Osvaldo blinked slowly. What the hell was this woman saying?
He’d just threatened her life, and now she was talking about healing him?
A low laugh escaped his lips. Deep. Dangerous. That damned dimple appeared. She was insane. Bold. Stupid. But he was intrigued.
"You think you can fix ?" he asked, voice mocking, eyes gleaming. "You don’t even know what’s wrong with ."
Once upon a ti, maybe... maybe... he believed soone could cure him. That belief died years ago. Not after all the doctors, the scientists, the herbalists he had hired. Even his father’s antidote had failed.
It was stated that he would slowly recover when he turned twenty-five, but the only thing that changed was his seasonal madness. It never left, it just stopped being stagnant.
His madness had no na, no cure. It ca and went like a curse, devouring him, piece by piece.
He had learned to survive it. Barely. His illness had made him a genius. A monster. A man torn between genius and insanity.
And now... this tiny plumpy woman stood in front of him, offering salvation?
He let out another dark chuckle, eyes gleaming like silver flas. "You can’t even fix yourself, Penguin. What makes you think you can fix ?" Penny’s lips twitched at his brutal words, but she was determined.
She couldn’t heal herself that is why she needed him.
"I’m asking for one year," Penny said. "You help with my body, and I’ll help you with your mind. If I fail, I leave. But I won’t take a cent from you."
Osvaldo’s brows lifted. She wasn’t begging. She wasn’t crying. She was serious.
Her voice didn’t shake, even though her body was clearly tense, her eyes locked on him like prey cornered by a predator. She wanted to run, but she wouldn’t.
Desperation made people bold, and Penny was very desperate.
She was desperate. It’s not like she hadn’t heard all of his threats, but she was a survivor. She knew she would survive no matter what.
She had been through worse. Dealt with her monstrous family. Anyone that survives Maybelline Willard, is never going to die again.
"Do you agree Mr Osvaldo?" Penny asked.
Osvaldo studied her for a long, loaded beat. This woman... she had guts.
"You really think your body is more important than your life?" he asked slowly.
"It’s the only thing I’ve ever been judged for. The only thing that’s ever made invisible. If I can fix that, then I’ll finally be seen. Loved. Free."
She wasn’t saying it to make him feel sorry. She was just saying it. Like truth didn’t weigh her down anymore.
Osvaldo’s jaw tensed.
"You really are insane," he said.
"Then we’re a perfect match," she replied.
He raised her chin with one hand, eyes on her neck.
"You stay," he said, voice low and threatening. "But you follow my rules.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you Penguin. You’re only signing your death staying with a man like ." He said.
"Just like I already told you, I’m a horny mad bastard. Everything you wouldn’t want in a man. I’m a monster, but since you’re willing to stay, it ans you’re willing to comply with my demands.
You will do whatever I ask of you with no questions asked. Only then will I be able to help you lose the weight you desire." Osvaldo said.
Penny hesitated a little. She knew what he ant by doing whatever he wanted, but she was desperate anyway. She believed that if she got normal again, people would no longer insult her.
People would rather love her than always push her aside. She’ll be free and live a happy life.
"Fine."
A wicked smile curled on his lips. "You’re still beautiful, you know. But I have no right to tell you how to love yourself."
Her lips parted slightly, surprised by the gentleness under the threat. No one has ever called her beautiful except this man standing right in front of her.
But what would one person’s word do, when the whole world calls her ugly? A fat pig. A shapeless cow.
"Then I suggest we get to work," Osvaldo added, stepping back, hands in his pockets. "I work best at night. How about you?"
"I work anyti. And my case is different, Mr. Osvaldo," she said, straightening. "I was injected with hormonal drugs as a child. That’s why I can’t lose weight, no matter what."
She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, crossing her arms over her stomach as his silver eyes traced the curves of her body without apology.
She didn’t like people seeing how shapeless she looked, but this man had broken every principle she had without hesitation. He didn’t look one bit ashad of her, if anything, he had protected her.
"It’s nothing I can’t handle," he said quietly, almost to himself.
"Y, Young Master?" a voice echoed from the hallway. Penny turned just in ti to see the three Adkins lawyers step in, briefcases in hand.
Osvaldo finally pulled himself from the wall and turned to et their gazes. Face devoid of any emotion.
They looked terrified, yet so calm. They all knew Osvaldo was like a ticking ti bomb. Everyone is terrified of the monster before them, except the woman behind him.
She looked calm, even if she was standing face-to-face with this beast.
How is that possible?
"Prepare a new contract, Timothy," Osvaldo said to the man calmly and Timothy bowed maintaining a safe distance just in case his brain does its deed again.
This man was a genius just like his father. But with a twist. Unfortunately, he has beco the sa thing that caused his father’s death.
While the world thought the Adkins had their wealth from the nurous oil companies they owned globally. They are also the family that provides the most dicinal cure for the world’s deadliest sickness.
Dewitt had found the cure for cancer and that had been the cause of his death.
This is the reason, they have sworn to protect Dewitts last heir with their lives.
The fate of the world lies in Osvaldo’s hands right now. The lab he now owned belonged to his father.
At first, they all thought he wouldn’t be like his father, but even with the years of not being able to learn how to speak or even write, Osvaldo had shocked them all.
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