Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1542

Chapter 1542: Love is really blind
Though, if Penny weren’t being biased, she would’ve seen the good in Professor Singh’s intentions. Dean, after all, was genuinely good at what he did.

Penny often felt like she was cheating, considering she was an adult trapped in her younger self’s body. Even so, Dean—who had no recollection of his past life—never really fell behind. If anything, he kept pace with her remarkably well during their time under Professor Singh’s tutelage.

Both of them had worked on the Miracle Drug. Although it was Penny’s main project, Dean had contributed in more ways than one. So, in truth, it wasn’t just Penny who made the breakthrough — it had been a joint effort.

Penny shook her head, brushing away thoughts of Dean like an annoying commercial jingle.

“I’m really missing something, aren’t I?” she murmured, flipping through a book, then scanning her notes and the many theories she’d scribbled. “But what is it…?”

Amid the quiet, faint noises started to rise from the side of the lab. Penny’s brow twitched, trying to ignore them, but the persistent, subtle clinking became irritating in the otherwise silent room.

“I swear to God, I’m going to beat your—” Her words caught in her throat as she turned around, eyes widening when she saw Zoren flinch.

He had been trying to adjust some cylinders but nearly knocked them over. At the sound of her grumbling, he froze and turned toward her.

“Oh.” Penny blinked, her tone instantly shifting to something much softer, almost childlike. “It’s you!”

She thought Dean had come back.

Without thinking, she leapt off her stool and rushed toward him. Standing before him, she rested her hands on his hips, pouting with teary eyes.

“My baby darling,” she sniffed, melting into his chest. “How did you know I needed a recharge? I swear, my life battery is almost dead. My brain is shriveling up.”

Zoren looked down at her and let out a faint sigh, wrapping his arms around her.

“I heard you were here again today,” he said. “So, I came to pick you up.”

Penny tilted her head up, her chin against his chest. “But I’m still working. I’ll finish up quickly, and then we can go home.”

“Penny, it’s already eight in the evening.”

“Huh?” Her face twisted. “Really?!”

Just to be sure, she grabbed his wrist and checked his watch. Her expression contorted even more when she saw the time.

“I didn’t even notice,” she whispered with a frown. “Gosh.”

“Still no progress?”

Penny shook her head and sighed, pulling away from him. “I’m stuck, apparently.”

“Think I can help?”

“You understand this stuff?”

“I’ve never tried,” Zoren said with a shrug. “But who knows?”

Penny raised a brow, then grinned. “Fine! My husband’s perfect. There’s nothing you can’t do!”

Excited, she dragged him to the workbench and flipped to the first page of her notes.

“This is the list of properties for the drug,” she explained. “As you can see, it’s the same as the Miracle Drug.”

Zoren listened attentively as Penny went on about “this” and “that” and a whole lot of “blah blah blah.”

“It’s easy, right?” Penny batted her lashes, her eyes gleaming. “Now, the problem is, these formulas aren’t working with the killer drug. Some even make it dissolve faster, with horrific results. Others do absolutely nothing!”

Zoren pressed his lips into a thin line, then smiled and gently stroked her hair.

“I understood… but also didn’t. I’m sorry, my love.”

Her smile faltered, followed by a defeated sigh. What did she expect? Her husband might be brilliant in other areas, but even she—someone who’d studied this deeply—was struggling. Let alone Zoren, who had spent most of his life as a guinea pig, not a scientist.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“It’s alright,” she said with a soft smile. “At least you tried.”

Zoren sighed. Now he knew—there were some things he simply couldn’t do for her. If he had known earlier, he might’ve studied biochemistry during his endless hospital stays.

“Anyway, I’ll just pack my things, and then we can go,” she said, quickly tidying up the counters.

Zoren helped by handing her things, careful not to accidentally cause chaos by touching the wrong equipment.

Once finished, Zoren carried her bag, and the two walked out of the lab hand in hand. Oddly enough, they had both forgotten that Penny was still wearing her male disguise, beard and all, while acting like the picture-perfect couple.

—

Inside the car, Mark and Angel watched the scene unfold.

“I wonder if, in his eyes, he can’t see that fake beard growing on her face,” muttered Angel from the driver’s seat, eyes tracking the couple. “I know she’s Penny, but damn… she looks like a young playboy.”

Mark, in the passenger seat, shrugged. “I don’t want to know.”

He stepped out and opened the back door for them. Angel just shook his head and sighed.

“I guess love really is blind,” he muttered, slipping on his earplugs as Penny and Zoren settled into the backseat. Mark followed suit once he returned to his seat.

It had become their habit to put in earplugs whenever the couple rode together—because every time they did, Mark and Angel inevitably drowned in unsolicited, syrupy affection.

—

Back in the quiet lab…

Dean slipped in, just as silently as he’d left.

He glanced around briefly before heading to the spot where Penny had been working. He stopped in front of the pile of books she’d been reading and casually flipped through a few pages, then noticed her scattered notes.

Picking one up, he squinted at the messy formulas she’d scribbled without much order.

“What the hell is she thinking?” he muttered with a sharp huff, sitting on her stool and sliding over to the other counter.

There, he picked up the container holding the killer drug—and another one with a pulverized version of the same.

“What the hell is she doing with stuff like this?” he sighed again, slipping off his blazer.

Carrying the pulverized drug to the microscope, he took a closer look at its structure.

Dean might’ve claimed he wouldn’t help.

But somehow… he found himself working the entire night without even realizing it.