Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1673

Chapter 1673: Former campus belle

"Are you two on a date?"

Ginnie and Max froze for a second before the latter reacted almost accusingly.

"A date?!" he scoffed, scrunching up his nose in disbelief. "Me and her? Hah! Impossible! No way! Also, shouldn’t we be the ones asking why you two are together—wait!"

Ginnie pursed her lips and cast him a side-eye. She didn’t say anything, but the slight twitch at the corner of her lips somehow showed her repressed emotions.

Max’s face quickly turned red, glaring a dagger at Hugo as if the latter were truly a born player. He pointed at him dramatically.

"Hugo, what’s the meaning of this?!" he gasped in disbelief. "Are you dating her?!"

"Ah, it’s not—"

’No,’ Before Kiara could answer, Hugo nodded, pointing at Kiara with his thumb. "She’s my new girlfriend."

Slowly, Kiara turned her head, her jaw dropping. Max, on the other hand, froze in surprise. Meanwhile, Ginnie’s brows furrowed. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that only Ginnie knew Hugo meant something else.

"Girl—girlfriend?!" Max stuttered in horror, his heart thudding heavily as he remembered Ginnie standing just beside him.

Kiara shook her head, eyes on Hugo. "What in the world are you talking about?"

They’d just eaten together—a couple of times. She didn’t get the memo it was a date, and nowhere in there did she know she agreed to a relationship with him!

Seeing their reaction, Hugo blinked innocently and cocked his head to the side.

"What?" he asked dryly. "It’s true, though. You’re my friend."

Kiara’s mouth opened and closed, her mind glitching. "That—that’s what you meant?"

"Is there another meaning in that?"

"..." She pressed her lips, pinching the bridge of her nose. When she managed to get her brain working again, she flashed him a forced smile. "Nothing."

She then faced Max and Ginnie with the same smile. "Don’t—PLEASE—don’t misunderstand."

---

Meanwhile,

This meeting was unexpected because Hugo and Kiara only came here to eat. Meanwhile, Max was walking Ginnie home while discussing some important matters. After all, Ginnie had quit the team over some drama with the higher-ups.

One could say Max was poaching Ginnie to get her on his team.

"Ah..." Kiara rocked her head, walking alongside Ginnie while the men walked behind them. "So, that’s why."

Ginnie laughed. "I treated him once at that meat buffet, and I thought he was joking when he said he’d come back here when he had the money."

Kiara bit her tongue, trying to keep her smile intact. The brief misunderstanding she had about Hugo’s previous remarks still lingered. But above all, it explained that Hugo was truly the master exploiter. Not only did he exploit her, but he even exploited Ginnie.

"Anyway, I didn’t think you’d remember me," Ginnie quipped, snapping Kiara back to her senses.

"It’s not like that," Kiara whispered, casting her eyes down. "It’s just that he is helping me with something, and I feel indebted that I keep buying him food."

"Even if he doesn’t help you, if he thinks you’ll buy him food, he will still exploit that kindness," Ginnie quipped. "So, it’s better to get his help on something—work him to the bones. He’ll be happy to help as long as you feed him."

"You sound like you know him well."

"Penny is my friend," Ginnie shrugged. "And when you’re friends with her, it’s inevitable to know her brothers with a sister complex as well. It’s like a package you don’t need, but it’s there."

Kiara chuckled, having that impression after meeting the Bennet Family and Penny. "They’re really... close."

"It makes me jealous sometimes."

"..." Kiara lifted her eyes and met Ginnie’s playful look. After a second, a helpless smile turned up on her face, and she nodded. "I thought I was the only one who was a bit envious of it."

After all, she didn’t have a sibling to call her ally or anyone who could understand what it meant to be a child of her parents. But the Bennet Family was just different. It should’ve been obvious to her since she knew Atlas, and now Hugo.

Two siblings who were very different from each other. But somehow, they still got along.

Ginnie and Kiara smiled at each other and then moved on with their conversation, mostly about the past. They might not have been friends before, but they still went to the same school. So, there was plenty more to talk about.

Meanwhile, the men behind them didn’t even exchange a word.

All that was happening was Max glaring at this player.

’He refuses my invitation for this?!’