Chapter 301: A Very Powerful Reason
Arabella Donovan’s words brought back a painful memory for Aurora Donovan—the time his professors and homeroom teacher nearly came after him with pitchforks. It was a past best forgotten.
"Serena, you kept asking me about Dr. Donovan before. Is it because you know something I don’t... some kind of secret?"
Arabella Donovan paused, the hand she was using to fish out food from the hot pot freezing mid-air. Her eyes darted around for a moment before she nodded. "That’s right. A month ago, I did a little divination and foresaw that a certain Dr. Donovan was a talent the likes of which is seen only once in a century."
"Wow, your divination is spot-on!"
The speech Arabella Donovan had mentally prepared nearly fell apart.
’I got careless! I knew I shouldn’t have bothered with all this hocus-pocus. Just look at how smug he is. If he had a tail, it would be sticking straight up to the heavens.’
The tail-wagging Aurora Donovan was speechless. "..."
Arabella Donovan shot him a sharp look. "Are you going to listen or not?"
"...I’ll listen."
"Then stop interrupting!"
"Oh..."
"This Dr. Donovan may be a rare talent, but his fate is rather unfortunate. He’s prone to attracting malicious people."
’Tell me about it,’ Aurora Donovan thought. ’This morning alone, I ran into two treacherous lowlifes who wanted me dead. Who knows how many more are lurking in the research institute? All I want is to do my experiments in peace and make some discoveries. Who did I ever piss off to deserve this?’
"Before, when I didn’t know Dr. Donovan’s identity, I just felt it was a real shame for a good person to be targeted like that. But now that I’ve discovered Dr. Donovan is you, my brother..."
As she spoke, Arabella Donovan shot him a complicated, mournful glance.
Aurora Donovan: ??? ’What’s with that look? Now that you’ve found out the victim you’ve been so focused on is your own brother, you suddenly don’t want to save him?’
Arabella Donovan heaved a long sigh. "It just means I have even more reason not to stand by and do nothing."
Aurora Donovan finally breathed a sigh of relief. "’Attracting malicious people’? You mean there are people around me who want to harm me?"
"Exactly. Take Kensington from earlier, and Mr. Spencer who showed up later. Both of them have the full foreheads that signify wealth and high status. However..."
"However what?"
"It’s just that Kensington’s cheekbones are too high and the bridge of his nose is low. This indicates he’s clear-headed and very ambitious. But while he may seem kind, honest, and easygoing on the surface, he’s actually arrogant, petty, incredibly jealous, and holds major grudges."
Arabella Donovan finished with a wistful sigh. "Buddhism considers greed, hatred, and delusion to be the three poisons of the world, the very source of evil. Of these, hatred is considered the root of all wickedness. Once you’re mired in it, you not only bring disaster upon yourself but also harm those around you, and even society as a whole."
"Judging by Kensington’s face and his aura, I’m afraid he’s been consumed by it for a long time. It won’t be long before he acts on his malice, and you, my brother, will be his primary target."
Arabella Donovan deliberately made her words sound more severe, giving them an alarmist edge.
Aurora Donovan already knew Derek Kensington was a piece of work, so he wasn’t surprised by what Arabella said. His focus, however, was a little off-center.
"Buddhism? Aren’t you from the Sacred Sect? Why are you spouting Buddhist teachings? If your master heard this, he’d probably disown you."
The words were barely out of Aurora Donovan’s mouth when Arabella shot him a glare. "My master isn’t as hidebound as you. They say that to understand one principle is to understand them all. Though they aren’t the same school, Buddhism and the Sacred Sect have some common ground. Besides, don’t you know that Buddhists and the Sacred Sect have been mortal enemies since ancient times?"
"...I actually didn’t know that. But what does that have to do with anything?"
Aurora Donovan grew even more confused. ’If they’re mortal enemies, shouldn’t you avoid their teachings like the plague?’
"My master says, ’Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you will be victorious in a hundred battles.’ To defeat your enemy, you first have to understand their foundations. So understanding their stuff is just standard procedure."
Aurora Donovan was speechless. ’...That’s a pretty solid reason. I have no comeback for that!’
Caspian Rhodes was also amused by Arabella’s self-assured and righteous demeanor. "What Serena means is that Kensington has always been jealous of your brother. Now that your brother has successfully become a Ph.D. with his mentor’s help and will likely achieve even greater things, he’s become a target. ’The tallest tree catches the most wind,’ as they say. That man can’t stand to see others do better than him, so it’s highly likely he’ll pull some dirty tricks to harm your brother soon."
Arabella Donovan gave Caspian Rhodes an approving look, as if to say, ’This one is teachable.’ "Exactly."
"Then what about Mr. Spencer?"
"His cheekbones are also high, and not just that, his nasal bridge is high too, and the space between his eyebrows is very narrow. A person like that is narrow-minded, greedy, and obsessed with petty gains. He’s also incredibly self-centered and selfish. He loves to scheme behind people’s backs and is completely unscrupulous in achieving his goals. If you get too close to him, brother, it won’t be long before he stabs you in the back."
It was clear Arabella was terrified of Aurora getting involved with the man. After a moment’s silence, she quickly added, "Besides, people with his personality are prone to digging their own graves. He could be dealt a perfect hand and still manage to play it into a complete disaster. You’d best stay far away from him, brother, so you don’t get tainted by his bad juju and become unlucky yourself."
The other two at the table were speechless. ’...Didn’t you get that backward? No matter how you slice it, Julian Spencer is the protagonist, the author’s chosen Child of the Providence. His luck can’t be that bad, or else he wouldn’t be able to reach the pinnacle of life just by getting lucky breaks.’
But on second thought, what Arabella said wasn’t wrong. Julian Spencer himself was indeed lucky, but every single person around him suffered terrible misfortune. They were all squeezed dry of their value, and not a single one of them came to a good end. It was as if he had drained them of their own fortune, turning them into convenient stepping stones for his own ascent.
Once he understood this, Aurora Donovan nodded with a grave expression. "I get it. From now on, I’ll stay far away from him. I won’t let him get anywhere near me."
Only then did Arabella Donovan nod in satisfaction. She was about to say something else when her phone suddenly rang. She glanced down and saw it was her fourth sister calling.
"Sis, what’s up? We’re already outside campus grabbing lunch. What about you? Want to join? It’s not just my brother and me, Mr. Rhodes is here too... Okay, sounds good. We’ll meet at the entrance to the snack street outside campus after we’re done eating."
"Was that Eloise?"
"Yeah. My sister said they’re going to get a bite to eat first and will meet up with us later." As she spoke, Arabella reached her chopsticks into the hot pot again, but then she seemed to remember something. The motion of her hand stopped dead, and she whipped her head around to look at Aurora Donovan.
Her stare sent a shiver down Aurora Donovan’s spine. He had a very bad feeling about this. Sure enough, the next second, he heard Arabella’s inner voice chirping away...
’No wonder I could never divine my brother’s romantic fate or see whose red thread was tied to his. According to the plots of those two books, he kicks the bucket in less than a year. Where would he find the time to court a girl and build a relationship? Of course his fate would read as ’dying alone.’’
Aurora Donovan: "..."
’Oh, wait. In that case, doesn’t that mean my brother will still be a virgin when he dies?’
Caspian Rhodes: Pfft...
Aurora Donovan was speechless. ’...Is that really the goddamn point?!’