Chapter 140: You Could Have Said So Sooner
Chapter 140: Chapter 140: You Could Have Said So Sooner
The air inside the house instantly crackled with hostility, with neither side willing to back down.
The village chief hadn’t expected things to escalate this far. Cursing his luck inwardly, he had no choice but to brace himself and step forward to play the peacemaker.
"Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. This is indeed my oversight. I didn’t confirm things clearly with Shawn Preston beforehand. But now that things are the way they are, can you do me a favor and each take a step back?"
"What kind of step back?"
"Shawn Preston, you’ve already taken their money, so you must agree to let them stay. As for you, Miss Donovan... Shawn’s grandmother is recovering from an illness upstairs and needs peace and quiet. You will all stay on the first floor, and don’t even think about running upstairs. Disturbing a sick person is one thing, but what if this gentleman, in his advanced age, were to catch what the old lady has? You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?"
As the saying goes, even a mighty dragon can’t crush a local snake. So, as unhappy as the caregiver was about these new people suddenly appearing in the house, she had to give the village chief some face. She shot Shawn Preston a vicious glare and reluctantly agreed.
"Fine. For the village chief’s sake. But don’t let it happen again."
Arabella Donovan and her group were still looking for an opportunity to sneak upstairs, so naturally, they weren’t about to leave. They agreed as well.
However, the dissatisfaction was plain on everyone’s faces; clearly, no one was happy with this outcome.
After all the drama, Arabella Donovan and her group lost all interest in the hot springs. Besides, Dennis Donovan was getting on in years and was exhausted from the day’s travel. After settling in, they each returned to their rooms to rest.
Shawn Preston had just received a windfall of cash, but he’d also just been humiliated by the caregiver in front of everyone. He desperately needed to go out and find some amusement to improve his mood. The moment he saw Arabella Donovan’s group go into their rooms, he turned and left the house.
But in reality, Arabella Donovan and the others didn’t go to sleep. Instead, they were all paying close attention to any movement from upstairs.
Sure enough, between eight and nine o’clock, they heard movement from upstairs. The caregiver was coming down to heat up the old lady’s medicine.
Through the door, Arabella Donovan could hear the woman’s resentful complaints: "Damned old hag, so stubborn. Forcing me to suffer here with her. Once she spits out where that painting is, we’ll see how I deal with her!"
The voice grew more and more distant. Guessing the caregiver was now in the kitchen, Arabella Donovan quickly opened her door and stepped out.
She hadn’t expected that the moment she opened her door, the two adjacent doors would open as well.
"What are you all..."
Arabella Donovan peeked in the direction the caregiver had gone, then said through her teeth, "No time to explain. I suspect there’s a secret upstairs—they could even be holding trafficked women or children captive. You all wait here, I’m going up to take a look."
The rest of the group, who were already in on the plan: "..." ’We’ll just ignore your little performance for now. But that’s a great excuse. If anyone asks later, we’ll stick to that story!’
"It’s too risky for you to go alone. We’ll go with you. Howard, let’s go." Dennis Donovan had already been waiting impatiently. Hearing Arabella Donovan’s words, he immediately started up the stairs, leaning on his cane, his movements belying his seventy or eighty years of age.
Arabella Donovan didn’t even have a chance to explain that she wasn’t in the slightest bit of danger going up alone—and that, if anything, this whole crowd was more likely to slow her down. Before she could say a word, Justin Donovan was already pulling her up the stairs, much to her exasperation.
Oh, well. ’Preston had just been betrayed by her own family,’ she thought. ’Without seeing her granduncle, she would be unlikely to trust a stranger like me and leave. The caregiver will be heating the medicine for ten or twenty minutes at most. We have to hurry and seize this chance.’
The layout of the second floor was similar to the first. The group had just reached the top of the stairs when they heard a faint, shallow cough. Following the sound, they quickly found Miss Preston’s room. One of them tried the doorknob. It was locked.
"This..." Dennis Donovan’s expression faltered.
’This caregiver is certainly cautious,’ she thought. ’To think she’d lock the door just to go downstairs and heat up medicine!’
"What are we going to do?" His beloved was just a wall away; he couldn’t bear to give up now.
"Should we... try kicking it open?"
But the door was clearly a solid wood panel, exceptionally sturdy. All eyes fell in unison upon the head of the security detail.
Howard: "..." ’I’m so grateful you all think so highly of me,’ he thought sarcastically.
That’s what he was thinking, but he could also see how desperate the others were. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I’ll try!"
Under the hopeful gazes of the group, Howard summoned all his strength and let fly a powerful kick.
There was a tremendous THUD, but the door didn’t move an inch. The kicker’s face, however, twisted in pain.
Justin Donovan and the others looked on with great sympathy. "You can say it if it hurts."
"...No. It doesn’t hurt."
’Tsk, tsk. A real man never admits he’s in pain. How cool!’
The others: "..." ’Good heavens, girl, now is not the time to be joking around!’
"Who—who’s upstairs?" The commotion had, as expected, attracted the caregiver’s attention.
Seeing that the woman was about to come up and spoil their plans, Arabella Donovan cursed inwardly. With no time to think, she strode forward and wrenched the doorknob. With a loud SNAP, the seemingly indestructible stainless steel handle twisted into a crumpled heap, turning into a pile of scrap metal in an instant.
Everyone: "!!!"
The poor, deeply wronged Howard: "..." ’You had this kind of power and you didn’t say so earlier? My leg!’
After this rather simple and brutal form of lockpicking, the door swung open, revealing the old lady who had been held captive inside for so long.
Because of her illness, the old lady’s face was somewhat haggard and her spirits seemed low. And yet, the elegance and composure etched into her very soul, a tranquil and graceful scholarly air, immediately captured everyone’s attention.
Dennis Donovan had fantasized countless times about reuniting with his beloved, but now that he was actually seeing her, he was overwhelmed by a paralyzing mix of anticipation and apprehension.
In that moment, it was as if he had returned to the Valoria of forty or fifty years ago, transformed back into that callow youth who had nothing to his name and nothing to offer but a sincere heart.
"Guinevere..." Simply saying her name seemed to take all of Dennis Donovan’s strength. His eyes reddened as he gazed, almost greedily, at the love he had lost and finally found again.
Time had passed, and people had changed. The years had brought them not only a long and torturous wait, but also appearances so different from their memories that they were almost unrecognizable.
And yet, despite it all, these two lovers who had never forgotten one another recognized each other in that very first instant.
Preston jolted at the sound of Dennis Donovan’s soft call. She timidly sized up the old man before her, then whispered cautiously, "Dennis?"
It was as if she were afraid of being contradicted, or perhaps afraid of waking from a beautiful dream she’d had for many years.
"It’s me, it’s me! I’m Dennis, and I’ve come for you!" Dennis Donovan clutched the fine-toothed comb he always carried and rushed to his beloved’s side.
When Preston saw the comb, she finally confirmed the man’s identity. With tears welling in her eyes, she complained with a rare vulnerability, "What took you so long?"
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’m too late. I’ve made you wait for so long."
The reunion of lovers separated for so many years was a moving scene, but at such moments, there is always someone who fails to read the room and comes to spoil the mood.
"What are you doing here?"