Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 988

Chapter 988: Penny might end up worrying all her life!
“As for the part where I ended two kind people because I had to save my family, I’d feel shitty. But at the end of the day, it’s the reason I was reborn. Instead of asking me the obvious, it makes more sense to ask what I would do. But I guess it’s also obvious since I’ll surely use my second life to make the real puppeteer and the root cause of why I feel like a piece of trash pay. If not for their lives, then for something else of equal value.”

James smirked cunningly. “If I’m going to be vengeful, I’d rather be vengeful to the person who deserves it. At the same time, I’d atone for what I did to the people I wronged by doing what I had to do. An apology might just create confusion, so it’s better to just… protect them. After all, if they were targeted in the first life, they’d still be targeted in the second life.”

“Besides… isn’t remembering what I did and lamenting about my actions and decisions enough punishment for me?” he added, smiling wryly.

A moment of silence followed James’s lengthy response as Slater stared at him blankly. James slowly raised his brows, tilting his head to the side.

“What?” asked James. “Did I say something wrong? Why are you giving me that look? I just gave you the most logical answer! Don’t judge me!”

“Heh.” Slater chuckled. “I’m not judging you. I just realized why we’re friends.”

“Huh? What does that mean?” James narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why? What are you going to do in that situation?”

Slater hummed a tune and slowly cast his eyes to the window on his side. “Probably… the same as you,” he said, smiling as he looked back at James. “What if the master puppeteer also went back in time and retained her memories? I mean, you’re not sure, but there’s a possibility. What would you do?”

“Why does this situational question have so many follow-up questions?” James gasped. “This isn’t a healthy mental exercise anymore. It’s more like twist after twist. After this question, is there another one? Don’t tell me there’s a big boss after that?”

Slater laughed. “I know, right?” He smirked and relaxed.

‘It’s like a twist after twist…’ he thought. ‘Just when you think you’ve got everything under control… and then you realize you don’t.’

That woman changed Slater’s life in his first life. Although she taught him many things he could use in this lifetime — skills that got Slater into Homeland Security — Slater was still paying for his actions in the past, even now. How could he not? No matter how he washed his hands or what he did, he still did what he did in the past life. The guilt in his heart remained, and it continued to deepen every time he was reminded of it. Perhaps, it was this guilt that stayed in his soul that pushed him to spiral into depression a few years back.

Another deep exhale escaped Slater when James suddenly announced, “Oh, we’re here! Your dad… eh?”

Slater furrowed his brows and slowly gazed at the entrance of the restaurant where all the men of the Bennet Family had agreed to meet for lunch. He tilted his head to the side, seeing the sorrow in Charles’ eyes as he dragged his feet inside.

“Goodness…” James sighed heavily, looking back at Slater. “I guess I don’t feel so bad anymore about my report about you.”

Slater glanced at James and couldn’t help but smirk. “Trust me. They’re all bad in this area.”

“So you are!”

******

Inside the restaurant, everyone gathered in the private dining room. Charles, Allen, and James sat around the huge round table with a spinning tabletop. The three of them looked at each other, and no words were needed to express their dismay.

Allen went with Atlas, and he didn’t have anything to say except that Atlas needed a few more pairs of suits. James, on the other hand, expected to be reporting to Charles like a soldier. In fact, James had prepared a dramatic speech to let Charles know just how stubborn and difficult Slater was, but he didn’t need to. Charles, after all, seemed to understand their pain.

Charles went with Haines… the oldest single man at this table. James and Allen could just imagine how tough it was — probably more challenging than Atlas and even Slater.

“Why do you all look so exhausted?” Hugo beamed, looking around at everyone’s faces until his attention settled on his father, Allen, and James, who seemed to have chosen to sit together for some reason. “Man… I feel bad for the three of you.”

Hugo clicked his tongue continuously, snapping his eyes at Atlas, Slater, and then Haines. “Did you all mess up your dates? How come?”

“I didn’t mess mine up,” Atlas defended himself in his classic flat tone. “They messed up.”

Everyone: “…”

Allen: *weeps*

“Mine is okay. I mean, they’re all more interested in my autographs and selfies than getting to know me.” Slater shrugged, making James’ face contort. “But then again, it seemed I didn’t need to tell them anything since I’m a public figure and they already know me.”

‘Then why didn’t you at least try to get to know them?!’ James lamented in his heart but gave up before he could open his mouth.

“My dates are all okay,” said Haines, rocking his head a little bit. “We chatted and got to know each other.”

But Charles’s expression said otherwise. Unlike his sons, Haines wasn’t as intense as Atlas, not as opportunistic as Hugo, nor vain as Slater. However, the problem with Haines was… he would only answer questions and leave no room for conversation.

Charles slowly looked up and briefly reminisced about how all of Haines’s dates went down. It all went this way:

“Hi,” Haines’s date would greet, and his only answer would be, “Hello.”

“How are you?” his second date asked, and he would answer, “Fine, thanks.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you gotten married until now?” his third date would strike up a conversation, only to earn this kind of reply from Haines: “I actually do mind you asking.”

And then, they would just sit there in awkward silence.

Charles winced at the memory, clasping his chest. He could see this as a preview of Haines’s future marriage—an impossible one! Not just Charles, but James and Allen winced in pain as they were reminded of Atlas and Slater.

“What about you?” Atlas asked Hugo. “You seemed happy. Did you find anyone who clicks with you?”

Hearing this, Charles dramatically paused and slowly gazed up at his second son. His eyes twinkled with hope. For some reason, Allen and James also held their breaths, waiting for Hugo’s answer. Slater and Haines also looked intrigued.

The side of Hugo’s mouth stretched into a smirk before he carefully took out a thin stack of folded bills. “Well, they gave me money before leaving our date. So, I guess that’s a yes?”

Everyone: “…”

Charles: ‘I’m doomed. I taught my sons everything else… except romance… or don’t tell me Haines secretly taught them while I wasn’t looking?!’

What was clear, though, was… this would be a lot more work than anyone expected. Penny might end up worrying all her life!