Third Person's POV.
After dropping off Percy, Penelope drove straight to her own chic, minimalist apartment, feeling the exhaustion of the forced family drama weigh heavily on her. Dealing with the intense, toxic emotions of the Morre/Sinclair clan, even as a designated neutral party, was mentally draining, like surviving a high-pressure corporate audit on Thanksgiving.
She opened the door to find Ohio perched anxiously on the edge of her living room couch. Ohio had a mug of soothing tea ready, but her posture was anything but relaxed; her energy was coiled tight with anticipation.
"Oh, thank God you're here," Ohio announced the moment Penelope stepped inside, jumping up to meet her. "You look like you just survived a hostage negotiation."
"I did," Penelope sighed, kicking off her impossibly high heels. "Except the hostage was Percy, and the ransom was his entire identity."
Ohio immediately ushered Penelope toward the couch, pressing the warm, comforting tea mug into her hands. "Tell me everything. How did it go? Your mother must be super pissed. Did having your uncle there actually help? And the most important question: Is your mother going to stay away from Gemini?"
Penelope took a long, necessary sip of tea and finally began the debriefing, summarizing the tense, two-hour performance that had been dinner.
"Mother was in full, manipulative damage-control mode," Penelope explained, running a tired hand through her hair. "She used the whole 'woe is me, I only wanted to protect my son' routine. The entire setup was designed to make Percy feel guilty and pressure him into withdrawing his resignation and, implicitly, breaking things off with Gemini."
"And did it work?" Ohio asked, leaning forward, her eyes wide with concern for her friend.
"No," Penelope said, a genuine note of pride finally entering her voice. "Percy was incredible. He didn't even touch her hand when she offered the fake apology. He was calm, focused, and utterly immovable. He reiterated the threat—about changing his name—right in front of the entire family. He told them, point-blank, that his life and happiness is non-negotiable."
Ohio let out a relieved gasp. "Wow. Okay. That's big. Your mother is scary, but Percy is scarier. They're like two peas in a pod, except Percy is actually decent."
"Exactly! Percy and I look alike, but temperamentally, he's completely like our mother—the same icy resolve and strategic mind," Penelope confirmed. "But I'm worried because this intervention failed completely. They wanted a compromise, and Percy gave them an ultimatum instead. The family consensus is now that the fight has moved entirely out of the house and into the marketplace. I don't know what's going to happen next."
"But what about Gemini?" Ohio pressed, the anxiety returning, focusing on the immediate threat to her friend. "If the fight is 'in the marketplace,' does that mean she'll start going after him too? He's still at the university; he's accessible. He's connected to all of this."
Penelope sighed, acknowledging the chilling validity of Ohio's concern. "That's the one thing Percy is trying to shield him from entirely. Percy's corporate focus is Aethel Designs, but the real shield is the Morre name. He told Mother that if she pulls any public stunt at all—which would absolutely include attacking his boyfriend—he's gone from the family. Permanently."
"She cares more about the Morre name and the public image of the family legacy than she cares about hurting some kid from the university. Our mother wouldn't want that kind of scandal."
"So, he basically made himself the ultimate shield for Gemini," Ohio mused, nodding slowly, processing the corporate logic. "That's smart. It turns her emotional weapon against her. She cares more about the family name than about petty revenge."
"Right. The family name is the only thing she loves more than power," Penelope agreed. "For now, Gemini is safe because Percy made his position crystal clear. But this is where it gets tough: the pressure will be on Percy now. She'll be trying to crush Aethel Designs just to prove she was right all along, forcing him to quit and 'return' to Morre Holdings."
"So Gemini is the target, and Percy is the bargaining chip, which means nothing will happen to him as long as Percy is around." Ohio summarized, finally feeling a solid sense of relief regarding her friend's immediate safety. "Okay. That I can deal with. Percy can handle the corporate drama; he's built for it. I just want Gemini to be able to finish his degree in peace."
Penelope smiled faintly. "He will. Percy would die before anything happens to him. And apparently, Gemini is going to travel and work a bit after graduation before going back for his Master's. That's Percy's new priority right now."
Ohio's eyes widened. "Whoa! Your brother keeps impressing me at every point."