Chapter 267: What If I Do Stoop to Her Level?
"What are you all doing here?" Dennis Donovan seemed to be very familiar with the group. Noticing their surprised expressions, he took the initiative to walk over and greet them.
The man in the lead was in his fifties or sixties. He wore simple, casual clothes, and had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes with chiseled features. Even with age, you could still see traces of how handsome he must have been in his youth.
"The guest of honor has been away for so long. How could we not come over to have a look?" the man said, casting a faint glance at the surrounding crowd and Mrs. Kohl. "I didn’t expect to walk right into such a good show."
Arabella Donovan’s gaze swept over the men, and her pupils constricted slightly.
’Who are these people? They have so much Merit on them. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this much Merit on anyone.’
Although she had seen a similar Merit Golden Light on Beatrice Donovan before, the Merit she had was just a drop in the bucket compared to these men. The light was so bright it was almost blinding.
Hearing this, the Donovan family members and Caspian Rhodes subconsciously glanced at the men still talking with Dennis Donovan. When they recalled what Dennis Donovan used to do, they began to form some guesses about the men’s identities.
Arabella was guessing too, but rather than rely on vague speculation, she preferred to find the definitive answer herself.
Noticing that the butler was also trailing behind the group—he must have been the one to receive them earlier—Arabella stealthily shuffled over to Miles Donovan’s side and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Miles, who are all these people? They seem to know Grand-uncle very well."
"Them? They’re all old acquaintances of the Ninth Master," Miles Donovan explained in a hushed tone, briefly introducing the men to Arabella. The more she heard, the brighter her eyes grew.
’Well, speak of the devil! I was just racking my brain trying to figure out how to find these people, and now they’ve delivered themselves right to my doorstep!’
Uh...
The members of the Donovan family exchanged a look, their eyes filled with confusion. Why on earth was their Serena looking for these important figures? Had something else happened that they didn’t know about?
Caspian Rhodes, the only one who knew the truth, had a pretty good idea why this group had really shown up. He subconsciously glanced at Dennis Donovan, who was standing a short distance away.
Dennis Donovan had already taken note when Arabella mentioned the Merit Golden Light on the men. He’d seen her little maneuver toward the butler, and now, hearing her delighted exclamation, his eyes glinted. He took the opportunity to cut his conversation short. "Just a small dispute between one of my family’s younger members and another guest. I’m sorry you had to see that."
"Elder Donovan, you’re being too serious. With so many people at a wedding banquet, it’s a mixed crowd. You’re bound to get one or two unpleasant types who sneak in. You just have to send them on their way."
The man was being diplomatic. Crashing someone’s wedding celebration to get cocky and badmouth the hosts behind their backs wasn’t just "unpleasant"—it was downright detestable and loathsome.
Dennis Donovan chuckled at that and waved Miles over. "Go find the person who brought her in."
Mrs. Kohl still didn’t know what was happening, but when she heard Dennis Donovan’s words, her heart began to THUMP wildly. She instinctively wanted to get out of there.
But unfortunately, the Donovan family members and the powerful figures who had just arrived were all blocking the only exit. She was trapped, unable to escape even if she grew wings. All she could do was wait nervously for her son to arrive.
The person who brought Mrs. Kohl to the wedding banquet was, of course, her eldest son, Clayton Kohl. However, the invitation had come from Clayton Kohl’s father-in-law.
His mother-in-law had suddenly felt unwell and couldn’t attend, so Clayton Kohl had the idea to have his mother fill in. He figured she could see a bit of the world, and at the same time, he could show her off in front of his business partners to build his image as a filial son and polish his reputation.
It was just a wedding banquet, after all. It wasn’t like they’d never attended one before. What kind of major trouble could she possibly cause?
Who would have thought that his loose-lipped mother would, in a moment of carelessness, give him such a "generous gift"!
When Clayton Kohl, his wife, and his father-in-law were summoned by Miles Donovan, they were still in a fog. Especially with some business partners on the side, who recognized Miles Donovan, deliberately flattering them, the group was feeling a bit giddy. They thought they’d had a stroke of luck, been noticed by a VIP, and were on the verge of a meteoric rise that would elevate their entire family.
But as it turned out, just as they were about to arrive, Miles Donovan "kindly" informed them of what had happened. Their legs nearly gave out, and they wished they could vanish on the spot and sever all ties with Mrs. Kohl.
Unfortunately, vanishing wasn’t an option.
Even though they were scared out of their wits, they still had to follow the butler and appear before Arabella Donovan and the others to clean up this mess.
"Elder Donovan, gentlemen..." Clayton Kohl’s father-in-law, a Mr. Bennett, was a man whose word was law at his company. But now, in front of these powerful figures, he was bowing and scraping like a lackey, fawning for all he was worth.
Clayton Kohl felt a bitter taste in his mouth, but what he felt more was tension and terror. After all, the person who had caused this massive trouble was his own mother!
As the host and the target of the slander, Dennis Donovan shot him a cold glance and sneered, "I assume Miles told you what happened here on your way over."
Hearing this, Mr. Bennett’s back bent even lower. "Yes, Butler Donovan explained the whole situation to us before we came. This is indeed my daughter’s mother-in-law’s fault. I hope that you, Elder Donovan, can be magnanimous and not stoop to the level of an unrefined woman."
"And what if I do decide to stoop to her level?"
Mr. Bennett’s heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat instantly started streaming down his forehead. "Then she would still be the one at fault. Whatever you decide to do with her would be justified. Since she did wrong, it’s only right that she apologize to you and your wife."
Mrs. Kohl didn’t dare make a peep now. Watching her co-in-law—a man who usually wouldn’t even deign to look her in the eye—seem so diminished and small in front of Dennis Donovan and the others, she finally, belatedly, realized she had truly offended someone she absolutely could not afford to cross.
And this person could easily destroy her, destroy her son, and even destroy the family of the wife her son relied upon!
Dennis Donovan stared at Mr. Bennett with a dark, inscrutable gaze for a long moment, watching until the man’s legs trembled and his face turned deathly pale, before finally letting out a cold snort.
"You’re a sharp one. Forget the apology. I don’t want my wife’s ears to be sullied by such filth on a happy day like this."
"I understand, I understand." Mr. Bennett didn’t even dare to reach up and wipe the sweat from his brow, nodding his head frantically. "Rest assured, I will make absolutely sure she never has the chance to appear before you and your esteemed wife again, or to cause either of you any trouble."
"Good. We’re quite busy here today, so I won’t keep you any longer. Miles, see our guests out."
Dennis Donovan’s words were polite, but in reality, he was kicking the entire family out.
Miles Donovan stepped forward at the right moment. "This way, please."