Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1433

Chapter 1433: Food is meant to be enjoyed
“Oh, wow.” Penny was in awe as she gazed at her plate, watching as smaller portions of every dish were placed near her. Her eyes twinkled as she shifted her gaze to the person responsible for all the meat before her.

Patricia smiled proudly. “Since I’m your assistant, I know the boss has a lot of work, and food is a great source of energy. Please eat and don’t worry about anything else.” If Penny liked, Patricia would even spoon feed her.

“Wow…” Penny’s mouth fell open, her eyes twinkling at Patricia. For a second, she seemed to have forgotten all the vile things Patricia had done in the past.

“Go on, boss.” Patricia smiled like an angel. “Eat to your heart’s content.”

She then turned to face everyone. “Just let me know if you want some as well. I’ll serve you.”

Teddy didn’t answer, while Hayley just smiled back at Patricia. Shawn, on the other hand, stopped Patricia from giving him food because he didn’t want others to think he was taking advantage of the situation.

After their brief time in the competition, the Pierson representatives bid their farewells. Since they had left, Penny idly watched the competition but didn’t bother staying much longer. Yugi was left behind, leaving only Penny and the four new hires—Teddy, Patricia, Hayley, and Shawn.

But instead of heading back to the Prime Group, Penny took them to a barbecue restaurant for lunch.

“By the way…” Penny trailed off when she noticed how the four quickly straightened their backs. They even stopped chewing, their eyes focused solely on her, as if they were expecting something important.

“You guys should loosen up,” she said, blinking innocently. “All I wanted to say was—do you want to finish strong with dessert?”

“…” The four, including Patricia, just looked at Penny, their expressions unreadable.

They had barely started eating, yet Penny was already thinking about dessert.

“Oh.” Hayley forced herself to recover and smiled. “I’m alright, Boss. Please, just enjoy your food.”

“I’m also alright,” Teddy added.

Shawn lowered his head and muttered, “Me too.”

“…” Patricia pursed her lips. She wanted cake, but since the others were refusing, she sighed. “Me too. Don’t worry about us.”

“Are you… sure?” Penny furrowed her brows. “The desserts here look yummy—but never mind. I’ll just bulk-buy some cakes elsewhere. Let’s have that instead.”

With that, Penny flashed them a smile and ate happily. To her, food was a priority and the main source of happiness for everyone! She was certain these four would eventually loosen up if they ate more and more.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

While Penny ate happily, lost in her own thoughts, the other four remained quiet. They ate slowly, keeping their manners in check and trying not to get too comfortable. Even Patricia wasn’t eating much, too focused on earning brownie points by refilling Penny’s plate. But while that was Patricia’s main goal, she couldn’t help but wonder just how big Penny’s appetite was.

‘Is eating together part of the job?’ Teddy wondered, sneaking glances at Penny. ‘Or is this her way of getting to know us better?’

Then again, if that were the case, wouldn’t Penny have asked them questions? But no—she was simply eating without a care. From an outsider’s perspective, they looked like colleagues of equal standing.

“You shouldn’t stare so much.” Suddenly, Penny, who had been busy eating, spoke. She briefly raised her eyes to Teddy, making him jolt the second their gazes met. “Someone won’t be happy about it.”

As soon as those words left her lips, she winked at him and took a bite of her meat. Then, straightening her back, she scanned their faces.

“Food is meant to be enjoyed,” she said. “You might not be comfortable eating with a stranger, but try not to restrain yourselves too much.”

“Boss, it’s not that we’re uncomfortable eating with a stranger,” Hayley cleared her throat. “Though technically, we are. However, I don’t see you as one at all since I’m certain we’ll be working for you every day.”

Shawn nodded but didn’t dare to speak. His nervousness might make him say something wrong, and knowing himself, he tended to make things worse the more he explained.

“Then why are you eating so little?” Penny asked. “Don’t tell me it’s because you all have small appetites?”

“No, but we were just wondering why you took us to lunch,” Teddy clarified, making Penny knit her brows in confusion.

Penny blinked once, then again, studying their faces and the eagerness in their eyes. Even Patricia seemed curious about it.

“Uh…” Penny scratched her cheek with her index finger, glancing between them. “Because I was hungry? And it wouldn’t feel nice if I was eating while you guys weren’t.”

For a moment, the four of them just stared at Penny blankly. Truthfully, they had been preparing themselves to answer whatever question she had for them. Who knew? Maybe she was trying to warm them up before getting to business.

“Do I need another reason aside from that?” Penny added, confused.

“Penny, aren’t you going to ask us anything?” This time, Patricia was the one to speak. “Like what we’ve already learned from those mountains of papers in the office? Or if we noticed anything at the competition?”

Penny blinked. “Why would I need to ask you about that?”

“You told us to take notes!”

“I did, but what does that have to do with me?” Penny tilted her head. “Taking notes and observing the situation isn’t just helpful to me—it’s helpful to you, too. After all, I only have two eyes, and having an extra eight isn’t a bad thing.”

Again, silence fell over them as they stared at Penny.

“Unless, of course, you noticed something earlier or in the reports — then feel free to tell me. After all, even though I reviewed everything myself, there are probably things I missed as well.” Then Penny smiled. “If there’s nothing, then I guess there’s no reason for me to ask questions.”