Chapter 151: How Is This the Same?
Chapter 151: Chapter 151: How Is This the Same?
At that moment, Arabella Donovan was unaware that even though she wasn’t physically in Jarden, she had become the stuff of legend there, her story spread by a certain someone.
As soon as the call went through, she cut to the chase and briefly explained what was happening with her cousin-in-law.
"So that’s the situation. My cousin-in-law seems carefree and cheerful, but she’s actually quite simple-minded, a bit naive even. She’s not cut out for all the scheming and office politics, and when she gets bullied, she’s too scared to tell anyone in the family. It really makes us worry."
Having helped his mother manage the company since he was a boy, Kieran Kerr was no stranger to corporate affairs. He immediately understood the implication of Arabella Donovan’s words, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Arabella Donovan had saved his life, a debt he and his mother had never forgotten. They were just waiting for an opportunity to repay her.
He never imagined that Master Donovan, of all people, had a cousin-in-law working at his family’s company—and that she was being bullied. Kieran Kerr dreaded to think what his mother would do if she found out. She’d probably be angry enough to make him kneel in the ancestral hall!
"This is definitely an oversight on my part. Please don’t worry, Master Donovan. As soon as I’m in the office tomorrow, I’ll get to the bottom of this and give both you and your sister-in-law a satisfactory resolution."
Hearing how seriously he was taking it, Arabella Donovan relaxed and said with a small smile, "I was just hoping you could help me look into this Miss Webb and see what her deal is. If that’s too much to ask, could you at least help transfer my sister-in-law to a different department? Just to separate them and make things less difficult for her."
"It’s no trouble at all, no trouble at all." The more Kieran Kerr listened, the more he admired Arabella Donovan’s graciousness. ’She’s even worried about inconveniencing me at a time like this.’
He was touched, but also terrified she would think he wasn’t taking this seriously.
"You’re being too polite, Master Donovan. This is our company’s failure. Don’t worry, I’ll have someone look into it immediately. I guarantee I’ll have an answer for you by the end of the day."
"In that case... I’ll leave it in your hands, Mr. Kerr."
When Arabella Donovan finished her call with Kieran Kerr and returned to the living room, the others inside had just wrapped up their own conversation. Their eyes brightened upon seeing her, and they scrambled to their feet to meet her.
"Serena, how did it go? What... what did he say?"
"Mr. Kerr said he would find out what’s going on at the company and give me a reply by the end of today." Arabella Donovan patted her fifth aunt’s hand to comfort her. "Don’t worry. Mr. Kerr might let his heart rule his head sometimes, but he’s a man of integrity. Even if he can’t do anything to that Miss Webb, he can at least transfer our cousin-in-law somewhere else, away from her."
"Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you so much for this, Serena."
"It was nothing, Auntie. You’re being too formal. We’re family; of course we should help each other."
"Serena’s right. We’re all family, so there’s no need to be so formal. Since Mr. Kerr promised an answer today, and it’s a long trip for you all, why don’t you stay for lunch? You can relax for a bit, and hopefully we’ll have some news before it gets dark. Then we can all breathe a little easier."
The two visiting families exchanged a look and nodded. "In that case, we’ll take you up on that."
Somehow, word that the fourth and fifth aunts’ families were staying for lunch reached Lillian Donovan. This aunt, newly single and highly eligible after finalizing her divorce, promptly dragged her two children over to the Donovan residence to crash the lunch party.
The house was rarely this lively, and the large round table that dominated the dining room was barely able to accommodate everyone.
After lunch, Lillian Donovan unabashedly regaled them with the epic tale of her victory over her "phoenix man" ex-husband and his mistress, who had practically been a child bride. Her audience, the families of the fifth uncle and fourth aunt, were left utterly speechless.
Lillian Donovan had sued the pair for both bigamy and fraud, demanding the return of all marital assets and anything obtained through deception. Coincidentally, this type of case fell under the jurisdiction of her second cousin’s department.
The cousin immediately gave his aunt several tips, promising he could make Julian Croft and his family cough up everything they’d taken and leave them completely bankrupt.
The families eagerly put their heads together, enthusiastically offering advice and strategies for each other’s problems, just like a group of genuinely close siblings.
Arabella Donovan assumed the families had always been this close. She was unaware that because their respective grandfathers had built their lives in different parts of the country, these cousins, though blood relatives, rarely got together and weren’t especially close.
The only reason they were now interacting with such unguarded intimacy, openly discussing each other’s private family affairs, was because of the one person who connected them all: Arabella Donovan.
When these issues were still unfolding, Arabella Donovan had been able to provide some guidance.
But with matters like Lillian Donovan’s, which were already nearing resolution, she could simply sit back, "eat her melon seeds," and enjoy the show as she waited for the grand finale.
This kind of family melodrama was perfect entertainment for the adults, but it was all a bit too profound for the children.
Arabella Donovan had just finished her melon seeds and was reaching for an apple when she felt a sudden weight against her legs. She looked down and found herself staring into two pairs of bright, watery eyes.
"What are you two... doing over here?"
The two children, who had been hiding shyly behind their parents all morning and barely daring to meet her gaze, had now actually come up to her on their own.
"Hello. My name is Zachary Donovan. My mother is Sabrina Donovan, and my father is Hugh Donovan."
Arabella Donovan was taken aback by the little boy’s solemn introduction. ’Kids are so precocious these days,’ she marveled again. ’To think a three-year-old can string together such a long, clear sentence. Incredible!’
"Hello there. I’m Arabella Donovan. I’m your... auntie."
"Thank you, Auntie."
"Thank me?" Arabella Donovan froze, giving the little hand in hers a gentle shake. "Why are you thanking me?" she asked, completely puzzled.
"Mommy said you helped our family and that you saved me. She said we should all thank you."
Arabella Donovan grew even more bewildered. ’If I remember correctly,’ she thought, ’all I did was subtly tell my fourth aunt about the leads’ relationship and this little one’s true identity. That hardly counts as saving him, does it?’
The adults were deep in conversation, but they still had half an ear on Arabella. The moment they heard the boy’s words, they all thought, ’Oh, crap!’
The fourth aunt reacted first, quickly walking over to scoop up the child. "Leo is right," she said. "Serena, if you hadn’t told us the truth when you did, who knows how much longer these two would have been awkward with each other before finally talking things through."
"And when he got injured last time, we were so lucky a kind stranger stepped in to help. Sabrina’s knees went weak from fright when she found out later. And when she heard direct relatives couldn’t give blood, Hugh was so desperate he nearly did it himself. It was a true blessing in a terrible situation."
Arabella Donovan felt instinctively that something was wrong, though she couldn’t say what. She just waved her hand dismissively. "Well, you should be thanking that kind stranger, then."
"We should thank the kind stranger, and we should thank you. It’s the same thing."
Arabella Donovan was completely bewildered. ’??? Wait, how is that the same thing at all?’