Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1001

Chapter 1001: Prettier than the morning
“Hmm?” A soft groan escaped Slater as his eyes slowly opened. He winced as he felt the stiffness in his neck, pushing himself to sit up. Still wincing a little, he glanced at the person next to him. It was Haines.

‘Right…’ he thought. ‘I fell asleep while talking to Uncle Haines last night.’

As Haines adjusted his position, getting more comfortable in the other corner of the couch, Slater looked around. Allison and Charles had already left the room, so Hugo was now occupying the spare bed in the bedroom. Slater didn’t care much for his second brother, as he was just glad Hugo wasn’t snoring.

When his eyes landed on the bed, his lips pressed into a thin line. Slater carefully pushed himself away from the couch, tiptoeing to the bed while making sure he wasn’t waking anyone up. It was still too early, after all, and they had all slept a little later than usual because they were watching Zoren’s progress. They didn’t want Penny to stay up alone.

Standing at the end of the bed, his eyes landed on his sister. Penny was sleeping on the floor, her arms and head resting on the edge of the bed. Looking at her reminded him of the expression she had carried yesterday.

“You… foolish girl…” he muttered, bitterness swelling in his heart. His hands slowly balled into tight fists, tempted to scold his sister for being so foolish.

How could she crumble so easily just because Zoren had a nosebleed?

Penny had changed her life in this lifetime, and Slater could attest to how different her life was now compared to the one she used to have. Even Penny herself had changed, as if she were a completely different person. She had learned a lot and became stronger, fiercer, and wiser.

But yesterday, it was like the old Penny all over again.

It was scary to see her like that, but at the same time, it was upsetting.

How could she be like this again?

Again.

‘Back then, it was us… it was the family,’ he thought, clenching his teeth tighter at Penny’s destructive habit of loving someone. ‘And now… it’s him.’

Slater glanced at the patient, who seemed to be peacefully sleeping without a care in the world.

‘How could they sleep when I can’t even feel at peace the second I wake up?!’ he dramatically wailed in his heart. ‘Would they both die if one of them dies?!’

Slater huffed to release the frustration building in his heart. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. When his eyes landed on Penny’s figure once more, he knew in his heart that he had to do something.

He needed to teach her a lesson. If not that, then he had to vent.

With that thought in mind, Slater huffed heavily for the second time, turned around, and left.

*****

A soft moan escaped Zoren’s closed lips before his eyes cracked open. The light from the window was akin to a flashlight beaming right at him, so he shut his eyes again and turned his head slightly to the other side.

“Hmm?” His brows rose as he felt movement on the other side—toward Penny.

Slowly, Zoren adjusted his vision to the light. Although the natural light stung his eyes a little, he still tried to keep them partially open. The first thing he saw before turning was Hugo sleeping on the spare bed. His parent-in-law was nowhere in sight.

Haines was already awake, massaging his neck while stretching. Atlas, on the other hand, was also awake. Though Atlas was still propping his jaw with his knuckles while staring at the opposite side of Zoren’s bed. He and Zoren’s eyes met for a moment, but Atlas said nothing as he shifted his weary gaze back to where he had been looking.

Curious, Zoren carefully turned to the other side of the bed, where his wife had fallen asleep last night. Penny had been very tired the previous night, to the point that even when he tried to wake her so she could join him on the bed, she just mumbled and went back to sleep.

When Zoren’s eyes landed on where his wife was, he finally understood what Atlas had been looking at.

There, seated on the floor with her arms and head resting on the edge of the bed, was Penny. But she wasn’t the one Atlas had been looking at—it was Slater. Slater was squatting near Penny’s side with a marker in his hand.

“…” Zoren blinked, watching Slater paint his sister’s nose with black ink.

“Ugh…” Penny groaned, brushing her nose irritably. Slater quickly retrieved the pen and watched as Penny settled a little. When she stopped moving and continued sleeping, he moved the marker to her face again. This time, Slater added a spiral marking on her cheek.

“Uh—”

“Shhh!!!” Slater clenched his teeth and hushed him, his finger pressed to his gritted teeth.

“…”

“Tch.” Slater clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, only to continue treating his sister’s face like a drawing pad.

Zoren pursed his lips tightly, glancing at Atlas, who wasn’t reacting to the situation. Even when he met Haines’s eyes, the latter just paused before leaving the room. Haines glanced at Zoren as if making sure he was alright before turning his attention to Slater and Penny.

Haines didn’t say anything, but shook his head. That alone was enough for Zoren to understand a bit about why Atlas and Haines weren’t saying anything. First, it was likely that they had given up on stopping Slater, or second, they knew it wouldn’t be them who’d get in trouble. Perhaps there was a third option, and that was it was too early to care.

‘I guess it’s a little bit of both,’ Zoren told himself, his eyes falling back to his wife. ‘She’s still pretty even with a black nose.’

Zoren happily lay on his side, taking this time to marvel at his wife’s beauty. Even though Slater was scribbling on her face, that wasn’t enough to hide her charm. As Zoren watched his wife and his third brother-in-law, Penny’s brows furrowed. It only took a few seconds for her to open her eyes, but Slater was just as swift, managing to hide the marker behind him.

“Huh?” Penny intuitively arched her brow and sniffed a little. “Why does it smell weird here?”

When her eyes met the pair of eyes staring at her, her lips quickly curved downward. “Third Brother, what are you doing?”

“Nothing! Just looking at my sister’s pretty face! Penny, how come you look prettier every day?” he asked, watching her push herself away from the bed, only to pause when she touched her stiff neck. “Anyway, although you’re prettier than the morning, still good morning to you!”

After saying that, Slater jumped from his spot and quickly fled out of the room. Penny followed his figure with her gaze, confused.

“What’s up with him?”