Free Web NovelChapter 114: Chapter 114: The Art of Snark
Beatrice Donovan’s eyes narrowed, and the others’ expressions changed.
"Are you suspecting the culprit has a grudge against me, or rather... us?"
"I can’t say for sure. It’s just... a gut feeling."
After piecing everything together, Arabella Donovan felt that something was off.
If this culprit was really trying to get revenge on society and kill indiscriminately, wouldn’t he just detonate the bombs right after planting them?
That would have been far more effective, catching everyone by surprise and giving them no chance to react.
But instead, he chose the most attention-grabbing method, which made it hard not to read more into it.
Trying to convince someone based on a mere gut feeling was a bit of a stretch, but the person saying it just so happened to be Arabella Donovan, and the person listening just so happened to be Beatrice Donovan.
No one knew better than her that while intuition was a mysterious thing, it had genuinely saved her life several times on past missions.
Therefore, she didn’t find anything wrong with Arabella Donovan’s words. In fact, she took them completely to heart and began secretly planning how to investigate potential suspects.
"I understand. Regardless, on behalf of myself, my colleagues, and all the people who could have been involved, thank you. I’ll do my best to get to the bottom of this and change this tragic future."
Arabella Donovan felt a little embarrassed under her cousin’s sincere gaze. "I just said what I knew. The ones who can really save them are you and your colleagues."
"But if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to foresee this, just as you did." Beatrice Donovan paused. "Let’s exchange contact information. If you think of anything else later, you can tell me anytime."
Arabella Donovan had no objection to Beatrice’s suggestion, immediately taking out her phone to exchange contact information with her on the spot.
Out of an abundance of caution, Hector Donovan also exchanged contact information with Beatrice.
After all this was done, the color finally returned to Arabella Donovan’s face.
She scanned her surroundings and found her mom, dad, eldest brother, second brother, and fourth sister were all there with her.
"You all came up? Then downstairs..."
Only then did the Donovans realize that in their panic after seeing Arabella Donovan faint, they had all followed her upstairs, forgetting to leave someone behind to look after the guests.
The group exchanged glances, feeling guilty but not regretful.
"It’s fine, they’ll understand since you fainted. But it’s true we can’t just stay upstairs and not go back down. How about this: a few of us will go downstairs to entertain the guests, and you, Eloise, will stay up here to take care of Arabella."
"There’s no need. I’ll just go down with you."
"But your health..."
"I’m really fine now, I don’t feel unwell at all. Today is supposed to be my and Fourth Sister’s birthday party. The guests are still here, so what does it look like if both guests of honor are hiding upstairs? Besides, I fainted in front of so many people. If I don’t show my face again before the party ends, who knows what kind of stories will be spread by tomorrow."
’SHOCKING! The Donovan Family’s youngest daughter fainted at her own birthday party! The reason is...’
’The Donovan Heiress Fainting Incident: A Perversion of Humanity or a Collapse of Morals?’
’Sisters at Odds or Parental Favoritism? Click Here for the Smokeless War Between the Rich Family’s Real and Fake Heiresses...’
Everyone present: "..."
’Oh, great! If I’m not careful, what happened to Eldest Brother yesterday could happen to me tomorrow. These damn rumors can be the death of you.’ frёewebηovel.cѳm
Justin Donovan: ’...’ ’That’s enough! All those "rumors" about me were just things you made up in your head!’
However, Arabella Donovan’s concerns were not entirely unfounded. They didn’t have to worry about the relatives they were close with; those people would understand the situation without needing much explanation and wouldn’t spread idle gossip.
But the party today wasn’t just attended by relatives and friends who could hear Arabella Donovan’s thoughts, but also by some business partners who weren’t in the know.
To prevent the incident from being blown completely out of proportion, the Donovans ultimately agreed to Arabella’s suggestion to go downstairs, but on one condition: she had to be escorted by at least two people at all times to prevent another accident.
Although Arabella Donovan felt they were making a mountain out of a molehill, she also knew the recent incident had frightened them, so they each compromised, and she agreed.
The grand procession that had marched upstairs now marched back down.
Unexpectedly, when they got downstairs, they found many of the guests gathered in one spot, seemingly watching some kind of commotion.
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan’s hearts sank, thinking that someone had deliberately started trouble downstairs in the short time they were gone.
Only when they got closer did they realize the people surrounded were all familiar faces, especially a particular figure in studded denim, whose attire clashed sharply with the formal wear and evening gowns of the other guests.
"...Is that our third?"
Arabella Donovan, who had been closely watching the three members of the Lynch Family, immediately perked up at these words, her metaphorical antennae shooting straight up.
’Who? My third brother is here?! Don’t tell me it’s that guy up ahead, the one dressed like some kind of scene kid?’
The scene kid in question: ’...’ ’What do you mean, "scene kid"? This is called fashion!’
It was no wonder Arabella Donovan was surprised. She had never even met this legendary third brother before. Her entire impression of him came from an ID photo Mrs. Donovan had shown her and a fleeting, stunning glimpse described in passing in Melanie Yates’s plotline.
Therefore, prior to this, Arabella Donovan had always imagined her third brother as the type of character from a campus novel: the elegant and handsome school idol, a gentle top student who’d wear a white shirt and look devastatingly handsome while gazing at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.
Who would have thought that meeting him in person would reveal a third brother who was neither gentle nor elegant? Of the "top student" archetype, it seemed the only thing he had in common was a "top-tier" attitude. He was, through and through, a rebellious problem child!
Realizing this, Arabella Donovan subconsciously turned to look at Melanie Yates on the outskirts of the crowd. Sure enough, she saw Melanie staring with a shocked, stupefied expression, as if she had just seen a ghost.
’What a crime! A perfectly elegant and refined young man has been forcefully turned into a problematic scene kid. Who can even handle this? Miss Yates’s rose-colored glasses have clearly been shattered to smithereens, her fantasy utterly destroyed. An innocent crush comes to a quiet, cruel end. Third Brother, your sins are truly grave!’
Ian Donovan: ’...’ ’Who is this blind person who has a crush on me? I seriously have no idea!’
Mrs. Donovan and Eloise Donovan, who knew the truth and were quite familiar with a certain someone’s true nature: ’...’ ’There’s a good reason some people are destined to be single for life.’ freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Mr. Donovan and the others clearly hadn’t expected this little subplot, and their expressions almost cracked.
"What’s going on here? Ian, you explain..."
"Well, what do you expect when some people leave the house without their brains, their mouths apparently connected directly to their rectums? They’ve developed Parkinson’s at a young age but don’t even have the sense to check into a hospital. They probably won’t get any smarter when they’re old, either. Their very existence is a waste of rice. They’d be better off saving money to pick a burial plot with good feng shui. At least then they could accumulate some good karma and try to be reborn as an actual human in their next life."
The Donovan Family: "..."
The surrounding guests: "..."
’PFFT... Third Brother doesn’t just dress like a non-conformist, his mouth is also an expert in the art of sarcasm. HAHAHA, ’mouth connected to their rectum,’ is he trying to say they’re full of shit? And ’try to be a human in your next life,’ does that mean he thinks they’re some kind of vile beast in this one, not even human? Is this the legendary art of cussing someone out without using a single dirty word? HAHAHAHA, why is this so hilarious?’
