Chapter 494: A Bit of a Personal Grudge

“So, his situation has stabilized for now?”

“According to him, the voice was probably so infuriated by his constant rebuttals that it hasn’t appeared since that day. But we can’t rule out the possibility that it’s just a tactic to lower his and his friends’ guard. That’s why his people haven’t stood down yet. His girlfriend even wants to take an extended leave of absence to stay with him, and if he shows any signs of strangeness, she’ll…”

“She’ll what?”

“First, beat the crap out of him to knock some sense back into him.”

“…And what if they can’t beat him back to his senses?”

Caspian Rhodes gave her a look. “Instead of worrying about him not waking up, maybe you should be more concerned they’ll hit him too hard and he’ll never wake up at all?”

“…” ‘Good grief,’ she thought. ‘I wouldn’t believe for a second there isn’t some personal grudge involved here!’

Arabella Donovan’s mouth twitched. She decided to skip this topic and get back to business.

“So, before this, did he show any signs of being controlled, like Summer Vance was?”

“So far, we haven’t seen anything like that.”

Arabella Donovan frowned. She couldn’t tell if it was because The Providence had failed to absorb others’ fortunes to strengthen itself and was now regressing, or if Summer Vance’s case was special since she had two souls in one body from the start, which it had exploited.

Perhaps sensing Arabella Donovan’s worry, Caspian Rhodes quickly comforted her, “In any case, his example indirectly proves that The Providence’s will is not absolute. Humans aren’t machines, after all. We can be swayed by our emotions and desires, but we can also lose control because of them.”

Arabella Donovan pondered for a moment and had to agree with Caspian Rhodes. The biggest difference between humans and machines is that the human heart is fickle.

Unfortunately, this world consciousness, which had appeared from who-knows-where, obviously didn’t think so. Or rather, it didn’t like living, breathing people at all. It just wanted a collection of machines under its control.

It had to be said, this Arthur Rexford’s experience was a great start. In the period that followed, more and more good news poured in from all directions.

In fact, Arabella Donovan had already noticed it the other day when she was up all night organizing those books with Justin Donovan.

Those “black lotuses” with twisted morals who leeched off others and climbed over their corpses—people like Claire Bishop, Cassandra Lynch, and Guinevere Rhodes—and those “white-eyed wolves” like the Croft father and son, who sweet-talked rich women into building their fortunes only to plot against their wives after achieving success, had mostly been exposed. They were either suffering from the backlash and had fallen into ruin, or had orchestrated their own downfall out of resentment and were now behind bars.

Some of the hidden threats, like Jacqueline Jennings who had forced her second brother to quit the entertainment industry, and Victor Donovan’s family who had been coveting her great-uncle’s fortune, and even the masterminds they relied on, had all been dealt with ahead of time and were no longer a threat.

As for the rest, although they had acted as indirect accomplices, most of them had their own unspoken difficulties and were forced into their actions. People like the aforementioned Arthur Rexford, Dennis Donovan’s former caregiver Audrey Quillan, and Summer Vance, who had already been reawakened by Arabella Donovan’s influence, were now mostly living stable and happy lives. They wouldn’t be easily tricked into doing something immoral again.

Initially, Arabella Donovan had been most worried about the situation with her fourth and fifth cousins’ families, mainly because two children were involved, which required extra caution.

Fortunately, both families had been on edge watching them for over a month, but the two children were eating and drinking as usual, showing no signs of discomfort. All their check-ups came back normal. Instead, it was Hugh Donovan and Sabrina Donovan who had a little mishap.

“It wasn’t a big deal, really. One time, in the middle of the night, Hugh got a sudden call from work. Worried he’d wake Sabrina, he went out onto the balcony to take it. Who would’ve thought that Sabrina would wake up, find him gone, and see a shadowy figure on the balcony? Even though the voice was Hugh’s, the tone felt wrong. She panicked instantly, her imagination running wild. She suspected that Hugh had also accidentally fallen victim to it…”

Listening to Mrs. Donovan, Arabella Donovan’s ears perked up. “So, what did she do…?”

“She somehow found a baseball bat for self-defense. Her intention to protect herself was good, but she has no experience hitting people, and her aim isn’t great. She originally meant to hit him in the back to knock him down, but she accidentally swung for his head and gave him a concussion.”

“…” ‘Truly his wife,’ she thought. ‘That’s a vicious swing!’

But regardless, the effect was immediate.

That one swing from Sabrina Donovan sent Hugh Donovan straight to the hospital. Not only did they no longer have to worry about something happening to him, but they also had a ready-made excuse to turn away any visitors.

“Did someone want to visit my cousin before he was hospitalized?”

“Yes. His maternal aunt and his second cousin.”

Arabella Donovan paused, a sunflower seed halfway to her mouth. His maternal aunt’s second son… wasn’t that…?

“That’s right. The one you’re thinking of.”

Arabella Donovan was shocked. “Didn’t Hugh’s mother already have a falling out with her sister? Why would they still want to visit? Don’t tell me…”

“Tell me about it. It’s just like the old saying: when things are strange, there must be a catch. It was obvious those two were up to no good, yet they used ‘apologizing and clearing up a misunderstanding’ as their reason for visiting. They are blood relatives, after all. If Hugh’s mother had refused even that, their other relatives who don’t know the whole story would probably gossip behind her back about her being cold and unreasonable.”

The web of social obligations has its pros and cons. If you don’t handle it right, you’ll not only have to swallow your frustration but also end up in a world of trouble.

“Uh… but aren’t they relatives? Now that my cousin is in the hospital, don’t they have an even better reason to visit him there?”

Mrs. Donovan: “…” ‘Oh, right. How did I forget about that?’

What Arabella Donovan could think of, Hugh’s mother and the others could naturally think of as well.

Fortunately, from the moment the sister and nephew showed up, they were already on the radar of the people tailing them.

Before long, the two were taken in for questioning. This briefly became a hot topic within the family, so naturally, no one was gossiping about the two families’ affairs anymore.

At this point, most of the hidden dangers had been resolved. It was all going so smoothly it felt a little unbelievable.

However, the fact that nothing had happened to the two children gave Arabella Donovan an idea.

‘It seems it wasn’t my imagination. The plot spiraling out of control really has weakened The Providence’s hold over us ‘paper cutout people.’ This is good news.’

But her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, still couldn’t rest. In fact, her eyelid had been twitching more and more intensely these past two days.

Hearing one piece of good news after another felt like the calm before the storm. Arabella Donovan couldn’t shake the feeling that she had overlooked something.

This doubt didn’t last long. Arabella Donovan soon realized what she had missed.

“Serena, something’s happened. Your cousin Beatrice just called and said…”

Arabella Donovan shot to her feet, frowning. “Said what?”

“That Miss Rhodes… has disappeared.”