CHAPTER 93

A Ticket To Escape Death

The study room fell into complete silence after what Maurice said, and Penelope's forehead broke into sweat and she wondered if she heard the man wrong.

"A dip to death? What's that supposed to mean?" Penelope asked, not feeling good about the setup but Maurice chuckled.

"That was a joke..don't take it to heart," Maurice says, and Penelope nods her head.

Even though the joke Maurice made was dry and didn't earn a laugh from Penelope she was still relieved.

Penelope was pleased to see that her plan was working because that was the first time that he had seen Maurice looking at her with interest since the first day she came. She decided to put in much effort because she was sure that she could get into Maurice's bed that night.

Since we are talking about the past, should I take you back to the memory line?" Maurice asked, and Freya nodded her head knowing that all that Benedicta feeded her with before she came into the house was going to be of use to her.

"At that time we were kidnapped, how old were you?" Maurice asked, and Penelope was confused hearing that.

Maurice was sure that there was no way Penelope could get any of his questions right because the questions were something that he hadn't disclosed to anyone.

Penelope bit her lips in confusion hearing the question, and she had a hard time processing it because it wasn't among the highlights Benedicta dropped for her to work on.

"Ohhh that…I was 15..or 16? I am sorry it has been a long time and I can't remember the exact age I was at the time," Penelope said, with difficulty trying to act like she really forgot about it.

Maurice looked at the lady and he smirked inwardly as he stood up from his chair pocketing his hands as he walked towards Penelope, and she was confused seeing him stand up.

"Are you saying that you can't remember your age when you were kidnapped?" Maurice asked, and Penelope did not know why she felt a different aura emanating from Maurice like he was not the one talking to her, but a different person entirely.

She suddenly felt conscious and she wondered if she should be in the room with Maurice or just bolted out of the room at speed.

'Maybe this is a bad idea after all, I should just go back to my room' Penelope pondered, and she decided to abandon her seducing game and dashed out in fear that Maurice was not giving her a chance.

"Yes, I mean I was young back then and…it has been a long time.. and.." Penelope was saying with a shaky voice not knowing why she felt like she was under some pressure of sorts.

"What? You were young? That's not true..you were at least 18 years of age back then," Maurice says, cutting Penelope off her gibberish, and the lady was relieved that the man was making her lie easy.

She just has to keep saying yes to whatever Maurice says, since he has more recollection of the memories and she was just fed with the half-baked information.

"I know right..but my brain is a little bit fuzzy that I do not have a proper recollection," Penelope agreed, and Maurice smiled hearing her words and it was just like she had made his job easy by agreeing to his words.

"Of course your memory is fuzzy…I bet you don't even remember the restaurant we were kidnapped from," Maurice says, bending to look into Penelope's eyes and she was intimidated by his eyes that were glaring daggers at her soul.

"What a restaurant?" Penelope asked, confused because she was sure that the story she was told was about an amusement park, not a restaurant.

"Yes, or did you forget that one too?" Maurice asked with a raised eyebrow, and Penelope was tempted to say no, but since she knows that Maurice has more recollection of the past than her, she decided to agree.

"Yes, I can still remember my pleas for help as…" Penelope was saying, but her words got cut in her throat as Maurice gagged her throat lifting her up from the chair.

"What..are..you..do.." Penelope was trying to ask, but she could not make out any words since she could not get her words out properly with Maurice's tight grip on her neck.

"How dare you think of fooling me?" Maurice asked, with a thunderous voice to tighten his grip around the girl's neck and Penelope's eyes were brimming with tears as the man tightened his grip around her neck.

She feared that she was going to die, and she tried to loosen the man's grip on her neck but all of her efforts were futile as the man did not bulge a bit.

"What? You forgot the run, young lady. I already said that a wrong answer is a dip to death…and two wrong answers? Is two dip to death," Maurice says, and Penelope's eyes widened in realization that she was indeed filled by the man that he was not telling her the details but egging her to make mistakes.

She trusted herself to be playing the game, but it was proven that she was the one being played.

"If you can get the two answers wrong that only means one thing…you are not her, but instead a bloody imposter!" Maurice yelled and tightened his grip around the girl's neck..

"Please, let me go..I would…" Penelope was saying, and Maurice loosened his grip a little bit making her suck in air, but he also tightened it again.

He wants her to be greedy to get spared.

"Give me one reason, I should not kill you at the moment?" Maurice asked, and tears trickled down Penelope's cheeks as she looked at the man with fear.

She wondered if the man even had the plan to spare her because she had seen that the man had made up his mind and was not sparing her a bit, but she could as well gamble.

"What..if…I tell you about how I got to all this cosplay?" Penelope asked, looking at the man hoping that he would give her a chance at life.

Maurice's eyes twitched with interest hearing the offer the lady proposed and he was beyond pleased to hear that from her.

He knew that if he could tame the imposter their comradeship was going to fall and that is what he intended to do.

Maurice loosened his grip on the girl and the girl sprawled on the floor gasping for her breath, but Maurice's eyes were devoid of emotions as he looked at the girl.

"You have just one chance to save yourself from death so I hope you use it well," Maurice says, looking at Penelope on the floor and the lady balled her fist in anger.

What did you think is going to be Penelope's ticket to save herself from death?