92 Time
Penny darted her eyes between her brothers, who were also sitting around the table in the library. Tonight, strangely enough, Hugo was also here.
Hugo would always look after her pets as part of his “healing” journey, since he was still grounded. It was the reason Hugo was joining them in the service on their way to school.
‘But something’s off,‘ Penny hummed as her gaze grew intense. They’re hiding something from me. Hmm. They’re not thinking of pulling a prank on me, right? I’ve had enough of that today.” The three brothers pretended not to notice the growing intensity of her gaze. Atlas tried to focus on his lesson, but his mind was drifting on how to start questioning her. Hugo, on the other hand, was just staring at his note blankly. As for Slater, he just continued to scribble zeroes in his notebook 1)
They volunteered to get as much information from her, but with how she looked at them, they were afraid she would find out even before they asked!
“Ahem!” Atlas cleared his throat and mustered the courage to look up at Penny.
Seeing his action, Slater and Hugo held their breaths.
Go, First Brother!
“Penny.” Atlas ran his tongue inside his mouth while looking at those pair of round eyes mirroring him. “Do you know what day is tomorrow?”
Slater and Hugo’s face contorted. Didn’t they agree to keep this as discreet as possible? Why was Atlas asking her about it?
“Tomorrow?” Penny rubbed her chin and pondered seriously. “Oh!”
The three brothers‘ breath hitched when she pounded the bottom of her fist against her palm.
“It’s the showing of Upside Down!” Penny grinned. “Right. I put that in my calendar.
Their brows knitted and looked at her incredulously. “Is that all?” Atlas blurted out.
“Is there something else that’s more important than that? Penny tilted her head to the side, thinking about her favorite movie of all time.
In her past life, Penny only watched this movie when she was an adult. Specifically, when she was in prison. She spent her childhood and even teenage years buried with classes. It was an irony she only saw that movie when she was in prison as a reward for her good behavior.
As Penny looked at her brothers innocently, the three brothers carried this strange look on their
faces.
‘Did I say something wrong?‘ she wondered. ‘But I just said a movie. Why would they look at me like this?”
Unbeknownst to her, the three brothers were simply too stunned that she didn’t even remember it was her birthday tomorrow. Even right now, her eyes twinkled with curiosity as if
1/3
92 Time
Was it because she never celebrated her birthday?
The three of them were filled with remorse and pity. All these years, they lavishly celebrated Nina’s birthday with each year a different theme. While Penny….
Their moods quickly hit rock bottom, especially Hugo.
“Is there’s something wrong?” Penny wondered, only to see Hugo force a smile.
“Nothing, Penny. It’s just that I didn’t know you wanted to watch Upside Down.”
Penny grinned. “It’s a cool movie with lots of moral lessons.”
“How did you know it has lots of moral lessons when you hadn’t even watched it?” Slater mumbled, knowing he had to keep her talking to divert her attention.
“Ah.” Penny’s face stiffened for a second. “I read the reviews.”
“Most reviews are done with the people who were associated with the movie. So they will have nothing else to say but nice things, Atlas argued. “Do you really want to watch it?”
Penny nodded. “I’ll buy myself some tickets. I’ve saved up!”
“I can buy you…” Hugo blurted out and Penny smiled.
“It’s okay, Second Brother. I already allocate a budget in there.” That was the last of her allowance because the rest were already in the betting pool. “But thank you.”
The brothers looked at her and waited for her to invite them as well. Inviting them was the only. natural course of action. If she was going to watch a movie, she was supposed to take someone with her. But alas, Penny didn’t ask and just looked at them without any sign she wanted to ask.
“Penny, if you’re going to watch the movie, who are you going to watch it with?” Slater blurted out when he couldn’t take it anymore.
Penny rubbed her chin as if she hadn’t thought about that. The money she set aside was only for one person. If she asked someone to come with her, it was only polite if she prepared another
ticket.
“I think… Butler Jen wouldn’t mind since I need a chaperone,” she mumbled, and then she decided. “I’ll take Butler Jen!”
There were three of them here and she decided to take someone who wasn’t present.
Atlas and Slater’s faces turned sour while Hugo’s lips curved down.
“Huh?” Penny’s thought bubble was filled with question marks. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes” The three answered reluctantly.
“Okay” Penny shrugged and didn’t dwell on it.
Her brothers weren’t the type to keep things to themselves. They had no problem criticizing her
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress