Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1196

Chapter 1196: Atlas’s a wide selection.

Meanwhile...

After all the sobbing and energy-draining crying, Penny and Slater idled in the area. Penny lay on the grass, staring up at the sky.

"That was wild..." she breathed out, breaking the silence that had befallen them. "I was hungry, and now I want more snacks."

"I bought you some snacks at the night market."

"How am I not reborn with superpowers?" she wondered aloud. "If I had superpowers, I’d want one that makes food come to me without me having to move an inch."

"..." Slater, his eyes still swollen, felt a little sleepy. "You should go inside."

"I should, but all that crying made me really tired."

"Me too. The slaps didn’t help either."

"I punched you too, you know?"

"I think my tooth is loose because of it."

"Really?"

"Mhm. James is going to go hysterical if he finds out I might lose a tooth. He thinks my teeth are perfect."

"Is he gay?"

"I hope not."

"I hope he is."

"..." Slater glanced at his sister and then looked away. "He’s going to cry if you tell him that."

Penny blinked and reached out toward the sky. "Dinner... I want to stuff myself with lots and lots of food."

"I want some chocolate," Slater muttered. "But I’m too tired, and I don’t want to show myself to everyone."

"Me too." Penny nodded. "I’m sure my face and eyes are swollen. My husband would definitely ask about it. Not to mention First Brother and Second Brother—I don’t want to deal with questions right now."

Slater nodded in agreement. If not for that, the two of them would have already locked themselves in their rooms. But they knew that going inside the castle meant facing everyone. Once that happened, people would surely notice their swollen eyes and faces.

The two of them were a mess. It would take a miracle—or something bigger—to keep anyone from noticing.

"Let’s just go inside," Slater proposed, getting up. He then approached her, offering his hand. "Let’s just eat. If they ask, we’ll say we fought over something stupid. I doubt they’ll press for details."

Penny shifted her gaze to Slater, noting how his cheek was slightly swollen. "Third Brother, your face..." Her lips quivered as tears welled up again. "Mom’s going to kill me this time."

"No." Slater shook his head, studying his sister’s face, which looked almost unrecognizable with how swollen her eyelids were. Even her nose was red, and her cheeks were puffy. "I think Dad will kill me first."

"What are we going to do?" Penny asked, now fully considering the consequences of their dramatic moment.

Slater let out a deep sigh. "Don’t worry about that right now," he said, stretching his fingers. "Let’s eat first and think of an excuse later. I’m sure we’ll come up with something once we’re full."

Then, out of nowhere, Slater had stretched like a rubber band over one summer.

The point was, she never actually thought her joke about him being a spy would turn out to be true. Penny’s eyes widened as she looked away, counting something on her fingers.

"Penny, what are you counting now?" Slater asked.

"My wealth, my achievements, and my weight!" she yelled aggressively. "I can’t be at the bottom of this sibling ranking."

"Why are you always being so competitive? Also, are you saying I was at the bottom before?"

"Second Brother is last, but I don’t want to be second to last. Not to mention, Renren is on that list—that filthy rich guy! He better not divorce me because I’d get half of his everything. Ah, no, Grace will tear him apart for sure."

"..." Slater shook his head before a subtle smile formed on his lips. Watching his sister return to her usual self, he let out a sigh of relief. Things had ended better than he expected.

In the end, he only gave her bits and pieces of what he did, without going into too much detail. One confession was already a lot for one night. They both needed time to digest everything. But in a way, their conversation had distracted them from their initial fear about their swollen faces.

Thankfully, when they reached the castle, something bigger was happening—something that distracted everyone from noticing their puffy eyes.

"Uh..." Penny furrowed her brows, seeing that the majority of their group in the living area had their hands raised. The entire group was already gathered. "What’s going on here?"

Lily, wearing sunglasses even at this hour of the night, happily filled them in from the couch. "Penny, Senior Atlas is asking Senior Hugo to punch him. But since Senior Hugo feels conflicted, so he’s asking for volunteers."

"Oh..." Penny and Slater rocked their heads back and forth, their mouths slightly open. After a second, both of them raised their hands as well.

Hugo laughed, flashing Atlas a wide grin. "See, First Brother? Now, just choose who you’d give the honor of punching you! You’ve got a wide selection."