Chapter 66: Chapter 66: There Are Always Peasants Trying to Harm My Goddess
PLOP—
The sound of the falling tear pulled Eloise Donovan back to her senses. She hadn’t even realized her face was already streaked with tears.
Realizing she’d lost her composure, Eloise Donovan quickly wiped her face and said, embarrassed, "I’m sorry, I got tears on your photograph."
Felicity Lister’s heart ached for her. "It’s fine, it’s fine. The album is waterproof. You like this photograph, don’t you?"
"I just think it’s a beautiful photograph. The person is lovely, and the scenery is, too."
"Since you like it, would you like to take it with you?"
Eloise Donovan froze. "C-Can I?"
"Of course. We have the negatives at home, and we made plenty of prints back then. Taking just one won’t be a problem." Felicity Lister couldn’t help but sigh as she spoke. "Regardless, for you to look so much like Rona... it must be fate. Please, consider this photo a small gift."
Whatever the Lynch family’s motives were, the offer was an immense temptation for Eloise Donovan.
Eloise Donovan pressed her lips together. In the end, she couldn’t resist the temptation. She took the photograph from Felicity Lister and murmured, "Thank you."
Watching this unfold, the smile on Cassandra Lynch’s face froze again.
She belatedly realized she had relaxed too soon. The Lynch family’s attitude toward Eloise Donovan was truly astonishing.
’It’s all because of that face!’ Cassandra Lynch’s eyes, fixed on Eloise Donovan, were filled with a venomous hatred.
’If I’d known it would come to this, I should have listened to that man and eliminated the problem at its source, once and for all.’
Eloise Donovan was completely absorbed by the photograph of her parents and didn’t notice Cassandra Lynch’s strange expression, but Arabella Donovan saw it clearly.
’The way Cassandra Lynch is looking at my sister is terrifying. She can’t be planning something dangerous, can she?’
The expressions on the faces of the Donovans changed slightly. They all had the same thought: they needed to hire more bodyguards for Eloise Donovan.
Caspian Rhodes’s eyes narrowed dangerously. ’Just as I thought. I need to deal with that woman as soon as possible.’
The two Donovan sisters didn’t stay on the second floor for long, but they had gone up with members of the Sullivan and Lynch families, and the commotion they’d caused had piqued the curiosity of many.
So, when the two of them came downstairs, the noisy atmosphere below fell silent for a moment before resuming.
Most of the guests were Jarden locals who had no business dealings with the Donovan family. Unsure of who the sisters were, they hesitated to approach them. Some people, however, had no such qualms.
"You two are finally back downstairs! How did it go? They didn’t give you a hard time, did they?"
Arabella Donovan looked completely baffled. "Give us a hard time? Who? And why would they?"
"The Lynches and the Sullivans. You have no idea—the rumors are flying like wildfire out here!"
Arabella Donovan paused, her curiosity piqued. "What rumors?"
"That..." Melanie Yates glanced around, and once she was sure no one was paying attention to them, she lowered her voice and answered, "That your sister might be the real Lynch child."
"Ooooh..."
’Gossip travels fast. My sister and I only went upstairs for a minute, and the news has already spread through the entire party?’
Arabella Donovan’s response frustrated Melanie Yates. "So, is it true or not?"
Arabella Donovan gave a slight smile and asked in return, "Well, do you want her to be?"
Melanie Yates was taken aback. After a long moment, she glanced at Eloise Donovan and said awkwardly, "Of course I want her to be."
"Because of Cassandra Lynch?"
"You could say that, but it’s mainly because of Miss Sullivan."
"Miss Sullivan?" Eloise Donovan looked at Melanie Yates in surprise. "You knew my... I mean, you knew Mrs. Lynch?"
"I’m the same age as you; how could I have known her? My mother mentioned her before."
Melanie Yates paused. "That Mrs. Lynch was something of a legend in Jarden back in her day. Even someone like my mother, who isn’t a fan of the high-society social scene and didn’t even know Miss Lister well at the time, would always have a few extra things to say about her. You can just imagine how beloved she must have been."
"How could a two-faced little witch like Cassandra Lynch ever be worthy of such a charming woman? But your sister..."
Melanie Yates’s voice grew quieter and quieter, until it trailed off completely.
But Arabella Donovan broke into a grin, understanding immediately. "Ooooh~ You think my sister is charming, too, and just about worthy of being Miss Sullivan’s daughter?"
"...At least she’s more worthy than Cassandra Lynch!"
"I never thought your opinion of my sister had gotten so high."
Arabella Donovan’s comment hit a nerve, and Melanie Yates bristled. "What are you talking about? I just... I just heard that your sister looks a lot like Miss Sullivan did when she was young, and that they were born in the same hospital. That’s all... That’s all..."
Arabella Donovan chuckled but decided to quit while she was ahead and stopped teasing her.
"So, does everyone think my sister is the Lynch’s child now?"
"Well, not everyone," Melanie Yates snorted, pointing to a spot not far in front of them. "Isn’t that a stubborn fool who won’t give up until he’s hit a brick wall?"
Arabella and her sister looked in the direction Melanie Yates was pointing and saw Gregory Sherwood helping Mrs. Sherwood down the stairs.
Mrs. Sherwood looked dazed. Clearly, Eloise Donovan’s appearance had been a significant shock to her.
Even though she couldn’t yet confirm if Eloise Donovan was connected to Rona Sullivan, it made her feel a certain aversion toward Cassandra Lynch.
Just as they were looking over, a young man about Gregory Sherwood’s age rushed toward them.
"Cousin, Auntie, what’s going on? I heard that... I heard..."
Gregory Sherwood had never had a good impression of this so-called distant cousin. Hearing him hem and haw without getting to the point, he scowled impatiently. "Heard what?"
"I heard there’s a woman at the party who looks just like the late Mrs. Lynch, and... and that she and Cassandra were born in the same hospital."
At this, Mrs. Sherwood finally reacted. "That’s true."
Walter Holloway immediately grew frantic. "How could there be such a coincidence? That person must have planned this deliberately, using the name of the deceased to fool everyone."
"As for why that woman looks like Mrs. Lynch—it’s a big world, strange things happen! There are tons of people who look alike; does that mean they’re all related? Besides... besides, plastic surgery is so advanced these days. If you have the money and the determination, it would be easy to make someone look exactly like Mrs. Lynch. Auntie, Cousin, you have to talk to the Lynches. Don’t let them get tricked by that con artist and wrong an innocent person."
You could tell the man was truly frantic, rattling off that long speech without even stopping for a breath. Even Arabella Donovan couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of awe.
’Now that’s some impressive self-brainwashing. No matter when, where, or what, he can make it all logically consistent and find a new angle to defend her. To sum it up: a million things can be wrong, but it’s always someone else’s fault. His goddess is infallible; there’s always some villain trying to take her down. He perfectly upholds the basic professional code of a simp. Don’t tell me this guy is another one of the fish in Cassandra Lynch’s pond?’
