Chapter 451: Do You Want This Kindness?

Chapter 451: Chapter 451: Do You Want This Kindness?

After the car started, Arabella Donovan was quite reserved at first. Adhering to the principle of not making a move until he did, she stayed quiet because Caspian Rhodes said nothing.

But as time went on, she started to get antsy.

Caspian Rhodes noticed her impatience and broke the silence at the perfect moment. "Didn’t you just say you had something to tell me?"

"I didn’t... Oh, right. I do have a question for you. On the day of the ancestral worship ceremony, you said your parents were worried your grandparents would be upset by what happened, so they stayed a few extra days to keep them company. How have they been the last couple of days? I hope nothing happened?"

"They’re fine. My parents said my grandparents have been... sleeping very soundly the past couple of days, without even dreaming much. My other relatives, on the other hand..."

Arabella Donovan’s attention was instantly captured. "What about them?"

"My First Uncle—his family was the one in charge of the ceremony—he and my aunt signed their divorce papers. His son and daughter-in-law got divorced too."

"That fast?"

Caspian Rhodes chuckled. "That sister-in-law—well, former sister-in-law now. Her family is a prominent legal dynasty. Eighty to ninety percent of her relatives, from uncles to the younger generation, graduated from famous law schools at home and abroad and work in related fields. If my First Uncle and his son hadn’t signed those papers, they would have been facing public disgrace and... prison time."

Arabella Donovan was silent for a moment, then shot Caspian Rhodes a thumbs-up, her expression a mixture of awe and complexity.

’Damn, this woman is a badass. No wonder she can pull off what others can’t and dare to think the unthinkable.’

"It’s worth mentioning that my former cousin-in-law is indeed pregnant. And since my aunt had nowhere to go after divorcing First Uncle, she took her in. They’ll probably end up raising the child together."

Arabella Donovan: "..." That’s... absolutely insane!

’Well, at least they’ve all escaped their personal hells. The most important thing is for the three of them to live well.’

Caspian Rhodes: ’???’ ’Does that saying even apply here?’

"Ahem. Besides that, there was some major drama involving my cousin from Third Grand-uncle’s family."

Arabella Donovan had to mentally trace the family tree for a moment before she figured out which cousin Caspian was talking about.

’Oh, right! The massive chump with the naturally low sperm count who got cuckolded by his wife and his own illegitimate half-brother, and was even forced to raise their kid!’

That was exactly who she meant.

A flicker of amusement crossed Caspian Rhodes’s eyes. "That cousin’s father was a playboy in his youth. He has many illegitimate children besides this son. A couple of days ago, one of those illegitimate sons came to our doorstep to cause trouble, revealing that he was having an affair with my cousin’s wife..."

’Holy shit, was he that bold? I thought their plan was to keep this cousin of Mr. Rhodes in the dark, making him the sucker who’d raise their kid and leave them his inheritance. Why’d the guy suddenly out himself like that? Or were they so fearless, holding the secret that Rhodes had a low sperm count, that they thought they could force Rhodes to just swallow this bitter pill?’

Caspian Rhodes’s next words quickly confirmed Arabella Donovan’s suspicions.

"To humiliate my cousin, the illegitimate son went around shouting that he had a low sperm count and could never have children of his own. He claimed that giving him a child to care for him in his old age was already a tremendous favor."

Hearing this, Arabella Donovan was floored. A thousand thoughts swirled in her head, but they all boiled down to one thing.

’How about you take that "tremendous favor" for yourself?’

Even Arabella, a mere bystander, was furious hearing this, let alone the man at the center of it all. He was a certified, psychologically twisted, and vindictive villain—the type who would seek revenge for the slightest offense. Would he really let someone walk all over him like that?

"After all that, didn’t that cousin of yours have any plans to fight back?"

"My cousin fell ill from anger and insisted on divorcing his wife. His father—my uncle—advised him not to make a big deal out of it. Since he couldn’t... well, anyway, he told him to keep his wife and the child."

"And then? And then? Did he agree?"

’This Rhodes is a ruthless man, capable of taking on a hundred enemies at once and single-handedly scheming his opponents into oblivion. Would he really swallow his pride and suffer in silence for the sake of so-called family honor? No matter how I think about it, it seems impossible.’

As it turned out, Arabella Donovan’s judgment was spot on.

"Of course not. My cousin had a huge fight with my uncle and publicly exposed him. He revealed that my uncle had known all along that the illegitimate son and my cousin’s wife were cuckolding him and plotting to make him raise their child. He stated outright that they were acting under my uncle’s orders, making him the true culprit who wanted to drive my cousin to his death. And he did all this just so he could secretly get his hands on the inheritance my cousin’s mother left him."

"Oho!" Arabella Donovan couldn’t help but let out a sound of genuine admiration.

’That was a brilliant move by the cousin. In one fell swoop, he shifted everyone’s attention from whether he was truly infertile to the juicy secrets of a rich family—infidelity, father-son conflict, and a battle for inheritance. Just like that, the credibility of the "evidence" his enemies used against him was cut by more than half.’

Caspian Rhodes smiled too and continued, "Afterward, in front of a huge crowd, my cousin put on a tearful performance, lamenting the cold and harsh treatment he and his mother had endured at home when she was still alive, and decrying my uncle’s favoritism toward his mistresses and illegitimate children."

"Wow, that cousin of yours is quite the performer. Your uncle must have been absolutely livid, huh?"

"He was furious, but he was the one in the wrong, wasn’t he? This uncle of mine is notorious for doting on his mistresses while neglecting his wife. The death of my cousin’s mother back then was inextricably linked to his affairs. Everyone just keeps up appearances and doesn’t talk about it, not wanting to meddle in family matters, but deep down they all know the truth. Since his own reputation is already shot, he can’t very well blame my cousin for making him lose face by speaking the truth."

Arabella Donovan nodded in agreement. "That’s true. You can’t just shut people up. If you’re going to do the crime, you’ve got to do the time. You can’t expect to have a life of romance and pleasure with beautiful women and also maintain a sterling reputation that everyone praises. That’s just being a hypocrite."

"Mm, you have a point." While stopped at a red light, Caspian Rhodes turned to look at her, his smile widening.

"Because of this, my cousin and uncle have had a complete falling out. My cousin has stopped all work at the company, using the excuse that he’s ill from anger and needs to recuperate."

Arabella Donovan was confused. "If he leaves the company now, won’t that illegitimate son take advantage of the situation and move in?"

"He won’t. My cousin has been at the company for eight years and sidelined my uncle long ago. To outsiders, it might look like my uncle is still in charge, but in reality, my cousin purged all of my uncle’s cronies from the management level four years ago.

You could say the company is basically my cousin’s one-man show now. My uncle is just a figurehead—all show and no substance. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cooked up this whole drama for no reason. To be blunt, in this whole soap opera, everyone has their own agenda."