CHAPTER 349

Eddie couldn't be bothered to entertain Penny anymore, for he thought she was truly a moron.

He had always regretted the day he gave in to Bryson's plea and agreed to let him marry Penny.

But with passing time, he got to know the woman better, and he thought the only good thing about Penny was her looks.

His beloved wife wasn't any smarter either, but she was kind and honest.

On the other hand, Penny was unintelligent, dumb, narrow-minded, petty, and cruel.

In a family like his, he wouldn't easily allow his progenies to divorce, especially when Penny had given him two grandsons not long after she married into their family.

For the children's sake, he could only try to put up with things.

The only thing he could do was to care for and teach his grandsons himself and minimize their contact with Penny lest they took up her ill-bred behavior.

He admitted that he was patriarchal, and his busy work life gave him limited time to focus on his family. Thus, he put more effort into his grandsons than his granddaughters, which were left to his wife and two daughters-in-law to care for.

Jennifer was intelligent and gentle, so Luna grew up to be adorable, kind, and bubbly.

Penny, on the other hand, was petty and narrow-minded, so her coddling made Ava feisty and

advantageous, only content when she gained something from someone but thought she suffered a loss if she failed to do so.

It hadn't been just yesterday when he reprimanded Bryson and Penny about the way they parented Ava, and the two would comply obsequiously. However, as time passed, not only had Ava not changed her ways, she even screwed up massively this time.

Ava had strayed far away at this point, and the young girl would only get even more lawless if he continued to be lenient with her.

It was only after Ava experienced a good beating that she would know to be fearful and dared not think the whole world would coddle and tolerate her like her mother would.

In the future, she would at least think twice before doing anything and dared not screw up.

No matter how Penny cried and begged, he remained motionless.

Fifty solid plank beatings—no more, no less.

By the end of the punishment, Ava's voice had cracked from all the crying. Her struggling had weakened with each beating as well, so much so that she lay moribund on the bench.

Meanwhile, Penny threw herself onto Ava, screaming for Drew while holding her daughter in her arms.

At that, Drew gave Ava a quick check and said, "Don't worry, Madam Penny. Miss Ava only has some superficial injuries, and there aren't any broken bones. She'll be fine after a period of recuperation."

As much as he despised Ava, the bodyguard who beat her kept her status in mind, and he, who served the Penham Family, held his strength back. As such, it was impossible for Ava to end up disabled.

"What do you mean there's only superficial wounds?! Do you not see that she's bleeding?! There's so much blood…" Penny cried out with a shaky voice. "Austin didn't even bleed, but Ava's pants are drenched in blood! You call this superficial?!"

Austin's face turned ashen, left speechless by his mother's words. Why did it sound like she didn't feel glad at all that he wasn't bleeding? Had he really come out of her?

Drew, on the other hand, couldn't care less about Penny when she lashed out at him at once. He beckoned his assistant, saying, "Send Miss Ava to her room."

Sure, he was the Penham Family's doctor, but his main job was to serve Eddie. If Penny ever wanted him to take her scolding subserviently, she'd have to wait until Bryson became the next patriarch of the family.

The assistant held Ava, wanting to help her up from the bench. But as soon as he touched the young woman, she squealed, "Mom, it hurts! Mom, it hurts like hell! Mom!"

Penny's heart wrenched so badly that she shuddered while cooing with a shaky voice, "Ava, dear, hang on. Hang on, alright? We'll put some ointment on after we go to your room, okay? It won't hurt anymore after that…"

Right then, she loathed Eddie and wanted to stab him in the heart.

How dare that old codger treat my baby girl like this?! Ava's the precious young lady of the Penham Family! How dare he punish my weak, defenseless daughter like this?! When will this old codger ever die?!

While crying and comforting Ava, Penny hadn't forgotten to curse the old man either.

Meanwhile, Ava refused to let anybody touch her, screaming in pain as soon as someone did.

Penny's shirt was drenched in sweat from worry and distress, and she suddenly turned to her sons. "What, are you two dead?! How can you two not help your sister when she's been beaten up like this?! What good is having two sons like you?!"

Meanwhile, Penny threw herself onto Ava, screaming for Drew while holding her daughter in her arms.

She glared daggers at Austin and Justin like they were her enemies instead of her sons.

She shifted her anger toward them, loathing their unwillingness to intercede with Eddie for Ava. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

The two young men were the two elder grandsons. If they could've begged Eddie like she did, asking him to forgive Ava, the old man would've certainly listened to them.

Anger and despise filled Penny's heart as she lashed out, "How many times have I told you this?! As brothers, you have to look after your sister. Ava is our family's only girl. As brothers, you're obligated to take good care of her. What a good job you two have done, though! Your only sister has been beaten to this degree, yet you two are only standing there watching! Are your hearts made of stone?! Do you even have the slightest bit of conscience in you?!"

All this while, Justin had been supporting Austin, who was drenched in a cold sweat and couldn't stand on his own feet. Now that his mother was suddenly lashing out at him and his brother, he frowned, arguing, "What are you talking about, Mom?! Do you not see that Austin's also injured? Also, Ava was punished according to the house law. What can we do apart from just watching? Are we supposed to defy Grandpa and go against him?!"

That's exactly what you should be doing! Best that old man dies from anger! Penny thundered angrily in her head but dared not utter a single word.

Having no outlet to vent her long pent-up resentment, she suddenly exploded and charged toward Justin, giving the young man a slap. "Did I raise you up to talk back to me or take care of your sister?!"

Still not sated after a slap, she gave him a couple more. "You ungrateful swain! Kneel!"

"Who are you asking to kneel?!" Eddie nearly passed out in anger when his beloved grandson received three solid slaps from Penny in the blink of an eye.

At that, he grabbed another teacup on the coffee table and hurled it onto Penny. "You kneel!"

Penny shuddered in fright and looked at Eddie with a ghastly pale face the next second. "Dad, is Justin not my son?! Have I not conceived him for ten months?! Am I wrong to lecture my own son?!"