Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1431

Chapter 1431: Another core memory
Meanwhile…

“I know I’ve already told you this before, but when I moved into Aunt Jessa’s house, she gave me this small, old room.” Nina smiled at the thought, rolling paint onto the wall. “Back then, I didn’t like it. I was angry about it. After all, I was used to a big, cute room.”

Finn, working on the other side of the wall, smiled. “You did mention that, but not the whole story.”

“Haha. Because, even now, I’m not proud of how I acted,” she chuckled.

“But it turned out well, didn’t it?”

She paused, looking back at him, only to find him already staring with a knowing smile.

“It did,” she admitted. “If not for that room, I might not have realized what kind of career I wanted.”

“Funny thing is, I once asked Aunt Jessa why she gave me that room,” she continued, resuming her work. “Her answer was simple. She wanted to factory reset me. She told me I was already lucky to have arrived at their home when their family was doing well… thanks to Penny.”

Finn kept his eyes on Nina, smiling. He knew how Penny had changed her own fate. He might not know every detail of her life, but he knew it hadn’t been good. Penny was the neglected biological daughter of the Bennet family, while Nina had been the favorite.

‘I don’t know if it was daunting or just incredible how she did it,’ he thought. ‘Breaking off the engagement with Cassandra was already tough, yet Cassandra turned out to be someone completely different from the person I thought I knew.’

A sigh escaped him, pushing away thoughts of Cassandra. If what she had done was minor, he might have forgiven her. But Cassandra had crossed a line. Even if it was her first offense, he couldn’t turn a blind eye—especially not when it involved Nina.

Finn pressed his lips into a thin line, his gaze lingering on Nina’s back. Then, a mischievous smile tugged at his lips as he sauntered toward her.

“Ah!” Nina flinched as Finn suddenly wrapped his arms around her from behind. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the mischievous grin plastered on his face.

“Finn? What are you doing?”

Her voice was laced with suspicion. She already knew this side of him.

“Nothing,” he said innocently. “I just thought I’d take a break. We’ve been working on this room since morning.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Then if you’re going to rest, why don’t you sit over there so I can work?”

“No.” He frowned, fluttering his eyelashes coquettishly. “I want to stay with you.”

“But how am I supposed to work with you clinging to me like this?”

“I’ll help you.” Finn quickly reached for her hand, guiding her as they rolled the paint onto the wall together. His grin stretched from ear to ear, making her purse her lips.

“Goodness,” she mumbled, biting her lip to keep from smiling.

For a moment, they worked in comfortable silence.

“I wonder… who helped you back then?” he asked out of curiosity. “I mean, when you renovated your room.”

“Yuri,” she said, chuckling. “If not for her, I don’t think I would’ve been able to make it look the way I imagined. Uncle Lester helped too—there were some things two little girls just couldn’t do on their own. He fixed the ceiling and made some tables out of scrap. Back then, I didn’t understand much, but the more I thought about it as an adult, I realized he truly was a kind soul. His work in the factory was not easy, after all, and yet, he’d used his weekends helping his girls.”

Her eyes softened as she reminisced about that particular summer she would never forget. Just thinking about it was enough to fill her heart with warmth and appreciation.

“Aunt Jessa always complained about how loud we were, but she still made us snacks. I kind of miss the watermelon she used to slice for us.”

She laughed again. “Yugi complained too, but he had no choice. When Yuri told him to do something, he had to do it.”

A fond sigh escaped her lips. “Maybe… that feeling alone was what made me want to pursue this.”

Maybe it wasn’t just the satisfaction of transforming an ugly space into something beautiful. Maybe it was that summer—those memories—that had made her choose this path. Maybe, deep down, it was the feeling she was trying to preserve.

“I hope I’m not ruining that memory,” Finn quipped, making her look at him. “It sounds like a really warm one.”

A warmth he had never experienced in either of his lifetimes.

Nina smiled, affection shining in her eyes. “Nothing could ever ruin that memory. And nothing could overshadow this one.”

As soon as those words left her lips, she playfully poked the tip of his nose, smearing white paint onto it.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise before narrowing.

“Now you’ve done it.”

With that, Finn tightened his hold on her waist. He rubbed the tip of his nose against her cheek, smearing more paint on her, while his other hand—also covered in paint—cupped her face.

“Kyah!” A squeal escaped Nina’s lips as she struggled to break free. But before she could, he lifted her off the floor, attacking her with even more paint.

When she got the chance, she fought back.

Despite the mess they were making, laughter filled the room, warm and infectious. It was silly, ridiculous—but without a doubt, this moment would stick in their memories.

Maybe Nina’s theory about why she pursued this career was slightly off. Perhaps it wasn’t just about turning something broken into something beautiful.

Maybe it was about the memories created in the process.

And now, this might just be her favorite one.

A room shaped by her hands and Finn’s.

Maybe, in the end, unemployment wasn’t so bad after all.

And maybe—just maybe—there was a part of them that was a little grateful.

Because otherwise, this moment wouldn’t have happened. Or at least, not this soon.

The Davis family probably didn’t know that and didn’t expect something else.