Although both of them had changed a lot, Jasper and Penelope could still recognize each other at first glance.
Penelope froze on the spot. She returned to her senses after a few seconds, then lowered her head and prepared to run away.
Right then, the boss of the hotdog stall managed to catch up with her.
He grabbed ahold of the collar of Penelope’s shirt and scolded her angrily. “F*ck, it’s been three days. You’ve stolen the hotdogs from my stall for three consecutive days. Even if you want to steal, don’t just steal from my stall alone. Do you really think that I’m that easily bullied?
“I’ll teach you a lesson today so you won’t dare to ever steal from me again!”
After saying this, the boss, who had a tall and burly physique, raised his hand to hit Penelope across the face.
“Wait a minute,” Jasper voiced out, causing the man to stop in his tracks.
The boss turned around to look at Jasper suspiciously. He toned down the ferocious expression on his face after noticing Jasper’s immaculate dressing and outstanding aura. He frowned and asked, “What’s wrong? I’m teaching a thief a lesson here. What does it have to do with you?”
Jasper pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and said, “Since you said that she stole from you, I’ll pay on her behalf. Don’t hold a grudge against her anymore. It’s almost Christmas, and you’re out here trying to run a business. Don’t bring bad luck upon yourself.”
“Heh! It’s a deal!”
The boss accepted the cash from Jasper happily. “I really bumped into a good person today. However, this is too much. I don’t have enough change on me,” he said.
“There’s no need to give me any change,” Jasper said. He glanced at Penelope, who was leaning away from him as she stood by the side. She had her head lowered and did not dare to look at him. “Take it as your compensation,” he told the boss calmly.
“That’s even better!”
The boss put the hundred-dollar bill into his pocket and cast a glare at Penelope. “You were lucky this time. If you ever steal from my stall again, I’ll beat you to death,” he warned her.
“That’s enough. You’ve taken the money, and I’ve given you some extra as well. You can go now,” Jasper said with a frown.
The boss grinned widely at him, then turned around and walked away happily.
“Why have you become like this?” Jasper asked Penelope, who was trembling with her head lowered, after the boss of the hotdog stall left.
Penelope continued to let her head hang low. It was as if by doing so, she was hoping that Jasper would not be able to recognize her. “I don’t know you. You’ve got the wrong person,” she said nervously.
Penelope then attempted to run away.
“Stop right there!” Jasper yelled.
Penelope stiffened, standing glued to the spot.
“Where’s your brother? What about your mother? Do they know that you’re living like this right now?” Jasper asked.
Penelope knew that she would not be able to evade this. Thus, she raised her head to look at Jasper, a despondent smile spread across her dirt-smudged face. “My mother has Alzheimer’s. She’s now bed-ridden as she can’t move anymore. My brother committed a crime two months ago and has been arrested,” she said.
A slight furrow formed on Jasper’s brows. In his past life, Calvin Hunt, Penelope’s brother, did not go to jail.
It seemed like after his reincarnation, the fates of many of those who were closely related to him in his past life have changed.
“Don’t you have a job? Your family has savings, right? How did you end up like this?” Jasper asked.
Although he had once hated Penelope Hunt and her family, and despised the way she would support her brother no matter the circumstances, those were all in the past now.
At the very least, Jasper did not any embarrassment at the hands of the Hunts during this lifetime.
Facing his wife from his past life as well as the woman that had been by his side for a few years of his current life, the woefulness in Jasper’s heart gradually overpowered the hatred he held for her.
After all, the two of them were on different levels right now. Their circumstances were different as well. Jasper had long since lost the rage and hatred he had for Penelope Hunt.
“It’s all because of Richton White!” Penelope blurted out, a vicious gaze in her eyes.
“After Hugh Lewis went down, there was nobody else that I could depend on. I got together with Richton White after that. I thought that he truly loved me, but he ran away after swindling me of all of my family’s assets and properties!
“Because of this incident, my mother was so angered that she eventually got Alzheimer’s. My brother fell to rock bottom as well. He joined a bunch of gangsters and messed around all day long. The gangsters beat someone up and ended up severely injuring someone. They ran away, but he had to take all the blame. I lost my job as well.”
She stared at Jasper. At that moment, her ex-boyfriend did not seem as mundane and unremarkable as he had been back in the day.
