The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 802

But what could possibly be so important that he would forget to pick up his own kids? A knot of worry tightened in Penelope's chest.

After dinner, Penelope spent some time playing with the boys. By the time she tucked them into bed, it was already past nine, and Theodore still wasn't home.

Penelope was just about to call Michael to see if Theodore was with him when the doorbell rang.

She walked over and pulled the door open, only to find that unreasonable woman from earlier standing on her porch. She was wearing a slinky slip dress with her hair completely down—an outfit meant for bed, yet she was very clearly wearing a full face of fresh makeup.

The woman looked equally surprised to see her. "You... you're?"

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Who are you looking for?"

The woman peered past her into the house. Seeing no one behind Penelope, she let out a forced cough. "I just moved in next door. I baked these blueberry cookies myself and wanted to bring some over for you guys to try."

Penelope cast a flat look at the plate in the woman's hands. "The person you're looking for isn't home."

"Huh?"

"Weren't you coming here to look for my husband?"

"Mr. Stapleton is your husband?"

"For someone who just moved in, you certainly figured out his last name pretty fast."

Realizing she had been played, the woman's expression cooled. "Mr. Stapleton was kind enough to help me move some heavy boxes today, so I made these cookies specifically to thank him."

"You certainly went out of your way to show your gratitude, coming over in the dead of night."

The woman couldn't handle Penelope's biting sarcasm anymore. Frowning, she muttered, "You're overthinking things," and stormed off with her plate of cookies.

Penelope let out a heavy sigh. She wasn't actually worried about Theodore's loyalty, but having random women constantly throwing themselves at him was starting to get on her nerves.

"Theodore, I'm so scared!"

Penelope frantically pushed the study door open and rushed over to the computer. It was playing an audio recording.

"Where... where did this recording come from?"

Theodore let out a heavy, ragged sigh and pulled Penelope down into his lap.

"Three years ago, the police in Yaym accidentally stumbled upon this recording at a used cell phone shop. They only handed it over to me a year ago, hoping I could piece together some clues."

"So it really is Norton."

"His SIM card was taken by that gang. He had no choice but to record this as a voice memo. He probably wanted to email it to me, but later realized there was absolutely no internet connection where he was being held, so the file just sat on the phone. The cops in Yaym found the device while investigating a completely different case. That's the only reason this was ever heard."

"But what good is hearing it now? It's too late."