Free Web NovelChapter 110: Chapter 110: The True Universally Adored Heroine
Hector Donovan couldn’t stand the father-son duo. Before Justin Donovan even had to say a word, he stepped forward, hoisted up Jeremy Donovan—who was still refusing to leave—and tossed him out the main gate.
As he returned, he could still hear Jeremy Donovan howling outside, screeching that they would all regret this in the future.
Unfortunately for him, no one cared.
With the buzzkills gone, the relatives who felt Arabella Donovan had been terribly wronged all swarmed over to comfort her.
In an effort to reciprocate everyone’s kindness, Arabella Donovan smiled until her face went stiff.
She finally managed to see everyone off and was about to lay her head on the table for a rest when her eyes were drawn to a conspicuous splash of red in the crowd.
’Holy crap, why is that lady’s head red?!’
The gossiping crowd, which had already begun to disperse like a receding tide, abruptly stopped in their tracks and pricked up their ears.
Red? What was red?
Only The Donovan Family, who were already in the know, understood perfectly well that red represented a bloody disaster!
At this realization, their hearts sank.
Following Arabella Donovan’s gaze, they saw a young woman in her early twenties. freēwēbnovel.com
Beatrice Donovan had come with her parents today. She had a rather unusual profession and rarely got any holidays all year.
The only reason she’d accompanied her parents to this dinner party—which she found rather pointless—was simply to spend more time with her family during the holiday.
She hadn’t expected to uncover a huge secret right after arriving, and she even got to indulge in a ton of family gossip. It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least.
When Arabella Donovan mentioned the "lady," she hadn’t paid it much mind, figuring some other unlucky relative was about to be in for it.
It wasn’t until the people around her paused and their gazes began to subtly land on her that she suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.
Beatrice Donovan: "..." ’So *I’m* the unlucky one?!’
In contrast to Beatrice Donovan’s own bewilderment, her parents’ faces fell the moment they realized the "lady" from Arabella Donovan’s outburst was their own daughter. Their nerves tensed.
A relative beside them gave them a nudge and suggested meaningfully, "Beatrice has a unique line of work. Why don’t you ask our freshly-minted little niece here to do a reading for her, just for peace of mind?"
The couple’s eyes lit up. They quickly grabbed their daughter and rushed toward Arabella Donovan.
As they drew closer, a rare look of surprise crossed Arabella Donovan’s face.
’Huh?’
Beatrice Donovan’s family faltered, their hearts leaping into their throats.
’What does this lady do? She has Merit on her, too.’
Merit? Many people’s eyes widened in surprise. But then they remembered Beatrice Donovan’s profession, and it suddenly made sense.
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan exchanged a look. They first stepped forward to greet Beatrice’s parents before introducing the family to Arabella Donovan.
"This is your distant uncle and aunt, and your cousin," Mrs. Donovan explained. "Like your uncle on my side, they live in Brynn. They came all this way just for your birthday today."
Mrs. Donovan was also trying to tell Arabella that while many guests had come tonight, and some were freaks like Jeremy Donovan who’d shown up just to cause trouble, most were elders who had traveled far and wide, genuinely happy for them. There was no need to let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch and ruin her mood.
Beatrice’s mother couldn’t help but laugh. "Time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday we were students together in Brynn. And in the blink of an eye, our children are all grown up."
Arabella Donovan blinked. "Mom, you went to school in Brynn? Does that mean you two..."
Mrs. Donovan laughed as well. "I went to university in Brynn. Your aunt and I were in the same major, the same class, and even shared a dorm room."
Back then, she never imagined that after all the twists and turns of life, they would actually end up as relatives.
Arabella Donovan glanced at the two old classmates, then over at Rochelle Rowland in the distance, and couldn’t help but marvel at the mysteries of fate.
’I’ve gotta say, Mom’s social network is insane. Elementary school friends, college friends... they all wind up as family. She’s giving Eloise’s birth mom a run for her money. When you think about it, with two mothers who have such massive networks, Eloise must be the real legendary, chosen-by-the-heavens protagonist that everyone adores, right? Meanwhile, that Cassandra Lynch seems more like a transmigrator from a Mary Sue novel, the kind who’s obsessed with stealing the original heroine’s spotlight.’
Eloise Donovan, acutely feeling numerous burning gazes suddenly fixate on her: "..." ’You really don’t have to.’
Some of the quicker gossips in the crowd had already distilled the key points from Arabella Donovan’s snark-filled commentary.
So the two girls weren’t twins? The daughter the Donovan Family had raised for more than a decade had a different birth mother? The babies were switched at birth?
Whose child was Eloise Donovan, really? And who was this Cassandra Lynch?
Getting only half the juicy story was pure torture. You can’t just leave them hanging like that!
Mrs. Donovan hadn’t expected Arabella to suddenly reveal Eloise’s parentage. Seeing the predatory gleam in everyone’s eyes, as if they were about to pounce on her for details, she quickly cleared her throat and steered the conversation back on track.
"You must be Beatrice, right? The last time I saw you was three years ago. You’ve become so poised and even more beautiful. Is work still as busy as ever? You have to make sure you get enough rest."
Mrs. Donovan had barely finished speaking when Beatrice’s mother sighed in perfect concert. "You know what her job is like. She’s busy three hundred and sixty days a year. We’re lucky if nothing comes up during the other five, but if there’s an emergency, she has to go right back."
Eloise Donovan, who had been listening from the side, found her curiosity piqued. "What kind of work does our cousin do that keeps her so busy?"
The aunt turned to look at her daughter, her expression a mixture of pride and heartache. "She works for the police. Day in and day out, she deals with the most vicious criminals. She’s either in the middle of arresting someone, or on her way to do it."
That was precisely why they had been so nervous when Arabella Donovan suddenly mentioned their daughter.
After all, one wrong move in her line of work, and she could lose her life!
Arabella Donovan was taken aback as well, a flash of understanding in her eyes.
’So she’s a cop, the kind that catches criminals. No wonder she’s facing something so major. This is going to be a problem.’
In the brief time her mother and the aunt had been chatting, Arabella Donovan had already searched through all the books in her mental library. She found no plotlines related to Beatrice Donovan, nor any mention of a female police officer with the Donovan surname. frёeωebɳovel.com
This meant that Beatrice Donovan and whatever she was about to face probably weren’t recorded in any of the books. Or maybe, like Hector Donovan, she was just a convenient background character whose existence had been deliberately blurred by the ’author.’
A headache bloomed for Arabella Donovan, and Beatrice Donovan’s family’s hearts sank right along with her unspoken thoughts.
’I’m just saying, maybe you should consider—at least for the near future—welding a bulletproof vest to your body? And maybe not run toward dangerous places for fun?’
But she knew that was impossible. Besides, Chloe Thorne’s case was a prime example. Even with foreknowledge of the plot and meticulous warnings, accidents could still happen and force events back to their original course. And that was nothing compared to Beatrice’s situation—she had no plotline to follow, and her aura was an even deeper shade of red!
’Maybe... I should try *that*?’
