Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1654

Chapter 1654: Penelope
“I joined what they called their donors. It’s basically donating my eggs. That’s where it started.”

According to Priscilla, it all started with her just donating her eggs for couples who couldn’t bear children. She didn’t know where those went or who had them, but she just kept doing it. Again and again and again.

All to keep Jason alive.

They promised her that if she could save enough, she could “probably” buy his freedom.

Priscilla believed them.

How could she not?

If Priscilla ever doubted their words, their thin promises, what else would she hold on to?

So, even if it hurt — even if it was exhausting — she did what she thought she had to. Priscilla had done everything she could to save up, even accepting different gigs on top of becoming a donor. One of which required her to clean up crimes and even donate some parts of her body.

Crazy? She had always known she was, at some point. That she was always on the brink of snapping, but somehow, the thread of sanity kept holding on despite her self-destructive journey.

But unlike what she hoped for, her subconscious scream from the very beginning was right.

Jason had long been gone.

He had died even before Priscilla begged their old boss for mercy. They killed him, just like they did many others who tried to escape and betray the organization.

It was too late for Priscilla when she found out. She was already in too deep with no way out.

“And at the time I found out about Jason, I just found out that I was already pregnant by Penny,” Priscilla whispered, biting her tongue as she looked up at Penny. “By Nina.”

Another moment of silence fell in the room as if every single one of them was trying to process this.

What they knew at this point wasn’t just Priscilla’s journey, but how vast and dangerous this organization was. Penny, Mint, and Slater weren’t entirely ignorant of it. However, it was now clear that this organization was deeply entrenched in the underground.

“That’s a huge one to take down,” Mint thought to herself. “Then again, this is only fitting as my last assignment.”

“This surrogacy… this is the last,” Priscilla whispered, keeping her head down to hide the longing and regret in her eyes. “If I had succeeded, I would’ve been able to buy Jason’s freedom. After so long… but just before I could, I found out he had been dead all along.”

Penny, unfazed by this incredible story, asked, “So, because Jason is dead, you thought of rebelling by switching the babies?”

“No,” Priscilla quickly met Penny’s eyes and shook her head. “That is not it.”

“Then why?” Slater chimed in. “Don’t bullshit us. After hearing your story, I didn’t feel a shred of pity for everything that happened to your screwed-up life. You — you and that guy — chose that life.”

He stopped himself before he could say Priscilla and Jason chose this life twice.

Even though they couldn’t fully blame them for making the same decision they had in their first life, it still angered him.

“You don’t understand,” Priscilla breathed out heavily. “That was not me rebelling. If I wanted to rebel, I would’ve killed myself or at least taken down my former boss with me.”

Her shoulders shook as she clutched the sheet, grinding her teeth. “Years of being in that hellhole, I have survived. I could do worse.”

Which was something Penny and Mint didn’t doubt, especially Penny.

After all, Penny had been imprisoned for a full year. A year, and yet, she had become the worst animal in that place because if not, she wouldn’t survive.

Humans are naturally adaptive.

So, Priscilla’s claim didn’t feel empty at all.

“But…” Priscilla’s mouth quivered as her eyes softened. “But how can I die when there’s this life within me? You may think it’s ironic, but I lost a child once.”

“A fake one,” Slater corrected, earning a quick glance from Priscilla.

“That pregnancy might’ve been a lie, but my desire — Jason’s desire — are all in that… child,” she whispered. “Everything spiraled out of control when I faked a miscarriage to tie up loose ends, but for Jason, it wasn’t just a miscarriage. It wasn’t something we could just forget.”

It was never the same.

“I tried to end my life, to end everything at once. I was angry at the world — at myself, at Jason,” she continued through gritted teeth. “If I could, I would burn the world. Even now, I would still do that.”

“Then, why haven’t you?” Mint asked, watching Priscilla turn to her. “I know burning the world is impossible, but why haven’t you tried?”

Priscilla didn’t answer right away, smiling bitterly as she recalled a very distant memory. Her small smile broke, holding her breath until her slightly saggy neck turned even more taut.

“Because the life inside me…” she trailed off, meeting Penny’s eyes. “Because Penelope… was holding on to me. Even when I tried to kill myself, it clung to me as if begging me to keep it together.”

She might need another day just to express how an unborn child saved her from ending her life, but it was true. No matter how much she tried to neglect or harm herself, the doctor — the one she befriended in her journey to save Jason — would tell her one thing.

“The child was safe.”

Every time she needed medical attention, that was the first thing she would hear. That the child was safe and healthy.

“I don’t know when or how, but eventually… I started putting all my life’s purpose on this child,” she whispered, tears falling on her cheeks despite her efforts to hold them back. “And slowly, my life started looking brighter again.”

Her smile was shaky, and her tears flowed, but the gratitude in her eyes was evident. She looked at Penny, her expression softening.

“A friend of mine told me a story of a woman who had waited faithfully for her husband for decades,” she whispered. “And somehow, it sounds the same as what I’ve been through… doing everything until his return.”

She paused, raising her brows. “That’s why… I named her Penelope.”