Chapter 144: The Displaying Peacock
Chapter 144: Chapter 144: The Displaying Peacock
As it turns out, you should never tell a man he’s not up to the task.
Dennis Donovan already loathed the Prestons, who had nearly prevented his beloved from living out her final years in peace. Hearing Preston’s words now, he was as fired up as if he’d been shot full of adrenaline, looking like he wanted to charge into battle himself and annihilate the Preston Family, leaving no one standing.
Arabella Donovan couldn’t help but shake her head and sigh at the sight.
’Why else do they say power and love are the best cosmetic procedures for a man? Just look at Great-Uncle, he’s absolutely radiant. He’s like a completely different person from before. It’s like... like a peacock desperately trying to show off its tail feathers, hahahaha...’
Justin Donovan snuck a glance at Dennis Donovan and had to admit his sister had a way with words.
If the old master who had appeared at the Donovan Family home two days ago was a pure man of power, decrepit yet radiating an oppressive aura, then the old master today had shed all of his harshness. With a goofy, adorable smile like a husky’s on his face, he looked a good ten or twenty years younger.
When Dennis Donovan heard Arabella describe him as a preening peacock, he felt not a shred of shame. In fact, he took it as a compliment, grinning from ear to ear.
Preston found this both exasperating and amusing. "Tone it down a little. The younger ones are watching, you shameless old man."
"Let them watch if they want. We’re setting a good example for them. Young people should live with integrity."
Justin Donovan’s mouth twitched. He had no choice but to agree. "Right, right. You’re absolutely correct."
"See? See? I wasn’t wrong, was I?"
Preston shot him a look. "Give you an inch and you take a mile. He’s just saving you face because he’s too polite to call you out."
As they were joking around, Howard came in from outside. "Ninth Master, regarding the Preston Family members involved in the illegal confinement of the old madam, everyone has been arrested and brought to justice, with the exception of the Preston Family’s second young master, who went abroad on vacation a few days ago. The police have already set up a detail at the airport. They’re just waiting for his plane to land tomorrow to apprehend him."
"That fellow, Jiang, handled this matter pretty well."
Despite saying that, Dennis Donovan looked at his love with a smug expression, his face practically screaming, ’I did a good job, didn’t I? Praise me!’
Watching from the side while cracking melon seeds and enjoying the drama, Arabella couldn’t help but quietly roast them in her head.
’Hahaha, the Prestons are probably thinking: "So, are we just a part of your role-playing?"’
Preston: "..."
Dennis Donovan: "..." ’This kid!’
With the matter of the Preston Family more or less settled, Preston could finally let go of the weight on her heart. She gripped Arabella’s hand tightly and said, "My child, I’ve heard the whole story from your great-uncle. I truly have you to thank for this. Otherwise, who knows how much longer they would have kept me locked up, or how much more I would have had to suffer. I truly must thank you."
"And your great-uncle thanks you too," Dennis chimed in. "If it weren’t for your help, I don’t know if I would have ever seen your grandma again in this lifetime. The fact that we can be together like this now is all thanks to you."
Arabella was a little embarrassed by their praise. She scratched her cheek and said, "I just thought their attitude when they mentioned the second floor was really unusual. And I’d recently read a lot of news about the trafficking of women and children, so I never expected that by a complete series of flukes, we’d accidentally find Grandma. It must have been fate. Heaven itself couldn’t bear to see true lovers kept apart, so it deliberately led us to find Grandma and bring your beautiful story to its happy ending."
Dennis Donovan and Preston exchanged a look, smiling faintly without a word.
"By the way, what are your plans now, Great-Uncle and Grandma Preston?"
The night Preston was rescued, everyone took her to the best hospital in the city for a full-body check-up. It confirmed that her illness was actually a chronic condition stemming from her years of wandering and hardship in the past.
Over the years, her health had been unstable, with frequent relapses. Especially in recent years, as she got older and her caretakers grew negligent, she would fall ill whenever the seasons changed.
But it wasn’t anything too serious. She just needed careful nurturing. Plus, with the two of them reunited after so long, Arabella guessed that Preston would return to Brynn with her great-uncle, to cherish each other and never be separated again.
Sure enough, the moment she asked, Dennis Donovan started grinning like a fool again.
Preston also blushed a little, slightly embarrassed. "I’m going back to Brynn with your great-uncle. He said he’s taking me back to get married."
"And take wedding photos, and hold a banquet! Your whole family has to come when the time comes."
In Dennis Donovan’s eyes, he and his love owed their present happiness entirely to Arabella. Anyone could skip the wedding, but she absolutely had to be there.
"We’re so old, yet you’re still planning all that frivolous stuff like young people. Aren’t you afraid people will laugh?"
In Preston’s opinion, their combined age was nearly one hundred and fifty. Neither of them knew how many good years they had left.
Besides, they had both been through so much. They knew each other’s hearts. The most important thing was to cherish the present and live well together. There was really no need to bother with all those tedious formalities.
But Dennis Donovan didn’t see it that way. He insisted on taking her back to register their marriage—ideally, returning and registering on the very same day. Afterward, he wanted to take wedding photos, a family portrait, and hold a magnificent, grand wedding that everyone would know about, to tell the world that he had a wife now, too.
On this matter, however, Arabella was on her great-uncle’s side.
"Grandma, you’ve got that wrong. Grandpas and grandmas these days are way more fashionable than young people. Photo studios are full of older couples getting their wedding photos retaken in their later years. It’s a symbol of growing old together and a lifetime of devotion. Onlookers will be too busy being envious—how could they possibly laugh?"
"Yes, yes! I love hearing that, Serena!"
"Besides, you and Great-Uncle were separated for so many years, and you’ve only just gotten back together. Do you really not want to have a wedding for each other? This is a wedding that’s half a century late. Great-Uncle has hoped for this and dreamt of this for so long. Now that his wish can finally be fulfilled, and it’s not like you can’t afford to do it, why not? Or are you saying that... back then, you never thought about marrying my great-uncle, Grandma?"
Dennis Donovan whipped his head around to look at his love. Prompted by Arabella, Preston also recalled the future they had imagined together during the passionate days of their youth.
After weathering so many storms and enduring so much hardship over the years, looking back on that time felt like another lifetime, yet she could still easily recall the fluttering anticipation of her first love.
Ultimately, it wasn’t that she had cut herself off from love and romance all these years; she just never again met someone who could captivate her the way he did in her youth, and so her heart was unwilling to settle for less.
The moment Arabella saw her expression, she knew she had been persuaded. She secretly gave Dennis Donovan an "OK" sign with her hand and continued, "There’s a saying that’s absolutely right: how could someone who loves you bear to not even give you an official title? All dating that doesn’t aim for marriage is just messing around. The fact that Great-Uncle is doing this just proves how much he loves you."
"Pfft—" Preston was amused by her exaggerated tone and burst out laughing. "You silly child, you just know how to speak up for your great-uncle."
"Not at all! I’m clearly speaking the truth." Arabella’s eyes darted, as if she’d just thought of something. "Oh, right! Grandma, give me your hand for a second."