Fortunately, Chris had already fallen asleep. No matter how much ice cream and popcorn he had, his image of his mother couldn’t be tarnished.
“He only had a little. Most of it was eaten by me,” Penelope whispered.
“You ate it? Do you think I won’t scold you if you eat it?” Warren was even more upset. He warned, “I won’t take care of you if you get a stomachache next time!”
Since her periods began, Penelope has always experienced painful menstruation. She hoped it would improve after childbirth, but unfortunately, it still hurt just as much.
Because of this, they didn’t keep foods like ice cream at home. Warren not only prohibited Chris from having it but also banned Penelope from indulging.
Predictably, Penelope couldn’t resist the ice cream in the afternoon and ended up with a stomach ache in the middle of the night. She checked the calendar and realized her period was three days early.
Quietly, she went to the bathroom and returned to bed after dealing with it. She curled up on her side, feeling miserable. Warren placed his large hand on her belly and gently massaged it.
“Honey…” she whispered.
“Shut up,” his voice was cold, lacking the gentleness of his touch. Penelope pouted and closed her eyes. She couldn’t tell how many hours passed, but eventually, she relaxed her furrowed brow and drifted off to sleep.
Warren opened his eyes and sighed. If Penelope were pregnant, she wouldn’t have to suffer like this.
In her peaceful dreams, Penelope felt a warm sensation in her belly, unaware that Warren already had his “playful” habit.
****
The ads Penelope helped Peter with received a great response from the audience. The advertiser paid Penelope a fee, but Peter insisted on sharing half of his payment with her. As a result, there was over ten thousand dollars in her account for the first time ever.
Penelope had never had so much money before. When she returned to campus, she didn’t have any income and hadn’t transferred Warren’s money to her own card.
If she needed money, she would take a card from Warren’s wallet, mainly to secretly dine out.
Even Mrs. Brown, who managed daily expenses, had more money than Penelope. Now that she had a large sum in her account, Penelope took Chris shopping for the first time.
Warren expected them to return happily, but he didn’t anticipate Penelope’s complaint upon their return.
Chris was busy playing with his toys on the floor. “Spendthrift!” Penelope grimaced.
“What’s wrong?” Warren asked.
Penelope told him what happened. At the start of the shopping trip, she was quite happy because she had found a fantastic T-shirt at a very low price. However, this happiness didn’t last even ten minutes.
“I was going to buy him shoes. But he refused to take them off after trying on the first pair. When I asked the salesperson for the price, this kid tore the tag off, so I had to buy them!”
Penelope showed him the receipt and said, “Look at how much this is. A pair of shoes for a three-year-old costs three thousand dollars… three thousand… That’s outrageously expensive!”
Warren looked at Chris’s feet. He was wearing a pair of new white shoes with green accents. Chris noticed Warren’s gaze, so he smiled and pointed to the green part, saying, “Look, Dad, green…”
Warren waved, and Chris ran over.
“Sweetie, do you like green?” Warren asked while ruffling his hair.
“Yes!” Chris replied with a grin.
Penelope held his hand and said earnestly, “Sweetheart, can you promise not to tear price tags off next time? Luckily, your dad can afford it. If I were the only one supporting us, I’d have to take out a loan to cover your expenses.”
Chris seemed to ignore her, continuing to play with his toys. “He must be pretending.”
Warren pinched her cheek and said, “I know you like to save money for us, sweetheart.”
“Yes, I remember what it’s like to have nothing.”
“Why don’t you use the card I gave you? I know there’s some money on it.”
It wasn’t just “some” money… The amount on it was actually quite large in Penelope’s eyes.
“If I spoil myself, it might shock you.”
“Well, you can at least give it a try,” Warren said earnestly.
Warren put in an extraordinary effort in bed that evening. After the third time, he was exhausted. He hugged her and said, “I’ve given you hundreds of millions of chances. One of them has to be the lucky one.”
Penelope was worn out and rolled over to sleep.
The next day, Penelope and Warren sat talking in his office. The New Year was approaching, and Penelope had failed an elective exam at school. “Appreciation of ancient poetry? Why did you choose such a class?”
Penelope sadly rested her chin on his desk. “They said the appreciation class was supposed to be easy…”
He raised his hand and gently stroked her forehead. “It’s alright. Isn’t there a makeup exam?”
“I feel embarrassed…” She lowered her head.
Since entering university, this was her first time failing an exam, and it had caused her a lot of stress.
“Next semester, I’ll start looking for a job, but big companies won’t pay much attention to resumes with grades like this.”
“Oh, that’s not true. Our company doesn’t just focus on grades.”
“Then your employees are really lucky,” she sighed.
“You could also apply to our company. I’ll make an exception and consider your application,” he said, reaching over to massage her shoulders.
Penelope looked at him. “If I ever apply to your company, it will be based on my own abilities.”
He silently thought that the HR department would be in big trouble if she applied to their company without getting an offer.
Penelope scratched her head, picked up her purse, stood up, and said, “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I’m going home.”
“Wait for me.” He held her hand.
“You want to come with me? Is your work finished?” Penelope didn’t believe he would actually leave work at a reasonable hour. He was known as a workaholic, and everyone in the company knew it.
“You’re not feeling happy. How can I keep working?” He organized the signed documents and led her out. He handed the documents to his assistant and said, “I’m done for the day. Send me the report later.”
“… Yes.” The assistant glanced at the wall clock. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. Quite unusual!