Chapter 258: I Only Love My Wife
At the time, Arabella Donovan had no idea she was just one step away from the truth. On the day of Dennis Donovan’s wedding, she woke up bright and early to personally pick up Mr. and Mrs. Donovan and the others from their hotel. They had arrived in Brynn the day before.
The wedding was set for an auspicious day at the end of the year. Since it also fell on a weekend when everyone was free, the whole family came.
The moment she saw Arabella Donovan, Mrs. Donovan almost instinctively blurted out, "You’ve gotten thinner."
But her gaze immediately fell upon Arabella Donovan’s well-fed, rounded double chin.
Arabella Donovan: "..."
Mrs. Donovan: "..."
Everyone: "..."
’Yup. Only a mother could look at me and think I’ve lost weight.’
Mrs. Donovan: "..."
"Ahem... Why don’t we go pick up Hannah first." At the critical moment, it was Mr. Donovan who stepped in to smooth things over.
Mrs. Donovan seized the chance to change the subject, readily accepting the way out. "Right, right, right. Let’s go get your third brother first."
After a short detour to pick up Aurora Donovan, the large party made their way to the wedding venue.
Dennis Donovan had prepared a most traditional Chinese wedding for his beloved, complete with a phoenix coronet and bridal gown, an eight-bearer sedan chair, and all the trimmings.
The entire wedding was held at the mansion where Dennis Donovan was living. Taking Guinevere Preston’s health into consideration, Dennis Donovan arranged it so she wouldn’t have to leave the estate, but not a single step of the traditional ceremony—from the fetching of the bride to the celebratory parade—was omitted.
When the time came, she would only need to exit through the east gate to board the bridal sedan chair. The procession would then circle Vistagrove Avenue and a few adjacent streets before looping back around to re-enter the estate through the west gate.
The route seemed simple enough, but Vistagrove Avenue was near Brynn’s most popular tourist attraction. The area was flooded with countless visitors on a normal day, to say nothing of a holiday weekend.
As the procession made its laps with beating gongs and drums, the crowd of onlookers grew so large it nearly blocked the entire road.
Because of past events, Guinevere Preston had cut all ties with the Preston Family. Since no one from her family was invited to the wedding, Arabella Donovan temporarily took on the role of representing the bride’s side.
After returning from picking up the family, Arabella immediately rushed to the bride’s side. She helped her dress, made sure she had all the auspicious items before boarding the sedan chair, and assisted her through every step of the ceremony: stepping over the brazier, crossing the saddle, ascending the ceremonial platform, performing the ritual bows, and finally, being escorted to the bridal chamber.
After nervously and excitedly guiding the bride through the entire ceremony, Arabella Donovan could finally catch her breath. She decided to slip out of the bridal chamber to find something to eat.
She also planned to look for some easy-to-carry snacks to bring back for the bride, who must be hungry.
But just as she left the inner courtyard and rounded a corridor, she saw several lavishly dressed, middle-aged women whispering to each other outside an archway.
At first, Arabella didn’t pay them much mind, intending to just walk past. But as she drew closer, she overheard a remark laced with malicious spite.
"At her age, her face must be as wrinkled as an orange peel, don’t you think? To still have someone throw such a lavish wedding for her... it’s utterly shameless."
Arabella Donovan stopped in her tracks, her expression visibly darkening.
The woman in yellow standing to the left of the archway trembled at those words. She hastily straightened up and moved to cover the speaker’s mouth.
"Heavens, girl! You can’t say things like that! Have you forgotten how Donovan’s nephew and his whole family were run out of Brynn, losing everything they had?"
A glint flashed in Arabella’s eyes. ’Donovan’s nephew? My grand-uncle’s nephew... Isn’t that Victor Donovan’s family? They were run out of Brynn? When did that happen? I knew nothing about it!’
The woman who had spoken stiffened for a moment but quickly regained her composure. "What’s there to be afraid of? There’s no one else here. Everyone’s out front at the banquet. You two aren’t going to go blabbing, are you? Besides, I’m not wrong. It *is* a disgrace. If you’re going to make such a big deal at that age, you can’t be afraid of what people will say."
The woman in yellow glanced around nervously. Seeing no one else, she breathed a sigh of relief before saying helplessly, "The more I tell you not to say it, the more you do. You and that mouth of yours... it’ll be your ruin one day."
The first woman just folded her arms and snorted, clearly paying her companion’s warning no mind.
Just then, the third woman in a bright red blouse chimed in with a faint smile, "I actually think Mrs. Shelby has a point."
The woman in yellow’s eyes flew wide in astonishment, her expression a mask of panic that screamed, ’Are you mad? Just because she’s being reckless, you have to join in?’
But the woman in the red blouse seemed completely unfazed, adopting the air of a self-proclaimed objective observer, the only sober one in a crowd of drunks.
"Elder Donovan is a hero, that’s an undeniable fact. But it’s also true that even heroes are susceptible to a beautiful woman’s charms. Never mind anything else, driving his own nephew’s family out of Brynn was definitely a mistake."
"Look at Elder Donovan’s age! And how old is this wife of his? There’s no way they’ll be having any children. That makes his nephew’s family his closest blood relatives—blood is thicker than water! He’s listening to that woman’s pillow talk and driving them away now, but in the future, this enormous family fortune will just end up in the hands of an outsider. When the hero meets his tragic end, Elder Donovan’s final years are going to be miserable!"
"Exactly! Mrs. Kohl, you took the words right out of my mouth! It’s like they say: a good wife means a happy life, blessing a family for three generations, while a bad one will ruin you to the core. If you marry the wrong woman, no fortune is big enough to burn through. Elder Donovan passed up all the virtuous women from good families to marry this homewrecker who’ll bring nothing but chaos. If you ask me, he’s just old and senile. He’s got plenty of suffering coming his way."
As Arabella Donovan listened to them get more and more outrageous, her brow tightened. She found herself focusing on the one they called Mrs. Shelby, sensing a persistent sourness in her tone—the unmistakable tang of jealousy. And then, she uncovered a secret that wasn’t much of a secret at all.
’I knew it! No wonder this Mrs. Shelby sounds so bitter—you can smell the sour grapes from a mile away! It’s because she had her eye on my grand-uncle and wanted to set him up with her younger sister.’
Most of the anger in Arabella’s eyes vanished, replaced by the curiosity and thrill of stumbling upon some juicy gossip.
’Tsk, tsk. A shame, really. My grand-uncle is a one-woman man; he only has eyes for my Preston. He never gave her sister a second look. So, Mrs. Shelby’s matchmaking career fell apart before it even started. Now that she sees my grand-uncle and Preston finally together, she’s so green with envy she’s come to their wedding just to make these snide, passive-aggressive remarks.’
The rest of the Donovan family, along with Dennis Donovan and Caspian Rhodes, had been waiting in the front courtyard. When Arabella didn’t return after a long while, they grew worried and went to look for her.
Who would have thought that just as they came through a side entrance, they would be hit with such a bombshell?
In an instant, all eyes were on Dennis Donovan, their gazes seeming to say, ’We never knew you were that kind of grand-uncle!’
Dennis Donovan: "..." ’What the hell does that have to do with me? Didn’t you hear Serena? I only love my wife!!!’