Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1518

Chapter 1518: It was Uncle Wild’s… not Yugi’s.

[One hour ago…]

“Holy shit… Cassandra is not getting out of that prison.”

Penny’s mouth gaped as she stared at the article with wide eyes. For a second, she couldn’t believe what she had just figured out.

The answer had been in front of her all along, but it took her an entire night to make the connection.

It wasn’t a direct link, but the goal was similar—perhaps even better.

“I need to check something,” she muttered, pushing herself up.

She didn’t idle. Storming out of the office, she headed toward the elevator—only to find her four assistants already standing in front of it.

“Penny!” Patricia chimed. “Are you going home too? Want to join us for dinner—?”

“Get on the other one,” Penny cut in, jumping into the elevator that coincidentally opened beside them.

The four assistants blinked as she pressed a button and glanced up. When the doors closed in front of them, they exchanged puzzled looks. For a moment, they tried to see where Penny was headed, but all they caught was that she was going to the floor above.

“What’s that about?” Hayley wondered aloud. “She looks like she’s in a hurry.”

“Maybe she needs the bathroom,” Patricia guessed, raising her brows when the other three gave her a look. “What? Is there something wrong with hurrying to the bathroom?”

Teddy shook his head and turned toward the other elevator, which had also arrived. Shawn offered Patricia a brief smile before following him in.

“Let’s not dwell on it,” Hayley whispered to Patricia. “By the way, will you help me pick out a dress this weekend? I have a wedding to attend…”

None of them bothered much about Penny. Office hours were over, and though they’d been willing to stay longer, they knew Penny wouldn’t want them overworking.

—

Meanwhile, Penny entered the penthouse and went straight to the bedroom where the investigation board was hidden. After placing her fingerprint to unlock it, she switched on the lights and approached the board.

“This right here…” she murmured, pinning a note she’d written to the section related to her past arrest. “This timeline is moving much faster than before.”

She adjusted a few notes, rearranging some details. The board had been started by Hugo, and Penny had simply added whatever she could recall. But now, she realized it needed restructuring.

The problem was that Penny had only considered what had happened in this timeline, not why. She’d missed the fact that she had altered many events in her life. Naturally, the sequence of events would get jumbled.

After working quickly, she stepped back and studied the board.

“…” She pressed her lips into a thin line. “There are still a lot of questions, but somehow, it’s starting to make sense.”

A lot had happened in the past.

One of those things was Jonathan and Nina’s marriage.

And ever since, everything in their family had started to fall apart.

Just like now—for the Smiths.

Back then, Cassandra was married to Finn and served as the matriarch of the Davis family. According to Finn, after inheriting his parents’ business, he had merged it into a single empire. But with a business that massive, a showdown with the Pierson Corporation was inevitable.

So, Finn had shaken hands with Zoren in secret, while publicly backing Jonathan and Dean.

In simple terms, the Smiths were protected by both the Davis and Pierson families. Challenging Senator Smith’s candidacy was simply not viable.

“But in this life… both Finn and Zoren are on our side,” she whispered. “And more importantly… there isn’t a weak link in our family anymore.”

Penny had always wondered what she had done to bring such ruin. Why had people targeted her family? Why had she taken the fall?

“It was because of First Brother,” she murmured, eyes locked on the investigation board. “If not for my foolishness, it wouldn’t have happened—he would’ve caught the threat before it even surfaced.”

But Penny had been a busybody, doing everything to impress Atlas. Even when he told her not to meddle, she thought she was helping. And she had… until one mistake was all it took for the enemy to strike.

“This time, though, they didn’t need all that,” she added. “Because just like the Bennets were vulnerable back then, the Smiths are ten times more exposed.”

Not to mention, if the claims were true—and she believed they were—then everything had just snowballed. It was already out of control. Atlas was starting to believe her innocence. Hugo had died from snooping too deep. Slater had let others manipulate him for her sake.

And Zoren had meddled—who knew why?

“So, if everyone just accepts Cassandra’s guilt… will it happen to her too?” Penny asked aloud, her heart thudding.

Part of her felt a strange sense of relief. If her theory was right, then the Bennets were already saved—at least from this conspiracy. But not from the ones who had always had their sights on them.

She hadn’t forgotten about that child and woman on Pierson Island.

Still, something about this didn’t sit right.

“Stay out of it,” she reminded herself. “This isn’t your business, Penny. If their target really has shifted, then don’t invite trouble.”

She rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she peeked back at the board, her eyes glinting.

“At least one question’s answered,” she whispered. “If I was right.”

Yet, there was no relief. Only a deeper weight pressing into her heart. She didn’t know when or where, but she remembered someone once telling her the Bennets had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I should probably call them about this theory,” she mumbled, turning on her heel and walking out of the room.

But instead of heading home, Penny went to the kitchen for a drink.

“All this thinking made me thirsty.” Opening the fridge, she raised her brows at the neatly stocked contents.

Even though no one lived there, the fridge was full. Penny wasn’t the only one stocking it—Wild and Yugi did too, since other employees kept eating their snacks from the shared pantry.

“Heh,” Penny smirked, reaching for a bottle of orange juice. “This looks refreshing.”

A mischievous giggle slipped out. She was pretty sure it was Yugi’s. She poured herself a glass. The juice was sweet and cold—but it didn’t quench her thirst. Instead, it made her throat a little hot. She set the glass down and reached for water instead.

“What is this orange juice?” she frowned, putting it back. “It has this weird aftertaste.”

Shaking her head, she started to walk away. But after a few steps, she blinked, feeling slightly lightheaded. She tried to shake it off, but when her hand touched the main door’s knob, she stopped cold.

“Shit,” she whispered. “It was Uncle Wild’s… not Yugi’s.”