Chapter 316: Pretty Sisters Don’t Lie
"What’s all this about thunder on a clear day? And a ’chosen one’? What is all this nonsense?"
Elder Lyons and his wife had to leave town for an urgent matter yesterday morning and weren’t at the school. When they returned in the afternoon, they received a call from Aurora Donovan, who told them that he and his sister had been in a car accident, but were thankfully unharmed.
Of course, Aurora Donovan couldn’t possibly tell him the specific details. The story of a car trying to hit them, only to be struck by lightning at the last second... if Aurora Donovan had dared to say that on the phone yesterday, Elder Lyons would have chewed him out on the spot.
He would have told him to get his head checked and immediately rescinded his permission for this visit.
Pearl Lyons was taken aback by her father’s words. "Dad, you don’t know? The news has spread all over Brynn University and even to the nearby restaurants and residential areas. Yesterday, there was a car accident not far from the intersection of that run-down, narrow snack street full of hole-in-the-wall eateries near Brynn University."
"I know that. Weren’t they the ones in the accident?" Elder Lyons gestured toward Arabella Donovan and her brother.
"Right. So how do you not know about the lightning?"
"What does the accident have to do with lightning?"
Pearl Lyons stared at her father for a good while. Once she was certain he was completely clueless, she said with a faint smile, "It’s not that the accident had anything to do with lightning. It’s that the car that almost hit them was struck by lightning at the very last second."
Pearl Lyons’s husband, Marcus Hale, chimed in seamlessly, "That’s right. It was broad daylight, not a cloud in the sky, when a bolt of lightning as thick as an arm suddenly struck, charring the car completely. Wouldn’t you say that’s uncanny?"
The couple shared this strange tale with the two elders in a lighthearted, gossipy tone. They never expected that the old couple, having just heard that someone was a student of fortune-telling, would now hear of such a mystical event connected to her. They both froze.
After a long moment of silence, Lyons was the first to react. She hurried back to Arabella Donovan’s side and grabbed her hand.
She asked anxiously, "Child, was everything you just said true? You could tell that your Grandpa Lyons isn’t well?"
"That’s right. Grandma, if you’re willing to believe me, please have Grandpa Lyons go for a colonoscopy when he has time. It would be best if it’s nothing, but if there is something, it’s better to discover and treat it early. I know it’s rather inauspicious to bring this up during the New Year, but if I knew and didn’t say anything, my conscience wouldn’t let me rest."
Arabella Donovan didn’t try to force them to believe her, only urging them to take the matter seriously for Elder Lyons’s health. After hearing her out, Lyons was mostly convinced.
"You’re a good child; Grandma knows you’re a good child. Don’t worry, we’re not angry, and we’re not superstitious about this. What is, is. It’s not as if a few words from you can change anything, right? Another day—no, I’ll take him to the hospital for a check-up on Monday. Just as you said, it’s best if it’s nothing. But if they really do find something, Grandma will be sure to thank you properly."
Pearl Lyons and the others had arrived later, so they were completely lost and confused listening to this exchange.
"What are you two talking about? Who’s not well? What check-up?"
"This young lady here. The moment she walked in, she said my digestion was bad and that I should go to the hospital for a check-up, claiming the school’s physicals wouldn’t detect my problem." After explaining, Elder Lyons added with a reluctant grumble, "I feel perfectly fine."
He clearly still didn’t believe there was anything wrong with him, but the incident with the lightning-struck truck had instilled in him a tiny bit of reverence for Arabella Donovan.
Or perhaps he simply couldn’t win an argument with his wife, knowing that once she made a decision, he couldn’t change her mind. This check-up was now inevitable.
Pearl Lyons and her husband exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes.
Before they could react, their daughter, who had been holding their hands, suddenly ran over to Lyons, hugging her grandmother’s leg and peeking at Arabella Donovan.
"I believe you."
Arabella Donovan raised an eyebrow and squatted down to the child’s level. "Why do you believe me?"
"Because you’re pretty, and pretty ladies don’t tell lies."
"Pfft... HAHAHA..."
The child’s innocent remark successfully broke the tense atmosphere in the room, making it lively and relaxed. Even Arabella Donovan, the subject of the comment, was amused.
"That’s not always true. Pretty ladies especially love tender, juicy little children like you. We’re always thinking about luring you into a corner where the grown-ups can’t see and gobbling you up in one bite."
As Arabella Donovan spoke, she made a couple of menacing, monster-like gestures at the girl, scaring the little one into shrieking and hiding behind Lyons, refusing to come out.
Seeing this, Pearl Lyons and her husband laughed as well. She turned and whispered to Elder Lyons, "Dad, I don’t think this girl has any bad intentions. Just like she said, who would come to someone’s house to say something so inauspicious during the New Year? She must have seen something to speak up. Just listen to Mom and get a proper check-up. It’s best if it’s nothing, but if it is something, discovering it early is better than discovering it late. There’s no downside, either way."
Besides his wife, whom he could never win an argument against, Elder Lyons listened to his youngest daughter the most. Now that both his wife and daughter were on the same side, he had lost all say in the matter.
He could only nod in resignation. "I can’t win against you all. Just arrange it however you want."
"In that case, on Monday, Marcus will take you and Mom to the hospital for a check-up. We’ll have to trouble you and Mom to make the trip, but it will put our minds at ease."
And so, the matter was settled. Arabella Donovan had achieved her goal for the visit.
However, because Sheldon had taken a real liking to her and kept pestering her to play, Arabella and her brother stayed at Elder Lyons’s home until after lunch. They only left when Sheldon’s mother was about to take her for a nap.
Before they left, Arabella Donovan patted the little girl’s head, her face full of affection. It was clear they had become fast friends.
"Sheldon, you’re so cute. How about I give you a little present?"
"Okay! What present are you giving me?"
Arabella Donovan chuckled mischievously. She made a flourish as if performing a magic trick, clenching her fists and then opening her hands. A beautiful little brocade bag now lay in her palm.
"Wow, it’s so pretty!" The little girl was immediately captivated by the embroidered lotus flower pattern on the brocade bag and cried out in delight.
Arabella Donovan had specially commissioned these brocade bags from the Kerr mother and son to package New Year’s gifts for the relatives who had sent her money in support.
After she had used them to package the jewelry made from raw gemstones for her relatives, she had quite a few left over. Arabella Donovan used them to store the talisman paper and Magic Artifacts she had learned to create in her spare time. Now, one was coming in handy.
Seeing how much the girl liked it, Arabella Donovan placed the brocade bag’s cord around her neck.
"This is my present to you. Inside, there’s a peace charm that I drew myself. It will protect you, Sheldon, keeping you safe and healthy so you can grow up big and strong. You have to keep it with you always, don’t even take it off for kindergarten. If you do, I won’t play with you next time we meet."
"Okay, okay! Sheldon will definitely wear it! Pretty lady, you have to play with Sheldon next time we meet, okay?"
The moment Arabella Donovan finished speaking, Pearl Lyons and her husband didn’t think much of it, but the expressions on the faces of Elder Lyons and his wife changed abruptly.