Chapter 440: A Misunderstanding? No Such Thing

Chapter 440: Chapter 440: A Misunderstanding? No Such Thing

Hector Donovan had seen Dylan Dawson threatening Arabella and was rolling up his sleeves for a fight, but this new development made his lips twitch. He suddenly felt like an idiot for even thinking of taking on a fool.

Arabella Donovan felt much the same. She sighed again in exasperation, her gaze filled with sympathy as she looked at the boy.

’Saddled with a father like that, this kid really has it rough. If your son wasn’t so pitiful, I really couldn’t be bothered with your family’s ridiculous mess.’

"Ahem. You’re the one who said it. The conflict between you and this boy isn’t hard to solve."

Dylan Dawson froze in the middle of trying to soothe his son. Even Tristan Dawson, who had been eating in silence, looked up at her with a hint of surprise, curious about how she planned to resolve the conflict between them.

"You were the oldest child, with three younger siblings. But a natural disaster killed both of your parents. Two of your other siblings didn’t make it either, and your youngest brother went missing, never to be found. From that day on, you were all alone in the world."

Dylan Dawson had started with a smile on his face, but as he listened, his expression fell.

Tristan Dawson looked surprised as well. Dylan Dawson had never told him any of this. As his son, he never knew his father’s early life had been so... tragic.

"From then on, you were forced to drift from place to place just to survive. You worked as a manual laborer and waited tables. You hit rock bottom and lived like a vagrant, enduring countless hardships. And it was during this time that you met your wife."

At the mention of his wife, a trace of warmth and nostalgia softened Dylan Dawson’s features. Tristan Dawson perked up his ears as well, eager to hear more about his mother from Arabella.

"You were a couple forged in hardship, and your bond was always strong. She witnessed your entire journey, from rock bottom to dazzling success. After six years together, your career finally had a breakthrough. You seized an opportunity, started a business from scratch, and it took off. The first thing you wanted to do after making money was to use it to marry the woman who had followed you through thick and thin, always silently supporting you."

It sounded like a beautiful love story: a couple supporting each other through thick and thin. Even after making his fortune, the husband never forgot the wife who had been with him through poverty. In fact, he cherished her all the more for her years of sacrifice, wanting to give her the world.

But in this world, wonderful things are often followed by devastating blows, and the experience of Dylan Dawson and his wife was no exception.

"You were very happy after getting married, and soon your wife was pregnant with your child, who is..." Arabella glanced meaningfully at Tristan Dawson.

"Meanwhile, your business was booming and everything was going smoothly. But because things were going *too* well, you inevitably made some competitors jealous. Since they couldn’t beat you fair and square, they resorted to crooked methods to crush you. They used some dirty tricks to try and harm you and your wife. At the most critical moment, it was a close friend of yours who protected you."

Hearing this, Dylan Dawson’s hands, which were hanging at his sides, unconsciously clenched into fists. His face grew darker than she had ever seen it.

It was the first time Tristan had ever seen him like this, and he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of concern. For once, he took the initiative and tugged on his father’s hand.

Dylan Dawson froze, a look of surprise and happiness flashing across his face. But he didn’t latch onto his son with joyous chatter like he usually would have. Instead, he silently turned to look at Arabella.

"Your good friend unfortunately died as a result. Your wife was so traumatized she went into premature labor, nearly costing both her and the baby their lives. Although they were saved in the end, the ordeal left her with lasting health complications, and she passed away just a few years later."

Dylan Dawson closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he was calm. He raised his hands and began to clap. "Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. You’re right. Everything you’ve said, from the very beginning, is true."

Arabella gave a small smile, calmly accepting his confirmation, but inwardly she was buzzing with anticipation.

’Here comes the good part, here comes the good part!’

Hector Donovan subtly straightened his posture, suddenly much more alert.

"Out of guilt toward your friend, after his death you sent people to his hometown, intending to bring his parents back so you could provide for them in their old age. But you learned that shortly after your friend’s death, a massive earthquake had struck his hometown. His parents had tragically died in the disaster. Only his wife survived, but she had disappeared without a trace."

"God..." Faye Collins and the others sucked in a sharp breath. "That’s just too tragic, isn’t it?"

Arabella thought, ’And that’s the good part. It gets even worse.’

Dylan Dawson was astonished that Arabella knew even this, but he nodded honestly. "It’s just as you said. We got there too late. We couldn’t save his parents, and we couldn’t find the mother and daughter any sooner. I failed him."

"But a few years later, you did find them. Or more accurately, they went to great lengths to find *you*."

Dylan Dawson looked surprised. If he recalled correctly, his meeting with the mother and daughter had been a complete accident. But to hear Miss Donovan tell it, they had deliberately arranged the whole thing...

As Tristan Dawson listened to Arabella recount the past, he had almost started to think that maybe he’d misunderstood his father all these years. He was on the verge of wavering, but then he heard what came next.

’...’ ’A misunderstanding? No chance. The man is just a blind, clueless fool!’

"You heard me right. Your meeting was a huge scam from start to finish. They knew your friend had died saving you and your wife, and they knew you were looking for his family to repay that debt. So, she got a job at your company, deliberately engineered a ’chance encounter,’ and then revealed her identity, all to get closer to you."

Dylan Dawson furrowed his brow, still struggling to accept this truth. He couldn’t understand their motive.

"But why? They’re Gunnar’s family. They didn’t need to be so calculating. Couldn’t they have just come to me and told me who they were? Or... did they not believe I was sincere about wanting to repay Gunnar’s loved ones?"

Arabella was so exasperated by Dylan Dawson’s talent for gaslighting himself that she rolled her eyes, speechless.

’I mean, seriously, can you try to be a little more competent as a CEO and a father? With your level of situational awareness, the only reason your company hasn’t gone bankrupt is that your ancestors must have burned some seriously expensive incense and are protecting you from the great beyond.’

’But even if it hasn’t collapsed yet, it’s about to be. You couldn’t see through such a simple scheme—you deserve to get scammed for your money and bedded by that pair, probably right before they harvest your kidneys. The only pitiful one is your precious son, saddled with a father like you and buried under massive debt at such a young age. It’s the perfect example of how to turn a royal flush into a catastrophic loss!’

Hector Donovan: ’...’ ’Is it really that wild?’

"What other reason could there be? Obviously, they have a guilty conscience! Which is more natural and convincing: them showing up on your doorstep, or you ’happening’ to run into them? This was the best way to keep you from getting suspicious about who they really were."

Dylan Dawson’s heart sank. "There’s a problem with their identities?"

"To be precise, there’s a problem with the *daughter’s* identity. Let me just ask you this: before all this, had your friend ever, even once, mentioned having a child?"