Chapter 142: Don’t Resort to Personal Attacks
Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Don’t Resort to Personal Attacks
"What’s going on? What’s going on? What do you think you’re doing?"
The village chief hadn’t expected Arabella Donovan and the others to stir up so much trouble on their very first day in the village.
He led a crowd of villagers, who had heard the commotion and grabbed whatever they could as weapons, to the Preston family’s home. The moment he arrived, he bolted upstairs to confront Dennis Donovan and the others.
"Mr. Donovan, Miss Donovan, what is all this..."
"Village Chief, you’re just in time." Arabella Donovan glanced at how badly they were outnumbered, then at the carrying poles and hoes the newcomers wielded as weapons, and decided to stall for time.
In fact, she had already called the police before even leaving the room, reporting suspected illegal confinement and human trafficking.
It was an exaggeration, but in a situation like this, you needed a shocking accusation to get a faster response.
Otherwise, given the current situation, if help arrived even a little late, they’d all be done for!
"We were just staying with your nephew, but we unexpectedly stumbled upon my grandmother, who went missing a while ago."
"What?" Now, it wasn’t just the village chief; the villagers who followed him were also stunned.
"You’re saying you found your grandmother at my nephew’s house?"
"Yes, this is her." Arabella Donovan walked over to Preston’s side, took her arm, and presented her to the crowd.
Shawn Preston finally realized what she was trying to do and roared, "What nonsense are you spouting? That’s my grandmother!"
The corners of Arabella Donovan’s mouth lifted in a smirk. "Do you have any proof?"
"Are you kidding me? I need proof to recognize my own grandmother?"
"In other words, you have no proof that she is your grandmother."
"Stop twisting my words. I don’t have proof, so what? You do?"
"Of course. Grandma, why don’t you tell them whose grandmother you are?" Arabella Donovan turned and gave Preston a meaningful look.
Preston understood and nodded, saying with a beaming smile, "I’m your grandmother. You’re my real granddaughter."
"Did you hear that? Is there any more solid proof than this?" Arabella Donovan jutted her chin out, looking like a victorious rooster.
Shawn Preston was furious. "Uncle, don’t listen to her nonsense! My grandmother is old and her mind isn’t right. She gets confused and can’t recognize people..."
"You’re the one whose mind isn’t right! You brought me here and locked me up, didn’t you? All so you could use me to extort money from my family! Now my family has found me, and you’re still trying to discredit me? You’ve gone too far!"
Hearing Preston’s words, Arabella Donovan really wanted to give her a thumbs-up.
’My great-aunt is so quick on the uptake! This is perfect. Now that we’ve slapped him with the kidnapping and extortion label, let’s see how this little punk tries to defend himself!’
Preston flushed at Arabella’s use of the term "great-aunt," almost flying into a rage out of sheer embarrassment.
Dennis Donovan, however, was delighted. But it wasn’t the right time, so he had to suppress his amusement and feign anger. "That’s right! You people abducted my wife and brought her here for no reason. She’s suffered so much, and now that we’ve found her, you’re still trying to stop us from taking her home?"
"What is it? Are you trying to start a rebellion? You really think that just because this is some backwater village, the law can’t reach you? Call the police! Call the police right now and let them sort this out for us."
Preston was far too articulate; she didn’t sound like someone whose mind was failing in the slightest.
And Dennis Donovan kept demanding they call the police, acting completely self-assured and unafraid of any investigation.
Many of the villagers who had come over to help began to hesitate. Most of them were decent, honest people who had no desire to get needlessly involved in a scary criminal case.
Seeing the standoff, the housekeeper seethed with hatred. She quietly circled behind everyone and slipped into the kitchen. A moment later, she emerged with another knife and headed toward Arabella and the others.
While everyone’s attention was focused on Arabella and the village chief, she repeated her earlier trick, raising the knife and lunging at Preston’s back.
"Look out!"
Dennis Donovan’s attention had never left his wife. He reacted instantly, pulling Preston into his arms to shield her.
The knife, originally aimed at Preston’s back, now plunged toward Dennis Donovan instead.
Howard was standing guard in front of everyone and was caught off guard by the sneak attack from behind. It was too late for him to intervene.
At the last possible moment, a hand shot out, gripping the housekeeper’s wrist with swift, precise force. The fruit knife froze, its tip just inches from Dennis Donovan’s back.
Arabella Donovan was long past sick of this shit-stirring woman. Seeing her actually try to kill someone, she squeezed the wrist she held and twisted—hard.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the village, making everyone present flinch.
Shawn Preston seized the opportunity to grab the village chief’s arm, hissing a warning, "Uncle, she is my grandmother! She IS! Think carefully. If this gets out, neither you nor Auntie will be able to get away with it. Anyone related to us will be dragged down. But... if we make sure they all stay here, no one will ever know!"
Although the village chief was in charge of the whole village, he had never dealt with anything of this magnitude and was instantly swayed by his nephew’s words.
On a rash impulse, he raised his hand and yelled, "Fellow villagers! They’re outsiders! You can’t trust what they say! Don’t let them fool you! No matter what, they’re wrong for coming to our village and causing trouble. Seize them! We’ll decide what to do with them after."
A tense standoff like this, with a crowd poised on the brink of violence, often just needs a single spark to ignite.
Shawn Preston knew this well. He subtly signaled a young hoodlum he was friendly with. The guy got the message immediately and was the first to charge at Arabella and the others. After Howard took him down with a single punch, he yelled, trying to rile up the crowd, "They’re attacking us! The outsiders are attacking us!"
"They came all the way to our village to attack our people! This is going too far! Everyone, get ’em! Don’t let them get away!"
Sure enough, seven or eight out of every ten Lewis Village residents who had been hesitating to get involved now grabbed their tools and charged forward, determined to stand up for their own.
No matter how skilled Howard was, he was badly outnumbered. It wasn’t long before he started to lose ground.
Seeing this, Arabella Donovan pushed the two elders back and rushed in to help.
The villagers hadn’t paid Arabella Donovan any mind, focusing only on the men. That changed when she started grabbing these sturdy farmhands—men who weighed at least one hundred and fifty pounds—and tossing them aside one-handed, more easily than if they were beanbags. Many of them were stunned.
"What is with this woman? How can she be so strong? Is she even human?"
"She’s so strong, she’s going to kill us! A monster! She’s a monster! Don’t hit me, don’t hit me!"
Arabella Donovan: "???"
’The hell? So you can’t beat me, fine, but there’s no need for personal attacks. I’m just a little stronger than the average person, is that really such a big deal?!’
The other Donovans and Caspian Rhodes, all huddled uselessly to the side: "..." ’No,’ they thought, ’your strength is a *lot* more than "a little" stronger than average!’