In a Love Nest with the Aloof CEO
Chapter 183

“I'm thinking of visiting my mother. Do you know if she’s well enoughto see me?” Skylar had dreamt about her childhood several timesalready.

She was still not mentally prepared to face it.

“Don't go just yet. I'll ask the doctor tomorrow and arrange a suitabletime for both of you to meet.”

Skylar suddenly realized that Tobias did not keep track of her mother'scondition, so he was in the dark just as much as she was.

They were not related to each other whatsoever, so Tobias was notobligated to care for her.

Skylar watched Tobias’ tall and straight back as he walked away andretrieved her gaze only after a long time.

As usual, Tobias walked in long strides, picking up the pace as he went.Meanwhile, Skylar shuffled back tiredly with an odd gait.

Last night had completely drained her. She resembled a rag doll duringthe entire process, allowing Tobias to do whatever he pleased with herbody.

She threw on a simple outfit and went out to meet Penelope who waswaiting at a nearby café.

When Skylar arrived, she saw Penelope wiping her tears away with apiece of tissue. Then, her gaze landed on the table which was litteredwith balled-up tissue papers.

Skylar could only imagine how long her friend had been crying.

“Babe, you're finally back. Do you have any idea how much I missedyou?" Penelope seemed to have her hands full as she cried and wipedher snotty nose, all the while not forgetting to drink her hot chocolate.Skylar raised her hand to call for the waiter and ordered a cup of lemontea. She decided not to have any caffeinated beverages lest shestruggled to sleep at night.

She took the seat across from Penelope's and said, “Haven't gottenover the last guy you dated? How long has it been? Judging by yourspeed, isn't breaking up a common occurrence?”

As it turned out, Penelope was not crying because of her breakup, butbecause she was swindled out of her money.

She had fallen victim to a long con and all of her money was gone. Tomake matters worse, she now owed a huge debt. She did not dare totell her family about this because she knew that telling them would beuseless anyway.

Even if she reported this to the police, they wouldn't be able to catchthose people. The police claimed that they had received many caseslike this and getting back the money would be close to impossible.The more Penelope thought about it, the more hopeless she felt. Everytear she cried was for each cent she lost. In the end, she sobbeduncontrollably while announcing, “Skylar, I fell victim to a long con butyou can't tell anyone about this.”

Skylar, who was still wet behind the ears, did not know what Penelopemeant. Furrowing her brows, she asked, “What do you mean “fellvictim’? You look fine.”

Penelope wiped her eyes and explained, “The other day, a manmessaged me on WhatsApp. He was very handsome and gentlemanly.Later on, he said he was in the investment industry and gave me thewebsite for a very good project, saying that we could all earn moneytogether. It was as if he brainwashed me and I kept putting money in.Just a few days ago, I realized that he was a scammer because I couldn'twithdraw any of the money I put in. All of my savings are gone now andI even invested half a million. My whole life is done for.”

Skylar was listening intently the whole time.

By the time Penelope was finally done, there was a look ofastonishment on Skylar's face. She swallowed before asking, “Where didyou even get half a million?”

“I borrowed it and I don't have a single cent to pay it back. I'm going toofficially be a debt dodger from now on. Even if I sell myself, I won't beable to gather so much money.”

Skylar never thought that Penelope would do something like thisbecause as far as she knew, Penelope had always been shrewd andmore mature than those of her age.

Penelope's parents were both honest workers. They were not well off,so Penelope had always aspired to marry into a rich family since juniorhigh

She had a bumpy love life. Even though she had dated a few youngmen from wealthy backgrounds, none of them worked out in the end.All the men gave her the same reason; they weren't meant to be.