Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Uninvited Guests

Today was New Year’s Eve, and the Summers family had been busy since the crack of dawn. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Miss Lowell and Melody’s grandmother had already prepared the fried foods yesterday: fried chicken nuggets, crispy small fish, fried stuffed eggplant, crispy fried pork, and fried shrimp... They were all perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Melody Summers and Albus had snuck quite a few pieces.

It seemed that ordinary food tasted exceptionally delicious on New Year’s Day.

Her grandmother and Miss Lowell were in the kitchen preparing dumpling fillings. For the meat fillings, they had pork, beef, and a three-delicacy seafood mix. For the vegetarian options, they had chive and egg, and fennel and egg.

After lunch, the whole family would gather around to make dumplings while watching TV.

When Melody Summers had been stockpiling supplies, she had bought a lot of dried fruits, nuts, and candy, which were now coming in handy.

She arranged peanuts, melon seeds, almonds, pine nuts, milk candies, brittle, fruit drops, and liqueur-filled chocolates on a platter and placed it on the coffee table. Instantly, the festive New Year’s atmosphere filled the room.

After setting out the snack platter, Melody Summers ran to the backyard. The satsuma oranges on the fruit tree there were all ripe.

Thanks to the irrigation from the Arcadian Stream, the small satsuma tree had produced a bumper crop, its branches laden with golden fruit. Melody Summers planned to pick a small basketful; they were the perfect snack for eating while watching TV.

By the pond in the backyard, her uncle and aunt were scooping up fish with a net. After the mountain fire, Sophie Thorne had sent over many freshwater fish. Nourished by the Arcadian Stream, every single one had grown lively and energetic.

It was a tradition embodying the saying "may there be abundance year after year," so the Summers family planned to catch the two largest, plumpest fish from the pond for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Winnie Summers was in the front yard’s vegetable patch picking tomatoes and green beans when the doorbell rang.

Winnie Summers thought it was Crystal Lynch’s family of three, so she hurried to open the gate.

The Lynch family wasn’t going back to their hometown for the New Year, so when the Summers family found out, they invited them over to celebrate together. The two families had gotten to know each other well over the past year, and having more people around would make the celebration livelier.

But when she opened the gate, she was surprised to find two people she didn’t recognize standing outside.

"May I ask who you are...?" Winnie Summers asked, a little confused.

Robert Lancaster surveyed the villa. He had a sharp eye and could see that quite a few vegetables were being grown in the front yard.

Moreover, after Winnie Summers opened the gate, they could feel a cool breeze wafting out from the yard, indicating that the air conditioning was on.

’This is perfect,’ Robert Lancaster thought with satisfaction. ’If my family can move in here, our current financial struggles will be solved...’

He had just asked around at the property management office; this villa was registered under Melody Summers’s name. Since Melody Summers was the Lancaster family’s biological daughter, it was only natural for the Lancasters to live here. As long as Melody agreed, the Summers family had no grounds to object.

Elaine Hughes stared intently at Winnie Summers, a bitter taste in her mouth.

Today was New Year’s Eve, and Winnie Summers had changed into a new set of clothes. She looked even younger than when they had run into each other at the gallery in the Nimbus Hotel.

Winnie Summers was naturally beautiful, with fair skin and few wrinkles. She looked like she was in her thirties, a clear sign that the nearly year-long natural disaster hadn’t worn her down at all.

Seeing Winnie Summers’s healthy complexion, Elaine Hughes couldn’t stop a surge of jealousy. In contrast, she herself had developed several new wrinkles from the stress of tedious housework over the past two months.

Robert Lancaster put on a respectable smile, holding up the gifts in his hands. "We’re family," he said to Winnie Summers. "It’s the New Year, so we came to pay a visit."

Winnie Summers saw the beads of sweat on their foreheads and noticed the sun was getting higher in the sky. After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped aside to let them into the yard. "It’s hot out here. