Chapter 431: The Three Soul Questions

Chapter 431: Chapter 431: The Three Soul Questions

"What are you two doing here?"

Hector Donovan’s face darkened the moment he saw them, his disgust plain to see.

Little Zora immediately reverted to her previous skittishness, hiding behind Arabella Donovan to peek timidly at them—or more accurately, to peek timidly at Riley Coleman.

The two uninvited visitors were none other than Riley Coleman, who had just thrown a tantrum not long ago, and Jude Underwood, who had been forced to take charge of him.

Jude Underwood’s expression stiffened slightly. He forced an awkward, pitiful smile. "I heard you guys found a house for the night, Donovan. We just happened to be passing by, so we thought we’d drop in and say hello."

The moment he said that, Arabella Donovan began grumbling to herself.

’This artist surnamed Underwood really is a cheater with a script. As soon as he finished placating the kid, he rushed over here. He probably already knew the production team had arranged for the best house to be right here. He just didn’t expect that cheating with a spy from the crew is no match for someone cheating with the help of God himself. We beat him to it! Nya nya nya... HAHAHAHA...’

A glint flashed in Hector Donovan’s eyes, a chill passing through them. ’So... that’s what’s going on!’

"You’re certainly well-informed. We only just found this place, and you already know. That’s right, this is our temporary home. I hear it’s one of the best places in the village."

"Well, congratulations then." Jude Underwood’s expression grew even stiffer when he heard this. He took the initiative and asked, "Aren’t you going to invite us in for a bit?"

"Have you found a house? Have you eaten? Have you completed the task the production team assigned?"

Hector Donovan’s triple-barreled questioning made Jude Underwood’s face turn green.

"No... we haven’t."

"Since you haven’t, we’d feel bad holding you up from your important tasks. We won’t keep you."

Jude Underwood: "..."

Arabella Donovan: "???"

The livestream viewers: "???"

For a moment, Arabella Donovan’s thoughts and those of the livestream viewers were surprisingly in perfect sync.

’Is it just me, or is Best Actor Donovan (my brother) being kinda... passive-aggressive?’

The polite smile on Jude Underwood’s face almost shattered. He nearly lost his composure right then and there. "Donovan, we just..."

"Where’s my meat? I want meat, I want meat, I want meat!"

They say people are never in a good mood when they’re hungry. This is true even for ordinary people, let alone a spoiled brat who’s been coddled since birth and has never known real hardship.

Jude Underwood was still trying to butter them up a bit, hoping to at least get inside their house for a look around to make his future plans easier to carry out.

Unexpectedly, the already unstable brat by his side erupted again. Not only did he scream for meat, but after a moment of not being immediately placated by Jude Underwood and the others, he even started kicking and punching him. He then tried to run over and hit Zora, who was hiding behind Arabella Donovan, which showed he must have often used her as a punching bag at home.

The Donovan siblings watched this unfold, their expressions turning cold. They picked up Zora and issued an eviction notice: "Sorry, our child needs her nap. We won’t keep you any longer. Please see yourselves out."

Without waiting for Jude Underwood’s reaction, they took the child inside and slammed the courtyard gate shut with a BANG, locking both Jude and the poor cameraman out.

The slow-to-react cameraman: "..." ’Wait, did you guys forget something? I’m still out here!’ (Erkang hand reaching gesture.jpg)

The sight of the poor cameraman being shut out unsurprisingly caused the livestream’s bullet comments to be flooded with "HAHAHA".

However, what no one realized was that this was all a deliberate act by the Donovan siblings, done to get away from the camera so they could have a private conversation.

"Second Brother, do you have some kind of beef with that guest surnamed Underwood?"

"No."

Arabella Donovan was a little surprised. "Then why were you just..."

"I just don’t like the look of him. I wasn’t blind to his little tricks during the partner selection earlier. We’re all thousand-year-old foxes, who is he trying to fool with his ghost stories? That guy definitely knew that kid was a brat, which is why he tried to fight us for Zora."

Arabella Donovan gave him a thumbs-up.

’All I can say is, Second Brother has been in this industry for a long time. He’s seen it all. Just by looking at the surface, he could tell this Underwood guy is bad news. Impressive!’

Hector Donovan narrowed his eyes. ’The surface? So there’s a deeper reason?’

"That guy... is there something wrong with him?"

Arabella Donovan glanced around, confirming there were no cameras nearby. She then looked at Zora, who was staring up at them curiously, and covered the little girl’s ears. In a hushed voice, she said, "He’s one of Zora’s stepmother’s people."

"Zora’s stepmother? Isn’t that..."

Before Hector Donovan could finish, the cameraman assigned to them started yelling from outside.

"Best Actor Donovan! Miss Donovan! I’m still out here! Let me in, let me in!"

His voice was so mournful and tragic it sounded like a vengeful spirit demanding a life. Hearing it in the middle of the night would probably scare someone to death.

The two Donovans: "..." ’Fine, whatever.’

Hector Donovan gestured to her, indicating they’d talk later on their phones.

Perhaps because the full livestream allowed them to monitor public opinion at any time, the production team hadn’t confiscated their phones.

They had only stipulated that the phones couldn’t be used for payments during the show, as it might interfere with the assigned tasks. This now made it convenient for them to communicate privately.

After the cameraman was let in, Arabella Donovan went to put the child to sleep. Hector Donovan used the time to look around the house, checking for anything that might be useful later.

Once Arabella Donovan had lulled the child to sleep, the two of them acted like criminals making a secret rendezvous. She shot Hector Donovan a meaningful look while pretending to go to the bathroom. Then, back in their rooms, they both picked up their phones.

[You just said that Underwood guy is one of Zora’s stepmother’s people?]

[Yes. To be precise, he’s been bought by Zora’s stepmother.]

[Bought him to do what?]

[For money, and for murder.]

The few short words almost made Hector Donovan jump out of his skin.

At the last second, he remembered his situation and forced himself to calm down, his fingers flying across his phone screen.

[Are you sure you saw that right? She wants to kill the child?]

[I’m absolutely, one hundred percent certain.]

The moment she had walked up and gotten a clear look at Mr. Underwood, Arabella Donovan knew why the child had the face of someone destined for a violent, recent death. The cause was Jude Underwood—or more precisely, the woman behind him, Zora’s stepmother!

[This Mrs. Coleman paid a high price to bribe Jude Underwood. Tomorrow, when we go to the market to do our task, he’s supposed to hand Zora over to some human traffickers she’s already contacted. The traffickers will take Zora to a remote mountainous region and sell her, ensuring she never comes back.]

"What?!"