Chapter 317: Why the Humblebrag?
After giving her instructions to the child, Arabella Donovan turned to the girl’s parents. "The child was born in the year of the Pig. This year clashes with her birth sign, so she’ll face many sudden changes. It’s best to keep her away from places with bridges or water, and when you’re out, don’t let her out of your sight."
"Oh, okay." Arabella Donovan’s expression was so serious that Pearl Lyons nodded instinctively. Only after Arabella had left did it dawn on her to ask, "Mom, Dad, did you ever tell her Sheldon’s zodiac sign?"
"No. Why would we have told her that?"
"Then... how did she know?"
The expressions on their faces froze. They stared at each other, eyes wide with disbelief.
It took them a long moment to process this, then their heads snapped in unison toward Sheldon and the beautiful brocade bag around her neck.
"!!!"
Meanwhile, Arabella Donovan was oblivious to the shock and panic her parting words had caused the Lyons family.
As soon as she got into the passenger seat, she could no longer fight off her discomfort. Leaning against the window, she listlessly rubbed her temples.
Seeing her like this, Aurora Donovan’s curiosity instantly turned to worry. "What’s wrong? You look terrible. Do we need to go to the hospital?"
"No, I’m already feeling much better." Arabella Donovan wasn’t just putting on a brave face; she genuinely did feel better now.
At least she no longer had the splitting headache from upstairs, where her head had been buzzing with a sharp ringing in her ears.
"Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?"
"I’m sure. They wouldn’t find anything even if I went."
’This is the price for forcibly prying into the secrets of Providence. It’s a good thing I’ve accumulated a lot of Merit recently. Otherwise, I might not have even been able to walk out of that apartment building on my own.’
"Was it because of Elder Lyons’s granddaughter? Did you see something just now? Is that why you gave her that brocade bag?"
"Yes." Having recovered a bit, Arabella Donovan took out her phone and started looking something up.
After searching for and carefully comparing a series of bridge photos, Arabella finally identified her target location. She raised a hand to stop Aurora’s questions.
"We’ll talk about this later. I need to make a call first."
In the past, Arabella would have immediately called Dennis Donovan for help with something like this. But things were different now. This time, she decided to hand Ron Cole and his team another major case.
"Serena? Why the sudden call to Mr. Cole? Is something the matter?"
"Mr. Cole, there’s going to be an accident on the Solara River Bridge soon. A passenger bus is going to overturn and fall into the water. The situation on-site could be severe. You should arrange for rescue and salvage teams to be on standby, just in case."
The moment Arabella finished speaking, she heard a loud BANG on the other end of the line, followed by the chaotic shuffling of feet.
A moment later, Ron Cole’s voice came back on the line. "Serena, is this for real? I don’t mean to doubt you, it’s just..."
"I know." Arabella completely understood; when people were extremely shocked and panicked, they had a subconscious need for repeated confirmation.
"It’s real."
"Then what’s the specific time? The situation at the scene...?"
The man’s voice on the other end of the line was strained. The last time Arabella had warned him about that so-called "infinite-loop scenario," at least he’d had time to confirm things and prepare. This, however, came without any warning and was a much greater test of one’s crisis management skills.
But you couldn’t blame Ron Cole for losing his composure. The Solara River Bridge was the busiest bridge in all of Brynn, with countless vehicles crossing it every day.
He didn’t even dare to imagine the number of casualties if a rollover accident truly occurred there.
"I’m sorry, this is a future event. The information I can glean is limited."
Hearing this, Ron Cole came to his senses. For a mortal to get even a tiny glimpse of the future was already a stroke of incredible luck.
It was just like the Jennings Plaza bombing. Because of Arabella’s warning, they had saved everyone in the entire plaza.
However, Ron Cole had later learned from Beatrice Donovan that prying into such matters was not without its price.
He heard that after the Jennings Plaza incident, the poor girl had fainted at her own birthday party, right in front of all her guests.
At this thought, Ron Cole couldn’t help but worry. "I got ahead of myself. Your advance warning is already a huge help. I’ll make the necessary arrangements to ensure a swift rescue when it happens. We’ll do our best to keep casualties to a minimum and prevent greater losses. Are you okay right now? Where are you? Do you need me to send someone to pick you up?"
Hearing Ron Cole’s offer, Arabella thought of the large contingent of "followers" trailing them and couldn’t help but smile.
"I’m fine, I just need to rest a bit. I’m at Brynn University right now, about to head home. My sister, Aurora, is with me. I’ll be fine."
Ron Cole finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he still added worriedly, "Well, get home and rest. If you still feel unwell, call me. We’ll arrange the best medical team to see you."
"Okay. I’ll let you get to it, then. Goodbye."
Arabella relayed all the key points and hung up. Aurora immediately leaned in close. "So that’s why you gave that little girl a peace charm? And told her parents to keep her away from bridges and water? She was going to be on that bridge, wasn’t she? Maybe even involved in the accident?"
"Mhm."
Aurora stared at her face, observing her carefully for a long moment, still deeply concerned. "Are you really, truly okay? You look awful. Maybe we should just go to the hospital for a check-up."
"There’s no need. I know my own body. It’s just that so much Merit was drained at once that my body hasn’t had time to adjust. I’m just feeling the effects. Once I’ve had a moment to recover, I’ll be fine."
"Merit?" Aurora wasn’t comforted in the slightest. In fact, her expression grew even darker. "Predicting something like this costs you Merit?"
"Yes. Mortals prying into the future is forbidden by The Providence. The fact that The Providence only took some of my Merit as a token fee means it was already going easy on me. If anyone else dared to do this and got caught..."
"What would happen?"
Arabella guiltily rubbed her nose and mumbled defensively, "But I’m fine, aren’t I?"
"And what if we wait until you’re *not* fine? That’s Merit! Something people pray for and can never obtain, yet you just throw it away so casually! What am I supposed to say to you? Besides, what’s that little girl to you? Why would you go to so much trouble to foresee this for her?"
"Even if... even if that damn Merit had to be drained, it should have been taken from me, or from her parents! Why should it be taken from you?"
It was clear that her sister was so worried she wasn’t thinking straight, saying the first things that came to her mind.
Arabella quickly hugged her arm, whining playfully. "Alright, alright, sis, don’t be mad. Don’t worry, I have tons of this stuff. More than I could ever use up."
Aurora: "..." ’Why does that sound like such a humblebrag?’