Chapter 487: Brute Force Works Miracles

Having figured out what was really going on with Summer Vance and the hidden murderous intent behind Yuri Quincy’s death, Arabella Donovan let out a sigh of relief, yet her nerves were stretched even tighter.

Her master hadn’t told her how to solve the current predicament, and she hadn’t asked. The solution was already hidden in their previous confrontations.

The enemy hiding in the shadows wanted to use villains with twisted morals to harm them, absorbing the victims’ fortune for its own use.

What Arabella Donovan needed to do was follow her heart: help the unfortunate souls who were being targeted avoid the villains’ persecution and protect their fortune.

Opposing The Providence sounded intimidating, but after calming down to think about it, it didn’t seem so difficult after all.

The fact that it had to resort to hinting at and even manipulating Summer Vance to drag everything back on track, even after discovering the plot was veering out of its control, revealed that its actions were not entirely without restraint.

Perhaps the rules set by the old Providence were still in effect, keeping it in check and forcing it to be cautious. When it was displeased, it could only resort to indirect methods to cause trouble, rather than just summoning a lightning bolt to obliterate her, the main culprit.

Thinking about the golden aura of morality she had unexpectedly gained from helping others change their fates, Arabella Donovan suddenly had a bold thought. ‘When it comes to a battle of backers, I might not lose!’

With all this sorted out, Arabella Donovan felt much more at ease. She immediately called her third brother and demanded that he develop a cure for the viruses at top speed. If he didn’t, she would reveal the truth about their relatives being targeted, and then he’d have to face the wrath of their entire extended family.

Threatened while working overtime late at night in the lab, Aurora Donovan could only think, ‘???’ ‘Who did he piss off to deserve this?’

This was destined to be a sleepless night for Arabella Donovan. After calling Aurora Donovan to confirm he was safe, she thought about all the care a certain someone had shown her recently. In this moment of anxiety and uncertainty about the future, on some strange impulse, she found herself calling Caspian Rhodes.

Caspian Rhodes was startled to suddenly receive a call from Arabella Donovan. Ever since they had cleared the air, Caspian could feel that she was giving him the cold shoulder.

To be precise, she’d suddenly found out he could hear her thoughts and that he knew about their ethereal nether-world marriage contract. Even if she said she didn’t mind, she was clearly still struggling to get past it.

Caspian Rhodes understood. That’s why he had been restraining himself from appearing before Arabella lately, giving her space to cool down.

Her calling him now was a pleasant surprise, but also a bit startling. And her next question astonished him even more.

“Mr. Rhodes, do you know of a way to quickly and effectively accumulate Merit?”

Caspian Rhodes froze. He was silent for a long moment, prompting a confused Arabella to call out, “Mr. Rhodes?”

“Why would you think to ask me about this?”

Now it was Arabella’s turn to be stunned. ‘That’s right, why would I ask Mr. Rhodes something like this? Has the urgency really muddled my brain?’

“I… I wasn’t thinking straight. In that case, I’ll just…”

Perhaps sensing her intention to hang up, Caspian Rhodes cut in, “I know.”

“You know? Mr. Rhodes, I was asking about…”

“Yes, I know. The best and fastest way to accumulate Merit is to throw money at it.”

Arabella was speechless. ‘???’ ‘Are you even listening to yourself?’

And if anyone had a right to speak on the matter, it was Caspian Rhodes.

Ever since accidentally learning on Arabella’s birthday that the price for her glimpses into the future was a deduction of her Merit, Caspian had a feeling that this Merit must be incredibly valuable to her—the more, the better.

So, how could one quickly accumulate a lot of Merit for Arabella? In Caspian’s mind, the equation was simple: Accumulating Merit = Doing good deeds. Doing good deeds = Throwing a ton of money at a problem to work miracles. Therefore: Accumulating Merit = Throwing money at good deeds.

Since then, Caspian would periodically donate large sums to charitable organizations in Arabella’s name. So, a portion of the Merit she had received recently—aside from what she earned by intervening to change people’s tragic fates—had actually come from his efforts.

It wasn’t as simple as just donating the money, however. You had to ensure the funds were put to good use and actually reached the people who needed help. Only then would the Merit be properly credited.

Caspian knew this so clearly because he’d noticed some personal benefits as well. Whenever a donation was successfully implemented, he would feel exceptionally refreshed and clear-headed for a few days, and his luck would be so good he’d find loose change just by walking down the street.

Once might have been a fluke, but it happened every time, so it couldn’t be a coincidence. He figured Arabella’s situation must be similar.

Arabella was stunned as she listened to Caspian’s explanation. Who would have thought there was so much to just donating money?

But this new information presented her with a dilemma.

Caspian’s intuition told him something major must have happened on her end; otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked him about this.

“Did something happen? Do you urgently need to accumulate Merit? If that’s the case, I think I can help.”

As a renowned entrepreneur from a family with a massive business empire, maintaining a positive public image for the company was a fundamental part of his work.

The Rhodes Family alone had established three foundations in its name, not to mention the numerous charitable and non-profit organizations their company had sponsored for years.

If Arabella wanted to donate money but was worried it wouldn’t reach the people who truly needed it and that her good intentions would go to waste, then entrusting Caspian Rhodes to handle it was the best possible choice.

After hearing Caspian’s explanation, Arabella was, unsurprisingly, very tempted.

With one party tempted and the other taking the initiative, everything that followed was a matter of course.

Arabella asked Caspian to help her donate a very large sum to various philanthropic projects. The donations included, but were not limited to, funding education for children in remote mountain areas, supporting treatment for children with congenital diseases, and sponsoring students from impoverished backgrounds.

Ensuring these things were properly implemented would take a great deal of effort, a fact Arabella was well aware of. She sincerely thanked Caspian before hanging up.

However, what she didn’t know was that the moment she hung up, Caspian was already adding her eldest brother on WeChat.

At first, when Justin Donovan saw the friend request from Caspian Rhodes, he just figured the guy was up to no good and ignored it completely.

After waiting a long while, Caspian seemed to realize what was happening. He was much more direct with his next attempt, deciding to get straight to the point.

Verification message: There’s something important about Serena I’d like to discuss with you, Big Brother.

Justin Donovan saw this message and almost cursed out loud. ‘Shameless bastard! Who are you calling “Big Brother”? Who gave you the right to call me that?’

But out of concern for his sister, Justin ultimately, and savagely, jabbed the accept button.