Chapter 897: show them who the boss is.

Minutes ago...

"That’s my girl."

Penny smiled back at Zoren, nodding at him as he carefully released her hand. The two of them exchanged a look before Penny jerked her chin toward him. He smiled again before turning his back and walking away from her.

As Zoren walked away, Penny glanced at her Second Brother and First Brother, who was looking back at her. When her eyes landed on Dean, she instantly caught him staring with displeasure in his eyes. However, Dean was more focused on the hand Zoren had held.

Dean even hissed faintly before looking away from her and resuming his steps. He was the first to leave. Following him were Hugo and then Atlas, who had just walked beside Zoren.

Lastly, Penny’s eyes settled on Jonathan.

Jonathan stood still for a moment, eyes on her. The smile he had been carrying around Nina and the tolerance he had shown from the beginning until now were gone. All that was left was coldness as he blatantly held her gaze as if he were thinking about something.

’Earlier, I felt all my nerves tingle to the point it was painful,’ she thought, arching a brow at Jonathan. ’But... it’s not fear I feel for you.’

Penny hadn’t forgotten the belt he had sent her to taunt her. Even though Zoren had already done something to warn the guy, Penny wasn’t the type to let things go so easily. Unless, of course, they were Patricia, who was too pathetic to bother with—fighting with her was more of an insult to Penny than to Patricia.

After a moment of staring, Jonathan offered her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He didn’t say a word as he resumed his languid steps, following his team to the entrance.

’Meeting you today wasn’t in the plan,’she thought, keeping her eyes on his back. ’Although ignoring you was part of the plan once I found out you were here. Teasing you today would settle the score for that gift, wouldn’t it?’

The corners of her mouth curved into a smirk as a glint flickered in her eyes. Pulling herself off the wall, Penny walked in the opposite direction, away from where the team was headed.

"There was a betting pool, right?" she wondered to herself, feigning innocence in this betting pool as she hadn’t initially planned to do anything.

She had even asked Mark to replace Zoren, just because she couldn’t stomach watching her husband get into such a "brutal" game. But after seeing Zoren and feeling his enthusiasm, combined with the fact that Zoren wouldn’t probably experience normal school life, she no longer had the heart to stop him from playing and gaining such experiences.

The only thing she could do was make sure those guys knew they had to win—even if it killed them.

Surely, Penny was a madwoman.

*******

[Present Time]

As the shout caster started rambling into the mic, hyping up the already lively crowd, the players from both teams had a few seconds left before they returned to the "battlefield."

"Are you still not subbing anyone out?" Mark asked nervously, because now he really had to enter the game. ’Miss Penny just warned all of us that we have to win.’

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Mark felt a little panicky. However, all he received in return was an equally fiery look from everyone. Even Charles’s eyes were on fire—it was intimidating.

"Not yet," said Charles, raising a hand to silence Mark.

"Stay where you are," Dean remarked, glancing at his other teammates with sharp eyes. "I’m not going to let them off after what they just said."

Jonathan also glanced in Max’s direction, rocking his head. "It is unforgivable, and somehow, they managed to poke something in me that I didn’t know existed."

Charles was pleased with the team, as he could feel that they were now on fire, just like him. "All eyes here. Did you understand everything I said?"

Everyone nodded at him, reflecting the eagerness in Charles’s eyes.

"Don’t let those young boys think they can run their mouths and steal my princess’s life," Charles remarked through gritted teeth. "Get them and show them who the boss is."

"Yes!" Atlas, Hugo, Zoren, Dean, and even Jonathan answered in unison, their words coming along with a deep exhale.

"Now, go!" Charles waved them off. "Get into your positions and remember our strategy. We need to win this quarter or close the gap. Otherwise, it’ll be impossible. Treat them as your enemy— the types of people who will wake you up in your sleep for a stupid reason."

Charles clapped loudly. "Go, boys!"

With that, Hugo’s team turned their backs on Charles as they marched back into the court. As soon as they did, the flames of determination engulfed them, burning even more brightly. Although no one could see those flames, everyone could feel them.

Even their opponents stopped and turned in the direction of the other team.

"Hey," one of the opposing players whistled to the other. "Are these the same people?"

The person the first speaker was talking to could only gulp. "Why do I feel like if I came too close, I’d get punched instead?"

"If this is a fistfight, I would have raised the white flag by now."

"Ha ha... we’re still on the favorable side, aren’t we? Don’t get too intimidated. This is basketball, not wrestling." Despite this, the person saying it sounded nervous, as if even he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Right now, in their eyes, their opponents weren’t stepping onto the court to play basketball. They all seemed ready to exterminate them! They could’ve sworn that if they came too close, especially to Zoren, they’d get punched instead.

Even the referee walked back to create distance from them!

Max, hearing his team’s concerns while keeping his eyes on the opposing team, couldn’t help but sigh.

"Don’t get intimidated," he said, keeping his eyes on the opponents. "Even if they’re all determined to win now because the Prime Group’s ownership is on the line, that doesn’t mean their skills will improve overnight..."

Max trailed off, furrowing his brows as he saw the person standing in front of him. Even his teammates and the crowd went momentarily quiet as they realized Hugo wouldn’t match Max on a jump ball to gain possession of the ball.

The person standing in front of him was Atlas.