Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1239

Chapter 1239: Clearing things up

There was a long silence in the study room, and neither spoke a word, even after Slater’s explanation. According to Slater, the training only took a few months, but it was enough to turn him into a soldier. Even Slater himself was unsure how he made it; perhaps it was his desperation or just the situation they were all in. Either way, he managed to become the person they wanted him to be.

"Mint is one of the targets," Slater continued under his breath, clasping his hands together with his arms resting on his legs. "In my previous life, Mint would climb the ranks, becoming more involved in politics, with the president backing her. What I’m saying is, she’s becoming a bigger threat to many—not just in the treacherous game of politics, but also to those who weren’t directly involved in it."

He paused and sighed. "However, even though they wanted her out of the picture, I’m not sure of the real reason. They just told me to do what they wanted in exchange for... Penny’s freedom."

Deep lines appeared on Penny’s forehead as she held her breath. Slater was the harshest of her brothers. Even though Atlas was the one she was angriest with, she only felt that way because Atlas was the last brother she had seen. However, in a different setting, Slater deserved to be at the top of her list. Hence, she didn’t expect that those people would manage to turn him into someone no one would expect him to be, especially for her.

"I didn’t like Penny much in our previous life, and I admit that," he added, his tone full of remorse as he glanced at her. "I didn’t like her because I didn’t think there was anything to like, but... that’s also why I felt so desperate. After First Brother slowly uncovered that she was probably innocent and seeing him try to get help as much as he could, I knew I had to do something too."

He then shifted his gaze to Hugo. "Especially when I know Second Brother died doing the same thing."

Slater revealed that, during Atlas’s investigation, he found out that Hugo’s death wasn’t what they were told. In fact, Hugo wasn’t supposed to be implicated in what happened to their family because the military code protected him.

Even with a crime as significant as their sister’s "alleged" one, it wasn’t Hugo who committed it. Hence, public opinion didn’t affect his position much. However, because Hugo didn’t believe the allegations, he tried to uncover the truth and prove his sister’s innocence. Sadly, that action led to his untimely death—murder, if Slater was being precise.

"So, when I woke up again and had all these memories, I went to find Mint," Slater revealed, having finished recounting his story from his previous life and how he earned the skills to join Homeland Security. "It’s a different part of any government agency, focusing on policing internal affairs and terrorism, but I was certain those same people wanted something in Homeland Security. Moreover, Penny’s case became harder to open or touch because of all the powerful people who were bribed to make sure she stayed in prison and died there."

"So, I applied to the special unit Homeland Security was secretly forming," he continued. "This special unit is mostly made up of civilians—ordinary people who had no initial military training. Just regular people, as you can imagine. Initially, I didn’t understand this either because many capable agents could have done the job better. I only realized Mint’s reason for this."

"Mint—she might seem that way, but she’s actually very good at what she does. She doesn’t trust many people, so she chose regular nobodies. People already below rock bottom—drowned in debt, those with numbered days, or simply had no reason to live," he added in the same solemn tone. "She chose perfect candidates for her team, trained them, and then made them agents. The job isn’t as dangerous as one would think, but just enough for the organization to spread its networks through different means and have eyes in various fields."

"So, all this time... you knew about our deal with Stephen Bennet?" Atlas asked after a long silence, his eyes narrowed. "And he’s the first person to know?"

Slater pressed his mouth into a thin line and nodded. "Initially, I didn’t think much of it until the drug results came back to me. It was the drug one of the agents was investigating in the underground market. It’s a dangerous drug that could pose a national threat, so I had to keep Stephen Bennet in the loop."

Another moment of silence fell as they processed all of this. They had expected this conversation to be shocking, but they didn’t anticipate just how shocking it would be.

Surely, Slater was not the person they thought he was. Or rather, he wasn’t just the whimsical brother they had once known—there was much more to him.

If Charles heard about this, he would surely choke on his own breath.