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

Chapter 1778: My life is really good

On a hill full of armed people waiting for Penny, one man stood frozen, staring at the large explosion in the sky. A moment later, pieces of the aircraft slowly began falling from above.

For several long seconds, no one spoke. Silence blanketed the entire hill, with every pair of eyes reflecting the fire still burning overhead.

Thud.

Charles, still wide-eyed, fell to his knees. His face had gone pale. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the flames.

"No," he whispered, shaking his head gently. Every piece of falling debris felt like a piece of his heart. "No... Penny."

And with that name—Penny—spoken aloud, it was like a bell rang through the silence, snapping everyone out of their daze.

Penny.

Right... that was the aircraft she had been in.

"No." Hugo stepped forward, slinging his rifle across his chest before breaking into a jog toward the edge of the slope. "No, no, no—PENNY!"

His scream tore through the air, his heart sinking at the thought of losing his sister. Atlas, too, felt the weight—but unlike Hugo, he stood frozen, eyes wide, head bowed.

"No," he murmured, turning to the others. When his gaze landed on Angel, he said firmly, "Prepare the boat. We’re leaving now."

But Angel didn’t move.

Like the rest, he remained fixated on the sky, watching debris continue to fall through thick smoke.

"Angel," Atlas called again, louder—but still, no response.

He walked over and grabbed Angel’s shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

Angel blinked, snapping out of it as his eyes met Atlas’s panic-stricken ones.

"Let’s go," Atlas repeated. "We’re leaving now."

"Uh..." Angel stood there for a second, watching Atlas walk away like nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t just seen his sister’s aircraft explode. When Angel looked around, he realized the others were still rooted to the spot, unmoving.

he turned

of sight. Zoren stood utterly still, wearing a blank look on

Angel finally shouted.

unbelievable. But someone had

eyes, Angel wiped them away with his arm

voice boomed across the field.

was enough to rouse the others. One by one, they began to

alert,

the distant look in Zoren’s eyes. When he got no response,

bobbing. Then, slowly, his gaze dropped to where Charles

Zoren murmured, his voice

hand resting on Charles’s

now, though it wasn’t clear if the words were meant for Charles... or himself. "She

up slowly, hearing the same sentence echoing

be in there," Zoren repeated again. "She would’ve seen it

the helplessness in Zoren’s eyes. He wasn’t saying it to believe

would’ve seen it coming," Zoren whispered again, locking eyes

came. Instead, he nodded with tears threatening at the

smart," he said. "She loves living so much,

Charles stood up. He knew he was feeding their shared denial, but he couldn’t afford to break down. Not when Zoren was holding on

fine," Charles repeated, slapping a hand on Zoren’s shoulder.

face everyone now, his eyes landing on Hugo

declared, "and check if she managed to jump

looked directly

brother. Make sure

stared at him, still processing—but Charles

Don’t worry about the search—we’ll

trying to hold back

a solid pat. "You go with

and Atlas still have somewhere else to be. I’ll inform you

flashed in Zoren’s eyes, but in the end, he

men and gestured.