Chapter 47
Penelope
I never experienced autumn or winter in Singapore growing up since I spent the school year with my mother in London. Singapore
in the autumn was cooler and less hazy than the summer, although it rained nearly every day.
“I can’t believe this is my first time seeing your business venture.” I curled my legs underneath me on the sofa as Olivia
handed me a glass of wine, then one to Arabella who sat next to me.
When I arrived last night, still not having decided which home in the tower Xander purchased that I wanted, I stayed with
Olivia. She was excited when I called to tell her I’d be in town for a few weeks. She was even more excited that Arabella,
who’d become something of a recluse by Olivia’s definition, was willing to come and spend time with us as well.
Based on what she told me when I got here, Arabella hardly ever went out these days.
“Well, I had to keep myself busy.” She took a seat next to me on the couch, opposite the balcony. The doors were open, allowing
the warm evening breeze to drift through the enormous penthouse.
“This makes me feel incredibly unproductive as—”
“An incredibly successful lawyer?” She rolled her eyes. “Well, look where that got you. A handsome billionaire who loves you.”
Olivia’s smile dropped when she noticed Arabella’s uncomfortable shifting.
“Not that work is the only place to gain fulfillment,” Olivia quickly corrected.
“Of course not,” I added.
“No, it’s nice,” Arabella insisted quietly, looking up at the two of us with a wobbly smile. “Having a purpose outside of
love and marriage. I’m happy for you.”
“Well, you know love and marriage isn’t exactly the order it went.” I turned the glass in my hand.
I told them the truth about my marriage with Xander, primarily because I needed to get Arabella’s blessing to give Silas an
ultimatum. If Silas didn’t take my offer, it would affect Chen Tech and Arabella’s personal wealth. She was married into the
Lau family, which would offer some financial protection. But I couldn’t make her collateral damage—I had to know she’d be
okay on her own.
“Either way, it seems like he’s been rather perfect,” Arabella said with a warm, sympathetic smile. She looked perfect herself.
Her hair was neatly arranged behind a headband. Her makeup was flawlessly applied. She was wearing a conservative long-sleeved,
high-collared dress even in the warmth. “The arrangement worked for you.”
There was an almost longing pitch in her voice.
Of all the people in my family, the one person I knew would understand why I did what I did with Xander was Olivia. But with
Arabella, I didn’t know what to expect. She’d been so happy to take on the role ascribed to her that a part of me always assumed
she judged me. That she thought I was selfish or stupid to choose myself rather than a seemingly perfect man in the perfect
family.
But when I explained all of it, she seemed happy for me. She listened intently when I told her about my life before it flipped upside down a few months ago. She seemed almost yearning for something similar.
“It worked for now.” I sighed. “He’s at home, figuring things out. Home has always been one place for him.”
“If he’s a smart man, he’ll chase you around the world if he has to,” Olivia pointed out.
I smiled.
I knew Xander would do that—chase me around the world. It was the crux of the issue. He wanted to do whatever I wanted; he needed to do whatever would make him happy, not simply placate his fear. Even if it meant he would hurt awhile
first.
“Yes, well.” I took a deep breath, blinking away the mistiness in my eyes every time I thought about Xander, missing him so
viscerally it ached in my bones. “First things first, Silas.”
I didn’t want Arabella to end up like my mother, solely dependent on others. Watching Chen Tech fall down would be cathartic,
but I couldn’t do that to Arabella—not without at least discussing it with her first. I wanted her to have her own nest egg.
And hopefully the plan went off without a hitch and she’d be fine, but if not, I would be here to help her find her own independence.
“I’m sorry about all he’s done. I didn’t know he was holding your mother’s financial well-being over your head like that,
Pen, truly,” Arabella added.
Over the last couple of years, Silas had become increasingly volatile and controlling. Olivia considered herself lucky to
have been an outsider like me; it saved her from having to deal with him. And Arabella attested to it.
“I never let you in, it’s not your fault,” I told her.
“Still.” She looked down at her lap, twisting her fingers. “Telephones work both ways and I sort of fell into myself the last
few years.”
“Fell in?” I looked at Olivia, who looked just as bewildered as me.
“Mother is convinced it’s just a bout of melancholy,” she admitted, looking up at us for a second before her gaze fell to the floor. “All my accomplishments were wrapped up in who I married and turns out I don’t really have any of my own. I sort of resented you because you had a real life.”
She still looked down, but I could see her eyes becoming glassy.
I was always a bit resentful with how much love she was showered with, bitterly reminding myself that she was the daughter
they wanted.
I told myself that she was fine.
Except she wasn’t. Up close, I could see all the pain etched behind the illusion.
The guilt welled in my chest. “Arabella, I should have been here...”
“Back to the topic at hand.” She looked up, sounding more assured. “Let Chen Tech fall if it has to, if he won’t agree to
your terms. Don’t back down in some attempt to protect me. It’s my own stupid fault for not achieving anything on my own.”
“You’re not stupid,” I told her firmly.
“I am. They all made me think I was special, and I believed it. They told me I was the good one. My reward was a proper marriage
and...” She swallowed hard again but this time the tears streamed down her cheeks without regard to her perfectly made
face. “I was an idiot, and I took my anger and resentment out on you. Ignoring you and telling myself it was your fault for
leaving, not my own for having nothing for myself.”
“Hey. It’s alright. I should have been here.” I wrapped my arms around her and let her release a quiet sob into my shoulder.
“I won’t do it again. I promise.”
She took a deep breath and ran her index finger below her lower eyelid, attempting to clean up the tiniest bit of smeared
mascara. “Do what?”
“Let you feel like you’re on your own, because you’re not.”
She smiled.
The lesson that I’d learned with Xander echoed in my mind.
“Nothing is so broken it can’t be fixed.” I smoothed my thumbs over the last stray tears along her cheeks. “I promise.”