Chapter 427: You Don’t Know She’s Getting Married?
Chapter 427: Chapter 427: You Don’t Know She’s Getting Married?
Sean Quinn’s parents were both kind-hearted people. After learning about Penny Thorne’s situation, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn felt deeply for her and completely understood their son’s decision.
The couple offered to support Penny Thorne financially, allowing her to live on her own after leaving her uncle’s house.
However, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn did not approve of having Penny Thorne move in with them.
Penny Thorne was still a minor. Although she was an orphan, her uncle was her current legal guardian. It would be inappropriate to have her move in without her guardian’s permission.
Sean Quinn understood his parents’ reasoning.
After some thought, he decided to move out of the Quinn family home and rent an apartment with Penny Thorne near the school.
Hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn were shocked.
After some consideration, Mrs. Quinn decided to ask directly, "Sean, are you in love with Thorne?"
Sean Quinn admitted it freely, "Yes, I’m in love with Penny Thorne."
Mr. and Mrs. Quinn weren’t the type of conservative parents who would interfere with their son’s love life.
"Your mother and I have been there, so we understand what it’s like to be your age, when you’re first experiencing love," Mr. Quinn said with a sigh. "But you’re in your final, crucial year of high school. We’re worried you might sometimes be driven by desire and do things that could affect your studies..."
Mr. Quinn was being subtle, but Sean Quinn understood.
Blushing, he promised his parents that he was moving out purely to help Penny Thorne.
"I haven’t even confessed my feelings to her yet," Sean explained. "She has no idea I like her."
’So my son has a secret crush?’ Mrs. Quinn chuckled, feeling relieved at the same time.
The couple was very open-minded. After discussing it, they agreed to let Sean Quinn rent an apartment and live with Penny Thorne.
The next day, they took Sean Quinn to look at apartments near the school and signed a one-year lease.
Sean Quinn had Penny Thorne move in first, and he moved into the two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment himself after school started.
He would sometimes come home on weekends, occasionally bringing Penny Thorne with him.
Penny Thorne was very diligent. Every time she visited the Quinn family, she would help with the housework. Mrs. Quinn grew very fond of her and would even buy her clothes. Outsiders would tease Mrs. Quinn, saying she’d gained a daughter in her middle age.
Mrs. Quinn reveled in it.
What made the couple happiest was that both Sean Quinn and Penny Thorne did very well on their college entrance exams and enrolled in the same university.
Sean Quinn confessed his feelings to Penny Thorne when the exam results were released.
"Penelope... actually, I’ve liked you since our third year of middle school."
Penny Thorne reciprocated his feelings and gave him the first passionate kiss of his life.
The Quinn family paid for all four years of Penny Thorne’s university tuition and living expenses.
Mr. and Mrs. Quinn practically doted on her as if she were their own daughter.
After graduating from university, Sean Quinn proposed to Penny Thorne.
Mr. and Mrs. Quinn had already started looking for a marital home for the two of them, only to learn that Sean’s proposal had been rejected.
Mrs. Quinn quickly called her son and asked, "Isn’t Penelope going to marry you?"
Sean Quinn told her, "Penelope said she just graduated and doesn’t want to get married so soon. She wants to focus on her career for a few years and earn more money to repay Mom and Dad."
"That girl," Mrs. Quinn said, her voice a mix of gratification and helplessness. "We never expected her to repay us for anything. All we want is for you two to be happy together."
Another two years passed. Penny Thorne was thriving at her company.
Sean Quinn proposed to her again, but Penny Thorne rejected him once more, claiming that she was in a critical phase of her career and that getting married would negatively affect her superiors’ impression of her.
This time, Mrs. Quinn went to Penny Thorne herself. She told her that if she didn’t want to get married right away, they could at least get engaged and settle the matter.
For some reason, as a woman herself, Mrs. Quinn had a gut feeling that there was another reason for Penny Thorne’s refusal.
Penny Thorne said many sentimental and thoughtful things to Mrs. Quinn, and the matter was dropped once again.
Some time later, Penny Thorne told Sean Quinn that she needed to move to another city due to a work transfer.
Sean Quinn, of course, supported her career. He assumed the transfer would only be for three to five months, little knowing that Penny Thorne had no intention of coming back.
One evening, unable to get through to Penny Thorne, Mrs. Quinn called Sean Quinn, worried. "Sean, I’ve been calling Penelope for the past few days, but she hasn’t picked up. Do you think something might have happened?"
"She’s probably just busy with work," Sean said, trying to reassure her. "Just last night she told me she’s been so swamped she doesn’t even have time to eat or drink."
"That’s not acceptable," Mrs. Quinn said disapprovingly. "She can’t just stop eating and drinking for work. What if she ruins her health?"
"I’ll talk to her," Sean replied.
"No," Mrs. Quinn said, growing more worried the more she thought about it. After all these years, she had long since come to love Penny Thorne as her own daughter. "Take some time off. We’ll go see Penelope together."
Sean Quinn hadn’t seen his girlfriend in a few months either, so he agreed. "Okay."
The next day, Sean Quinn and his mother traveled a thousand kilometers to the city where Penny Thorne was living.
They found the apartment Penny Thorne was renting. But when Sean Quinn tried to open the door, he discovered the lock had been changed; his key wouldn’t go in.
The person inside heard the noise and opened the door. "Who are you looking for?"
"Excuse me, is Penny Thorne here?"
"Penny Thorne? You must have the wrong place."
Sean Quinn and his mother had no choice but to find the apartment manager, only to learn that Penny Thorne had already moved out.
"Moved out?" Mrs. Quinn’s brows knitted together. "Sean, didn’t Penelope tell you she was moving?"
Sean Quinn pressed his lips together, his expression grim. He silently shook his head.
The apartment manager had seen Sean Quinn visit Penny Thorne before and asked casually, "Aren’t you her older brother? You don’t know she’s getting married?"
Sean Quinn snapped his head up and stared at the man.
The apartment manager met his gaze and was startled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Did she say I was her brother?" Sean Quinn asked in a low voice, his hands by his sides clenched into tight fists.
The apartment manager nodded. "Yeah."
"You just said Penelope is getting married?" Mrs. Quinn’s face turned pale, and she began to tremble uncontrollably. "You... How do you know?"
The apartment manager pointed to his phone. "She posted it on her social media! I saw it last night, or maybe the night before."
Mrs. Quinn quickly took out her own phone and opened Penny Thorne’s social media feed. It was filled with nothing but work-related posts.
She suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest. "You must be mistaken," she said with a smile. "We’re probably talking about two different people."
"Really? I doubt it," the apartment manager said, unconvinced. He pulled up Penny Thorne’s profile. "Is this the person you’re looking for?"
Mrs. Quinn looked at his phone screen, and the smile on her face froze.
She snatched the phone from him and tapped into the social media feed. Sure enough, she saw that Penny Thorne had posted a set of wedding photos the night before last.
Mrs. Quinn’s hand, holding the phone, trembled. Before she could even tap on the wedding photos, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Sean Quinn immediately rushed his mother to the hospital. He spent a difficult night in her room, a bone-chilling cold enveloping him, his heart frozen solid.