Chapter 455: Chapter 455: It Seems We’re Even
If, at the very beginning, knowing her family could hear her thoughts made Arabella Donovan want to dig a hole and bury herself in it, then learning that her thoughts had been publicly broadcast to her entire family without her knowledge made her want to pack her bags and escape to the Moon immediately!
’There’s no place left for me in this world. Someone, please save me!’
The sudden, terrifying truth hit Arabella Donovan so hard her mind went blank. It felt as if half her soul had fled her body.
And the Donovan family was no less anxious, their minds completely elsewhere.
They were like a group of criminals who, after confessing their crimes, helplessly awaited Arabella Donovan’s final judgment.
Before this, they had anticipated that Arabella would be angry, furious, even hysterical. They expected furious accusations and questions. The one thing they hadn’t expected was that after her initial shock and breakdown, Arabella would seem to think of something and let out a chuckle.
Everyone: "?!" ’What’s going on? Did the shock get to her? Did we drive her mad?!’
"Serena... whatever anger, dissatisfaction, or unhappiness you feel, you can take it all out on us. Mom—oh, no, I mean, your dad and your brothers are thick-skinned. If you’re so pent up that your hands and feet are itching for a fight, feel free to let loose on them. But your dad and your oldest brother are one thing; your second brother makes a living with his looks. So even if you’re angry, you should probably control yourself and not hit him in the face."
Hector Donovan: "..." ’Should I be touched that Mom still remembered to protect my face at a time like this?’
Mr. Donovan and Justin Donovan, mercilessly abandoned for not relying on their looks: "..." ’That’s his wife (his mom) for you!’
Eloise Donovan, the only one spared because she was young and a girl, pressed her lips together and tentatively stepped forward to take Arabella’s hand.
"I’m sorry, Serena. We should have told you all this a long time ago. We’ve hidden it from you for so long, so you have every right to be angry or lash out. I know anything we say now sounds like an excuse, but we truly saw you as family from the very beginning. And from the start, we wanted to protect you, though now it seems like you’ve been the one protecting us more..."
Eloise wasn’t particularly good at comforting people, and she was probably nervous, so her words didn’t flow as smoothly as usual, sounding a bit hesitant and stumbling.
But Arabella seemed to understand what she meant, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I’m not angry. Although, I’ll admit it was a little hard to accept at first... but I just have one question for you all. Why did you go to such lengths to hide it from me before, but this time, when I wasn’t even suspicious, you chose to tell me on your own?"
Everyone froze for a moment, saying nothing.
"It’s because you already know about Mr. Rhodes and me, right? Did my second brother and fourth sister tell you?"
"Yes."
"You’ve been able to hear my thoughts for so long, so you knew early on what was going to happen to my oldest, second, and third brothers, my sister, and even Mom and Dad. You didn’t say anything back then because you were the ones involved. You wanted to solve those problems yourselves, or rather, work with me to solve them."
"Yes."
"But this time, the person caught up in all of this is me. Although these things might not seem to have anything to do with me... after all, if things had gone according to the original plan, I’d already be six feet under."
"Serena..." Mrs. Donovan already knew all this, but hearing her daughter bring it up again herself still made her temples throb.
"Mom, don’t be nervous. I’m fine, aren’t I?"
"You still shouldn’t talk about things like that. Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey. Knock on wood, knock on wood."
"..." ’I’m an adult. I’m really not a child anymore!’
Mrs. Donovan’s brows shot up. "In your parents’ eyes, no matter how old you are, whether you’re an adult or have a family of your own, you’ll always be our children!"
Arabella was left speechless, a look of utter resignation on her face.
’Great. I forgot again that you can all hear what I’m thinking!’
Her little interruption did much to liven up the awkward and heavy atmosphere.
Seeing this, a hint of a smile appeared in Arabella’s eyes. "Okay, okay, I’m not lying to you. When I first suddenly found out you were all hiding such a huge secret from me—that everyone knew except for me, the person it was about—it felt like I was being isolated by everyone. I was definitely a little upset."
The moment Arabella finished speaking, Mrs. Donovan couldn’t help but start to explain, but she was cut off first.
"Mom, don’t talk yet. Let me finish."
Mrs. Donovan froze. Her lips moved, but in the end, she remained silent.
"But once I had a moment to think about it, I realized it’s not like you wanted to hear my thoughts. It’s like walking down the street and hearing someone arguing loudly. You can only blame the person for talking too loud and creating a scene for passersby. You can’t turn around and blame the passersby for happening to be there at that exact moment and becoming an audience, can you?"
"That’s true, but..."
"The only thing you feel you owe me for is knowing about this and not telling me sooner. But when I think about it, who doesn’t have secrets they don’t want others to know? Like me. I’ve been home for so long, but haven’t I also kept the matter of the library that appeared out of nowhere in my head from you? I even made up a whole mystic persona to cover for it." 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂
’Although, in the end, that mystic persona somehow ended up being the real deal.’
The Donovan family: Pfft...
"When you put it that way, it seems like we’re even."
The Donovan family: "..." ’That actually sounds... kind of reasonable.’
"Besides, now that I’ve calmed down and thought about it, maybe I wasn’t completely oblivious to what you all just told me."
In the time since she had returned to the Donovan family, the plotlines involving her relatives, family, and even friends had collapsed one after another, becoming completely unrecognizable. It wasn’t that Arabella hadn’t had her suspicions before.
It was just that every time a hint of doubt emerged, someone around her would always be there to conveniently quell it. Once or twice might have been a coincidence, but after it happened so many times, how could she not have a shadow of a doubt in her heart?
In the end, she was just instinctively unwilling to believe that her loving family was deceiving her. The next logical step was to simply deceive herself.
Because the outcomes were good, she could ignore the process. As long as the people she cared about were all right, she was happy to overlook the inconsistencies.
That being said...
’But it’s still so mortifying! This feeling of having every single one of my thoughts laid bare... it’s total social death!’
’Goodness knows, if I had known The Providence would pull a stunt like this, while I might not have hidden the established plot points, I at least wouldn’t have let my imagination run so wild with all my commentary.’
And now, thinking about all the wild trains of thought she’d had, confident that no one knew, Arabella wished she could perform for everyone right then and there how to carve a new mansion out of the floor with her toes.
Everyone: Pfft...