Chapter 51: Chapter 51: An Unwarranted Disaster
"A party? What party?"
Hector, Mr. Donovan, and Mrs. Donovan immediately fixed their gazes on Arabella and Eloise, their expressions demanding. It was as if they were saying, ’You’d better explain this, right now!’
Arabella’s hand, holding her chopsticks, froze slightly. "...Sis, you didn’t tell them?"
"I thought you did..."
The two of them: "..."
"Alright, to put it simply, Mr. Lynch from Radiant Entertainment invited Fourth Sis to a private party his mother is hosting next week."
Eloise Donovan quietly added, "He invited you too."
"I’m just a plus-one." After saying this, Arabella lowered her head and shoveled rice into her mouth, perfectly embodying the principle of ’better you than me.’
Eloise Donovan sighed helplessly and gave them a brief rundown of what had happened yesterday.
As soon as Hector Donovan heard the story, his alarm bells went off. He said with a sour, sarcastic tone, "This Mr. Lynch sure gets familiar quickly, doesn’t he? Handing out invitations the moment he sees a pretty girl. He’s got to be a playboy."
"Ah..." Arabella looked up at him and said innocently, "So, Second Brother, are you saying I’m not as pretty as Fourth Sis?"
"..."
Hector Donovan was speechless. After a moment, he snapped, flustered and angry, "The adults are talking. Kids, don’t interrupt!"
"Ooh~"
’But I’m clearly the same age as Fourth Sis.’
"Pfft..." Mr. and Mrs. Donovan and the others laughed for a bit, but seeing Hector Donovan’s expression darken, they quickly decided to quit while they were ahead.
"Ahem, Eloise, what are you thinking? Do you want to go?"
Eloise Donovan poked at a meatball in her bowl, her head lowered. "I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet."
Despite what she said, Eloise undoubtedly still wanted to go.
Her first encounter with Zane Lynch hadn’t been particularly pleasant, but from the snippets of conversation she’d overheard from those around him, she could tell he cared a great deal about his family.
The Lynch Family was indeed very good to Cassandra Lynch, to the point of being indulgent.
Eloise wanted to meet them, but she was also afraid to. No matter how conflicted she felt, she knew that eventually, she would have to summon her courage and face reality.
Although the members of the Donovan Family weren’t related to her by blood, they had lived with her for over a decade and knew her personality well enough.
After exchanging glances, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan suddenly turned to Hector Donovan, their eyes conveying their burning desire to go to the party and watch the drama unfold in real time.
Hector Donovan: "..." ’I really am in your debt, aren’t I!’
And so, everyone was overjoyed, all agreeing to the arrangement of staying in Jarden with Hector Donovan. The only one who got the short end of the stick was Justin Donovan, who was slaving away and working overtime far away in Stroven City.
However, Justin Donovan probably wasn’t in the mood to deal with the family members who had abandoned him to go wild.
At that moment, he was looking at Claire Bishop, who had burst into his office in a flood of tears. Further away, a man sat uninvited on the sofa, looking as comfortable and relaxed as if he were in his own home. Justin felt a splitting headache coming on, and even his stomach, which had missed its meal, began to ache in protest.
He felt physically unwell and emotionally frustrated, which made the sight of these two people extremely irritating.
Justin Donovan swiveled his chair, dodging Claire Bishop’s outstretched hand. He offered a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "The two of you barge into my office so aggressively with such a large entourage. Is there some urgent matter?"
The man on the sofa—none other than Jasper Jacobs, the ’outlaw’ Arabella had mentioned several times—sized up Justin Donovan with an expression one might use to appraise goods.
"So you’re the one who helped her evade my men?"
Justin Donovan was dumbfounded. Ever since the day Claire Bishop had shown up at his house unannounced, tried to pin her pregnancy on him, and then fled in fright after being ruthlessly exposed, the two of them hadn’t seen each other again. How could he have possibly helped her evade a chase?
Perhaps the shock and confusion on Justin Donovan’s face were too genuine. Jasper Jacobs frowned and impatiently offered two hints: "Crovia. Hotel."
Justin Donovan instantly understood what these two were here for. He tapped his fingers leisurely on the desk and retorted, "Is that what she told you?"
"I don’t need her to say a word. I can find things out for myself."
It turned out that this immensely powerful man, after ’dealing with’ the Lawyer Douglas who had sheltered Claire Bishop, wasn’t satisfied. He decided to follow the trail and unearth everyone who had helped her along the way, pulling them all up by the roots to completely cut off her support system.
For an unlucky guy like Justin Donovan, this was purely a case of being caught in the crossfire.
Jasper Jacobs had indeed obtained the surveillance footage from that night. He found that Claire Bishop, while being chased by his men, had panicked and burst into the room Justin Donovan was in. Using that room as cover, she had successfully escaped.
Therefore, in Jasper Jacobs’s eyes, Justin Donovan had become one of Claire Bishop’s accomplices.
Justin Donovan, finally understanding: "..." ’Are you fucking kidding me?!’
"Mr. Jacobs, since you’ve seen the surveillance footage, you should know that I was dead drunk that night and completely unconscious. She was only in that room for a moment, no more than ten minutes in total."
"I know."
"You know, and you still..."
"But you’ve known each other since you were children. When she ran into trouble, you were the first person she thought to ask for help."
Justin thought, ’It’s not that I was the first person she thought to ask for help; she was just after my family’s status and wanted to make me the father of another man’s child.’
"We may have known each other a long time ago, but we’ve been apart for many years and haven’t been in contact. Our personalities are no longer as naive and pure as they once were. I had no idea she was at that hotel that night, I didn’t even recognize her, let alone help her escape from pursuers."
Justin Donovan’s eagerness to disassociate himself from Claire Bishop did not please Jasper Jacobs; instead, it made him even more suspicious.
"You really don’t have any feelings for her at all."
Justin Donovan was terrified that after finally getting rid of her, one careless slip would send him right back to square one. He hurriedly argued, "I’m not fortunate enough to handle someone like her. I’ll have to trouble you to take on that burden, Mr. Jacobs."
Who would have thought that the other man would still be dissatisfied after hearing this? "Are you questioning my taste? The woman I personally molded is outstanding in every way, yet you feel nothing for her at all. Are you blind?"
Justin Donovan: "..." ’No, wait, dude. I’m trying to distance myself from your woman and prove my innocence. It’s one thing for you to be unhappy about it, but now you’re blaming me instead? You bastard, don’t tell me you have some kind of cuckold fetish!’
Justin Donovan had originally thought that since Serena was so wary of this man, it would be best not to make an enemy of him unless absolutely necessary, to keep his sister from worrying.
But now it seemed this man was exactly as Serena had described: a self-righteous, unreasonable psycho.
Justin Donovan tried to hold back, but he was unwilling to swallow this injustice. He decided... he was done holding back!!!
"To each their own, I suppose. A thousand people have a thousand different tastes. But I prefer someone with whom the feelings are mutual, someone I can connect with. As for someone like Miss Bishop..."
Justin Donovan glanced pointedly at Claire Bishop’s now-unmistakable baby bump and said with a smirk, "I think you should be the one to enjoy her, Mr. Jacobs. As for me, I’ll respectfully decline."
