Chapter 359: Why did he even take me here?

"What is that dude doing here?"

"Tch. Did he come to ruin the mood again?"

"Ah, shit. Hugo, make me more depressed."

"Ginnie, continue what you were saying about how the rain was actually my mother’s tears from disappointment."

One after another, the men, who had been seated obediently while listening to Hugo and Ginnie’s belittling, slowly rose from their seats. Penny slowly looked up, her mouth partially falling open.

’Wow, I’m amazed at how Ginnie could talk down to them so easily,’ Penny thought. ’These guys... they’re titans. I thought they were already tall before, but did they gulp down all the growth vitamins?’

In the past, Ginnie wouldn’t complete a sentence without stuttering or being nervous. But now, Penny agreed that her friend’s mouth was poisonous. These men were truly unbelievably tall. Hugo looked slightly short standing among them.

But that wasn’t important at the moment.

’Until now, their relationship with Max has never been mended,’ she thought, shifting her eyes to the approaching Max. The captain smiled subtly, and unlike the rest of the team, he welcomed Max with open arms. ’But then again, how could they mend their relationship when Max... is the owner of another major league team.’

Since Penny was into investing and accumulating her money, she had spread her wealth across different sorts of businesses. Therefore, it was inevitable for her to know that Max, the only heir of a software company, had bought a major league team a few years back.

That team, apparently, was the one that always went head-to-head with this team.

"Max! I thought you wouldn’t come!" the captain greeted happily, spreading his fingers and then clasping Max’s hand. He pulled the man until their shoulders bumped against each other, patting each other’s backs as if they were good friends.

"It’s you who invited me here," Max said as he moved away from the captain. "How could I not come?"

"Well, you make me sound like an important person. Haha!" The captain laughed, but his team then interrupted him.

"Captain, what’s the meaning of this?!" one of them asked solemnly. "Why is this guy here?"

"Is this the one you wanted to mention before Hugo and Penny came?" another one spoke up.

"Don’t tell me you invited him here because you’re planning to switch teams?"

"Hah! This is ridiculous."

One after another, the team expressed their dismay and jumped to conclusions. No one could blame them. Many of them knew Max, and they didn’t have a good relationship with him. Moreover, Max owned another major league team. Therefore, having him here could cause a ruckus and problems for all of them.

"Captain?" this time, Ginnie also spoke up. Her tone was quiet, but her face was serious. "Care to explain why he’s here? I know this is your party, but the entire basketball team is here. If the higher-ups hear about this, they won’t be happy."

The captain looked at everyone and sighed. "Max is here as a friend of mine, just like the rest of you. I know there have been unresolved issues in the past, but for this special occasion, I hope all my friends and those close to my heart can be gathered for once."

"Ahh..." Hugo nodded in understanding. As always, he was very quick to move on. "That’s fair. Hi, Max."

Max slowly shifted his gaze to Hugo, only to sneer. "Isn’t this the star player who chose to go to the military instead of using his skills and talents in sports?"

The second those words rolled out of Max’s mouth, the entire basketball team’s faces turned grim. They took that as another of Max’s attempts to stir up trouble. However, Hugo simply smiled.

"Yes, that’s me!" Hugo laughed proudly, his hands on his hips. "I chose to fight for the country so all my friends and family could live here peacefully. Haha! I’m proud of it."

"Haha." Max laughed dryly, shaking his head before moving his eyes over the team. He didn’t care much about their sentiments; he came here for his good friend — the only person who understood his dilemma. However, when he gazed at the rest of the team, his eyes inevitably caught the angel, seemingly trapped by those hoodlums.

When his eyes met hers, he blinked. Penny also blinked, and when she blinked once more, she flinched because Max was already in front of her. He was already holding her hand between them, his eyelashes fluttering coquettishly.

"Well, who might this beautiful damsel be?" His eyes shone brightly, and Penny could’ve sworn he was sparkling! "It seems you’re involved with the wrong crowd, Miss. My name’s Max, and you can always come to me for help. Please blink twice if you need help, and I’ll take you away from their wicked clutches."

*Clutch...*

Just as those words rolled off his tongue, Max felt someone clutch his shoulder from behind. Penny’s face soured, slowly shifting her eyes to the person behind Max. Hugo’s face was dark, invisible flames burning all over his body.

"Max..." Hugo called under his breath. "... I advise you not to blink, because you’ll never open your eyes again."

"Hey, hey, hey!" The captain timely stepped in, laughing nervously, knowing this was serious. "Haha. Come on, man. It’s my party. Please don’t make it a crime scene."

"We couldn’t even stand up from here or talk to her, but he... how dare he... hold her so shamelessly?"

"Even if she doesn’t want to date me, I’ll be a big brother to her who will pamper her."

"This dude really knows how to press my buttons."

Hugo’s anger quickly spread to the team, making Penny wonder if they were simply using this as an opening to fight Max or if they were just that petty.

Max frowned and looked back at Hugo, releasing Penny’s hand gently. "Ooh?" He studied the look on Hugo’s face before a look of realization appeared on his face. "Oh, I’m sorry, Hugo Bennet. I didn’t know she was your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" someone from the team seethed before he pointed at Max, making Penny and everyone flinch a little. "Max, how dare you say that?! Do you think someone like her would settle for Hugo!?"

Penny, the captain, Hugo, Ginnie, and Max were speechless. The rest? They were nodding!

"That’s his sister!" continued the person. "It’s Penny."

Max blinked and then looked at Penny. He blinked and blinked again, the image of that small piglet from the past overlapping with Penny’s.

"What in the world?!" he dramatically gasped. "Did you go under the knife?!"

Hugo’s eyes blazed. "That’s it. I’m sorry, captain."

Penny, on the other hand, pinched the bridge of her nose when Hugo suddenly grabbed Max’s back collar. The captain quickly hugged Hugo from behind while Ginnie pleaded with Hugo to do it elsewhere. The team, on the other hand, panicked but didn’t do anything.

It was chaos.

"Why..." Penny whispered helplessly. "... did he even bring me here?"

She had only been here for no more than ten minutes, but her stress level was fluctuating. Not just that, but what insulted her the most was how could they all not recognize her at first glance?! She was chubby before, not ugly!