Chapter 152: Instant Dad
Chapter 152: Chapter 152: Instant Dad
Just as the atmosphere grew a little awkward, the little girl draped over Arabella Donovan’s other leg suddenly piped up, "Sister~"
Arabella Donovan’s attention was instantly captured. "Nope, nope, that’s not right. We’re from different generations. You should call me Auntie, not Sister."
The little girl blinked her big, round eyes, as if she couldn’t understand why she had to call such a young sister "Auntie."
However, confused as she was, she finally changed her form of address.
"Auntie, you’re so pretty! Just as pretty as Ethan’s mom from the class next door."
Arabella Donovan froze. The other adults in the room were also stunned for a moment.
After a moment of stunned silence, the living room erupted in boisterous laughter.
"Looks like our Little Princess already has an eye for beauty! She’s so young but already knows who’s pretty and who’s not. But who is this Ethan? Is his mom really that beautiful?"
Hearing Mrs. Donovan’s question, her second cousin’s wife looked resigned. "He’s a little boy from the class next door, named Henry Lynch. He has very refined features and fair skin—exceptionally handsome. This little flirt of mine was smitten the first day she saw him at school. Now she follows him around all day, calling out ’Brother, Brother.’ It’s so embarrassing I can barely show my face."
Her second cousin, feeling very anxious and jealous that his "little cabbage" was already trying to jump into someone else’s "pigpen" before she was even ripe, asked, "Is Daddy handsomer, or is your Ethan handsomer?"
"Daddy’s handsome."
The corners of her second cousin’s mouth lifted.
"But Ethan is even handsomer."
The smile on her second cousin’s face froze, and he looked as if he’d been turned to stone.
Seeing this, his wife shot him a scornful glare. "What’s the point of competing with a kid? You’re a grown man. Have you no shame?"
Her second cousin still looked utterly devastated, as if the sky were falling, which showed just how deeply his daughter’s words had wounded him.
What everyone failed to notice, however, was that after hearing her second cousin’s wife’s explanation, Arabella Donovan had gone completely stiff. The apple she had just taken a bite of slipped from her hand, landing with a soft THUD before rolling to a stop at Mrs. Donovan’s feet.
"Serena, you..."
’It can’t be that much of a coincidence!’
Every head in the room swiveled toward Arabella Donovan. She jumped, assuming they had all looked because of the dropped apple. She gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry, my hand slipped."
"It’s alright, it’s alright. Just wash it and you can still eat it."
Mrs. Donovan had someone go wash the apple, and Arabella Donovan, momentarily regaining her composure, asked tentatively, "The little boy in the class next to Sue’s... his name is Henry Lynch?"
"That’s right. Henry Lynch."
"So... have you seen his mother?"
"I have, actually. Sue pointed her out to me once when I was picking her up. She has a real baby face, and she was wearing a yellow food delivery uniform with her hair in two braids. She looked like a high schooler. If Sue hadn’t insisted that she was, in fact, the boy’s mother, I would have sworn she was his older sister."
After finishing, her second cousin’s wife asked tentatively, "Serena... you know her, don’t you?"
"...I don’t."
’I don’t know her... but I’m sure I’m right. The Ethan the Little Princess mentioned must be the son of Fourth Sister’s older cousin and his first love, his Lover.’
Everyone: ???
Hold on, let’s unpack that. The amount of information was a little overwhelming!
’From my second cousin’s wife’s description, his Lover has to work a part-time job as a delivery driver just to pick up her kid. How many jobs is she working? When you think about it, Fourth Sister’s older cousin is such a scumbag! He’s letting his Lover deliver food to raise their child! Although... he probably doesn’t even know the kid exists.’
Everyone exchanged a look. Uh...
Arabella Donovan was clearly hesitant about whether or not to tell Zane Lynch.
She couldn’t gauge the feelings of this Lover, Zane Lynch’s first love. She didn’t know if the woman still had feelings for Zane Lynch, or if she’d even want their child to acknowledge him as a father.
But their breakup had been nothing but a misunderstanding, engineered and guided by someone with ill intentions. They were both victims, really. And Miss Lyons must have endured endless gossip and hardship raising a child by herself. It didn’t seem right to let a negligent father like Zane Lynch get away scot-free.
Remembering how The Lynch Family had respected Eloise Donovan’s wishes after they found her, Arabella Donovan could only hope they would extend that same respect to this mother and son.
After a moment’s hesitation, Arabella Donovan grit her teeth and stood up again. "Sorry, I have something I need to handle. I’ll just be a minute. You all keep talking. Sue, Auntie will be right back to play with you."
The little one was disappointed but was well-behaved enough not to pester her.
Everyone in the room knew Arabella Donovan was likely leaving to contact Eloise Donovan about the child. They were dying to follow and get the gossip, but they worried it would make her suspicious, so all they could do was stare at her retreating back and lament their missed opportunity.
And indeed, the moment she was upstairs, Arabella Donovan called Eloise Donovan. Eloise had already been to Jarden several times to meet the relatives of her late parents. But the estate her birth parents left her was vast and complicated, so for the past few weeks, Eloise had to rush to Jarden every time she had a day off.
When Arabella Donovan called, Eloise was in the living room having afternoon tea with Mr. and Miss Lynch, discussing a gallery that Rona Sullivan had left behind.
"This gallery... your mother acquired it before she was pregnant with you. It’s in the West Suburbs, so foot traffic has never been great, but it’s more or less broken even over the years. But recently, with all the development out there, land values have soared. The gallery’s property is now worth about ten times what it was. Once you take over, you can keep it as a gallery or convert it into something else. Your older cousin has a construction crew ready to go, so you can just talk to him."
"Would that be too much trouble for my cousin?"
"Not at all, not at all. It’s right up his alley. He handles this sort of thing all the time, whether for clients or for family. Don’t you worry about bothering him. It’s an older brother’s job to help his little sister with these things."
A small smile touched Eloise Donovan’s lips. She nodded and said, "Alright. Can I decide what to do after I go take a look with my cousin?"
"Of course. These things were all left to you by your parents. You can do whatever you like with them."
Eloise Donovan simply smiled without saying a word. Just as she was about to change the subject, her phone rang.
Glancing at the caller ID, Eloise immediately cut herself off. "I’m so sorry, I need to take this."
Mr. and Mrs. Lynch waved dismissively, not paying it much mind.
But she had barely been on the call for a second before she gasped, "You said *what*?"
Their attention was instantly captured. They shot her a concerned look, but since she was still on the phone, they had to wait patiently.
The moment she hung up, they asked, "Did something happen?"
"Um... Uncle, Auntie... how would you feel if your son... suddenly became a father?"
"Oh, is that all? I was worried it was something serious. It’s just... PFFFT—" Miss Lynch let out a sigh of relief and took a sip of her tea. A second later, as the words sank in, she did a spit-take, her eyes flying wide in shock. "You said WHAT?!"