PAMPERED BY MY THREE BROTHERS: THE RETURN OF THE NEGLECTED HEIRESS Chapter 1: Nursery

"This can't be real." Penny stared intensely at the marriage certificate held between her fingertips. "When on earth did I get married?"

Penny scrutinized the documents in her grasp. Although the woman pictured on the certificate was undeniably her, the man was a total stranger. She had no memory of ever crossing paths with him. He possessed a perfectly balanced face with symmetrical features and a powerful, chiseled jawline that gave him a ruggedly masculine appearance. His deep-set, almond-shaped eyes were dark and strikingly magnetic.

While Penny was lost in her confusion, her phone began to vibrate.

"Hey! How was the big wedding?" a voice chirped from the other end.

"As it turns out, I'm actually married."

"Congratulations!"

Penny knit her brows, realizing Yugi hadn't grasped the gravity of her statement. "Yugi, I need you to run a background check on a man named..." She shifted her gaze to the name of her supposed spouse. "Zoren Pierson."

"Who is he?"

"That is exactly what I'm trying to figure out. I'll get back to you later." Penny hung up and stared at the legal document once more.

She had spent her entire life anticipating the moment she could marry and finally escape her household. Her desire to leave the family was common knowledge; it was the best path for everyone involved, especially herself. However, Penny harbored a massive secret that no one suspected.

This was not her first time living this life.

She had vowed that during this incarnation, she would live according to her own rules. Yet, that resolution was now being threatened by the man officially listed as her husband.

"I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse, but I know I need to handle it," she murmured, her eyes growing heavy. "I cannot permit myself to repeat the blunders of my previous life."

Her first existence had concluded in absolute ruin. Recalling those memories, Penny reminded herself that she couldn't afford a single mistake this time around.

*

*

*

[The end and the beginning of her journey.]

"I... I'm not responsible for this."

Penny gazed at the man sitting across from her behind the glass partition. She immediately noticed his unkempt beard, disheveled hair, and the heavy shadows beneath his eyes. This man was Atlas, her eldest brother and the former powerhouse CEO of Global Prime Logistics.

"Brother, please... just this once." Penny pressed her palm against the glass, her eyes welling with tears. "... please, you have to believe me. I didn't do it. I'm innocent. It wasn't me."

Atlas slowly raised his olive-brown eyes. Though they still held their natural charm, it was overshadowed by a profound sense of despair and futility.

"Innocent?" he whispered. "Penny, you wouldn't be trapped behind that glass if you were truly innocent."

"No." Tears streamed down her cheeks as her frame trembled with desperation. "I am telling the truth. Please... help me."

"Even if you are, Penny, it's far too late." Atlas gave a bitter, hollow smile. "The deeds are done, and now we are all forced to pay the price."

A soft sob broke through her lips as she shook her head, refusing to accept his words.

"Hugo is gone, and Slater... his career is destroyed." Tears gathered in his eyes as he looked at Penny. Once beautiful, she now looked aged by the months of imprisonment following her trial. "Our lives are ruined, Penny. The world views us as terrorists and corrupt enemies of the state. You confirmed that the moment you signed your confession."

"But I only confessed so they wouldn't come after you—"

"That's enough!" Atlas struck the glass with his fist, his teeth clenched in a fit of rage. "I knew you resented us, but you... you went too far. Even after being found guilty, you still cling to this lie of innocence."

"Because it's the truth!"

"No! Be quiet!" he bellowed, causing her to jump. He took a ragged breath and leaned in closer. "Penny, listen to me. Just... explain why. I just want to understand your motive."

Penny’s heart plummeted. She bit her trembling lip, the salt of her tears mixing with her breath. Looking at her broken brother, she realized there was nothing left to say. She had told him the whole truth already, but he simply refused to listen. He had never believed a word she uttered.

"I'm already facing the death penalty..." she sobbed, placing both hands against the cold glass. "And yet, I still held onto the hope that just once... you would take the side of your biological sister. Just this once."

Her breath hitched, her vision blurred by a fresh wave of tears. She hadn't asked for much. She never had. Her only wish was to be embraced by her brothers and treated like a member of the family. But even now, at the very end, he couldn't offer her that.

