Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Blood Pressure Shot Right Up
Arabella Donovan’s words were nothing short of earth-shattering. Lillian Donovan was so shocked she nearly twisted her own fingernails off.
’What was happening? A second victim? And she had it even worse than I did? Just how badly was she hurt?’
Lillian Donovan glanced at her best friend of many years, then thought of that sweet girl she had watched grow up.
The anger she had just managed to suppress instantly flared up like a wildfire.
’My cousin is right,’ she thought. ’These scumbag men—not a single one is any good. You can’t trust any of them!’
Unaware of the truth, Lucy Ingram was startled to see her best friend, who had been joking with her just a moment ago, suddenly pale. Her expression had become twisted and ferocious.
"What’s wrong? You look awful. Are you not feeling well? Should I call a doctor?"
As if waking from a dream, Lillian Donovan quickly stopped her. "No, no, I’m just... just hungry."
"Hungry?" Lucy Ingram breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, you’re just hungry. You scared me. Wait here, I’ll go buy you something to eat. What would you like?"
Just as she finished speaking, Mrs. Donovan pushed the door open and walked in. "I heard you say you were hungry as I reached the door. I happened to bring you some chicken soup and a meal. Eat it while it’s hot."
As Lillian Donovan’s best friend, Lucy Ingram knew Mrs. Donovan as well. Seeing that she had brought food, Lucy no longer thought about running downstairs.
After they exchanged greetings, Mrs. Donovan walked over to the hospital bed to ladle soup for Lillian Donovan. Meanwhile, Arabella Donovan hid quietly to one side, stealthily observing Ms. Ingram. The more she watched, the more she wanted to shed a tear of sympathy for both Ms. Ingram and her aunt.
The book related to these two women was titled *Legend of Croft*. Just like that previous "Jack Sue" novel about the entertainment industry, this book was also written from a male perspective—a so-called male-oriented web novel.
Early male-oriented web novels had a common flaw: the male protagonist almost always had a flock of female "confidantes" or simply built a harem and married several wives.
The first third of the book was from Julian Croft’s perspective. It detailed his love-hate entanglements with his two wives and how he leapfrogged social classes by marrying into the Donovan Family.
He transformed from a poor boy from a remote region into a renowned, hands-on entrepreneur. Step by step, he eliminated those who held power over him, completely broke free from the Donovan Family’s control, and seized the entire corporation for himself.
For the remaining two-thirds of the book, the protagonist switched to Caleb Croft, the son of Julian Croft and Willow Croft.
From his perspective, he, his mother, his paternal grandparents, and Julian Croft were the happy, perfect family. Lillian Donovan, on the other hand, was nothing but a shameless homewrecker who coveted his father’s good looks. She knew he already had a family but still used her wealth and status to steal him away.
Cheated out of her money and her heart, only to be branded the homewrecker... Lillian Donovan must have been screaming internally, ’!!! Where’s my knife?! Where is it?!’
Because of Lillian Donovan, Caleb Croft grew to despise the young ladies of wealthy families.
But his so-called disgust was just for show. It was all a form of self-brainwashing, a PUA tactic to convince himself, ’I hate the rich, therefore I’m not a gold digger.’
Julian Croft’s success story—soaring to the top by marrying into his wife’s family—inspired him. From a young age, Caleb schemed to find a wealthy heiress so he could bypass thirty years of struggle. And as fate would have it, Joyce Lowe was the prey he carefully selected.
The two of them attended the same school. Joyce Lowe was sweet and adorable with excellent grades, making her a prominent figure at school. Moreover, the Lowe Family’s standing was comparable to the Donovan Family’s. Even her mother, Lucy Ingram, came from the incredibly well-off Ingram Family.
Combine the two, and if he could win over Joyce Lowe, the benefits would likely surpass even what his father had achieved.
When Lillian Donovan heard Arabella mention that little bastard was attending the same school as Joyce, she felt like she needed to be resuscitated.
Lillian Donovan knew that Julian Croft had gotten Caleb Croft into the same prestigious school as Joyce.
The school was incredibly exclusive; money alone couldn’t get you in. At the time, they had to use her father’s connections.
’So, that monster used my family’s money and resources to attend a school my family helped him get into, just to seduce my best friend’s daughter? And from the sound of Arabella’s voice, he ended up betraying Joyce and ruining her life even more than Julian ruined mine?!’
’Great. My blood pressure is skyrocketing!’
Lillian Donovan gripped her soup spoon so tightly it SQUEAKED. She tore into the chicken meat with savage ferocity, as if wishing she could rip that monstrous father-son duo apart just like the bird in her bowl.
Watching this, Lucy Ingram’s mouth twitched. She had the absurd feeling that her best friend had completely lost her mind.
"Slow down, slow down! How many days has it been since you’ve eaten? You look ravenous. Eat slowly, no one’s going to steal it from you."
Lillian Donovan glanced up at Lucy Ingram, instantly seeing what she was thinking, and couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
’That’s because you don’t know what’s going on,’ she thought. ’If you knew, you’d be even crazier than I am!’
It had to be said that Caleb Croft inherited not only his father’s shamelessness but also his decent aptitude for learning. Although he had only gotten into the school with Master Donovan’s help, his academic performance was consistently strong, placing him in the upper-middle ranks of his grade.
Coupled with the good looks he inherited from Julian Croft, Caleb was quite popular at school and had many admirers.
Joyce Lowe first noticed Caleb Croft because of his grades. She had a gentle disposition and a more petite frame than most girls, which gave her a natural affinity for people who were tall and achieved better grades than her. To put it simply, she was drawn to strong individuals.
Caleb Croft discovered this and began approaching her under the guise of studying, offering to tutor her.
Caleb Croft was already handsome to begin with. By putting on an act of being humble, considerate, and empathetic when he interacted with her, how could she not develop a good impression of him?
Finding this whole routine strangely familiar, Lillian Donovan began grinding her teeth.
And thinking about everything that happened afterward, Arabella Donovan couldn’t help but want to curse him out.
’If Julian Croft is a scumbag, then his son is the king of scumbags—the student has truly surpassed the master! He met Joyce Lowe in high school and spent three years making her fall deeply in love with him. The moment they started university, they made their relationship official, and then... they slept together.’
"PFFT—" Lillian Donovan sprayed out the mouthful of chicken soup she had just taken, coughing so hard she saw stars.
Lucy Ingram jumped. She dodged to the side in disgust, but at the same time, stepped forward worriedly to pat Lillian’s back. "What is with you today? You even managed to choke on soup."
"COUGH, COUGH... The soup... it was too hot, I wasn’t paying attention, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
"Okay, okay, stop talking. Drink some water."
Once Lillian Donovan finally settled down, Arabella was able to continue recalling the details of Caleb and Joyce’s relationship.
’And what makes him such a scumbag? Because he was afraid Joyce Lowe would get pregnant out of wedlock, which would ruin his image in her parents’ eyes. So every time they slept together, Caleb would coax her into taking contraceptive pills and warn her not to tell her parents.’
