Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 648

Chapter 648: We’re both just trying to survive
Seated in an exclusive restaurant, Penny crossed her arms as she studied the man across from her. After seeing Finn standing right outside Nina’s work building while looking at her, she understood the message. Hence, here they were.

However, five minutes in, no one spoke a word. They just stared at each other in silence, the tea between them slowly turning cold.

“I’m not stalking her, if that’s what you think.” After another full minute, Finn’s clear voice pierced through the thick silence between them. “And I’m not following you.”

Penny smirked as she reached for her cup of tea. “You don’t have to be so defensive.”

“I don’t want to deal with any unnecessary misunderstandings.” He returned her smirk with a smile, watching her take a sip from her tea. “I was there because… I wanted to check on her. It’s been two days since she broke off the engagement.”

“Nina is fine.” Penny elegantly placed her cup down, fluttering her eyelashes ever so tenderly. “You’ve been together for quite some time now, so I’m sure you know that she’s brave and resilient.”

Finn nodded. “Smart as well.”

Penny shrugged as she leaned back, resuming her scrutiny of him. “Is that all you want to tell me?”

“No. I have a lot of things to say, but I don’t know where to start.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

But then silence followed Penny’s remark.

Although they attended the same school, they had little to no interaction. All they knew was the general knowledge they had of each other and the opinions formed from those brief encounters. As adults, they had never really spoken to each other. They hadn’t even exchanged greetings, even when Finn was Nina’s fiancé and Penny was Nina’s sister.

This was the first time they sat down together to talk. Yet, the irony of their limited interactions left many questions hanging in the air.

“You… and Mr. Pierson…” Finn trailed off, a smirk forming on the side of his mouth as he chuckled to himself. “You’re the mysterious wife, huh?”

“…” Penny didn’t answer, knowing Zoren and Finn might be bound by a deal with mutual benefit. But that didn’t mean Zoren fully trusted him; Zoren wouldn’t have disclosed this piece of information.

Seeing her reaction matched with her silence, Finn chuckled. “I didn’t know about it until a few nights ago. Even I was shocked.”

“So, you were there?” Penny arched a brow, finding an opening he had brought up himself.

“Where?”

“I see you want to play with words.”

“Haha.” Finn chuckled with his lips closed. “Miss Penelope… Pierson, I’m simply messing with you to make the tension between us a lot less insufferable.”

“Being in the same room with you is already insufferable. Talking makes it worse.”

“Haha. How fierce!” Finn casually leaned forward to pick up his tea before leaning back, his eyes on her. “You know I can deny anything you throw my way. Be careful,” he smirked as he took a sip.

Meanwhile, Penny couldn’t help but chuckle but was not surprised by him. If Penny made a direct inquiry, he would deny it by saying he was talking about a different night. After all, he purposely didn’t mention the Crimson Bar for a reason.

As expected of someone like him.

“But yes!” Finn licked his lips as he placed his cup down. “I was there on the last night at the Crimson Bar. Until now, I’m saddened that such a place closed down for such a silly reason.”

“You think a fight like that is silly?”

“No.” Finn shook his head. “What I think is silly is that the business closed down because of friendship. Friendship can be so destructive sometimes, don’t you think?”

“Foolishness is,” Penny returned. “It’s not the friendship, but the trust and the lack of judgment. Although, I still agree that sometimes, relationships are destructive.”

“It seems like you want to add something else in that remark,” he pointed out, but Penny didn’t indulge with him.

‘What a cunning guy, indeed,’ she thought. ‘He hasn’t changed.’

Considering how Finn was in the past, she couldn’t help but feel disconcerted about it all. Finn had always been close to the spotlight, but not close enough to stand under it. It was like being in the Star Section but also at the last rank.

“Finn Davis…” Penny slowly tilted her head while keeping her eyes on his naturally foxy face. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing, in this regard.”

“Very well.” She shook her head and picked up her purse. “Then I have no words to say. I’ll excuse myself first. Though I’ll leave you with one friendly piece of advice: Stay away from Nina.”

Finn smiled, watching her pick up her purse and stand. But before she could even take a step, he spoke again.

“I will stay away from her if you answer one of my questions,” he paused, watching her eyes settle on him. “Do you know who I am, Penelope Bennet?”

He cocked his head. “I thought that was too vague to ask, but seeing the unchanged look on your face, it seems we’re on the same page.” The corner of his mouth curled into a satisfied smile, pleased to see that his guess was correct.

“It took you a while…?” he trailed off as genuine curiosity shone in his eyes. “Or should I say you’ve known all along? Until now, I’ve been curious which one it was.”

It would be a lie to say that Penny didn’t know what he was talking about. However, considering this was Finn, she couldn’t be so careless.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Davis, but I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.” Penny offered him a smile as she naturally lied. “I need more than that to understand what you’re actually referring to. But since I’m no longer in the mood to play word games with you, I’ll head out now. I’ll see you around.”

Having said that, Penny showed no sign of reluctance to leave. Meanwhile, Finn smirked. A chuckle escaped him as she strode off.

“You and I… we’re both just trying to survive this lifetime,” he mused, stopping her in her tracks as she reached the door. Finn slowly cocked his head in her direction, staring at her back. “You… trying to avoid your execution while I try to avoid my death.”

This time, Penny slowly turned to face him, only to see the smile on his face.

“Why don’t we chat a little longer?” he proposed, tipping his head toward the seat across from him. “This is going to be entertaining.”