Chapter 904: They know

The prize pool only had an impact at the start of the second half. However, now that the second half had concluded, only a few people mentioned it. No one actually paid much attention to it. Those who did only said that Penny’s company would be saved.

Everyone’s focus was on the game, as if the betting didn’t matter at the moment. Many in the audience were still cheering to motivate both teams, while others were simply curious to see if a miracle would happen.

Meanwhile, on Team Hugo’s bench...

"Great work, boys!" Charles clapped as his team replenished and rehydrated their energy. "We’re starting strong. Keep it up."

Charles glanced at the scoreboard, pleased that they had halved the gap. Considering they had only used the remaining time in the second half before they played offense, it was still a good result.

"There are still two quarters left. We’re not aiming for overtime," he continued, locking eyes with his players. "We’ll focus on closing the gap in this quarter and then surpassing them."

"No problem," Zoren nodded with a smile, his gaze drifting to the audience.

Despite his blurry vision, he knew exactly where to find his wife. Grinning, he gave her a thumbs-up, signaling that they had it under control.

Seeing this, Penny couldn’t help but smile. "Goodness. How can he still charm me from this distance?"

"Penny, I think even if your husband isn’t here, you’d still charm yourself by thinking about him," Slater blurted out, watching his sister blush and cup her face.

Nina, on the other hand, could only smile helplessly at Penny. She couldn’t really say anything, having witnessed this "dog food" for a long time. Surely, Penny had all the time in the world to admire her husband.

"I’m getting very amazed at how in love you are, Penny. I didn’t know you can be very affectionate more than you are to First Brother."

"Thanks! On a serious note," Penny suddenly stopped, and the blush on her cheek faded as she narrowed her eyes at the court. "It’s... interesting, isn’t it?"

"It is interesting," Haines responded. "That boy—the plus one—he’s making everything interesting."

He smacked his lips and raised his brows, glancing back at Penny. Penny smiled back and nodded.

"Very interesting," she murmured, a glint flickering in her eyes as the two of them turned their attention back to the court. ’In a way, this game has shown me what kind of person Jonathan is.’

***

Penny’s thoughts weren’t something that crossed her mind. Dean Pierson also shared the same sentiment as he glanced at Jonathan.

Since the beginning, Jonathan had portrayed himself as a kind gentleman who displayed remarkable patience and understanding toward people. It wasn’t like Dean wasn’t aware that the entire fan club situation irritated Jonathan. If anything, he knew Jonathan had wanted to leave right after Patricia, only to be interfered with and dragged around by everyone.

It irritated Dean, let alone Jonathan.

However, Jonathan had shown incredible patience through it all. He could still smile when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Even when Dean deliberately tested him by picking on him to see how long he could last, Jonathan still managed to keep his cool. Though there were signs of irritation, they were too mild to read anything deeper.

This game, however, had revealed more about Jonathan.

’He’s smart... maybe even a genius,’Dean thought to himself, eyeing Jonathan while Charles spoke to the team. ’I’m not a professional, but I’ve never seen anyone replicate someone’s moves so perfectly and in a short span of time at that.’

If Dean didn’t know better, he would mistake Jonathan for Max or even Hugo. Jonathan was able to copy them so perfectly that it was hard to tell who was who. Even Max was often surprised when Jonathan mirrored his moves.

’On top of that...’ Dean raised his brows and shifted his gaze to Charles, who was warning Jonathan to play it cool. ’He has more violations than the four of us combined.’

’He’s a little sadistic... maybe more than a little and someone who enjoys toeing the line. The complete opposite of what he lets everyone think.’

A glint flickered in Dean’s eyes as he recalled what he had seen on the court. Jonathan seemed to enjoy watching his opponents as they slowly descended into despair. The way Jonathan’s eyes lit up whenever the opponent showed signs of hope, only for him to extinguish it, was telling.

He liked it.

He enjoyed it.

It excited him more than the game itself.

It was the enemy’s reaction that fueled Jonathan now—not anything else.

Dean could be wrong, but... when had he ever been wrong? Except when it came to Penny’s matters, Dean was always right.

’But what’s the strangest is... him,’ Dean thought, glancing at Zoren, who had been quiet throughout the game.

"I can punch him in the face," Zoren suddenly commented, raising his hand. "Or dribble it there."

Dean’s face twitched upon hearing his uncle. ’Not that kind of weird. It’s impossible that Zoren doesn’t know about Jonathan. I heard he sabotaged this guy so he couldn’t attend the family gathering.’

Yet, from the start, Zoren hadn’t shown any reaction. There was no tension between Zoren and Jonathan, leading others to believe they didn’t know each other—or that this was the first time they were meeting.

Just as Dean was mulling over these thoughts, Zoren spoke again.

"It’s alright," Zoren said with a smile, slowly turning his gaze to Jonathan. "My brother can handle that."

Brother...?

Dean’s eyes widened, while Jonathan raised an eyebrow slightly. Dean stared at Zoren in disbelief at how casually he had said that. What surprised Dean even more—and Jonathan too—was the Bennet family’s lack of reaction. Even Charles didn’t flinch, as though Zoren’s remark hadn’t surprised him.

’Don’t tell me...’ Dean’s thoughts trailed off as he sized up the Bennets, realizing that they weren’t processing Zoren’s words the way he thought they would.

"Don’t worry," Zoren flashed Jonathan a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. "They know... except Dean, of course. But he knows now, so there’s no need to worry about that."

Jonathan maintained a smile, though it faltered a bit as he met Zoren’s gaze. "They... know, huh?"