Chapter 462: Chapter 462: I Think I Can Still Be Saved
Eloise Donovan’s lips twitched. She was starting to regret getting involved in this mess.
"I don’t know him well—not at all. I just happened to run into him a few times when I visited my uncle. We’ve seen each other a few times, exchanged a few words, that’s it."
Arabella Donovan raised an eyebrow. "And you call that ’not well’?"
"...I see the security guard at the school gate every day. We occasionally say hello and exchange a few words. By your logic, I’m closer to the guard than I am to him."
"...Alright." Arabella Donovan rubbed her nose sheepishly. "So, what does he want with me?"
"Strictly speaking, it’s not him who’s looking for you, but an old classmate of his."
"An old classmate?"
"Yes, an old high school classmate. That business with you and Cassandra Lynch at the coffee shop caused a huge stir a while back, and now you’ve shot to fame because of my second brother’s parenting variety show. She probably saw the program and wanted to find you, so she went through him to get to me."
"What does she want with me? An autograph?"
"No, she wants to hire you to exorcise her younger brother."
"Exorcise?" Arabella Donovan was aghast. "Let me get this straight—shamanistic dancing is not part of my usual services."
Eloise looked awkward for a moment. "Relax, she just wants you to see if he’s been possessed by some malicious entity and lost his mind. And, you know, see if there’s a solution. No one’s going to ask you to do any shamanistic dancing."
Only then did Arabella Donovan breathe a sigh of relief. "Do you know the details? Why on earth would she think her brother’s been possessed? Did he do something so heinous it offended both gods and men?"
"Nothing like that. I’m not too clear on the details myself. I just heard from Mr. Sherwood that apparently, his old classmate’s brother got a girlfriend recently and his personality changed drastically. His sister suspects the girlfriend put a hex on him and wants to hire a master to perform an exorcism to help her brother see the light and get out of this mess."
Arabella: "???" ’Good grief. Her brother gets a girlfriend and she immediately thinks he’s been possessed? She even wants to hire a master to exorcise him. That’s a true-blue sister for you!’
Still, after hearing Eloise’s explanation, Arabella found herself genuinely curious about this brother. Just how much could a person change to make his own sister think he was cursed just from being in a relationship? And she was even willing to spend a fortune hiring a master to exorcise him. The whole thing was pretty amusing.
"So when are they planning to come over?"
Eloise Donovan looked embarrassed. "I’m afraid you’ll have to make the trip. After all, if she already suspects her brother is possessed, it means their relationship is probably a little strained right now. Even if she wanted to bring him to you, he’d have to be willing to cooperate, right?"
Arabella realized that made sense.
"So I have to go on another business trip?"
Arabella said this as she flopped onto the sofa, adding plaintively, "Tell Mr. Sherwood that my travel expenses are to be calculated at the standard industry rate. Not a penny less."
Eloise thought that was reasonable, but she was still a bit confused. "Why ask him for the fee, and not his old classmate?"
"She came to me through his connections, so who else would I ask?" As for who he got reimbursement from later, that was his problem.
Mr. Donovan, who had been listening on the side and gotten the gist of it, chimed in at the right moment. "Serena is right. He’s the one who should pay."
Eloise: "..." ’The way he said that... and his tone... it sounds like there’s some kind of personal grudge there, doesn’t it?’
"When do we leave?"
"No rush. My cousin is coming to pick me up this weekend to take me back to the Lynch Family’s place. We can just go together then."
Arabella Donovan nodded. ’That works.’ She was also a little curious to see how the Lynch Family reacted when they heard her inner thoughts. She’d already asked her fourth sister, who had confessed everything to her, and knew she hadn’t told the Lynch Family about it yet.
Eloise Donovan, who had a vague idea of what Arabella Donovan was planning: "..." ’Cousin, you’re on your own.’
「That weekend」
Zane Lynch came to pick up Eloise Donovan and take her back to Jarden as usual. Arabella Donovan tagged along.
As soon as she got in the car, Arabella Donovan stared at him intently for a long time, completely unnerving him.
"S... Serena, is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"It’s nothing." Arabella Donovan smiled faintly and looked away.
But Zane Lynch had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right. He frowned but ultimately said nothing.
But just as the car pulled to a stop at the airport, Zane Lynch heard a faint voice drift from behind him.
’Does Lynch know he’s accidentally gone and taken a life again?’
A life?!
It was a good thing the car had already stopped. Otherwise, if someone had suddenly heard a sentence like that, he probably would have driven the car into a ditch!
Eloise Donovan couldn’t stop herself from pressing a hand to her forehead. She had a vague idea what Arabella meant by "a life," but she couldn’t exactly warn her cousin.
She silently consoled herself: ’The kid wants to play, so just play along. Who was the one who listened in on her thoughts, defied fate, and ended up owing her a huge favor? If she gets to tease you once and blow off some steam, she won’t be angry with you later. Technically, you’re the one getting the better end of the deal!’
Having successfully talked herself around, Eloise Donovan decisively grabbed a nearby magazine to hide her face, lest she accidentally give the game away and ruin someone’s fun.
And so, having been thoroughly played by his two younger cousins, a deeply anxious Zane Lynch boarded the plane with them. He had originally planned to subtly probe them on the flight and find out what this "life" business was all about.
He never expected that as soon as they sat down, Arabella Donovan would pull out her earbuds and start listening to music. Her mind was empty, save for the occasional lyric she sang along to, and eventually, she just fell asleep.
Zane Lynch: "..." ’How can you be asleep? HOW ARE YOU ASLEEP?!’
The Young Master of the Lynch family, filled with anxiety and frustration, wished he could just haul her out of her seat and shake her and shake her until she woke up and spilled the beans.
Unfortunately, he could only dream.
Never mind whether he had the heart to do it; even if he did, he didn’t have the guts.
And so, with a heart full of worries, Zane Lynch forced himself to stay wide-eyed and sleepless for the entire two-hour-plus flight, mulling things over.
When the plane landed and the announcement of their arrival sounded, Arabella Donovan took off her eye mask and sat up, only to see the person next to her with dull, lifeless eyes and a pale face. He looked for all the world like someone who had died with a grievance.
"!!!"
Arabella Donovan was so scared she shot up from her seat and shrank back toward her sister. "What happened? Cousin, are you still alive?"
Zane Lynch’s dull, cloudy eyes, like those of a dead fish, swiveled in their sockets. His breath was shallow as he shakily raised a hand. "I... I think I can still be saved."
Arabella Donovan: "..."
Eloise Donovan: "..."
"Pfft..." Eloise Donovan finally broke and burst out laughing.
Then she let out a long breath and said helplessly, "Alright, you’ve had your fun, haven’t you? You should probably tell him what you meant by ’taking a life.’ Otherwise, in his current state, I’m not even sure if we’ll make it to my uncle’s house safely today."