Chapter 197: What a Bewildering Statement?
The speaker was none other than Chairwoman Kerr, who had hurried over with her son.
"I was just helping out backstage with Caden Kensington. When I heard you’d arrived, I intended to greet you personally, but a small situation came up and delayed me..."
"It’s alright. You must be busy. We were just walking around and looking at things. We were about to head in anyway."
Although her experience at the jewelry store that day had been unpleasant, Arabella Donovan wasn’t an unreasonable person. She knew she couldn’t blame the mother and son for it. Besides, their preparations had been quite thorough. They had announced her identity in advance, ensuring even the staff at a franchise store were aware of her. They had truly done everything possible to cover all their bases.
Unfortunately, when you have a lot of staff, there are bound to be one or two oddballs who insist on going against the grain. Any boss would probably despair over employees who drag them down like that.
Ms. Kerr could tell Arabella Donovan’s tone hadn’t changed much from before, so she breathed a small sigh of relief. She smiled faintly and said, "Miss Donovan, have you seen any auction items in the exhibition hall that you’re interested in? I’ll bid on it for you later as a gift. Please consider it an apology from my son and me for the incident at the franchise store the other day."
"That’s not necessary. It wasn’t your fault to begin with, so there’s no need to give me a gift for it. Besides, Mr. Kerr already gave me an invitation, so let’s consider the matter closed. It’s just..."
"It’s just?"
"It’s just that if I want to bid on something later and don’t have enough money, could I borrow some from you?" Arabella Donovan said, giving Ms. Kerr a playful wink.
Ms. Kerr paused, then relaxed completely, her smile widening. "If something has caught your eye, Miss Donovan, how could I possibly let you leave empty-handed?"
"Then it’s a deal!"
Arabella Donovan flashed her an okay sign, and a moment later, they both burst out laughing.
The atmosphere between them was so harmonious that the other guests, who had planned on just observing for a while, began to murmur amongst themselves.
"Is that Ms. Kerr?"
"Ms. Kerr? Which Ms. Kerr?"
"The chairwoman of House of Aethel Jade, Ms. Kerr."
"It’s really her! Why does she seem so familiar with that girl? Could it be because of... Ninth Master?"
"And behind her, that looks like Mr. Ulrich from Creston Industries with his eldest son. Creston Industries! That’s the biggest construction company here in Brynn. I heard most of their projects are government contracts. Why would a magnate like that be acquainted with some young nobody? And his attitude toward her is so good... it must be because of Ninth Master, too."
"You all only recognize the older two. Hasn’t anyone noticed the young man who’s been by her side the whole time?"
"That young man? What’s his background?"
"That’s the young master of the Rhodes Family from Alvane, the heir to the Rhodes Group!"
"What? The Rhodes Family? *That* Rhodes Family?"
Hearing this surname, many people present couldn’t help but gasp. Although the Rhodes Family’s main base of operations wasn’t in Brynn, it didn’t stop the vast majority of Brynn’s high society from being aware of their existence.
They were a great family said to have existed for several hundred years, with incredibly deep roots. Their descendants were spread across every industry, each one the elite of the elite. The wealth they’d accumulated over generations was terrifyingly vast. The only reason the billionaire rankings weren’t completely different was that the Rhodes family had always been low-key and uninterested in participating in such competitions.
A man like that was now standing beside a supposed country bumpkin, his smile gentle and harmless, like the boy next door. It was impossible for people not to read into it.
Timothy Donovan watched from afar as those powerful heads of prominent families gathered around Arabella Donovan, chatting and laughing. His eyes burned with jealousy.
"Second Grand-uncle is way too biased! We’re his closest family, yet he gives everything good to this country bumpkin who came out of nowhere!"
His disdain for Arabella Donovan, coupled with the guests’ rampant speculation, had him thoroughly convinced. The only reason she was connected to these important people was because Dennis Donovan was pulling strings for her from behind the scenes. It had nothing to do with her own connections.
Victor Donovan’s expression was just as grim; he clearly agreed with his youngest son. "Your Second Grand-uncle is getting on in years. The older he gets, the more muddled he becomes, making him easy prey for schemers and prone to absurd decisions. As his closest living blood relatives, we have a duty to stop him when his judgment falters."
Victor Donovan spoke with such sanctimonious righteousness that anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he was a filial junior truly concerned for his elder. It was a good thing Arabella Donovan was too far away to overhear the father and son. Otherwise, she would have had two choice words for them: Absolutely shameless!
As Arabella spoke with Ms. Kerr and the others, the time crept toward eight o’clock. Using the excuse of needing the restroom, Brandon Jennings caught Quincy Ulrich’s eye, and the two slipped away for a moment before heading inside.
By the time her older cousin returned, he had gotten the full scoop on the gossip Arabella had been curious about.
It turned out that Yara Ulrich was caught in the act. Just as Chloe Ulrich was about to drink the spiked beverage, Quincy Ulrich appeared in the nick of time with Mr. Ulrich. Right in front of the mother and daughter, he slapped down the paternity test he’d had secretly done. His timing was perfect!
When Yara Ulrich saw the paternity test, she completely lost her composure. She fell to her knees, sobbing her eyes out as she hugged Mr. Ulrich’s leg and begged him not to throw her out.
After all, this was the "daughter" he had doted on for over twenty years, and Mr. Ulrich almost caved. Naturally, Quincy and his sister couldn’t let him be deceived any longer. They immediately exposed Yara Ulrich’s true colors and proposed having the spiked drink sent for analysis.
Yara Ulrich saw it was a lost cause, her heart filled with resentment. To make matters worse, her mother was the type to fly off the handle and drag everything down with her. Realizing they were exposed, she decided she might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb and went on the attack, lashing out at everyone present.
Never mind Arabella Donovan, even Brandon Jennings was a little stunned when Quincy Ulrich told him what happened. "This Mrs. Ulrich—oh, no, I should say *former* Mrs. Ulrich—is a real piece of work. Not only did she go nuclear right in her husband’s face, professing her deep love for her boy toy, she even blamed Quincy’s father for holding her back..."
"What kind of twisted logic is that?" Arabella Donovan asked, shocked. "Mr. Ulrich is the victim here, isn’t he? She’s the one in the wrong, but she turns around and blames the victim for ’holding her back’? Holding her back from what? From ’being herself’ by running off to be someone’s mistress?"
"I know, right? I suspect she..." Brandon Jennings tapped his head, implying he thought the former Mrs. Ulrich wasn’t all there.
"Anyway, Mr. Ulrich was furious over the whole thing. He had divorce papers drawn up immediately and made that woman sign them before letting her and her daughter leave. Oh, and he also had Chloe’s ’sister’ removed from the family register. He even had her surname legally changed to match her mother’s."