Chapter 419: What’s the Use of You?

Chapter 419: Chapter 419: What’s the Use of You?

That might be what they were thinking, but Mr. Rhodes had spoken. No matter how unwilling, everyone had to hold their tongues for the time being, though the looks they shot Arabella Donovan were far from kind.

Arabella Donovan paid them no mind, snarking internally.

’Stare all you want. I hope you meet your ancestors in your dreams tonight, and I hope you can maintain that defiant look on your faces when they’re beating the crap out of you.’

Zane Lynch and the others: Pfft...

And so, the grand, annual family ancestor worship ceremony came to a rather regrettable and anticlimactic end.

With the matter settled, Arabella Donovan should have been heading home. However, her brother, Hector Donovan, was scheduled to film a childcare-themed variety show in a nearby village for the next few days.

Eloise Donovan had classes to attend and had to go back first. Since Arabella Donovan didn’t have any other commitments, she decided to stay and fall back into her old role as her second brother’s temporary assistant.

Before she left, Caspian Rhodes transferred the agreed-upon payment to Arabella Donovan’s account.

Arabella Donovan felt a little awkward about it. After all, she had only made a brief appearance at the very end, bringing the Rhodes Family’s ancestors out for an appearance of their own. Caspian Rhodes had even provided the key "prop"—the drop of a close relative’s blood. The rest of the time, she’d been hiding on the sidelines, just watching the drama unfold.

Besides, Arabella Donovan hadn’t figured out anything about the strange happenings among Caspian Rhodes’s relatives—the very reason he’d invited her in the first place. The money felt a bit like a hot potato.

Caspian Rhodes could tell what she was thinking at a glance. He smiled faintly and said, "You were a huge help today. If it weren’t for you, things wouldn’t have been resolved so easily. It’s not like similar things haven’t happened in past years. The two sides would get into a brawl at the slightest disagreement..."

’This time, a brawl broke out too, but the ones doing the beating were their ancestors. No matter how upset they were, they had to bottle it up. It was, in a way, its own kind of peaceful resolution.’

’Besides, that wasn’t why he had invited Arabella Donovan to the ancestor worship ceremony in the first place. Now that he knew so many family secrets, he’d completely come out ahead!’

Hector Donovan knew this as well. He snorted and said, "If he’s giving it to you, just take it. What’s all the fuss? The ability to let people meet their ancestors during a worship ceremony isn’t something just anyone possesses. For a groundbreaking, first-time experience like that, it’s worth the price of admission. You’re already being generous by not asking for a bonus."

"Hector!"

"Your brother is right. You were a huge help today. I’m the one getting a bargain by not adding a bonus."

Caspian Rhodes’s words were quite gracious, but Hector Donovan just wanted to laugh sardonically in his face. He was at a point where he found everything about the man irritating; he could probably find something to complain about whether Caspian breathed through his left nostril or his right.

Caspian Rhodes: "..." ’Can’t I just breathe through both nostrils at once?’

The poor CEO, still completely in the dark, was hit with a face full of someone’s blatant, inexplicable malice. He couldn’t help but feel that the Donovan Family’s hostility toward him had become even more obvious.

Zane Lynch had half a mind to give him a heads-up. But just as he opened his mouth, the person beside him twisted his arm. He turned his head to meet his cousin’s threatening gaze and promptly snapped his mouth shut.

’Cousin, it’s not that I don’t want to save you, but... you’re on your own. Better fend for yourself.’

"Now that the ancestor worship is over, are you heading back too, Mr. Rhodes?"

"Yes, things are pretty busy at the company, so I’ll be heading back this afternoon. You two will be staying here for the next few days, right? Do you have a place to stay? If you don’t mind, you can continue to stay at my grandparents’ house. My parents are worried this morning’s events might have affected them, so they’re planning to stay here a few more days to keep them company before they head back. If you stay there, you’d be good company for them."

The moment Caspian Rhodes finished speaking, before Arabella Donovan could even respond, Hector Donovan instinctively yanked her behind him, putting himself between them.

"We have a place to stay. No need to trouble yourself, Mr. Rhodes."

Arabella Donovan peeked out from behind her brother. "That’s right. My brother’s company already arranged a hotel for us. It’s more convenient for getting to his filming location, so we won’t trouble your parents for the next few days."

After speaking, Arabella Donovan seemed to remember something and added, "And you don’t need to worry about the ancestor worship. The smoke from your family’s graves is different from the others. Even if an ancestor does visit your grandparents in a dream, it will certainly be for a good reason, not a bad one. Please tell your parents not to worry."

Since Arabella Donovan had put it that way, Caspian Rhodes didn’t press the issue. "Alright, I won’t insist. If you and your brother run into any trouble while you’re here, feel free to give me a call. My parents will still be around, so they can help out if anything comes up."

Arabella Donovan didn’t think any trouble could possibly arise from filming a variety show, but since it was a kind offer from Caspian Rhodes, she nodded in acceptance.

With their business at the Rhodes estate concluded, the group went their separate ways. Caspian Rhodes first took his grandparents and parents home before leaving by plane.

Zane Lynch, meanwhile, accompanied Eloise Donovan, seeing her back to the Donovan Family home before heading back to his own.

The day’s events concerned their precious Serena. Hector Donovan and Eloise Donovan used what little time they had to confer, deciding that after Eloise returned home and explained the day’s events in detail to their parents and eldest brother, the entire family would then discuss how to handle the matter.

Until then, Hector Donovan would lie low and do his best not to let Arabella Donovan suspect that anything was amiss.

Hector Donovan’s company had arranged a reasonably comfortable hotel for the brother and sister, giving them adjoining rooms. Since Arabella Donovan was temporarily taking over as Hector Donovan’s assistant, the regular assistant who usually handled his day-to-day affairs didn’t come along. Only Hector’s manager, Sheldon Webb, was scheduled to join them.

As the company’s top agent, Sheldon Webb’s schedule was hardly any less packed than Hector Donovan’s. This was especially true given that his client was prone to making messes that he constantly had to clean up, which kept him even busier!

The star manager arrived at the hotel around eight or nine that evening. Seeing that they had business to discuss, Arabella Donovan excused herself and returned to her room.

Thinking about everything that had happened that day, Arabella Donovan hesitated for a moment before sending a message to her master, wanting to talk to him about it.

But to her surprise, her master—who usually replied in a flash, who got more energetic the later it got, and who could often be seen rising from the dead to party on various apps at four or five in the morning—wasn’t responding at all, no matter how many times she messaged him.

Arabella Donovan: "..." ’You always drop the ball at the most critical moment. What good are you?!’

Still moping in her room, Arabella Donovan had no idea that, just one wall away, Hector Donovan and Sheldon Webb had only discussed business for a short while. After confirming a few key points for the next day’s variety show recording, they had gone their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Eloise Donovan had returned to the Donovan family home. There, with Mr. and Mrs. Donovan and their eldest brother—who had rushed back after getting the news—she meticulously recounted everything that had happened at the Rhodes Family’s ancestor worship ceremony.

Afterward, as expected, the entire Donovan household erupted into utter chaos.