Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Damn Old Man
Arabella Donovan was unaware of the Donovan Family’s concerns for her. After carefully sorting through recent events, she had a theory.
The moment she saw Hector Donovan’s forehead light up, Jacqueline Jennings had just been arrested—and Jacqueline was the main culprit behind Hector’s tragedy in the original story.
Then there was Ken Young. Though he was injured and in the hospital, his wife and brother-in-law—the ones who had embezzled funds and fled, leaving him and his daughter destitute and saddled with enormous debt—had been arrested. They would soon face prison time, and the fates of both father and daughter were now completely rewritten.
’So, does this mean I can earn Merit by helping these poor souls change their predetermined, tragic fates? And this Merit is what lets me see things ordinary people can’t.’
But this was just Arabella’s theory, after all. She still needed to confirm if it was true. For now, the most urgent matter was the situation with her fourth sister.
"Mom, does Eloise’s school have weekends off?"
"They do. They get every weekend off. Why do you ask?"
Arabella linked arms with Mrs. Donovan and grinned. "We’ve been here for over a week, and I miss her. Can she come over this weekend to hang out with me?"
Mrs. Donovan knew Arabella’s real purpose, but not wanting to arouse suspicion, she feigned annoyance. "Am I not good enough company for you?"
"Of course you are, but Eloise and I are closer in age, so we have more in common. Come on, Mom, just say yes!" Arabella whined, tugging on Mrs. Donovan’s arm.
As expected, Mrs. Donovan gave her a resigned ’I don’t know what to do with you’ look and nodded. "Fine, you can ask, but it’s up to Eloise whether she wants to come or not."
"You’re the best, Mom! I’ll go call Eloise right now."
’Perfect! I’ll call Mr. Rhodes in a little bit and ask him to take me and Eloise to Radiant Entertainment this weekend. Once the Lynch Family sees Eloise’s face, I refuse to believe they’ll remain indifferent.’
Her thoughts struck Hector Donovan like a lightning bolt, leaving him utterly thunderstruck. He immediately scowled and asked, "Are you that close with Caspian Rhodes?"
"Not really... that close, I guess."
"Then how do you have his contact information?"
Arabella’s eyes widened. "Hector, how did you know I have Mr. Rhodes’s contact information?"
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan’s sharp gazes snapped toward him. A cold sweat broke out on Hector’s brow. "I saw your phone screen."
Arabella looked down and realized she had unconsciously pulled up Caspian Rhodes’s contact information.
"When did you two exchange contact information?"
Hector just couldn’t figure it out. He had been watching her like a hawk these past few days, never letting Arabella out of his sight. How did that pig still manage to slip through his grasp?
"Oh, that? I ran into Mr. Rhodes when I went to the bathroom at the hospital earlier. He invited me to visit his cousin’s company."
Steam was practically coming out of Hector’s ears. "Why would he randomly invite you to his cousin’s company? He’s clearly up to no good! You’re not allowed to go."
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan also found Caspian Rhodes’s actions a bit strange. But considering he was inviting Arabella to the Lynch Family’s company, they thought about it and decided to wait and see how things played out.
Arabella was surprised by Hector’s suddenly firm attitude, but after thinking it over, she decided to tell him the truth.
When he learned that Caspian Rhodes had also been present when Arabella performed a character reading for Ken Young, and now wanted her to go to Radiant Entertainment to check the feng shui for his cousin, Hector was, for once, at a loss for words.
At that point, the others also realized why Arabella suddenly wanted Eloise to come keep her company.
In fact, a few days earlier, Justin Donovan had already sent them the information he had gathered on the Lynch Family.
It was more or less the same as what Arabella had mentioned before, which made them even more convinced that the Lynch Family were Eloise’s true blood relatives.
They had originally planned to bring Eloise over in a few days, but before they could even act, Arabella had already infiltrated the enemy camp.
It was a strange feeling, being carried to victory without lifting a finger.
Seeing that Hector was still about to object, Mr. Donovan coughed lightly and was the first to compromise. "You can go, but you have to take more people with you."
"I’ll have Eloise go with me."
"That’s not enough. You’re both girls. What if something happens..."
"It’s fine, it’s fine! Don’t worry. If something really does happen, I’ll protect Eloise."
"That’s not..." Mr. Donovan choked up. He thought of his youngest daughter’s freakish, miraculous strength and swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
And so, the matter was settled. Arabella happily ran off to contact Eloise, completely oblivious to her brother’s sulky gaze.
That afternoon, just as Sheldon Webb arrived to pick up Hector for a last-minute gig, Hector happened to get a call from his oldest brother.
"What’s going on? Since when are you and Arabella so chummy with that guy from the Rhodes Family?"
Justin Donovan had just found out that Caspian Rhodes had pulled quite a few strings behind the scenes to get Jacqueline Jennings arrested, only to then hear from Eloise that Caspian had invited them to visit the Lynch Family’s talent agency.
His sharp instincts immediately told him something was off, so he quickly called to get the details.
The moment the topic came up, Hector started grinding his teeth. "It’s not me, it’s Arabella! I suspect that bastard has designs on her!"
There was a long silence from the other end of the line.
Just as Sheldon Webb thought the other party was also rendered speechless by his artist’s paranoid, hair-trigger reactions, he suddenly heard a familiar teeth-grinding sound from the other end. "That damn old man!"
Hector nodded in deep agreement, not seeing anything wrong with that at all.
Sheldon Webb: "..."
’Wait, if I remember correctly, Caspian Rhodes is about the same age as my artist, right? If he’s an old man, then what does that make you guys?’
’This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone curse another person out and end up insulting themselves. I really don’t get you guys with your sister complexes!’
The night Eloise landed in Jarden, Arabella called Caspian Rhodes and arranged to visit Radiant Entertainment the next morning.
Hector happened to have work that day and couldn’t get away, so he could only watch with fire in his eyes as Caspian Rhodes personally drove over to pick up the two sisters.
The person who received Arabella and the others was a young man in his early twenties. He wore a crisp black suit, had a thin frame, and wore a pair of square, black-rimmed glasses. His overly long bangs fell over the edge of the frames, hiding most of his eyes and giving him a somewhat gloomy appearance.
"Hello, Mr. Rhodes. Mr. Lynch is still in a meeting. He asked me to take you all to his office to wait. His meeting should be over in another ten minutes."
Caspian Rhodes nodded at him, then turned to introduce him to Arabella and Eloise. "This is my cousin’s assistant. You can just call him Assistant Collins."
’An assistant? Assistant Collins? Oh~ so this is that obsessive assistant who’s secretly in love with Eloise’s cousin?’
