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 his gaze

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

Angel finally shouted.

But someone had

stinging his eyes, Angel wiped them away with his arm and

His voice boomed across the field. "Let’s

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

alert, approached

he said, watching the distant look in Zoren’s eyes. When he

simply stared at the sky, Adam’s apple bobbing. Then, slowly, his gaze dropped to where

not in there," Zoren murmured, his voice barely audible. "She’s

out, hand resting

repeated, his voice firmer now, though it wasn’t clear if the

up slowly, hearing the same sentence echoing in both their

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

the helplessness in Zoren’s eyes. He wasn’t saying it to believe it—he was saying it, hoping

coming," Zoren whispered

swallowed hard. His lips parted, but no words came. Instead, he nodded with

much, she’d throw her own father under the bus if it meant

his trembling, Charles stood up. He knew he was feeding their shared denial, but he couldn’t afford to break down.

slapping a hand on Zoren’s shoulder. "She saw it

turned to face everyone now, his

search the ocean," he declared, "and check if

he looked directly at

your brother. Make sure he

at him, still processing—but Charles was already moving

lady," he turned to Mint. "Proceed with your plan. Don’t worry about the search—we’ll search

her lip, trying to hold back tears. "Yes,

Zoren’s back a solid pat. "You

Mark. "You and Atlas still have somewhere else to be.

flashed in Zoren’s eyes, but

to his men and