Chapter 316: They won’t do that

"Penny owns the Prime Group."

For a second, Allen scanned the Bennet siblings with his wide, dilated eyes. He waited for them to laugh or tell him they were kidding, thinking he must have been gullible to believe such a thing.

But they didn’t.

They all stared back at him with the same plain look, a shared expression that underscored their familial connection.

"What?" Allen forced out a breath, his gaze falling on Penny. His lips quivered. "You are... the CEO... of the Prime Group?"

Penny, Atlas, and Hugo all nodded.

This time, Allen’s breath hitched, cutting his gasp short. He scanned the siblings’ faces again, searching for any sign of deception.

There wasn’t any.

Allen covered his gaping mouth, his eyes glued to Penny. "Oh my god... I’m so sorry, Miss Penny! I didn’t know!"

"I’m not surprised you didn’t know," Penny chuckled. "Not everyone knows. Only those close to me are aware that I’m the person behind it. So, there’s no need to apologize."

"I wonder..." Hugo leaned back. "Does Slater know about your company?"

"I don’t know," Penny shook her head. "He never asked. Though he knows I have a business, I guess?"

Hugo chuckled. "Don’t worry about it, Allen. Even I didn’t know at first."

"What?" Allen blurted out. "How is that possible?"

"Well, Penny isn’t the type to talk about what she’s doing with her life. All we know is that whatever she does, she achieves it, no matter what." Hugo shrugged.

To be fair, Hugo only found out about it two — maybe three — years ago. He discovered it when Penny visited the base where Hugo was deployed. The shock of seeing his sister there was phenomenal. To make a long story short, Penny secured a partnership deal with the military, offering an "opportunity" for those discharged, though everyone knew it was more of a trade.

"Don’t let anyone know about it," Atlas remarked, waiting for Allen to meet his gaze. "Penny doesn’t want to be bothered by entitled people."

Allen nodded profusely. "Of course, sir! I won’t tell anyone! Not even my girlfriend!"

"You have a girlfriend?" Atlas frowned, causing Penny to laugh.

"First Brother, Allen has a life of his own. He’s a man in his prime, and he also has great looks. So don’t be surprised if he has a girlfriend... or two."

"Miss Penny, I’m not like that!" Allen’s face turned red, flustered. After a moment, he cleared his throat and furrowed his brows. "But if Miss Penny is the respected T. Mouse, why is the general manager spreading the word that the Prime Group agreed to the partnership through him?"

The Bennet siblings casually shrugged.

"If we had an idea, you’d already know," Atlas muttered, his focus shifting back to Penny. But before he could say anything, Hugo spoke again.

"Penny, can you sue him for this? He is spreading misinformation."

"I could, but it’s unnecessary," Penny shrugged. "Sven isn’t worth the time. Besides, First Brother is already handling him. It’s not my place to step in, is it, First Brother?"

Atlas nodded. "That’s right."

"Then how did Sven get the approval from the Prime Group?" Allen asked.

"It’s the request I sent her," Atlas explained. "From what Penny said, it seems someone in her office sent it to the wrong address. Sven and I have the same office number but on different floors."

"What?!" Allen gasped in disbelief, while Hugo frowned.

"It was just a mistake in the mail, and Sven has been doing all the negotiations and hard work," Atlas said calmly. "But in the end, the Prime Group’s representative still needs to be present once we reach an agreement."

"In other words... he’ll do the work, and you’ll reap the benefits?" Hugo muttered, and Atlas just shrugged.

"He stole my letter," Atlas argued. "And he’s reaping a lot of benefits from pretending to be me in the negotiations. Might as well let him enjoy the candy before taking away his college fund as repayment."

"First Brother, what kind of logic is that?" Hugo asked in disbelief.

So much for not being petty, huh?

"Well, if Prime Group isn’t our problem, we still have Ito Motors to worry about, sir," Allen reminded them cautiously. "Ito Motors has been a long-time client, and they’re one of our biggest ones. We can’t raise our prices, especially when it’s us who need to compensate them."

Atlas looked at Allen before turning his attention to Penny. "Allen, get me the proposal."

"Uh... okay." Without question, Allen quickly went to Atlas’s desk and picked up the proposal their team had put together. Although Allen had reservations about the proposal, they had done it professionally without cutting corners.

When Allen handed it to Atlas, he passed it on to Penny.

"Take a look," Atlas said. "Do you think that’s a good enough proposal for Ito? Considering they’ve been leeching off our company for many years."

Curious, Hugo stretched his neck as Penny picked it up. "Wow..." he muttered. "I don’t understand a thing."

Penny chuckled at her second brother but focused on the proposal in her hand. Silence filled the air as she slowly flipped through the pages, all eyes on her.

Allen couldn’t help but glance at Atlas and Hugo, who were both waiting for her response. What surprised him the most was how patiently Atlas waited, as if whatever Penny had to say was crucial to him. If Allen had known that Penny used to tutor Atlas when she was thirteen, he would understand the respect Atlas was showing her.

"It’s good," Penny nodded approvingly, locking eyes with Atlas. "Actually, it’s perfect!"

Atlas nodded in satisfaction. "I know. I’m just showing you since the idea came from you."

"But Miss Penny, Sir Atlas, are we really going to raise our rates for Ito Motors?" Allen asked, setting aside other thoughts. "We’re not the only company in this business, and they could easily go to a rival. That would be a loss for us and a gain for others."

"Don’t worry." Penny smiled knowingly. "They won’t do that."

"Why?"

"Because Ito Motors will cling to us once the Prime Group and Global Prime Logistics enter a partnership agreement." Penny smacked her lips and cast Atlas a look. "Moreover, Brother Atlas needs to put some people in their place, as it seems they’ve forgotten who the head of the family is now."

The corner of Atlas’s lips curled up as he exchanged a meaningful look with Penny. Hugo, watching this, casually leaned back. If his brother and sister were wearing such expressions, he knew there was no need for him to know or do anything. They had it under control.

As for Allen, he darted his eyes between Penny and Atlas before gulping. ’For some reason, I feel bad for the general manager and Ito Motors. I don’t even know why I feel sorry for them, but the look on my boss’s face and his sister’s makes me thankful I’m on their side and not the enemy’s.’