ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO A MAD BILLIONAIRE-Chapter 44: WHAT THE HELL IS A FORTH CONTRACT?

Penny’s mind was spinning. What the hell is happening?

Osvaldo just called her penguin. That is the name he calls her when he’s sane. Was he sane now?

It wasn’t even night. And yet... he was sane?

Her theory said he only became lucid after sunset. He only ever spoke to her at night. So how?

Had he been pretending this whole time? Had he faked the madness just to make her do those things? A wave of fury rolled through her. Her fists clenched.

She stormed down the hallway, eyes sharp, breath shallow.

"Miss Penny!" Hughes called after her, her heels clicking softly on the marble floor. "What do we do?"

Penny didn’t stop. Didn’t even look back. "Everything will be fine, Hughes."

Fine? Hughes blinked in confusion. They had no food. No money. And worst of all, they are now short on staff. Staff. How could anything be fine?

"Gather a few maids," Penny said. "You’re going grocery shopping. We’re not begging the main family for scraps anymore. We’ll eat what we want when we want. We’re done being their dogs."

Hughes gasped, stunned. Then bowed. "Yes, Miss Penny."

Finally, Penny has realized how powerful she is. What right does Chris have to punish them the way he did? She thought.

Both he and his family should be worshipping her Mistress’s feet, begging to be fed.

Penny’s eyes scanned the hall, searching. Her heartbeat quickened.

"Where is he?" she muttered.

"If you’re here..." a deep voice echoed from behind her, dark and smooth like velvet over steel, "you’re looking for me."

She froze.

Slowly, she turned and there he was. Osvaldo stood at the end of the hall, tall and calm almost like a caged beast. Dangerous.

"You’ve been pretending," she said, voice trembling with rage. "This whole time, you were never really mad, were you?"

Her blue eyes burned. "You tricked me. You used me."

"You said we are going to get divorced today, why are you still here?" Osvaldo asked tilting his head to the side. He towered over her like a beast eyeing its prey.

Even if Penny was fat, compared to this man, she looked almost invincible.

When Penny said nothing, he took a step closer and Penny took a step backwards.

He kept coming. Each stride slow, deliberate. Predatory.

"What game are you playing with me, woman?" he asked, eyes narrowing. This wasn’t the first time she had threatened to leave, yet each time he turned sane again, she saw her around.

And now, he had also seen her with his stupid half-brother. That alone aggravated him. Anything that is his, should not be shared with someone else.

He didn’t like his properties being messed with. Osvaldo didn’t know what the world out there looked like, or what the morals of the world were like, but this is his world and everything in it belongs to him.

"What is your plan? Did that boy put you up to this?" He kept asking, his questions flying from one angle to another.

In all his life, he has dealt with this species countless times before. Women.

But this one is different.

The others bow to his will. They do everything he asks, but this one. She rather threatens him. She treats him like a child and always commands him.

She has too many questions. She doesn’t comply, does not bow. She just wants to know, and that alone made him madder.

He knows he’s supposed to be calm, he shouldn’t think too much, and she should not react too much, it makes him go crazy. Anger is his weakness, the last thing he wants.

"Mr Osvaldo." Penny’s soft voice admits the numerous voices he heard in his head. The one that says different things at once, those voices drive him mad, they make him go crazy. And then there is her voice.

The only one he listens to. It calms him in ways he cannot imagine. It’s almost like she’s his medicine.

A drug he was scared of getting addicted to. A drug that calms his storm.

"Are you alright Mr Osvaldo?" Penny asked when she saw him hit his head.

"Why wouldn’t I be."

Penny kept backing away, but he was faster, more certain. He pressed her shoulder against the wall.

"What do you want from me?" Osvaldo pressed her back against the wall, but not enough to harm her. Just enough to keep her in place.

"I... I want the truth," she said, voice low.

Osvaldo’s silver eyes glinted. "The truth?"

He laughed, soft and dangerous. "I could give it to you. But you wouldn’t survive it."

"You’re sane now," she said. "Why?"

He stared at her, gaze dipping to the red mark on her neck. His jaw tightened.

He must have done that to her, or better still his brother. Osvaldo growled at the thought of Chris touching his wife. His jaw clenched.

"You should divorce me like you said, Penelope." He called her by her name, breath hot against her skin."

"I’m not getting divorced." Penny said calmly, "At least not after a year." She added.

Osvaldo growled at her words. "I’m a madman Penelope. I’m not safe. I’m not a man you should want to be with."

"I’m not leaving," she said firmly.

He slammed his hands against the wall beside her head, trapping her in place.

"You think you’re staying?" he growled. "You think this is a game you control?"

Penny didn’t flinch.

"I know what I want," she said. "And you’re going to help me. Whether you like it or not."

"Let’s make a new deal Mr Osvaldo. I’ve seen your lab and I know you can help me." Penny said.

He stared at her, breathing heavily, chest rising and falling like a storm trapped in a man’s body.

"I could break you," he whispered, voice dark and thick with heat. "I could ruin you so thoroughly you’d never remember who you were before me."

She looked him in the eye. "How about a one-year deal then? Let me help you Mr Osvaldo to be sane again, in return, you’ll help me with my weight."_"