Chapter 146: The real glue of the family

"I’m okay! Nina is the daughter you recognized and raised for thirteen years. Just like how my auntie and cousins fight for me, it’s the same for you. I’d be more disappointed if you quickly turn your back on the daughter you raised for over a decade just because she’s not blood-related."

The smile on Penny’s face was bright and warm. There was no trace of deception or anything just to make her look good. If anything, all the words she said were quickly detected as genuine from the heart.

The couple’s hearts softened, but at the same time, they were stricken with more remorse.

How could their Penny be this understanding?

They would understand Penny if she would lash out, or if she would cry her heart out. Penny had all the right to feel disappointed in them. If they were in Penny’s shoes, they would also feel a little horrible. It was awful: the school bullying and Nina’s attempt to stir trouble for her.

Not to mention, her brothers weren’t as forthcoming in the beginning as they were now.

Another layer of tears coated Allison’s eyes until it blurred her vision. She pursed her lips and reached for Penny’s hand, sniffling as she tried to hold back her tears.

"I’m sorry, Penny. Mom is really, really sorry," she whispered, squeezing Penny’s soft and plump hand.

Charles’s eyes also softened, but he was more concerned. He knew Penny was mature, smart, and kind. However, in a situation like this, it was only normal for her to feel some sort of negativity. Yet Penny was more understanding than one would expect.

It wasn’t like he was doubtful, but he was genuinely worried.

"Penny, it’s okay to feel angry. Mom and Dad disappointed you and we’ve been, in a way, neglectful," he expressed sincerely. "We won’t judge if you’re disappointed with us. We hadn’t known anything you’ve been going through. We kept saying when you came in here that we’ll protect you, but until now, we hadn’t done anything to do that."

Penny would be disappointed if she had expectations. But as mentioned before, Penny didn’t mind if they screw things up as many times as they liked.

She shook her head mildly and smiled. "But I’m not angry. How can I be angry when it’s me who didn’t even say what’s going on with me in school? It’s not like Mom and Dad are in school too. Moreover, I had fun while playing with the pranks! It made school a lot more eventful and colorful!"

"Also... hmm..." Penny rubbed her chin as she darted her eyes between them. Her face brightened up as she giggled. "I like that my parents admit their shortcomings. That’s good enough for me!"

For a moment, Allison and Charles could only stare at their daughter with a mixture of everything. They were prepared to hear Penny’s woes or if Penny wanted to leave them because of their incompetence. However, here she was, comforting them instead of them comforting her.

"What did I do to deserve a daughter like you?" Charles blurted out under his breath. Now he couldn’t help but tear up.

Allison’s tears also flooded her face. "Oh, Penny. You are so precious."

"Hehe." Penny chuckled. "What Mom and Dad did is that they prayed day and night to have me. Maybe that’s why I’m cute?"

"Oh, haha!" Allison laughed amidst her crying, pulling Penny into her embrace. "My Penny. Mommy is really sorry."

Despite being comforted, the couple still felt like they hadn’t apologized enough. How could they when their daughter was too precious?

"I’m sorry too." Just then, Atlas’s voice was heard.

The couple and Penny raised their heads, eyes falling on the door where Atlas, Hugo, and Slater were. They sauntered in and stopped several feet from where their parents and Penny were seated.

"We’re attending the same school and I should’ve heard about it," Atlas expressed solemnly, eyes on Penny. "But I chose to ignore the whispers around me."

"Being in a different building isn’t an excuse for us not to know about what’s happening to our sister," Hugo added sincerely with a tinge of guilt. "I’m sorry, Penny. We should’ve known."

"If only we kept our eyes and ears open, things wouldn’t have to escalate to this," Atlas continued and lowered his head. "I’m really sorry."

Slater pressed his lips and blurted out. "I’m sorry too. I should’ve known that even if you’re capable, some unreasonable kids would still target you. They make me angry!"

Slowly, Penny’s brows rose in surprise. She wasn’t surprised that Charles and Allison were apologizing to her and was stricken with remorse. Her parents, after all, were good people by nature. But for her brothers to say all this brought this different feeling into her heart.

Penny couldn’t point it out exactly, nor could she properly articulate her feelings, but she knew it was a complicated feeling.

’I didn’t want to jump to conclusions after celebrating my birthday. After all, it could be a one-time thing,’ she told herself. ’But now that I think about it, they were... they were a lot less insufferable.’

In all honesty, Penny could barely remember her brothers as children. They might look younger now, but in her heart, they were already adults who disappointed her repeatedly. In her heart, they were the people — Atlas, especially — was still that same man who never believed her, even in the last moments of her life.

Slater didn’t even bother visiting her in prison. And Hugo — she didn’t have that much woes to him as an adult because he was always on the base. Moreover, he died even before Penny.

But hearing them say all of this, hearing them apologize and own up their negligence, didn’t feel bad at all. An apology, an admittance from them... was all she wanted to hear before. They might be apologizing over something different, but it still didn’t feel bad.

Her face softened, and her heart felt a lot warmer than normal. Her parents were also mildly surprised before they smiled in appreciation.

"We’ll do better," Atlas uttered, this time with determination. "I’ll do better as the big brother."

Hugo nodded. "Me too. I’ll do better."

"Penny, can you give us a chance?" Slater frowned, almost as if he wanted to cry. "I know I always picked on you before, but I’ll share my chocolates from now on! Just ask for permission... I’ll share."

Allison and Charles looked at each other before they turned to Penny.

"Penny, can you give us a chance to do better?" Charles inquired.

Allison huffed faintly. "Can you?"

For a moment, Penny didn’t answer, as she just looked at them quietly. Slowly, her lips curled up, and nodded.

Everyone smiled in satisfaction and heaved a sigh of relief. The boys then quickly took their spots in the family room just to talk about anything. As the family slowly moved on, Butler Jen, who was by the door, couldn’t help but smile.

’She really is the glue of the family,’ he thought. ’Back then, they were also like this until the young madam gave birth to the last child.’

Butler Jen quietly closed the family room to give the family some time to bond more.