The Villainess's Heartthrob Script: I Can Talk to Animals

Chapter 429: Chapter 429: Making a Clean Break

Mrs. Quinn leaned listlessly against the headboard, her eyes vacant as she stared out the window.

Hearing the door open, she turned her head, her voice weak. "Sean, what took you so long?"

"Auntie," came Penny Thorne’s choked voice.

Mrs. Quinn’s expression suddenly changed.

"Auntie." Penny Thorne sat down on the edge of the bed, her eyes red as she asked with concern, "Auntie, are you okay?"

She took Mrs. Quinn’s hand, her own eyes full of worry.

Mrs. Quinn looked at her, eyes brimming with tears, her voice cracking. "Penelope, why haven’t you been answering your phone? I was so worried something had happened to you, I made Sean bring me here to check."

"I..." Penny Thorne opened her mouth, but the excuse she had prepared wouldn’t come out. "Auntie..."

Mrs. Quinn watched her quietly, waiting for an explanation.

Penny Thorne didn’t dare meet her gaze. Her eyes flickered as she glanced toward Sean Quinn, who was sitting to the side.

"Penelope," Mrs. Quinn called softly. "Why did you stop?"

Penny Thorne glanced at her, then lowered her head again. "Auntie, I’m sorry, I..."

"Penelope, come back to Zenvia," Mrs. Quinn said, placing her hand over Penny’s. "It’s not good for you and Sean to be in two different places. At least in Zenvia, we can look after you."

She continued earnestly, "I mean, look at what happened when you didn’t answer your phone for a few days. I was beside myself with worry, afraid you might get sick all alone in a strange city with no one to take care of you..."

"Auntie," Penny Thorne interrupted her. "I’m sorry, I can’t go back."

Mrs. Quinn’s expression froze. She stared blankly at her for a moment before asking, "Why?"

Penny Thorne looked at Sean Quinn again, silently hoping the man would speak up for her.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Quinn’s voice grew agitated. "Penelope, you don’t want to come back to Zenvia?"

Penny Thorne didn’t say a word.

Mrs. Quinn sighed and murmured to herself, "If you really don’t want to return to Zenvia, then we’ll have Sean come to Haelon to be with you. Your uncle and I are about to retire anyway, so we can move to Haelon too, and help you and Sean with the kids."

She patted the back of Penny Thorne’s hand lightly. "Penelope, how does that sound?"

Penny Thorne bit her lip, her expression a mask of conflict.

Mrs. Quinn continued, "Since Sean and I are already here, we can find some time to look at properties and buy a marital home for you and Sean, paid in full. What do you think?"

"No..." Penny Thorne shook her head.

Seeing this, Mrs. Quinn’s face finally fell. "Not this, not that. What exactly will it take to make you happy?"

"Auntie..." ’After a long internal struggle,’ Penny Thorne finally mustered her courage. "I’m sorry, I can’t marry Sean anymore."

"Why?" Mrs. Quinn refused to believe Penny Thorne would betray Sean Quinn. She still clung to a sliver of hope, thinking there must be some misunderstanding.

"I..." Penny Thorne stammered, "I’m already married."

The hand Mrs. Quinn had resting on Penny’s trembled violently, and she suddenly felt the wedding ring on her finger.

She looked down, her eyes filled with disbelief and disappointment. "Penelope, are you joking with me?"

Penny Thorne pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

Mrs. Quinn shouted, agitated, "Say something!"

"It’s not a joke," Penny Thorne explained through sobs. "Auntie, the truth is, I’ve always seen Sean as a brother. I wanted to break up with him a long time ago, but I was afraid he wouldn’t agree."

Mrs. Quinn laughed in fury. "You were afraid he wouldn’t agree to break up, so you chose to betray him? To betray the Quinn family?"

"I..." Penny Thorne didn’t know how to explain, so she could only keep apologizing. "I’m sorry, I’m truly so sorry."

Mrs. Quinn’s hand shot up, but her palm never landed on Penny’s face.

"Auntie, just hit me," Penny Thorne said desperately. "If hitting me will make you feel even a little bit better, I’m willing to take it."

In the end, Mrs. Quinn’s hand slapped her own face.

Seeing this, Sean Quinn’s face filled with alarm. "Mom, don’t do this."

"Sean, it’s my fault!" Mrs. Quinn clutched her chest, heartbroken and full of regret. "I should have been cruel and stopped you from helping her all those years ago!"

Her hand shaking, she pointed at Penny Thorne and said, "She was just using you the whole time!"

"Auntie, I wasn’t," Penny Thorne quickly retorted. "I never intended to use Sean Quinn, and I am truly grateful for everything the Quinn family has done to raise me over the years."

"I grew up without a mother, and it was you, Auntie, who showed me what a mother’s love feels like. Even if Sean and I aren’t together, I will still honor you and Uncle as if you were my own parents."

"Is that so?" Mrs. Quinn’s tear-filled eyes stared at her in fury. "You weren’t using Sean? Then why didn’t you reject his confession the year you took your college entrance exams? If you saw him as a brother, why didn’t you just tell him clearly?"

Penny Thorne looked as though a sore spot had been struck, her expression growing uglier by the second.

Mrs. Quinn’s face was a mask of disappointment. "Weren’t you just trying to use the title of ’my son’s girlfriend’ so his father and I would pour our hearts out for you and cover all your university expenses?"

"You see his father and me as your own parents?" Mrs. Quinn demanded. "Search your heart and tell me, in the two years you’ve been in Haelon, how many times did you call me? Wasn’t it always me calling first to ask if you were doing okay?"

Hearing these words, Penny Thorne’s hands tightened on the red dress she was wearing. "I... I was just too busy with work. I do care about you in my heart."

"Stop saying things even you don’t believe," Mrs. Quinn said, her expression cold. "You will return all the money the Quinn family spent raising you over the years, including the car we bought for you. From now on, the Quinn family will cut all ties with you!"

"What?" A look of stunned disbelief flashed across Penny Thorne’s face. "You want the money and the car back?"

Mrs. Quinn was mentally and physically exhausted, but she forced herself to say, "The Quinn family treated you well. For someone so heartless and disloyal, being asked to simply repay the money is us being polite!"

The moment money was mentioned, Penny Thorne finally dropped the act, revealing her true colors. "The Quinn family raised me willingly! It’s not like I begged you to give me everything you had. On what grounds are you demanding I pay you back now?"

"Penny Thorne!" Sean Quinn roared. He shot up, grabbed her by the collar, hauled her to her feet, and slapped her across the face. "You can betray me, but you will not disrespect my parents!"

The fury that had been churning in his chest could no longer be contained. Sean Quinn slammed her against the wall, his hand rising and falling as he slapped her several times in a row.

He then shoved her to the floor, his expression vicious. "Penny Thorne, apologize to my mother! In all your years with the Quinn family, they treated you better than they treated me!"

Forced to her knees, Penny Thorne remained stubbornly defiant. "I didn’t say anything wrong! The Quinn family may have raised me, but haven’t I paid my dues?"

"Paid your dues?" Sean Quinn sneered. "And what did you contribute?"

"For every meal I ate at the Quinn’s house, I contributed my labor!"

"Helping to carry a few dishes to the table, you call that labor?"

"I also gave my youth and my body! After sleeping with you for so many years, I’ve paid my debt in full!"

When Mrs. Quinn heard this, a metallic, sweet taste suddenly rose in her throat, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.