Chapter 255: As Expected of You!
Back when Arabella Donovan skimmed through the book, she never knew the truth hidden behind the events. She was just inexplicably shocked, marveling at how it lived up to the "unlimited flow" genre—even the male and female leads could be discarded so casually. They’d die at the drop of a hat, and so unceremoniously at that.
It just goes to show, you never know who will have the last laugh until the very end.
Now that she knew the whole story, all she could say was: the author was a genius!
Everything from Terence Lewis and the Lewis Family’s situation, to Dr. Donovan’s conflict with the rich kid, the lawyer, and the female reporter, and even the foreshadowing of Umbral Village—it was all intricately linked.
What goes around comes around. Sooner or later, you reap what you sow.
Once you were in the game, it was like sitting at a gambling table. Every advantage was temporary. No one was a winner, and no one could ever become one.
After her moment of reflection, Arabella Donovan began to summarize the key points. She wasn’t sure if something like an "unlimited flow" scenario would manifest in the real world, but since Terence Lewis already existed, she had to be on guard.
Thinking it over, she realized she was at the intersection of all these events. According to what Ms. Cain had just said, Terence Lewis was already seventeen and would be eighteen after the new year. That meant he was less than a year away from starting college—only seven or eight months, to be precise.
When Terence Lewis first appeared in the story, right when he went to Umbral Village, the little ghost had already merged with him and accepted him as its master. This implied that Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were already dead by then. Terence and his parents must have used some unknown method to temporarily suppress the ghost, making it recognize him as its master and serve him.
If that was the case, then Terence Lewis would most likely enter that instance within the next few months.
Before that happened, she could help Mr. Lewis and Ms. Cain resolve the fate-swapping issue and help them send the poor child away. But if Terence Lewis lost this greatest advantage, would he still enter that instance world? And without Terence’s help, would the main characters’ group still be able to escape that village safely?
The consequences of the butterfly effect would undoubtedly be enormous, but pinning her hopes on events that hadn’t even happened yet felt far too unreliable.
Who knew if a flap of a butterfly’s wings here and a flap there might just blow the plot right back to its original course?
Besides, they were the main characters’ group, after all. A protagonist can die, but they have to at least make it to the end before that happens. Otherwise, who would carry the second half of the plot?
Arabella Donovan had a feeling that even without Terence Lewis as their cheat, the main characters’ group would find another way to return to the real world from the Umbral Village instance. So, it was inevitable that they would escape with *something*, and it was also inevitable that they would cause a catastrophe afterward.
The best solution was to have someone keep an eye on these people and contain them the moment they returned to the real world from that village, thus preventing the tragedy at its source.
What troubled Arabella Donovan the most right now was...
’How am I supposed to get people with authority to notice this group? I can’t just run up to some major government building, grab someone, and tell them these people are dangerous elements who need to be put under surveillance and have their freedom restricted immediately, or else the whole country will fall into chaos because of them, right? They’d probably lock me up for being a lunatic, wouldn’t they?’
Arabella Donovan paused, then shuddered as if she’d thought of something.
’No, wait. Taking a huge step back, even if they were put under surveillance, there’s no guarantee they’re the only ones who cleared that instance. What if there were other teams? If we stop this group, but the plot just starts up somewhere else, it would be impossible to guard against, wouldn’t it?’
Caspian Rhodes’s brow furrowed slightly. He had to admit, Arabella Donovan’s concerns were not without reason.
But this meant the situation seemed to have reached a stalemate.
Knowing an unforeseen disaster was coming but being powerless to stop it... were they really supposed to just stand by and watch it all happen?
’I’ve got it! The Dr. Donovan who had his research stolen and was driven to his death!’
In the original story, the male lead had a fleeting moment of regret before he died. He regretted not stopping the others when they went after Dr. Donovan, letting them take things too far.
Otherwise, as the brilliant mind who had actually developed the research, his survival might have offered everyone a glimmer of hope.
But now, that glimmer of hope had been snuffed out long ago, when they returned to the real world, arrogant and unrestrained.
Although the male lead hadn’t directly participated in the initial plot to harm him, at most he was just a cold bystander.
But as one of the beneficiaries, Arabella Donovan didn’t think his regret was very sincere.
He was just scared—scared of death, scared of pain, scared of getting hurt. If the person they’d plotted against hadn’t been so capable, they wouldn’t have felt a shred of remorse. That was the reality of it.
Still, his words gave Arabella Donovan an idea. If she could find a way to protect this Dr. Donovan, then no matter where the source of the disaster was, they might truly find that glimmer of hope through him.
’Wait a minute, why is this doctor’s last name also Donovan?’
It was as if Arabella Donovan had only just noticed the overly sensitive surname, and her eyes widened involuntarily.
’I have a... bad feeling about this.’
Caspian Rhodes: ’==Excellent. Let me see which straggler from the little one’s family hasn’t been ruined yet.’
Arabella Donovan and Caspian Rhodes were clearly thinking the same thing. Racking her brain, the only ones in her family still in school were her third brother and fourth sister. The story mentioned that Dr. Donovan was male, so if she excluded her fourth sister, that only left...
’My third brother is only two or three years older than my fourth sister. He’s just a junior in college right now. A year from now, he’ll be a senior at best. How could he possibly be a doctor? It must be a coincidence.’
Caspian Rhodes: "..." ’Normally, that would be true. But your family’s affairs can’t really be judged by normal standards.’
Having sorted out the details of the Lewis Family’s situation and the related plot points, Arabella Donovan realized the car was still driving around aimlessly.
"Mr. Rhodes, you seem to be driving a bit slowly today."
Caspian Rhodes’s expression didn’t change. "It’s rush hour. It’ll clear up after this intersection."
"Oh, I see..." Arabella Donovan didn’t suspect a thing. She had just gotten quiet when her phone rang.
"Grand-uncle? Oh, yeah, I’m stuck in a bit of traffic, but I’m almost home. What did you say? Really? That’s fantastic!"
Arabella Donovan’s cheerful voice kept coming from the seat beside him, piquing Caspian Rhodes’s curiosity. Before he could ask, his own phone rang.
"...They found a gold deposit on the wasteland in Brynn’s Norwall Outskirts?" Caspian Rhodes subconsciously turned to look at Arabella Donovan. "I understand. I’ll call you back later."
As soon as Caspian Rhodes hung up, Arabella Donovan praised him with a wide smile, "You’re really well-informed, Mr. Rhodes. You already know about the Norwall Outskirts gold mine."
"...You know about it too?"
"My grand-uncle just called and told me."
"So what are you planning to do with the land?"
"Why, of course I’m going to..."
"Hm?"
Arabella Donovan puffed out her chest, like a victorious rooster, and declared, "Hand it over to the country!"
Caspian Rhodes: "..." ’That’s so you!’