The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 124

“The one on the far left, obviously,” she said.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. But if you lose this hand, you can’t blame me.”

“If I lose, I’m coming back to deal with you.”

“Hey! How can you be like that? Now I’m not so sure. Hold on!”

But before she could finish, Theodore had already picked up the leftmost one and discarded it. The second it hit the table, Michael, sitting opposite him, pushed his tiles forward.

“A generous move, Mr. Stapleton. That’s the exact one I was waiting for. I win!”

Penelope was speechless.

Theodore let out a short, sharp laugh. “Just you wait. I’ll be back in two days.”

“How is this my fault?” she protested. “Blame your own lousy skills!”

Theodore picked up the phone and stood. The camera shook for a moment before settling on a view from what looked like a balcony. He sat down in a chair, the breeze ruffling his hair as he smoked, his eyes occasionally flicking toward the screen.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Eleven-thirty. It’s gotten so late.”

“Tired?”

“Mhm.”

“Get a good night’s sleep. You’ll have plenty to cry about tomorrow.”

Her eyelids, which had just started to feel heavy, shot open. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Theodore’s eyes narrowed. “Penelope, who was it that swore they would take their medicine on time every single day without fail?”

The medicine.

Penelope shot up from her seat. “Oh, no! I completely forgot!”

She bolted downstairs. It was eleven-thirty. Even if she floored it all the way to Dr. Olson’s clinic… it was too late. Realizing there was no way to fix it, she slumped onto the staircase.

She sent Larry off with an awkward smile, then remembered the time. Panicked, she rushed back into the living room, propped the phone up so he could see her, and chugged the entire bag of medicine in one go.

When she finished, she checked the time. Five minutes to midnight. She let out a huge sigh of relief.

A sharp “Hmph!” came from the phone.

Penelope flinched, then quickly put on her most pitiful expression. “That medicine was so bitter, but for you, I drank it all in one gulp.”

“Tsk!”

“I swear I’ll never forget again.”

“Hah!”

Penelope gritted her teeth. Was he just going to sit there and mock her? She shot a glare at the screen—a quick, secret one. He was the client, after all; he held all the cards. But even so, she wasn’t going to let this slide.

“You know, I think you’re partly to blame for this, too.”

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