Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 56

Will you make a bet on that?
Why was Theo’s name on that side and not on the special section class?

That question lingered in the air and the mere silence was enough to break anyone’s spirit.

Everyone looked down at the little adorable girl, who was looking back at them with obliviousness. Penny didn’t seem to understand the gravity of her question, but every single one of them knew one thing.

Theo might be smart and gifted, but he wasn’t gifted enough to enter the star section.

“Tha — that girl…” Keith quickly took a step back as soon as he saw Penny. He just stuttered, making gibberish sounds because of the seed of fear she planted in the very foundation of his bones and the core of his soul.

Was this diabolical girl following him?!

Atlas and Slater, on the other hand, furrowed their brows as soon as they heard Penny’s voice ring.

Theo maintained a smile, but there was deep displeasure peeking through the layers of his eyes. “Because I am not good enough to be at the star section.”

“Oh…” Penny nodded. “What a pity.”

“Pity?” Keith scoffed, flinching when her eyes landed on her. But thinking there were a lot of students around and Theo was also there, Keith sort of regained some confidence back. It wasn’t like he was physically hurting someone, right?

“Hah! This little girl is too young and doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” he snorted. “Little girl, even if Theo couldn’t enter the star section, that doesn’t mean being at the top of his class has no merit!”

“Little sister, he’s right.” The girl Penny approached smiled at her. “The lower grades don’t take the rankings seriously, but once you grow older, you’ll understand its importance.”

“But I’m already old enough…” She was currently thirteen!

The other students were also very considerate of Penny because she was cute and too young. But Keith would never buy that act. He had seen it just yesterday — that girl knew how to curse too!

“Okay.” Penny behaved as she smiled at the big sister, but then she left a comment that rendered everyone speechless. “I guess it’s true that it’s better to be a big fish in the pond than a small fish in the sea!”

Did she mean it’s better to be a small fish in the big ocean than a big fish in the pond?

Everyone pursed their lips as they snuck a look at Theo.

Now that Penny mentioned it, almost no one cared about the top students in the other class aside from the special section. The only reason this topic was shifted to Atlas falling in the ranks was because the students secretly considered him the unofficial 11th member of the star section. But Atlas never bragged about it or even mentioned it.

“Pfft.” One of the students couldn’t hold his laughter in. “Now that I think of it, Atlas never even looked at his own ranking, but just checks the star section rankings.”

“Theo might be smart, but is it really necessary to brag about it?”

“No, Theo’s not at fault here. It’s that cousin of his.”

The murmurings of the students around slowly grew a little louder. One could tell they were trying to keep it discreet, but they failed miserably.

“What are you all talking about?!” Keith quickly jumped in when he sensed Theo’s mood hitting rock bottom. “If Theo studies enough, he will kick out the top 10 of the star section!”

Silence immediately followed with that declaration. Declaring something like that was like challenging the star section and he even dropped a target. Hence, the students quickly shifted their eyes to the tenth place of the star section to know who Keith was challenging.

As soon as the students saw the student’s name, they gasped.

Theo, on the other hand, glared at Keith. “Keith, what are you saying —”

“Big brother, will you make a bet on that?” Before Theo could retract what Keith had just said, Penny cheered aloud.

Keith flinched at her reply. He was simply spewing nonsense to divert people’s opinions. But he wasn’t serious as to make a bet on that!

“I also think the big brother Theo is smart to beat the 10th place!” Penny continued innocently, but her words were like chains circling Keith and Theo’s ankles to rope them in an irreversible situation. “You said he only has to skim a few books to cinch the top class. If he reads more and studies well, he will surely get there!”

The students looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Although it was a big declaration, it was still interesting to see a top student kicking out a star student out of their place. It was one of the many reasons many checked Atlas’s name to see if he managed to kick out someone from the star section.

“Since Theo can achieve rank one effortlessly, his chances of getting in there are high.”

“It’s been a while since the names in the star section changed.”

“Everyone is expecting that it won’t change until one of them graduates. It’s interesting to see if Theo can change that.”

“Theo, you’re smart, and we know you can do it!”

Slowly, the students started giving words of encouragement and support to Theo. It was just like what Keith wanted, but alas, not the kind of positive feedback they were expecting! Because now, they were all expecting Theo to do the impossible.

Theo looked at everyone around and was tempted to take a step back. But because of this attention and expectation, he could only smile awkwardly.

‘This stupid cousin! Why would he say something like that?!’ Theo mentally lamented, glaring daggers at Keith. Although Keith believed in him, no one knew how Theo spent countless nights just to study and still had to act sociable during the day.

Penny briefly smirked, and this didn’t go past Atlas’s eyes.

‘This girl…’ Atlas was torn between awe and surprise. He didn’t care about other people’s opinions because he already knew the results even before they were released. After all, Atlas purposely didn’t answer one test sheet as a strategic move to focus on the final exam early.

Thinking of how Penny roped Theo and Keith in their own arrogance, Atlas was amused in a way. He didn’t want to deal with them, as it was a waste of time. However, he found Penny’s cunning side a breath of fresh air. He always thought she was annoying for acting younger than her age just because she looked younger.

‘My little sister is quite mischievous.’

Just when Atlas was about to go, since he had already seen enough, Penny spoke again.

“That other big brother also looks smart!”

Atlas hadn’t seen who this brother she was talking about, but he suddenly sensed an omen. When he looked back, his face twitched as those plump fingers were pointing in his direction.

‘Why is she roping me in this too?!’