Chapter 73: Chapter 73: He Isn’t Another Unlucky One, Is He?
Eloise lowered her head, chuckling to herself for a moment before chiming in, "Besides friends and family, are you also planning to invite the company’s business partners?"
"I was considering it."
Eloise’s eyes shifted, and she immediately understood the Donovan family’s intention.
"You all plan to use this opportunity to introduce Arabella to our family’s social circle in Stroven City."
Mrs. Donovan nodded with a faint smile, not surprised that Eloise had figured it out. Arabella, however, frowned slightly in disapproval.
"Let’s just invite friends and family; the business partners aren’t necessary. It’s just a small birthday, no need to make such a big production out of it."
Arabella had little interest in these so-called social circles. She couldn’t help with business, and she doubted the people in them would give her the time of day.
Given all that, it didn’t seem terribly important whether they announced her identity to them or not.
It was enough to just tell the important relatives and friends, so at least they wouldn’t be strangers when they met later.
Of course, the most important thing was...
’Things with the Lynch Family are still up in the air. If my identity is made public, a few nosy gossips are bound to start spreading rumors. What if they accidentally expose the Holly Wagner situation and make people think my sister is really a human trafficker’s daughter? She’s already really sensitive about this. We can’t let a perfectly happy occasion turn into an uncontrollable mess. It just wouldn’t be worth it.’
Eloise froze for a second, not expecting Arabella to prioritize her feelings.
She figured it must have been her own words at the Lynch family’s banquet that caused the misunderstanding, making Arabella think she didn’t know the truth yet and was still bitter about Holly Wagner.
But no matter what, it was a nice feeling to be treated with such genuine consideration.
A warmth spread through Eloise’s heart, and she lowered her head to hide the smile that kept creeping onto her lips.
Mrs. Donovan was naturally delighted to see her two daughters getting along so well and relying on each other, so after hearing Arabella’s concerns, she no longer insisted.
"Alright, alright. You’re the birthday girl; you call the shots. It’s settled, then. You two should use the next couple of days to think about any classmates or friends you want to invite. Let me know in advance so I can get things ready."
As for Arabella, she did want to invite her master.
But the old master had gone wandering somewhere a while ago, and Arabella couldn’t even find him to ask about the library and the changes in her eyes, let alone get him to come to her birthday party.
For her part, Eloise had a few close girlfriends, but their friendships were mostly built on the fact that they had grown up together.
She wasn’t sure if it was because Cassandra Lynch was secretly sabotaging her, but thinking back on her first few months of university, she hadn’t really made any new friends. The only one she could even talk to seemed to be... Melanie Yates?
Eloise: ...How ridiculous!
But after some consideration, Eloise ultimately added Melanie Yates to the invitation list.
"Oh, right, will Third Brother be back by then?"
Arabella paused.
’Oh, right. I have a third brother.’
She had been back for over a month and had never met him; she had almost forgotten she even had a third brother.
Eloise knew it!
Mrs. Donovan’s mouth twitched. The thought of her third son, who had a habit of disappearing, made her head ache.
"Your third brother went abroad for a competition last month. I heard he had a sudden flash of inspiration during the event, and as soon as he got back, he rushed straight into his school’s lab and hasn’t come out since."
Justin Donovan had actually found this out from one of Aurora Donovan’s classmates.
He had found it strange that Aurora hadn’t come home after the competition was over, and he couldn’t get through to him by phone no matter how many times he called.
When Justin inquired further and learned that Aurora had gone straight into the lab upon his return and hadn’t emerged since, he almost laughed in exasperation.
He figured that Aurora hadn’t read a single one of the messages he’d sent about the truth of Arabella’s and Eloise’s identities.
’So he’s a research whiz?’
Mrs. Donovan wanted to salvage her third son’s reputation and rescue his unreliable image in his own sister’s eyes, but she didn’t realize that Arabella was currently thinking about something else entirely.
’I’ve only met a handful of people since coming back. First Brother is the designated sap in a melodramatic, old-school angst-fest—the guy who gets the girl after she’s been through the whole "he chases, she flees, she’ll never escape" drama. Second Brother is from an entertainment-world Gary Stu novel; he’s the real Lover who was replaced by a substitute, destined to die young and serve as a walking blood bag to power up the male lead. My sister is from one of those "everyone loves the fake heiress" stories; she’s the true scapegoat who gets framed for a million things after getting in the heroine’s way, a so-called "vicious" supporting character. I wonder what kind of script my third brother has. Don’t tell me he’s another unlucky schmuck?’
The moment that thought crossed Arabella’s mind, the hearts of both Eloise and Mrs. Donovan plummeted in unison.
They locked eyes, seeing terror mirrored in each other’s expressions, because as far as they were concerned, it was entirely possible!
Arabella grew worried. If that was really the case, she had never met this third brother, let alone anyone around him. Even if she wanted to help, she couldn’t.
Mrs. Donovan and Eloise were naturally aware of this too. The words on the tip of Mrs. Donovan’s tongue changed instantly to: "I’ll have your eldest brother contact his advisor right away and tell him to get back here as soon as possible. It’s his two younger sisters’ coming-of-age ceremony! How can he not be here as their older brother? It’s outrageous!"
Eloise chimed in, "Yes, he absolutely has to come back."
Arabella blinked, a look of surprise on her face.
’Is our eighteenth birthday really that important? Oh well. Since Mom and my sister think it’s important, then it must be. This is also a good chance for me to see what my third brother is really like.’
Although Arabella and Eloise’s birthday was next weekend, the invitations had to be sent out in the next two days. After all, people needed time to make arrangements, especially since many of the guests didn’t even live in the same city.
However, what Mrs. Donovan hadn’t expected was that, while they thought they had kept the truth about Eloise and Arabella well hidden, someone had learned the news ahead of time and come knocking on their door before the birthday.
"What in the world is going on?" Lillian Donovan had just returned from out of province with her husband and child. Travel-worn, she had rushed over to the Donovan residence without even stopping by her own home first.
Mrs. Donovan was also surprised to suddenly see their family. "When did you get back? Have you had lunch?"
"Who has time for lunch right now? Just tell me what’s going on!"
"What’s going on with what?" Mrs. Donovan was baffled by the abrupt question.
"What else could it be? It’s about Eloise! How could she not be your child? Could there have been a mistake?"
The color drained from Mrs. Donovan’s face. It took her a long moment before she asked, "Where did you hear about this?"
Although they intended to make Arabella’s identity public, they had hoped to keep the situation contained. But if the news was already spreading like wildfire...
"Don’t worry about where I heard it. Just tell me—is it true?"
Mrs. Donovan met Lillian’s intense, pressing gaze and finally sighed in resignation. "Eloise is indeed not our biological daughter. Serena is."
