PAMPERED BY MY THREE BROTHERS: THE RETURN OF THE NEGLECTED HEIRESS-Chapter 1777: It’s you who ruined yours.

[Bennet Mansion]

"Madam?" Butler Jen paused at the kitchen entrance, frowning slightly when he saw Allison inside, busy with food prep.

Allison glanced over and offered him a warm smile. "Butler Jen, didn’t Penny give you some pills to help you sleep? How come you’re still up so late?"

"Haha." Butler Jen stepped in with a soft laugh. "Well, I’m a little worried I’ll get dependent on them, so I’ve been skipping doses now and then."

As he approached the counter, his eyes moved to the food containers she was packing. "More side dishes?"

"For Penny and Nina," Allison said with a wink. "Penny’s always busy with her company, and Nina’s planning her wedding. I worry that when they come home, they just end up eating fast food."

"Madam," Butler Jen chuckled. "I’m sure Sir Zoren and Sir Finn are making sure they’re well-fed."

"I know, but..." Allison sighed deeply, meeting his eyes. "Maybe I just can’t sleep." freewebnoveℓ.com

She pressed her lips together, shrugged, and continued packing the food containers. "Charles has been so busy lately. I don’t know... maybe I’m just not used to him not coming home anymore."

A small smile formed on Butler Jen’s face. "It has been a while since Sir Charles stayed out for the night. Do you need help, Madam?"

"Yes." She smiled again.

And so, Butler Jen helped Allison with the food she had prepared—meals she intended to deliver to her daughters the next day. His presence helped ease the uneasiness that had been keeping her awake. Just having someone to talk to made the night feel less heavy.

After a while, Allison finally finished.

"Thank you for your help, Butler Jen," she said as they stepped out of the kitchen.

"It’s nothing, Madam," he replied, still smiling gently. "It helped me too. I haven’t had much to do lately, and the Third Young Master moving out has reduced some of my tasks."

Allison pressed her lips into a thin line. "The kids have grown up. The house feels too quiet these days."

"Indeed," he sighed, remembering how loud the mansion used to be when everyone was around. But tonight... it was too quiet.

The two fell silent, pausing in the mansion’s lobby. Allison gave him a small nod.

"Good night, Butler Jen."

"Good night, Madam," he replied with a slight bow.

Allison studied him for a moment before turning and making her way upstairs. Butler Jen remained where he was, watching her figure take the stairs. After a moment, he smacked his lips lightly and returned to his quarters to rest.

---

When Allison reached the second floor and headed toward her bedroom, she paused beside a decorative stand. Her eyes landed on a row of photo frames. Her brow rose slightly, and her feet moved on their own.

She picked up one of the frames, and a soft smile spread across her face. It was a family photo, taken years ago—back before Penny had left for abroad with Haines.

"They’re still so young in this," she whispered, her gaze tender. "I can’t believe how grown up they all are now."

Even though Atlas and Hugo looked like young adults in the photo, it had still been a while. Allison hadn’t spent much time reminiscing—work at the restaurant kept her busy during the day.

Still, the silence at night often brought back old thoughts.

"I should ask them to come home sometime," she murmured. "Maybe a family outing."

Nodding to herself, she carefully returned the photo to its spot. But just as she turned to leave—

Clang!

She flinched. Something had fallen and shattered. Turning back, her eyes landed on a specific photo frame now lying face down on the floor.

She looked around. All the windows were shut. No wind. No reason it should’ve fallen.

"That’s weird..." she whispered, crouching to pick it up.

She was careful not to cut herself on the shattered glass, but when she turned the frame over and saw which photo it was, her brows furrowed deeply.

It was a portrait of young Penny, hugging little Chunchun and Mouse, with Tiana perched on her head.

"..." Allison stared at it, and her chest tightened. "Penny..."

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she continued holding the photo. But as she shifted, she hissed in pain.

"Aw," she winced as a drop of blood hit the floor. A shard had nicked her finger.

"Madam?" a voice called—Butler Jen, who had been on his way back to his room when he heard the sound of shattering glass.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and spotted her crouched beside the broken frame. His brows drew together as he approached, noticing the blood on her finger.

"Butler Jen," she said, looking up. "For some reason... I feel like something bad is going to happen."

Allison wasn’t usually superstitious. But somehow, this moment twisted her gut. There was an old belief: when someone’s photo breaks, something bad will happen to them.

And more than that, her maternal instincts were twisting so much it hurt.

---

At the same time, on an island...

A man marched toward a waiting car and stopped beside the backseat. The window rolled down, revealing Jonathan’s face.

"Sir, we’ve stopped the aircraft," the man reported. "But... we didn’t retrieve the code. Will that be alright?"

Jonathan let out a shallow breath and shrugged. "It can’t be helped. I’ll claim it—even without it."

"Yes, sir."

With that, the man stepped back and boarded the next vehicle. Jonathan rolled the window up, and soon, his vehicle—along with several others—rolled out of the mansion’s driveway.

As they hit the road, Jonathan turned his head slightly, catching sight of the massive fire burning in the sky in the distance.

"Penelope," he whispered, a smirk curling the edge of his lips. "I warned you... you should’ve stayed away."

He had meant it when he said the Bennet family wasn’t part of his plans in this life. But she didn’t listen. She came anyway. So even if they weren’t part of his plan... they were meddling now.

"It was fun playing mind games with you," he murmured, turning away from the blaze in the sky. "But this is where it ends."

’In this lifetime, it’s not me who ruined you,’ he added in his mind. ’It’s you who ruined yours.’

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