Chapter 206: Then… why are you leaving?

Lying flat on the bed, Penny stared at the ceiling with a smile on her face. "I don’t regret it," she told herself, her heart felt a little light at the mere thought of it.

It was a strange feeling, considering she planned to leave this household as soon as the opportunity arose. And even if the opportunity didn’t, she planned to open one for herself. But now, she was postponing just a bit.

Just a little... to prolong living the life the old and wounded Penny dreamt day and night for many years.

Just a little bit to heal.

A little bit...

"And I know I might regret it later on," she whispered as her grin calmed into gentleness. "But well, let’s throw that worry for tomorrow to worry about."

At peace, Penny spread her arms and legs on the bed. "Moreover, I kinda like this bed now. It feels a lot softer than I remembered it." — she couldn’t really remember what her bed felt before, but she does remember the firm mattress she had as an adult. She could also remember the times she had to sleep on the floor out of exhaustion or just fall asleep on the desk countless times.

While she was thinking about the things she wanted to appreciate more in this life, a faint knock came on the door. Penny just lifted her head, waiting for the door to open.

Slowly, she saw Slater peeking his head in the door. "Penny?"

"Third brother?" she blinked. "What is it?"

"Well." Slater cleared his throat and stepped in, keeping the door a little bit open. "You didn’t come back to the practice, so I thought you didn’t feel well."

"Oh..." Penny’s lips formed an o-shape. "Heh. I don’t want to feel bad for First Brother, so I just want to take a nap."

"Ahh..." Slater rocked his head. "You’re going to take a nap?"

"Planning."

"I see."

"..." Penny studied Slater, waiting for him to leave and close the door, but he didn’t. He simply idled by the door. "Third brother, is there’s something wrong?"

"No, I mean, yes!" Slater cleared his throat. "First Brother worries me and Second brother as well."

"Why are you worried about Second Brother?" she tilted her head a little. "He is in his zone and if not for him, I’d lose all hope for this bet."

"I don’t mean that." Slated leaned against the jamb and held the knob close to him. "I’m saying First Brother might really kill him this time."

"Ah... that..." Penny sat up as her face turned sour. "You’re right. First Brother might kill him later... or not. Considering how exhausted First Brother looks like when I left, he seemed he would faint any moment. He would probably be snoring right after the practice game."

While Penny concluded what might happen or what might not, Slater kept his gaze on her.

"Also —" she stopped as she looked back at her third brother, only to catch the sadness and guilt in his eyes. "Third Brother, is everything alright?"

"Huh?"

"You’re giving me that look." Her heart quickly thudded, assuming Keith retaliated at Slater’s retaliation. "Did that Keith hurt you again?"

Slater quickly shook his head. "No, no! Penny, I’m fine!"

"You don’t look fine, though." She frowned. "Third Brother, are you still going to lie to me? Or should I find out what happened myself?"

There she goes again... acting like a big sister.

Slater pressed his lips again, swallowing down the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. "That’s not it, Penny," his voice was meek and reluctant, entering the room and stopping a step after the door. "It’s just... when I retaliated against Keith’s provocation, it’s because he mentioned something I really don’t like."

"Hmm?" Penny tilted her head to the side. "Didn’t you say it’s because of the bet that you got angry?"

"There’s about that bet, but that’s not everything that he said. There’s something else that triggered me." — because he knew there might be some truths in it. "So, I want to ask you something."

She pointed at herself, confused. "You want to ask me something about what that monkey said?"

"Yes." He nodded and took a deep breath, mustering the courage to hear the answer to this question. "Penny, are you ashamed to be a Bennet?"

"Huh?"

"I know I shouldn’t believe Keith, but I can’t help but wonder. I didn’t think much about it before, but I’m a little confused why you are still using the Reed family name?"

His question was something Penny never expected in this life. Not only because she didn’t think it was even worth breaking a sweat, but it didn’t matter to her at this point. After all, she decided on that based on her experience in her past life.

"Did that monkey say I’m using Reed’s family because I’m ashamed to be a Bennet?" she guessed, and he nodded while looking away to hide the bitterness in his eyes. "I used the name Reed because I didn’t want to make things complicated for all of us."

"Huh?" Slater slowly furrowed his brows, confused. "What do you mean, you didn’t want to make it complicated for all of us?"

"I mean, Nina is a Bennet, and everyone in school knows that Mom and Dad only have four children. So, if I attend school with the same surname, people would start asking if we’re relatives and sort of bother all of us. So, I thought I should use Reed," she explained with a shrug.

Slater opened and closed his mouth before he blurted out. "Then why would you always distance yourself when we’re walking with you?" His breath hitched when he realized what he just said.

Penny blinked adorably, tilting her head. "Because... I don’t think you like to be seen with me."

"Huh?"

’You hated it before,’ she replied in her mind. ’And always said it’s such a bother that everyone is looking at us like we’re clowns in a circus.’

"Either way, I do what I do to avoid inconvenience." She grinned reassuringly. "No hard feelings!"

Slater studied her bright smile and felt a little ease in his heart. His grip on the knob, however, tightened because the main reason he came in here wasn’t asked yet. After another deep breath, he mustered the courage to ask,

"Then... why are you leaving?"