Chapter 139: Are You Playing With Us?
Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Are You Playing With Us?
’The smell of medicine? Does that mean...’
Dennis Donovan’s heart hammered in his chest. He was dying to rush inside and find his beloved.
Arabella Donovan ignored the argument between Shawn Preston and the village chief, her gaze drifting up toward the second-floor staircase as if she sensed something.
"Can’t we stay on the second floor? My grandfather has bad legs and chronic rheumatism. The first floor might not be comfortable for him."
"No." Surprisingly, Shawn Preston was extremely insistent on this point.
"My grandmother is sick and resting on the second floor. She can’t be disturbed. You can only use the first floor. You can’t go up."
Arabella Donovan raised an eyebrow and sneered, "So after all that money we paid, we can’t even pick a room we like? We look around and can only stay on the first floor. How is that any different from staying somewhere else?"
Caspian Rhodes could tell from the change in Arabella Donovan’s expression that the person they were looking for was likely on the second floor. He played along, adding, "Exactly. And you asked if *we* were sincere? Is this your idea of sincere hospitality?"
"Please, don’t be angry. That’s not what he meant..."
Before the village chief could finish, Shawn Preston’s face darkened, and he cut off the explanation.
"Take it or leave it. So what if you have a bit of stinking money? Who do you think you’re trying to impress? This is my house! Worst case, I’ll just give you your money back."
Shawn Preston’s attitude had changed a little too quickly. A moment ago, he had the look of a man who loved money more than his own life, but the instant they mentioned going upstairs, his whole demeanor shifted. He was even willing to give up the money. It was hard not to suspect he was hiding some dirty secret upstairs.
Just as the atmosphere downstairs grew tense and strange, and Dennis Donovan was fighting the urge to storm the second floor with his men, a woman’s voice suddenly called down from upstairs.
"What’s all that noise? Don’t you know someone’s trying to sleep up here?"
Arabella Donovan instinctively looked toward the source of the voice. Her eyes landed on a heavy-set woman in her forties or fifties. She took a closer look.
’Ah, so this is the nanny who was seduced by that ungrateful adopted son?’
Dennis Donovan and the others froze. ’What?!’
All eyes instantly snapped to the heavy-set woman, who had to weigh at least 220 pounds, their expressions turning peculiar.
’I can’t believe it... That adopted son... has some really heavy taste. He actually went for it! As expected, people who accomplish great things can endure what ordinary people cannot. A listless salted fish like me with no ambition could never compromise myself like that.’
The others were left speechless. ’She can talk,’ they thought collectively. ’But for a "salted fish," the things she’s doing are a much bigger deal than anything he’s managed!’
Looking up at the nanny again, the three men were at a loss for words.
Okay, they had to admit it; they weren’t the type to accomplish great things either.
’Hm? So there was a hidden reason why that ungrateful adopted son sent Preston to this godforsaken place.’
’A hidden reason? There was more to the story they didn’t know?’
Dennis Donovan and Justin Donovan exchanged a look and pricked up their ears in unison.
As for Caspian Rhodes, who had joined them halfway through, he didn’t quite know the full backstory, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying the drama as it unfolded.
The hidden reason Arabella was thinking of was none other than this: after the adopted son conspired with the nanny to seize Miss Preston’s assets, he failed to find a priceless original painting by Master Wyatt that she had collected in her early years.
The adopted son had his eyes on this painting for a long time, planning to use it to curry favor with a powerful figure in exchange for a great opportunity. But who would have known that Miss Preston had kept an ace up her sleeve?
In a fit of rage, the adopted son threw a terrible tantrum at Miss Preston and even came close to hitting her.
Dennis Donovan was startled, then immediately began grinding his teeth in anger.
Miss Preston endured a period of imprisonment and torment at the hands of the adopted son but still refused to yield. On top of that, some people in her family had taken notice of the situation and were now after the painting as well.
That was why, forced by the circumstances, he had sent Miss Preston to this remote, isolated mountain village. He also had the nanny accompany Miss Preston, ostensibly to care for her, but in reality, to monitor her and try to coax the painting’s whereabouts out of Preston.
’No wonder I could smell medicine as soon as I walked in. That ungrateful bastard still doesn’t know where the painting is, so he can’t let Preston just get sick and die. Once he finds out where the painting is, or gets a lead from another source, Preston will have outlived her usefulness...’
’Then, just as the original plot described, he would let her fend for herself, left to be slowly worn down and killed by her illness.’
’This adopted son is completely deranged. He even gave the nanny a knife. It’s in case someone else finds this place and gets the painting before Preston talks. If he can’t have something, he’d rather destroy it than let anyone else get it. That’s seriously twisted!’
Dennis Donovan’s heart gave a violent lurch. He was once again thankful that he had been cautious enough to come along with Arabella Donovan, instead of just hearing the beginning of the story and rushing over here himself.
Otherwise, with his temperament, he definitely would have stormed the place with his men the moment he learned of his beloved’s whereabouts, using the most forceful means to take her away.
But if he had done that, it would have inevitably made the nanny mistakenly believe they were there to seize the Master Wyatt original, whose location was unknown, and she would have moved against his beloved.
Without knowing beforehand that this nanny had a knife, could he really have guaranteed his beloved would escape completely unscathed? The answer was undoubtedly no.
After wasting half his life, he had finally found his beloved, only to watch her be harmed the moment he got her back. Dennis Donovan couldn’t imagine what kind of madness that would drive him to.
While the few who could hear Arabella Donovan’s thoughts were still reeling from the shock that the nanny was carrying a weapon, the one person not in the loop, the bodyguard Howard, was watching the woman who had suddenly appeared with a deep frown and a tense expression.
"Didn’t he just say he was the only one home? A sick grandmother upstairs is one thing, but who the hell is this person?"
In their line of work, the biggest taboo was having too many unpredictable strangers around the client. The village chief’s concealment had clearly struck a nerve.
The nanny was equally wary of the group that had suddenly appeared in the house. "What’s going on? Who are these people? What are they doing here?"
The village chief looked awkward and began to explain the reason for Arabella Donovan and her group’s visit. But before he could finish, the nanny’s face darkened, and she turned to lash out at Shawn Preston.
"How could you agree to let them stay the night? Did you forget what the gentleman ordered? The old lady needs quiet rest. Quiet rest! She can’t have contact with outsiders. And you just bring this many strangers into the house? Are you treating the gentleman’s words as hot air?"
Shawn Preston’s face turned ugly under the barrage of accusations.
He resented this stupid woman—a mere nanny—for daring to scold him in front of so many people and make him lose face. At the same time, he was afraid she would actually call and report him.
After all, his parents were currently working for that "uncle," and if they found out he had screwed things up, they would kill him when they got back!
"I’ll give them their money back right now and tell them to get lost."
Justin Donovan and the others laughed in exasperation. "Are you messing with us? Do you really think you can just summon us and dismiss us as you please?"