parent or guardian to collect her. Penelope had given them Ned's number. The police thought Hannah was Penelope's sister. They didn't explicitly say anything, but their meaning was clear—they wanted Hannah to keep an eye on Penelope and stop her from mixing with gangsters and ruffians. Hannah signed a form, and a police officer brought her to Penelope. "Penelope Quill, someone has come to pick you up." Hannah heard Penelope ask, "Wait, just me?" She'd told Ned to bail her and Sean out! Sean's mother was in poor health—what if she were to fall sick from the shock of having to bail Sean out? "Yeah. Hurry up and get out here," the police officer urged. Penelope looked at Sean. She lowered her voice and said, "Wait for me here. I'll get you out, no matter what!" Hannah saw this from the window. Penelope's gaze was filled with concern for Sean, but he merely looked at his feet, his gaze glum and gloomy. He didn't even look up at Penelope's words. Hannah narrowed her eyes. She'd looked into Sean after Penelope had mentioned his name over the phone the other day. He was Penelope's high school classmate and came from a regular family. He had good grades and was something of a campus crush. Penelope treated him well and was always there for him. She claimed she treated him like her best buddy but clearly had feelings for him. How could one possibly hide one's feelings for someone else? Everyone could tell Penelope had a crush on Sean, but nobody exposed her. Unfortunately, cute schoolday romances generally only existed in novels and TV shows. The way Hannah saw it, Sean wasn't as simple as he seemed. Still, that was something that had to be proven. She'd been young once, so she knew very well it was a no-no to try to forbid Penelope from having anything to do with Sean now. This was especially true since, to Penelope, she was a sudden addition and a mother for whom she felt nothing. Lecturing her and trying to preach to her was the wrong move. "Ned, you forgot about Sean!" Once Penelope was out of the cell, she urgently told Ned to bail Sean out. "Why are you hesitating? Can't you hear me?" She stomped a foot angrily. When she realized Ned was looking at something behind her, she turned to see Hannah standing there. She didn't remember much about her mother and had only seen her in photos. As time passed, her memory of Hannah had grown foggy. Penelope couldn't see what was so special about Hannah. She even wondered whether the latter was one of the gangsters' family members and couldn't help thinking that Hannah's appearance and demeanor were so different from theirs. Penelope looked away after appraising Hannah, wanting to continue urging Ned. Then, she heard Ned address Hannah respectfully as "Mrs. Quill." Penelope felt like she'd been struck by lightning. Mrs. Quill? Things couldn't be like what she thought, right? Hannah nodded at Ned, signaling that they could leave. She had no intention of bailing Sean out—she wasn't in the habit of interfering with someone else's child. Hannah brushed past Penelope, and Ned followed her. Penelope stared at her back, only running to catch up when Hannah turned the corner. Damn it. What was she doing here? Penelope felt like she'd embarrassed herself and was unhappy. She'd yet to face Hannah in battle but was already one notch below her! When she saw Hannah get into the car Joseph usually took, Penelope joined her in the backseat. "Have you and Dad already gotten married?" The fact that Ned had called Hannah "Mrs. Quill" was too shocking to Penelope. She forgot all about Sean. She thought Joseph only had a girlfriend when Maureen had called her. Though she'd asked around about what it was like to have a stepmother, she didn't think Joseph would marry his lover so soon. She'd been too naive. If Ned could address Hannah as Mrs. Quill, it was clear she and Joseph were already married! "You returned so suddenly that we didn't have time to prepare anything special at home. Should we eat at a restaurant nearby?" Hannah asked. Penelope wanted to retort that she didn't want to eat with Hannah when her stomach betrayed her and rumbled. She swallowed her words. Suddenly, she slapped her thigh. "Hey, wait! Stop the car! Sean's still at the police station!" It was all Hannah's fault for making her forget about Sean! The driver didn't stop. Instead, he checked Hannah's expression in the rearview mirror. All the staff at Quill Manor knew now that they had to follow Hannah's instructions. It was what Joseph had ordered them to do. Ned had also made it clear what would happen if anyone thought they could show Hannah up because they'd been at Quill Manor long enough and were on good terms with Penelope and Nicholas—they could collect their severance pay and leave. There wouldn't be any warnings or chances. Thanks to Ned's warning, everyone at Quill Manor treated Hannah with utmost respect. The benefits of working at Quill Manor were too good to let go. Penelope noticed the driver's actions and widened her eyes in shock. What the hell had happened? Why were these people so compliant with Hannah's instructions? Hannah explained, "We already contacted Sean's mother when we were on our way to the police station. There's no need for us to bail him out." "Oh." Penelope suddenly recalled Sean's phone ringing after they'd been brought to the police station. The call should've been from his mother, Nora Pattel. Since Nora already knew, it didn't matter whether or not she helped to bail Sean out. Hannah smiled. The fact that Penelope could forget about Sean in her astonishment meant Sean wasn't too important to her. She wasn't head over heels for him yet. She was a bit of a hopeless romantic but wasn't unsalvageable. For instance, Penelope didn't obsess over the matter now that she knew Sean didn't need her help leaving the police station. She went back to pressing Hannah for answers. "Have you and my dad married already? Are you legally wedded?" Hannah didn't answer. Instead, she said, "I'm the one who stopped Jojo from transferring the eight million dollars you wanted. I'm also the one who chased your Aunt Maureen away from Quill Manor. Your allowance will be limited from now on, and you won't be given extra without a proper reason…" Once again, Penelope felt like she'd been struck by lightning. Stepmothers were evil, alright. Hers was more evil than her friends had made theirs sound!