Penny hadn't even touched her food since she arrived at the table. And now she was sent to go out to prove herself to the madman. She wasn't scared, unlike yesterday.
Now she knew Osvaldo wasn't really mad there was no need to be scared of him. But what she didn't understand was the need to prove herself if she had survived the night.
Still, her footsteps were soft and cautious as she stepped outside the mansion. The sun was already high in the sky, but the air carried a strange heaviness. A kind of stillness that made the hairs on her arms rise.
She had nothing to prove, there was no need to prove anything to these people. But Ariana wasn't ready to let go. Penny had no idea why her sister was hellbent on doing this.
The entire household had gathered. Maids. Butlers. Guards. Even Osvaldo's personal attendants. All of the maids in the penthouse, Rosie shook her head gently as she stared at Penny.
She looked frightened and Penny could already tell what was going on in her head.
The servants stood in neat rows, all with their heads slightly bowed, as though waiting for judgment.
But what made Penny stop in her tracks wasn't the people, it was what was waiting beside them.
Chains.
Thick iron shackles, like those used to bind dangerous beasts. Laid out carefully on the ground beside them were whips of different lengths. Some are braided with iron beads. Others soaked in a dark oil that glistened under the sun.
And beside the weapons stood fifteen men.
They were tall. Too tall. Their arms looked like they were carved from stone, and their faces were hard and cold. The kind of men you only saw in fantasy novels. The kind guarding ancient emperors or fallen kingdoms.
Penny's heart clenched.
All this… just to bring him out?
They treated him like a monster. Like some rabid creature that needed to be restrained with force.
But they didn't know.
They didn't see what she saw last night. The pain in his eyes. The quiet undercurrent of sadness in his voice. Osvaldo wasn't a monster.
He was just… misunderstood.
She had no idea why he was pretending to be mad, but was it worth it?
Did he like the torture?
Why is he doing this to himself?
"Mrs. Adkins," Penny called the older woman walking over slowly. Her voice was calm, but firm.
"I don't think all this is necessary."
Ariana raised a single brow immediately. She was standing next to Abby so she had overheard Penny's words and wouldn't let it stand.
She was hellbent on humiliating Penny today. She would show the entire Adkin family that Penny was useless and should not be taken seriously.
She would show them that her survival had been by accident and that now, she would die at the hands of the madman.
Ariana's painted lips curled into a mocking smile. Her jewels glittered under the morning sun.
"Oh?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Why, Penny? Are you scared now? Do you admit that your survival was only by luck?" She rolled the tips of her hair with her index finger as she stared at her sister.
Penny met Ariana's gaze, eyes steady.
"Whether by luck or not. It wouldn't change the fact that I had survived the night in the penthouse." Penny said.
"I don't even see the need for this test," Penny continued, her voice growing colder. "Are we proving that I lived, or are we proving you hoped I didn't?"
"Oh, don't act so high and mighty now," Ariana snapped, her tone biting through the morning stillness like a whip. "There will be guests tonight, Penny. We can't have that beast ruining the Adkins name!"
"He's not a beast." Penny defended, her words fell like thunderclaps. Crisp. Clean. And utterly unforgiving.
Chris laughed, shrill and cruel. "Did you hear that? The beauty is already singing praises of her beast. A match truly forged from hell!"
Ariana burst out laughing too, her arm brushing Chris's as if sharing a joke. "A madman and his bride! I almost want to host a royal wedding!"
"That's enough," Abby's voice rang out like a sudden gust of cold wind. She stepped forward, her expression unreadable.
"Penelope," she continued, gentler now, almost motherly, it was the kind of softness that made one wary, like silk covering a knife. "All we want to know is how you managed to calm him. If you can do it again, right now, then we'll know he won't be a threat tonight. The chains, whips, and shackles won't be needed. No need for restraints if he behaves, right?"
Penny nodded slowly. Alright, she just had to show them she could tame the madman. What's the worst that can happen?
Abby turned to the guards. "Bring him out."
The guards hesitated. Their eyes darted around. Their hands gripped their tranquilizers tighter, remembering the bloodstained tiles, the scream of broken bones. Last time, Osvaldo had sent three of them to the hospital.
The iron door of the penthouse creaked open.
A hush fell over the crowd.
Then...
Steps.
Deliberate. Slow. Like thunder rolling down from the heavens.
Out stepped a man.
A massive figure, veiled by his long black hair that shimmered like ink under the sun. His face remained hidden, but his presence struck the crowd like a slap.
No one dared speak or breathe.
Hughes and Barnaby escorted their master down the stairs, they have tried to tell their mistress this was a terrible idea but she wouldn't listen.
Penny's escape last night had been by luck, no one knew that this one would be.
Everyone stared at the madman. They had expected a lunatic, a wild beast with tangled hair, yellowing teeth, and ragged clothes. Nails forming claws, shark and rotten with particles of old blood and thorn flesh left in there.
Perhaps he would crawl on all four legs, snarling and grinning with bloodied gums.
But what stepped into the sunlight was no beast.
He was a god fallen from the heavens or a demon risen from the deepest pit.