Penelope arrived at Jendale after a seven-hour flight.

Despite the late hour, the hillside villa was still brightly lit.

Penelope was helped onto a wheelchair as soon as she got out of the car. She was then pushed toward the entrance.

She immediately became nervous upon spotting the group of people waiting at the entrance from afar.

Ethan kindly introduced everyone at the entrance to her. "You can just address everyone as Mr. Alexander does, Mrs. Lambert. Standing in the middle is Mrs. Lambert Senior, on her left are Mr. Timothy Lambert and Madam Lambert—Mrs. Olivia Sadler. On her right is Mr. Lambert's maternal grandparents. Behind them—"

Penelope wasn't expecting to meet such a huge group of the Lambert family members on her first visit. She tensed up, quickly regulated her breathing and expression.

As she reached the crowd, Alexander's grandmother, Harriet Walker, gently stopped

Penelope quickly drifted into sleep as she lay on the bed.

It was already 10:00 am by the time she woke up the next day. She quickly got out of bed to wash up.

Harriet, Timothy Lambert, and Olivia were already up by then. They were chatting and drinking coffee in the living room.

When they noticed that Penelope was awake, they called for the cook to bring breakfast and greeted her warmly.

"Did you have a good sleep last night, Penny? Are you craving anything?"

"Take your time coming down. We know you've had a long journey, so it's good to get some rest. There's no need to rush."

Penelope was flattered to be cared for by several elders she had just met.

Concerned that she might feel uncomfortable, Harriet sent Timothy and Olivia away on some errand. Harriet continued to chat with Penelope as she helped dishes onto Penelope's plate.

When they were done with breakfast, Harriet broug

Penelope eventually passed out before Sabrina could call for the ambulance. It wasn't until half an hour later Gabriel found her lying on the ground and rushed her to the hospital.

Penelope finally woke up after being unconscious for a whole day, but the pain in her chest was excruciating—three of her ribs were broken.

She was so weak that even breathing would take a toll on her.

Robert and Camila stayed by her side, looking concerned and heartbroken.

Patrick kept asking the doctor if there was any way to ease her suffering, while Gabriel held her hand tightly, wiping the cold sweat away that kept beading on her forehead.

It felt like everyone's attention was back on her after the accident. But only she knew that the reason they gathered around wasn't just to take care of her.

"The doctor said the pain is just temporary, Penny. Just hang in there, and you'll recover soon enough. Sab didn't do it on purpose, so you should just forgive her."

"It was all my fault for not teaching her well and causing her to get mixed up. Just blame me all you want, Penny!"

"It's just an accident, and we're all family. So don't take it to heart, Penny. Just focus on your recovery for now."

Penelope had been hearing the same words over and over again for the entire morning. Their eyes were filled with concern, yet everything they said seemed to be an excuse for Sabrina.

Whether it was from the physical pain or the ache in her heart, her eyes began to tear up. Everyone in the room blurred into hazy figures through her tears.

Perhaps the pain had caused Penelope to start hallucinating as countless images flooded her mind.

She saw how in the past, her parents would get the doctor to patch her wound up, even if it was only a small cut on her finger.

She saw how Patrick, who knew she hated to take medications, would always take the same dose just to comfort her.

She also saw Gabriel, who used to stay by her side when she sprained her ankle, refusing to let her take even a step on her own.

All of that felt so distant to Penelope now.

Gabriel's heart tightened when he saw her crying. Just as he was about to wipe her tears away, a nurse suddenly walked in.

She said, "There's a young woman outside this room who fainted from emotional distress. Could someone come and take care of her?"

When they heard that Sabrina had fainted, everyone immediately left Penelope and rushed over to Sabrina's ward.

Only Penelope was left alone in the once noisy ward. Her tears only fell harder. As she cried, she unknowingly drifted to sleep.

…

The ward was still silent when Penelope woke up, and the pain in her body hadn't lessened at all.

The phone by her pillow lit up occasionally. Upon opening it, she saw Sabrina's message. "You're the one who was seriously injured, yet everyone is more focused on me. You're just a joke, Penelope."

Gabriel was holding a bowl of oatmeal, gently blowing on it before feeding her. Patrick racked his brains, trying to come up with all sorts of corny jokes just to make her smile.

