Chapter 313: Such a Vicious Mind
SNAP—
Eloise Donovan was holding a flute she had grabbed on her way out the door when she’d abruptly learned of Arabella Donovan’s car accident. Before it happened, she had been busy finishing an assignment for her instrumental elective.
And now, that very assignment tool had been brutally snapped in two during her emotional outburst, startling Arabella Donovan, who was sitting right next to her.
"Sis?!"
"I’m fine." Eloise Donovan calmly tossed the ruined flute aside and began spinning a yarn. "I just saw a news story about an old man. He had tons of relatives and younger family members, but none of them were willing to care for him in his old age. Only the neighbors’ kid took pity on him, looking after him for over a decade and seeing him through to the end. The old man returned the favor, leaving a will that gifted his house and all his savings to the neighbor couple who had cared for him."
"And then what happened?"
Arabella Donovan was instantly hooked. Her intuition told her it wasn’t that simple; some people’s greed couldn’t be suppressed by a few flimsy pages of a will.
Sure enough, Eloise continued, "Then the old man’s relatives found out. They traveled through the night to get back and demand the couple return the inheritance. The ironic part is, the day they rushed back was the seventh day after the old man’s death."
"His own blood relatives only found out he was dead a full seven days later, and they didn’t rush back to pay their last respects, but to covet the inheritance he left behind."
"That’s human nature for you!" Arabella Donovan sighed deeply. "So that’s what you’re mad about, sis? Don’t tell me those relatives actually managed to get the inheritance back?"
"No, the court ruled the will valid. The old man’s entire estate went to the couple who had supported him for over a decade."
"If that’s the case, what are you still angry about?"
"I saw a bunch of idiots in the comment section blaming the old man and the couple, defending his relatives. It made my blood boil, and I just lost control for a second."
"...Okay." That was, admittedly, something to get angry about.
While the two of them were talking, the family group chat was already buzzing with activity.
BigBroIsReliable: Who is Howard Gallagher?
Only then did everyone realize that when they had gone to Mrs. Lynch’s dinner party, Justin Donovan had still been diligently grinding away at the office and had missed out on all the Gallagher family drama.
PatriarchNo2: The youngest son of the Gallagher Family’s eldest legitimate son.
Justin Donovan: "???" ’Eldest legitimate son’? What kind of old-fashioned, feudal title is that?
TwoTimesTwo: The one Serena nicknamed the ’Lucked-Out Loser.’ Has zero skills, relies entirely on his mom to do all the work, and still managed to win without lifting a finger.
BigBroIsReliable: ...
BigBroIsReliable: Why do I feel like I understand all these words separately, but they make no sense when you put them all together?
Misty Dawn: Awkward.jpg
In the end, it was Eloise Donovan, the caring little sister, who gave her big brother a simple rundown of the Gallagher family’s chaotic relationships and the role Howard Gallagher played in it all.
Justin Donovan was utterly stunned after hearing it all. ’The world is truly a vast and wondrous place,’ he thought. ’Some people’s lack of shame is simply astonishing. I really haven’t seen enough of the world.’
Arabella Donovan had no idea her own brother was secretly getting the scoop on the Gallagher family right under her nose. His entire worldview had just been shattered, yet here she was, still trying to comfort Eloise.
"It takes all kinds to make a world, and a big pigpen is full of all sorts of animals. Sis, don’t get worked up over these weirdos. It’s not worth ruining your health over, is it?"
’I never realized Fourth Sister was so passionate, getting this invested in a news story. If she finds out about our cousin, won’t she just be furious?’
Eloise Donovan’s mouth twitched. "It’s fine," she said aloud. "I’m not angry anymore."
’Then hurry up and tell me!’ she thought, practically clawing at the walls in her mind. ’I want to see just how infuriating this whole thing is!’
The storyline involving Melody Lynch happened much later on. Without Arabella Donovan’s intervention, Cassandra Lynch hid her true nature so well in the early stages that the Lynch Family never once suspected she wasn’t one of them.
By the time she finally showed her fangs, the members of the Lynch Family were worried that Melody Lynch, who was studying abroad, would be distracted by such distressing news, so they all chose to keep it from her.
Before all this, Melody Lynch had trusted Cassandra Lynch completely. She had told her all the details of her kidnapping years ago, never imagining that the sister she had placed her faith in was the true mastermind behind the crime.
It was the combination of all these factors that gave Cassandra Lynch the perfect opportunity to use Howard Gallagher to impersonate Melody Lynch’s savior.
’Speaking of Howard Gallagher, he’s the very definition of a petty, pathetic, and pointless idiot. He relies on his toxic mother to scheme for him and has a brain the size of a pea. He believes whatever Cassandra Lynch tells him. She told him that she was living under the Lynch family’s roof on their charity, that they constantly abused her, and that Melody Lynch in particular—the other daughter—subjected her to long-term beatings and verbal abuse.’
’Then, she subtly fed him the details of Melody Lynch’s kidnapping case, guiding him to falsely claim the identity of Melody’s savior. He was to use this identity to get close to Melody, deceive her, steal everything she had, and get revenge for all the suffering Cassandra had supposedly endured.’
The Donovan Family: "..." What a malicious mind, what a vicious plan!
’Howard Gallagher didn’t have much brainpower to begin with, so after being instigated by her, he rolled up his sleeves and ran off to cause trouble for Melody Lynch without a second thought. Meanwhile, the Lynch Family was busy dealing with the backstabbing from the male and female leads and had no idea their daughter and sister’s flank was being attacked.’
Reading up to this point, Arabella Donovan couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, feeling both regretful and frustrated that they couldn’t see the obvious.
’This is a tragedy caused by an information gap. They’re all one family, why couldn’t they just talk things out in the open? They had to hide this and that under the guise of ’it’s for your own good.’ Well, look what happened. They hid things until it became a huge disaster, didn’t they?’
The Donovan family deeply agreed, but upon calmer reflection, they felt a little awkward. If they were being honest, they had also hidden a few things from their own darling daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan exchanged a glance. In truth, their resolve had been shaken long ago; they just hadn’t found the right time to confess to Arabella Donovan.
Arabella Donovan was unaware of her family’s inner conflict. At this moment, she was still relentlessly roasting Howard Gallagher in her head.
’I’ve heard of sacrificing yourself for art, but sacrificing yourself for love by giving yourself to another woman? That’s a new one for me. For a simp to go to such lengths... he deserves to simp his way to getting absolutely nothing in the end.’
When Eloise Donovan heard the words "sacrificing yourself," her heart dropped with a thud.
In her eyes, what right did this Howard Gallagher have to talk about sacrifice? He had ulterior motives from the start, and he was using a stolen identity! If ’that sort of thing’ really happened, her cousin would be the one at a huge disadvantage!
Fortunately, in the next second, she heard Arabella Donovan’s thoughts continue, tinged with a hint of schadenfreude.
’But even if he wanted to offer himself, the Lynch family’s cousin wouldn’t even look his way. What century is this? Still pulling the ’repaying a life-saving grace with your body’ routine? It’s so out!’
The Donovan Family: Pfft...
Eloise Donovan: "..." For a moment, she didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.