Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1259

Chapter 1259: Make him less feel guilty
“Are you alright?”

Penny snapped her eyes to the driver’s seat, offering Mark a subtle smile. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re usually in high spirits after a brief visit to the Pierson Corporation,” he pointed out, his eyes on the windshield as he drove her to her next appointment. “For some reason, you’ve been silent today.”

“You’re… becoming more observant.”

“I’m always observing,” he returned. “Just more vocal now.”

Penny couldn’t help but chuckle faintly, leaning back. What Mark said was true. Back then, having him around was a bit awkward. After all, Penny was more comfortable with Angel around. However, since Zoren had come into her life, she thought Angel was more suited to be around Zoren.

When Mark returned from an overseas mission, Zoren had sent him to look after Penny. Over time, Penny realized it wasn’t a horrible idea. Swapping guards had its pros more than cons. Now, she had grown comfortable with Mark—like a shadow always there for her, one she sometimes didn’t notice—but whenever she did notice, it gave her a brief reassurance.

“Well,” Penny shrugged, “it’s not that I’m in a terrible mood, but I’m just a little worried. That’s all.”

“Whatever it is, I’m certain everything will be fine.”

Penny slowly set her eyes on the driver’s seat, staring at Mark’s back. “Of course,” she nodded. “Everything will be fine… I’m sure of that.”

Silence quickly followed her reply, stretching for the rest of the ride. Soon, Penny arrived at a country club to meet a prominent figure for a brief meeting.

—

Penny spent her day meeting people and fulfilling prior commitments she had agreed to months ago. It was exhausting, but after a five-day trip and another day off—Yugi’s suggestion—Penny felt she could continue with the rest of her week.

Time passed, filled with business smiles, flowery words, and handshakes.

Back in the car after her last meeting, Penny leaned back and closed her eyes. Mark glanced at the rearview mirror, catching the lingering exhaustion on her face.

“Do you want to stop somewhere else?” he asked as he slowly drove away from the office they had been in for the past hour. “Or should I take you straight home?”

Penny didn’t respond immediately, keeping her eyes closed. “Back to the headquarters,” she said. “Second Brother is there and wants to meet me.”

“I see.” Mark glanced at the time on the dashboard screen. He didn’t say anything, even though it was almost time for Penny to go home. It wasn’t too late, but it wasn’t early either. It was almost time for dinner. But well, his job was to accompany her—wherever she was or whatever time it was.

With that, another moment of silence fell in the vehicle as they drove back to Prime Group.

Minutes later, Penny opened her eyes and turned to look out the window. Staring at the flashing roadside, another shallow breath slipped from her lips.

“Mark,” she called, but didn’t hear from him. However, she knew he was listening. “If you hurt somebody… and then hit your head and forgot all about it, and somehow, because you forgot what you did, you became close with this person you hurt before the incident, how would you feel if you found out what you did?”

Mark pondered for a moment. “Terrible.”

“Would you kill yourself?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, eyes still focused on the road. “But I would want to, especially if that person had become a very important part of my life.”

“What if that person just wants to forget all about it and move on?”

“That would hurt me more.” He answered, even though he believed it was just a hypothetical question. “I’d rather have this person get angry at me than forgive me and continue as if nothing happened. Because if not for the accident, I’d have been horrible to this person and never seen the goodness in them.”

“I see.”

This time, Mark glanced at the rearview mirror. “Why, Miss Penny?”

“Nothing,” she whispered, eyes still on the window. “It’s… nothing, Mark.”

Again, silence reigned in the vehicle until Mark’s quiet voice cut through the thin air.

“There are people who forgive, and those who forgive but never forget,” he said. “Time may not heal the wounds in one’s heart, but it sure helps us get used to the pain and live with it on our own terms.”

Slowly, Penny turned her eyes back to Mark and smiled subtly. “Sometimes, you’re very useful.”

“…” Wasn’t he always useful? Mark wondered to himself, but then again, he frowned. “Miss Penny, if you stopped taking my job, I’d be more useful.”

“Are you asking me to be a damsel in distress?”

“At one point, yes.”

Penny laughed, shaking her head. “Sure.” She shrugged. “My bad. Still carrying that bad habit, since Angel is lazy as a sloth.”

Mark didn’t respond anymore, but in a way, Penny felt her chest lighten a little. She had been thinking about Atlas the entire day. Even though she seemed busy with all the meetings she had carried out, Atlas never left her mind.

Mark didn’t say it directly, and he didn’t know Penny was talking about Atlas and herself. However, he did say some things that cleared her mind. One of them was that he reminded her of Atlas’s personality.

Atlas, after all, was a vengeful person. No matter how small or big the issue, he would always settle scores. That applied to himself as well. If Atlas was strict with others, he was ten times stricter with himself. Therefore, she shouldn’t worry about her first brother.

As Mark said, Atlas would probably prefer Penny’s anger than her forgiveness. Slater quickly recovered from being forgiven, bombarding her phone even more, telling her that if she was down, she could read a lot of positive things. But Atlas was a different breed.

‘He’ll eventually get used to it,’ she told herself, smiling as she stared out the window. ‘For now, treating him like shit will lessen the guilt that’s eating him alive. I guess… delving into crime documentaries for the time being isn’t all that bad.’