She hadn't ordered a cake!
As Penelope wondered what was going on, Theodore walked in, and his appearance immediately captured everyone's attention.
Hans suppressed his anger and plastered on a smile, moving to greet Theodore, but Theodore walked right past him without a glance, heading straight for Penelope.
“Mr. Stapleton, welcome.” Yvonne did her best to appear composed and gracious. “This is my birthday party, and our guests are all esteemed friends of the Bishop family, including you, of course. If anyone is intent on causing trouble today, they should think very carefully about the consequences of offending the Bishop family.”
The threat was clear, and everyone in the room was sharp enough to understand it. But understanding it was one thing; thinking Yvonne was being incredibly arrogant was another. After all, she was threatening Theodore Stapleton.
As if Theodore would care about her, or the entire Bishop family for that matter.
And true to form, Theodore ignored her completely. After a glance at Penelope, he picked up a pack of candles and began placing them on the cake, one for every year of her life. He remembered the exact number.
As he placed and lit each candle, the process seemed to stretch on in the silent room. No one dared to interrupt or move.
“Lights off.”
He commanded, and someone immediately complied.
The main lights went out, leaving only the glow of the candles. Everyone watched as Theodore pulled Penelope closer and began to sing 'Happy Birthday.' The others were slow to react, but once they did, they joined in, singing even louder than before.
Penelope watched Theodore sing to her. His expression was cold, as if he were reluctant, yet he sang with focus. A storm of emotions churned inside her. She knew he was doing this to back her up; she just never imagined he still would.
When the song finished, Theodore's icy gaze flicked to her, and Penelope quickly closed her eyes to make a wish, then blew out the candles.
This time, it wasn't someone else's cake. It was her own, with her own candles, and it took several breaths to extinguish them all.
Before, they had assumed Yvonne was the undisputed heir to the Bishop Group. But now they saw the family's legitimate eldest daughter, and while they didn't know what she was capable of, they knew she had the Stapleton family behind her.
Now that was some serious backing.
Hans never expected Penelope to team up with Theodore and completely derail his plans.
“Ahem!” Hans coughed loudly to regain everyone's attention. “Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to celebrate my granddaughter Yvonne's birthday. Oh, right, we haven't cut the cake yet.”
He was trying to remind everyone why they were here, who was hosting the party, and that they shouldn't be distracted by others.
He and Yvonne then took the knife together and made the first cut. But just then, he saw everyone's attention shift to the other side of the room again, where Theodore was holding Penelope's hand as they cut her cake.

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