Mrs. Penny still looked unwilling to give up persuading Lola. She let out a sigh and said, "Lola, when you left that day, I wanted to tell you something—something that concerns your future happiness. But you left in such a hurry that I didn't get the chance."
"I don't want to hear it..." Lola replied coldly, her face showing she was ready to see them out.
"Lola! You're being too much!" Sean Hayes was truly angry with her—how had this child become so unreasonable?
"Sean, don't yell at her. She just doesn't know the whole story, that's all... Let me talk to her nicely. It'll be fine." Mrs. Penny sighed softly and asked Sean Hayes to help her onto the cushioned divan in the room.
Mrs. Penny lay on her side, her arm limp, and said to everyone, "I have something I want to say to Lola alone. Would you all please step outside for a moment?"
Seeing this, Princess Jade Hayes glanced at Martin Wu and said, "Alright, let's take a walk in the courtyard."
Princess Jade Hayes pulled Martin Wu along, leaving the room. Sean Hayes stood there like a pillar, refusing to leave.
"What are you standing there for? This is women's talk—it's not appropriate for you to be here." Mrs. Penny gently pushed Sean Hayes.
Sean Hayes frowned. With Mrs. Penny so weak, he was absolutely unwilling to leave her alone.
"Go stand guard at the door. My apprentice Lola is here with me—what are you worried about?" Mrs. Penny gave Sean Hayes another gentle push.
Sean Hayes glanced at Lola. In the past, he would have trusted Lola to protect Mrs. Penny without hesitation.
But now, he wasn't so sure about leaving the strong martial artist Lola alone in a room with the frail Mrs. Penny.
Still, Mrs. Penny was stubborn, and Sean Hayes couldn't win the argument. He could only step out and stand guard at the door, ready to rush in at the slightest sound from inside.
Sean Hayes stepped out, closing the door behind him. He stood outside like a vigilant guardian deity, his posture tense and ready to rush in at the slightest sound.
Meanwhile, Princess Jade Hayes pulled Martin Wu to sit with her in the garden next door.
Inside, only Mrs. Penny and Lola remained.
Lola's body was rigid, her resistance clear. She turned to Mrs. Penny, her voice cold and steely: "Mrs. Penny, if you came just to persuade me not to marry Neil Zhao, then please don't waste your breath."
"Lola, I'm not here to persuade you. I just want to tell you a story. When you hear it, you'll understand." Mrs. Penny sighed, leaning into the couch, and spoke slowly, summoning every ounce of her remaining strength:
"Once upon a time, there was a pitiful little girl, born into poverty and unloved by her parents. She was sold off at a young age. Her luck was terrible—she wasn't sent to a wealthy family as a maid, but because of her pretty face, she was sold into the Red Blossom Pavilion—a brothel in the Capital. The girl was still very young, but there were twisted men who preferred innocent, beautiful girls. One of them picked her..." [Note: Red Blossom Pavilion refers to a brothel, per glossary.]
Mrs. Penny finished this part of the story in one breath, her strength seemingly spent. She paused, gasping for air.
Beside her, Lola stood with her back to Mrs. Penny, her body so stiff she seemed carved from wood.
After catching her breath, Mrs. Penny continued, "As fate would have it, another little girl had also been trafficked to the Red Blossom Pavilion. But her family had a powerful brother-in-law, who led his guards to the brothel to save her. The guards searched room by room, and when one finally reached the poor girl's chamber, he found her clothes in disarray, pinned beneath a man. He rescued her, but there was a pool of blood beneath her—he had come too late. The little girl had already been violated..."