Fine.

"I hate you," she whispered, her voice trembling but resolute. "I hate every single one of you... there. You have your reason. Does that bring you peace? I may be in this cell, but I'm not going down alone. You, your brothers, and that fake little sister you love so much are all coming with me!"

Atlas let out a mocking laugh as he recoiled. "I knew it... it was all just jealousy."

"Yes, I am jealous!" Penny screamed, letting all her bottled-up anger explode. "I was traded away before my own mother could even hold me! I was raised by an abusive aunt who treated me like a commodity! And when I thought my luck had changed because my real family found me, you, Hugo, and Slater made sure I felt like an outsider every single day! You constantly showed me that you preferred a stranger over your own flesh and blood!"

"I tried everything, Atlas. Everything! I studied and worked ten times harder than anyone else just so you might notice me. I took martial arts to connect with Hugo and forced myself to learn music and art just to have something to say to Slater!" Her voice broke as she slammed her fists against the glass. "So yes, I am jealous, because Nina never had to work for your affection!"

"You truly are something else." Atlas laughed in disbelief, shaking his head. "I knew you were trouble the very day you stepped into our home."

He inhaled deeply, processing her outburst. "Well..." He ran his tongue along his teeth, momentarily lost for words. "At least I finally understand now."

"Atlas..."

"I've been told your execution date is set." He gave her a pained, bitter smile. "I... I don't know what to tell you, Penelope. I just finished making the arrangements for Hugo's funeral, so... I'll find you a decent place to rest. But it won't be alongside our parents or Hugo."

Having forced those words out, Atlas turned and walked away. Penny remained in her chair, staring blankly into space long after he had vanished.

What she told him was the truth, but it was only a small part of the story. In her desperate search for her brothers' approval, Penny had been manipulated by a truly evil person. She had been so blinded by her needs that she thought she was doing the right thing, only for her entire family to be framed for crimes they didn't commit.

To protect them, Penny had shouldered all the guilt. However, her sacrifice only kept her brothers out of prison; it couldn't save their business, their reputations, or their futures.

That was the final time anyone visited Penny before the day of her execution.

*****

Walking slowly toward her final destination, Penny kept her head down. She had lost all sense of time, and her spark of life had nearly vanished. As she was seated in the cold metal chair, she watched the guards secure the straps around her limbs. Once they finished, she was left alone in a small, sterile room with nothing but a mirror in front of her.

For the first time in months, she saw her own reflection. She looked wretched, broken, and completely defeated. She looked exactly like Atlas had during their last meeting.

"The procedure will begin now," a voice announced through the intercom in the corner of the ceiling. "Do you have any final words?"

A faint smile touched her lips as she whispered, "If there is a next life, I'd rather be an orphan than their sister." Penny barely finished her sentence before a massive surge of electricity tore through her body, from her brain to her toes.

The pain was agonizing, but her voice failed her. She could only grit her teeth as her body convulsed. She didn't know how much time passed, but she remembered the smell of singed flesh before everything faded into the void.

******

The gentle sound of a lullaby pulled her from a deep, dark sleep.

Penny frowned even before she opened her eyes.

As far as she knew, she should be dead from the electric chair. There was no surviving that! Her life was supposed to be over. Confusion swirled in her mind until a shocking realization silenced her internal chaos.

Penny gasped, trying to sit up out of instinct. However, she quickly discovered that she couldn't move her arms or legs.

"What is happening?" she thought, trying to speak. To her horror, the only sound that came out was a soft baby coo.

Penny froze as an unfamiliar face appeared above her. It was then she noticed the soft glow of a nursery lamp.

"Hello there, little one," a nurse whispered softly. "Your mommy will be here to get you very soon, okay?"

Penny stared at the woman in shock, eyes darting around the room as she struggled against the tight swaddling blankets.

She was stunned by the sudden, impossible truth.

"Hik... hik... wah!"

Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of a baby's cry—a cry she realized was coming from her own throat. Before she could process it, the other infants in the nursery joined in, their voices rising together in a loud, wailing chorus.