Meanwhile, Robert and Camila gently tucked her under a blanket.

In the one-minute video, everyone was surrounding Sabrina as they comforted her.

"We know you didn't do it on purpose, Sab. Penny wouldn't blame you either, so please don't feel guilty about it anymore."

"We'll feel heartbroken if you're upset. You shouldn't cry anymore, otherwise your eyes will turn swollen."

"Penny will recover after a few days of bed rest—it's nothing too serious. So don't worry, okay?"

Each of their words sunk painfully into Penelope's heart. She squeezed her eyes shut, barely stopping her tears as her nails dug deep into her palms.

She only had one thought at that moment—she refused to see them on her wedding day.

…

Penelope was discharged a week later. Although the doctor advised her to stay longer, she shook her head and told him that she could no longer wait.

Today was the day she was supposed to leave for Jendale.

The villa was empty by the time she returned. Her phone continued to vibrate from Sabrina's provocative messages. She ignored all of them.

In the morning, Robert and Camila brought Sabrina to the amusement park. She then sent Penelope photos of their family enjoying themselves on the carousel.

At the same time, Penelope was drafting a letter to terminate their familial ties. She then placed it in Robert and Camila's room.

She would no longer be a daughter of the Carter family from now onward. She no longer had parents and a brother.

During the afternoon, Sabrina sent Penelope a video of Patrick giving her a piggyback ride, telling her he would pamper and protect her forever.

At the same time, Penelope had called for several gardeners to remove all the tulips from the backyard.

Patrick personally planted each of those tulips after learning of her love for them. He had been carefully nurturing them for over a decade.

He had said that no matter where Penelope was married off to, he would transplant these tulips there, for they symbolized his love for her.

However, she no longer wanted Patrick as her brother.

During the night, Sabrina sent Penelope an audio recording of Gabriel setting off a fireworks display by the river for her, telling her that she would always be the most important person to him.

At the same time, Penelope had brought a box to the Shaw residence. In the box lay the family heirloom that Gabriel had entrusted to her back when he was 17.

Back then, she had laughed and asked if he wasn't afraid things might change in the future, having given her his family heirloom this early.

Gabriel had looked at her with a fiery gaze, pulling her into his arms. "You're the only person I want to marry, Penny. I'll never marry if it's not you."

But now, Penelope was about to get married, but the groom was no longer him.

After she settled everything, she heard the rumble of a car engine from outside the villa.

Penelope opened the door and saw a middle-aged man in a suit standing by the entrance. "Good evening, Mrs. Lambert. I'm Ethan Ferguson, the Lamberts' butler. I'm here to escort you to Jendale."

She nodded politely and picked up her luggage that had been set aside. She softly said, "Let's go."

Ethan took her luggage over and glanced around the empty house. "Do you need to bid your goodbyes to your family?"

Lynhaven and Jendale were thousands of miles apart. It would be hard for Penelope to meet her family again after marrying into the Lambert family.

Yet she shook her head before getting into the car. "Let's go."

There was no need for Penelope to bid her goodbyes to anyone, as she no longer had family from now onward.

The car slowly made its way to the airport in the dark of night.

Penelope arrived at Jendale after a seven-hour flight.

Despite the late hour, the hillside villa was still brightly lit.

Penelope was helped onto a wheelchair as soon as she got out of the car. She was then pushed toward the entrance.

She immediately became nervous upon spotting the group of people waiting at the entrance from afar.

Ethan kindly introduced everyone at the entrance to her. "You can just address everyone as Mr. Alexander does, Mrs. Lambert. Standing in the middle is Mrs. Lambert Senior, on her left are Mr. Timothy Lambert and Madam Lambert—Mrs. Olivia Sadler. On her right is Mr. Lambert's maternal grandparents. Behind them—"

Penelope wasn't expecting to meet such a huge group of the Lambert family members on her first visit. She tensed up, quickly regulated her breathing and expression.

As she reached the crowd, Alexander's grandmother, Harriet Walker, gently stopped her from standing up. 

"You've come from afar, Penny," she said. "You're also injured, so you can 

Chapter 9