Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress

Chapter 1724: A battle won, but not the war.

Chapter 1724: A battle won, but not the war.

"I found out I wasn't Naylani and Enzo Pierson's son. I was just a child they were raising... because they thought I was theirs."

Penny held her breath, disbelief and shock flickering in her eyes. She just stared at him, opening and closing her mouth, but no words came out.

Seeing her reaction, Zoren let out a faint, bitter laugh. He shrugged weakly and leaned back against the headboard, resting the back of his head on it. His eyes drifted ahead as he thought back to how he'd learned the truth.

"In my first life, while I was investigating your case, I found out I wasn't actually their son," he muttered. "To mock Naylani even further, Nathalie swapped her son with another. According to Nathalie..."

He paused, recalling the exact words that woman had spat at him during their confrontation.

"You should've seen Naylani's face when I told her that kid of hers... is long dead," he quoted. "That I cleared his innards and used her child as a bag to smuggle some things. She was livid-it was a sight to behold."

Penny's breath hitched. She didn't know whether to shudder from the cruelty or recoil from the horror of it. Her heart clenched as she focused back on Zoren.

'Just... how could she...'

Her chest rose and fell slowly, heavily, as her gaze remained on him.

Nathalie being that cruel shouldn't surprise her and yet, she couldn't help but wonder how Zoren endured it. She hadn't known him personally in their previous life, but even now, she knew how much he had respected and looked up to Enzo.

She clutched the bedsheet tightly, her throat going dry.

Zoren exhaled again, forcing a faint smile. "So that's why I couldn't accept that he died saving a kid he thought was his—"

He stopped abruptly as Penny suddenly jumped on him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. A soft, surprised chuckle escaped him as he placed his hand on her back.

"I'm fine, Penny," he said softly. "It was something I barely came to terms with before, but now..."

Again, his voice trailed off as he felt her body trembling. Then came the hiccups, soft and muffled against his chest.

"How can you just say it's fine?!" she burst out through quiet sobs. "It's not fine for me. How can she-how can she play with people's lives, with people's hearts, with families like that?!"

his chest, her grip on his

pain like that...?" Penny raised her head, tears spilling down her cheeks as she struggled to comprehend the

Her voice broke. freewebnovel.com

all made sense

bring down the fake Naylani and protect Enzo from the chaos-it wasn't about vengeance alone. It was the fastest way he could think of to end it all. He had wanted to destroy the ghost of Naylani and the child who didn't belong in the Pierson's home. That was why he orchestrated that fire—one meant to take both himself

was reborn, her first instinct had been

wanted to protect the few people his life touched. He didn't aim

if he never said it, clearly remembered everything—and

who learned the truth late, chose

But Zoren?

been the only one who, upon remembering everything... immediately thought of ending it

Why?

it was hopeless-but because he thought his existence itself was a mistake. It showed just how deeply Nathalie had struck him-blow after

when he said he'd come to terms with it, Penny knew... he

It wasn't that simple.

for Nathalie's cruelty, but for the fact that her husband had endured

he tightened

came from him-but

his wife

terms with it, when in reality,

[Short Flashback]

the night unnervingly quiet. Yet, in a remote mansion far removed from civilization, the sound of gunfire

the estate, two

as he stared at the woman

did you say?" he breathed out,

casually to the cement railing. She leaned

believe he had everything, only to find out none of it was his to begin

and blinked at him. "Zoren Pierson, do you know how Naylani reacted when I told her the child she used to sing lullabies

between them,

just like yours," she

so brightly it