Novels by Penny

MARGEI didn’t hear anything else. The voices dropped too low, and my feet had gone cold on the marble by the time I remembered I was standing in a hallway that wasn’t mine, listening to a conversation that wasn’t mine either.I slipped back into my room and shut the door as quietly as I’d opened it.Sleep didn’t come easy after that. I kept turning his words over. She cannot stay here. Not that girl. Not in this house.I told myself it didn’t matter. I had nowhere else to go anyway.Morning came with sunlight I wasn’t used to. No servants banging on doors, no Zach summoning me before I’d even opened my eyes. Just birds outside the window and a silence so foreign it almost scared me.I dressed slowly, in something Ryan’s staff had left folded on the chair, soft green fabric, nothing like the drab things Zach used to hand down to me. I stared at myself in the mirror longer than I meant to.I still saw Large Marge. But for the first time in years, the mirror didn’t feel like an enemy.A

MARGERyan shut the door and walked up to him. “Sorry to disappoint you brother. But she has made up her mind. Let her go,”The tension between the boys was second to none. Nobody dared to interfere. Nobody but Naya who strolled down with her four year old son. I saw the anger in Zach’s eyes melt the moment he saw his son. “Father,” the little boy called innocently. Before they could close the distance, Ryan acted. He pulled out a talisman from his pocket. “This is a symbol of authority. I’m sure you know what that means, brother. I have staked my claim on Margaret, and she’s coming with me,”Zach moved to speak. But Naya and son had already gotten to him. His son clung to his leg, while Naya locked arms with him. “Why do you bother?” She sighed. “It’s only a matter of time before Ryan realizes how worthless she is and sends her packing. She’ll come back, trust me,” It broke my heart to watch, and I didn’t know when my hand started shaking. Ryan tightened his grip around my arm an

MARGEI slammed the door the moment I got in. It took not less than two seconds before Zach stormed in after me. “What do you think you’re doing?” He barked. “I wasn’t doing anything,” “Then explain what you were doing with my brother in the restroom,”“First off, I had no idea he was your brother. And secondly, he was only being kind. Something you swore never to show me,”Zach scoffed, pacing angrily. I could feel the anger and tension exhuding from him. Yet I refused to believe it was merely because he saw me with Ryan. Then I remembered his favorite line and used it just exactly the way he does. “You’re overreacting,"He froze in his tracks, shot a stern look at me before matching up to my space. “You forget so quick that you belong to me,” “You gave me up, Zach. And I understand. What I don’t understand is why seeing me with Ryan is getting you this upset. You hate me, don’t you?” I asked. All I got was silence. The longer the silence stretched, the closer he inched until I

MARGE He walked me to the mirror without letting go.“Look,” Zach said, positioning me in front of the glass. My reflection stared back, pale, hollow-eyed, bruised in places no one could see.“Naya,” he called. “Come here.”My sister strolled over, letting the sheet drop, her skin glowing, her hair falling in perfect waves. She stood beside me, and the mirror did the rest of the work.“Look at you both,” Zach said, tilting his head like he was studying livestock. “Same blood. Same family. How does one turn out like this,” his eyes dragged down my body, “and the other like that.”Naya laughed softly. “Genetics skip people sometimes.”“Clearly.”I stared at my own reflection, refusing to blink, refusing to give either of them the satisfaction of watching me flinch.“Stand up straighter,” Zach ordered. “Let’s see it properly.”I didn’t move.He gripped my shoulders and forced them back himself, exposing every inch of me the mirror had been hiding. Naya’s gaze slid over me slowly, clinic

MARGE’S POV“You were never my Luna. You were just easier than being alone.” Zach said, his eyes scheming over me in disgust. “You should be happy I accepted you,” “I am,” I muttered. Those were words I vowed never to say again. Never to admit to the fact that being picked to be Zach’s bride was a privilege to me. Yet every single time I stood before him, my entire defense weakened. Zach tossed my clothes to the side and started inching closer. Every single step he took towards me sent my body quivering. It’s been four years now, yet his presence had the same effect on me. I could literally feel my blood vessels popping when he stopped two feet away from me. “Take your hands off,” he ordered. Slowly, I dropped my arms which were curled around my breast. His eyes darkened with lust as they watered down my nakedness. They wandered too long over my breasts before they lowered to my legs. He reached for my neck first, grazing my vein with his fingers. A tingling sensation rushed thro