Chapter 495: One More Unlucky Than the Last

“She disappeared?!”

The other Donovans all gathered around, anxiously looking at Justin Donovan, who had brought the news.

“What do you mean, ‘disappeared’? Wasn’t she arrested for that kidnapping case not long ago? How could she have been released? Don’t tell me the facility holding her screwed up and let someone bail her out.”

“That was attempted kidnapping! They had witnesses and physical evidence—a conviction was a sure thing. How could they just let someone walk her out of there?”

“Even without this whole kidnapping mess, she’s someone who needs to be watched closely. To resort to kidnapping for a little personal gain… that tells you everything about her character. Don’t they have any idea how dangerous it is to release her at a time like this?”

As the messenger, Justin Donovan was just as surprised as his family. Faced with their barrage of questions, he answered with a single sentence.

“‘Disappeared’ means no one bailed her out, and no one released her. She just vanished from the detention center, right under everyone’s noses.”

As soon as he said that, the room fell silent for a few seconds before erupting like a pot of boiling water.

“How is that possible? How can a living person just vanish into thin air? Is there some mistake? Did they see her disappear with their own eyes? Could it be a Blinding Technique?”

“According to the people at the detention center, no one actually saw her disappear, but the surveillance footage shows her vanishing in an instant.”

Hector Donovan’s expression darkened. “Is there a problem with the surveillance footage? Could someone have tampered with it?”

“That’s what they thought at first, too. They brought in experts to examine it, but they found no traces of editing or splicing.”

Mr. Donovan’s expression was also grim. “Did the guards say anything? Was she acting strangely before she disappeared? How long after she vanished did they realize it? And no one really saw her leave during that time?”

“Nothing unusual at all. That’s what caught them so off guard. According to their report, she disappeared between six and seven in the evening. At six, the guard who delivered her dinner said she was still there. After they finished their other tasks and went back to collect the dishes at seven, they found the cell empty. The food was untouched, and she was completely gone.”

After discovering she was missing, the guard’s first instinct was naturally to check the surveillance footage. They never expected to see a recording of her vanishing into thin air, which is how the news eventually reached Arabella and the others.

Unlike the rest of the worried Donovan Family, when Arabella Donovan heard the news, the anxiety that had been plaguing her actually subsided. She felt a strange sense of resignation and melancholy, as if she knew this was bound to happen.

Just as the Donovan Family was weighed down by their concerns, terrified of what negative impact Guinevere Rhodes’s disappearance might have on Arabella and the current situation, a sudden voice came from the doorway.

“She is one of the female leads in the two books related to Serena.”

Everyone instinctively looked up toward the voice and saw Caspian Rhodes and Dennis Donovan walking in together.

“Mr. Rhodes, what are you doing here?”

Arabella Donovan gave him a surprised look, clearly taken aback by his appearance at this moment.

Justin Donovan didn’t even bother to put on an act. He asked through gritted teeth, “Mr. Rhodes, have you been… very idle recently?”

‘Did you just abandon your own company? Finished with all that business in the group chat? What’s the deal with running over to our house whenever you feel like it? People who don’t know any better might think this is your house! No, no, no, what am I thinking? No one is allowed to think that!’

Caspian Rhodes seemed oblivious to the sharp, hostile glares from the Donovans. He smiled faintly. “I may have a lot to do, but one must prioritize. In my eyes, nothing is more important than what’s happening here.”

The moment he said this, everyone grimaced as if they had a massive toothache.

Even Dennis Donovan, who had brought him over, shot him a subtle glance and coughed twice, reminding him to get to the point.

“I rushed over as soon as I heard about Guinevere Rhodes.”

Mr. Donovan’s eyes glinted as he said coldly, “She’s a member of your Rhodes family. You should know her whereabouts.”

But Caspian Rhodes shook his head, his expression serious. “After I found out, I immediately had someone check on my second uncle’s family. She didn’t go home. I also had people ask Guinevere Rhodes’s close circle of friends, but none of them have seen her recently or know where she is.”

The Donovans exchanged a look, their brows furrowing in unison. “And how do you know they’re not lying?”

“In fact, ever since my cousin was arrested, her actions have dragged my uncle’s family down with her. Their company was investigated, deals that were in the works all fell through, and they suffered heavy losses. Not long after, her younger brother was exposed for a series of nasty scandals—bullying classmates, forming gangs, harassing girls… He was expelled from school and became a cautionary tale for high society.”

“And in the last few days especially, her family has been hit by a string of terrible luck for no apparent reason. First, my uncle, who loves being two-faced, missed a step coming downstairs in the middle of the night and hit his head. When he woke up, he was paralyzed on one side of his body, and his face was drooping. The doctors said a blood clot in his brain was pressing on a nerve, causing a stroke.”

The Donovans were dumbfounded. ‘??? What kind of quack doctor was that? His diagnosis sounds completely unreliable.’

“Then there’s her mother, my aunt. She was at a party with her friends and accidentally got pushed into the water. She only choked a little and it wasn’t for long, but it somehow developed into acute pneumonia. She’s still in the ICU.”

“And my younger cousin, after he was expelled, he just gave up on himself. He started hanging out all day with a bunch of good-for-nothing rich kids, clubbing, doing karaoke, living a life of debauchery. The same night my aunt had her accident, he got into a serious car crash while driving drunk. He was hospitalized and is still in critical condition.”

Now, it wasn’t just Arabella; the rest of the Donovans could also tell from Caspian Rhodes’s description that something was seriously wrong.

If it had been just one or two incidents, that would be one thing. But for so many things to happen in a row, for all three family members besides Guinevere Rhodes to end up in the hospital, with each incident worse than the last… that was highly suspicious.

The Donovans didn’t believe for a second that this was a coincidence—especially not during such a sensitive period.

“On top of that, when I sent people to ask her closer friends and classmates about her whereabouts, they discovered something else. All of those people have recently run into some bad luck, ranging from minor incidents like twisting an ankle on a rock to major ones like getting their head split open by a flowerpot falling from a building. We’re talking ten or twenty people—not a single exception.”

Hearing this, Arabella Donovan’s eyes narrowed. She immediately guessed what Caspian Rhodes was thinking. “Are you suggesting that… Guinevere Rhodes siphoned off their luck?”