Chapter 327: It Could Also Just Be a Virus
It was already three or four in the morning when Arabella Donovan and the others got off the plane, and by the time they reached the Lynch family home, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
Arabella Donovan had munched on a pile of snacks in the car, so she wasn’t hungry in the slightest. She was, however, extremely tired, so she politely declined everyone’s suggestion to have an early breakfast and headed upstairs to rest.
What she didn’t know was that the moment she went into her room, the elders summoned everyone else to the study downstairs for an emergency meeting between the two families.
"Just now, at the airport and in the car, did you all..."
"You can hear Serena’s thoughts now, too?"
"Too?" Mr. Lynch sharply picked up on the slip in Mrs. Donovan’s words. "So, you’re saying you all can hear them as well?"
The members of the Donovan family exchanged a look. At this point, there was nothing left to hide.
"We’ve always been able to hear them. We found out about the swap between Eloise and that Cassandra Lynch from Serena."
"It was the same with my cousin and his wife. Otherwise, how would I have known to remind them to explain what happened all those years ago and resolve the knot in their hearts?"
Mrs. Lynch’s eyes lit up. She exchanged a look with her daughter-in-law and said with excitement, "So that’s how it was! I told you it had to be Serena’s doing. Now do you all believe me?"
Zane Lynch and the others still looked dazed. After all, it was the first time in their lives they had ever encountered something so bizarre; they needed some time to process and accept it.
However, the most pressing matter was...
"Was everything Serena just said true? Is Melody really going to be harmed by Cassandra and that... Howard Gallagher guy?"
"According to the original plot, yes, that’s correct. But now that you all know, and since you’ve already thrown Cassandra Lynch out of the family, the future can be changed."
Hector Donovan’s words served as a reminder to the Lynch family. That’s right. Now that they knew someone was plotting against them, there was no way they would let these schemes succeed. The so-called harm would naturally never come to pass.
"What does this ’original plot’ mean? Are you talking about Melody’s original destiny?"
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan looked at each other, ultimately deciding to let the younger generation handle this explanation.
The Donovan siblings: "..." ’Fair enough. It would be a bit difficult for you two to explain this.’
And so, the siblings took turns speaking for a long while, finally piecing together a relatively straightforward and simple answer.
After listening, the members of the Lynch family were left looking utterly bewildered and incredulous.
"So you mean to say that the world we live in is made up of books, and in the book that concerns us, the female lead is Cassandra Lynch, the male lead is her current boyfriend, and we and Eloise are just supporting characters and villains, meant to serve as stepping stones for their careers and romance?"
Eloise Donovan let out a dry laugh, mercilessly shattering their illusions. "Rather than villains and supporting characters, it’s more like cannon fodder. The kind that gets blown to smithereens with a single shot."
The Lynch Family: "..." ’Right in the feels, dear.’
Melody Lynch was a novelist herself; she had even written fantasy novels that had been fully adapted for film and television.
Therefore, compared to the others, she found the whole thing even more absurd and preposterous. ’Characters from a story becoming real people... could something like that actually happen?’
"...This world really is just one giant bug, and I’m just an insignificant string of code within it."
Eloise Donovan added, "Or possibly just a virus."
Melody Lynch felt as if several arrows had just pierced her heart. She suddenly realized that having such a blunt cousin wasn’t necessarily a good thing. ’She really knows how to twist the knife!’
"Although this is all incredibly hard to believe, since Eloise and the others are saying it, they must have already verified it. We have no choice but to believe them."
"Felix is right." Mrs. Lynch completely agreed with her husband, her brow furrowed. "We already know about what happened with Eloise and Zane. So what’s this about Melody? Her supposed lifesaver..."
The Donovans already knew about Melody Lynch’s tragic fate, but now, facing her parents, brother, and sister-in-law, they put themselves in their shoes and found the topic difficult to broach. In unspoken agreement, they all turned to look at Eloise Donovan.
Seeing this, Eloise Donovan could only sigh in resignation. "Uncle, Auntie, what I’m about to say might be upsetting. You have to promise me that no matter what you hear, you’ll stay calm and remember that none of this has happened yet. It can all be changed."
The moment the Lynch family heard this, they knew that what was in store for Melody Lynch was serious. They all took a deep, unspoken breath to steady themselves.
"Go on. We’re prepared."
However, they had ultimately overestimated their own self-control.
When they heard that Howard Gallagher, at Cassandra Lynch’s instigation, had falsely claimed to be Melody Lynch’s lifesaver to get close to her, demanding she repay this supposed debt of gratitude with the ulterior motive of getting revenge, everyone’s expression darkened in unison.
Then they heard more: Howard Gallagher’s pride had been wounded when he realized Melody Lynch looked down on him. At Cassandra Lynch’s suggestion, he drugged Melody, only to flee at the critical moment, leaving her to be assaulted in the hotel room. At this, the two men could no longer contain their rage and erupted on the spot.
"They’ve gone too far!"
Mr. Lynch slammed his hand on the table in fury, which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Mrs. Lynch. "Keep your voice down! Serena is still sleeping!"
"AHHH, I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!"
On the other side, Zane Lynch was also flailing his arms and roaring in rage until Juliet Lyons shoved him from behind, making him stumble forward and nearly face-plant.
"Shut up!"
Mr. Lynch and Zane Lynch: "..." They were furious but didn’t dare to say a word.
The Donovans: Pfft...
Weren’t Mrs. Lynch and Juliet Lyons angry? Of course they were.
Although she had only recently been welcomed into the Lynch family and had only known her sister-in-law for about ten days, Juliet Lyons had spent the past few years raising her child alone and had experienced the full spectrum of human kindness and cruelty. She could clearly feel the Lynch family’s warmth and consideration, and she had grown very fond of Melody Lynch.
As for Mrs. Lynch, it went without saying. Her daughter was a piece of her own flesh and blood, whom she had carried for ten months and painstakingly raised like a precious jewel. She had hardly ever let her shed a single tear, yet in the end, her daughter was to be violated by outsiders in such a way!
Mrs. Lynch’s blood pressure soared, but unlike her husband and son’s explosive fury, her anger was more contained.
"Melody, don’t be afraid. Mom will never let any of this happen."
"That’s right, Melody, don’t be afraid. We won’t let anyone have the chance to hurt you."
After their initial burst of anger, the Lynch family, terrified that this damned future would leave their daughter (and sister) with psychological trauma, all crowded around Melody, comforting her with a cacophony of voices.
Little did they know, Melody Lynch was currently in a critical state, ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
’Cassandra Lynch, is it? And Howard Gallagher? They’re going to drug me, are they? And leave me in a hotel to be assaulted by strangers, is that it?’
’Good. Excellent! If I don’t beat those two until their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them, then my name isn’t Lynch!’