Chapter 382: Leading a Wolf into the House?

Chapter 382: Chapter 382: Leading a Wolf into the House?

In the end, Caspian Rhodes’s confession, layered with a double meaning, failed to immediately move Arabella Donovan, who was admittedly a bit dense when it came to romance. She simply said she had been away from home for too long and wanted to stay there for a while, postponing any visit to the Rhodes family to a later date.

Caspian Rhodes didn’t press the issue, saying Arabella Donovan was welcome to visit his family anytime. All she had to do was call him, and he would personally come to pick her up and drop her off.

The moment these words left his mouth, a certain someone was collectively ostracized by the Donovan family, whose guard was up completely. Pitifully, he was once again shown the door.

Thanks to Dennis Donovan and Ron Cole, although the incident with Cassandra Lynch’s livestream had caused a huge stir, no one came looking for Arabella Donovan to give a statement at the police station. Furthermore, no one was foolish enough to show up at her door demanding she explain what had happened during the stream.

With the Lynch Family’s affairs settled and the major threat of Cassandra Lynch dealt with, Arabella Donovan contentedly flew back to Stroven City with her family.

Before they arrived, Justin Donovan had already gone home ahead of everyone else to arrange everything, taking on the role of their airport pickup.

Accompanying him was Lillian Donovan, who had received the news in advance and joyfully came along to help welcome them at the airport.

"You’re finally back! You were gone for so long, your aunt missed you to death." The moment Lillian Donovan saw her, she pulled Arabella into a tight hug, her voice floating with joy. It was clear she was genuinely happy.

"Auntie, I missed you too. Did you and Miss Ingram receive the gifts I sent? Do you like them?"

Arabella Donovan had sent Lillian Donovan gifts on two separate occasions. The first was the jade bracelets she had purchased early on from the House of Aethel Jade—one for her and one for Lucy Ingram. The second was a large New Year’s family gift package for Lillian and her two younger cousins, Sean and Iris Donovan.

"Oh, we love them! Miss Ingram absolutely adores the jade bracelet you sent; she wears it every single day. She even sent a special gift for you during the New Year, but you were still in Brynn at the time, and it was inconvenient to mail things back and forth. So, she had it sent to your house. You’ll see it when we get home in a bit."

"Really? In that case, Auntie, please thank Miss Ingram for me."

"Of course, of course. Sean and Iris also loved the gifts you sent them. They went back to school a few days ago and made sure to wear them."

As one of the lucky few who could hear her precious niece’s thoughts, Lillian Donovan had learned long ago that the supposedly worthless rough stone they had generously helped Arabella bid on had actually yielded two large treasures. These treasures, if worn for a long time, could nourish one’s meridians and prolong one’s life. She also knew early on that Arabella planned to have these two great treasures polished into small accessories to give to their relatives and elders, so she had been eagerly anticipating them since before the New Year.

After receiving her gift, she posted about it on her social media feed for half a month straight, as if afraid people wouldn’t know what a perfect treasure her favorite junior had given her.

Even the two little ones in her family were moved beyond words after receiving their gifts. Without her needing to say a thing, they practically welded the items to themselves, reluctant to even take them off for a bath.

The school they attended had strict rules and didn’t allow students to wear jewelry during class. But even so, the two of them still hid the items under their clothes and took them along. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Arabella breathed a small sigh of relief at her words and couldn’t help but smile. "I’m just glad my younger cousins like them."

The family happily rode home. The moment they stepped through the door, everyone couldn’t help but let out a sigh. "There’s no place like home. No matter how far you travel or what beautiful sights you see, nothing beats the comfort and ease of your own place."

Arabella couldn’t agree more. She decided to just be a couch potato at home for a while, recharge her batteries, and only then face the storms and tempests that could erupt at any moment outside.

The others clearly thought the same. As the family’s "person of the hour," no sooner had Arabella returned home with her parents and older siblings than the news of her arrival spread throughout the family group chat.

However, everyone felt for her, knowing the hardships she had endured while away, and thoughtfully gave Arabella a week to rest and recuperate. After that, they began to tacitly coordinate their schedules for visiting, vowing to make up for the New Year’s greetings they had missed.

Arabella was unaware of these behind-the-scenes arrangements. She only felt that there were a few more relatives visiting lately, and most of them seemed familiar—like the elders who had sent her money before.

In addition to this, an uninvited guest also arrived at the Donovan residence during this period.

"What are you doing here?" Eloise Donovan asked, surprised as she watched the man walk brazenly through their front gate.

After a moment, as if remembering something, she looked Gregory Sherwood up and down and said with a frown, "You’re the... friend my cousin mentioned who would be picking me up on his way."

After reuniting with the Lynch Family, Eloise Donovan had been traveling to Jarden almost every weekend. Initially, it was to take over the businesses her parents had left her. As she grew closer to the Lynch Family, the habit stuck.

Eloise’s adoptive parents in the Donovan Family also approved of this. After all, they could see that the Lynch Family genuinely doted on the child their relatives had left behind. It was a good thing for more people to cherish the girl, and there was no need to deliberately distance her from her proper blood relatives.

It was just that the Lynch Family was somewhat insecure and overprotective of this precious treasure they had finally found after she had been lost for so long. Even though Eloise Donovan was an adult, they were still terrified that some uncontrollable accident might happen to her while traveling between the two cities alone. Therefore, Zane Lynch almost always came to pick her up personally.

Today, however, was an exception. Zane Lynch hadn’t come. Instead, it was this... Mr. Sherwood before her.

"...Mm," Gregory Sherwood grunted. He could feel the Donovan Family’s probing gazes, sharp as daggers, on his back, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and explain. "Your cousin ran into something today and couldn’t get away. It so happened that I was here on a business trip, and since I’d just finished up and was about to head back, he asked me to pick you up on my way."

While the two were talking, Arabella Donovan was sitting in a corner of the living room sofa, eating fruit. When she heard this, she frowned while chewing on a piece of apple and lamented internally.

’Isn’t this too much of a coincidence? And Cousin Zane, did you forget this man used to have a marriage contract with my older cousin? Even though Cassandra Lynch usurped the engagement for a while due to that whole substitution scheme, it’s most likely null and void by now, but...’

How could the members of the Donovan Family possibly fail to understand Arabella Donovan’s unspoken implication? At that, their gazes toward Gregory Sherwood grew even more hostile.

At that thought, Arabella popped a slice of pear into her mouth. She recalled the shift in Zane Lynch’s attitude toward that guy, Sean Ellison, after he found out Sean had saved his cousin’s life. Her gut told her that Zane had probably forgotten all about this engagement business. Otherwise...

’Didn’t Cousin Zane just accidentally let a wolf into the sheepfold?’

Hector Donovan, who happened to have the day off and was resting at home: ’Heh... This newfound cousin is so unreliable. Not an ounce of threat assessment!’

Eloise Donovan: "..." ’But still... the marriage contract was just talk, it was never meant to be taken seriously!’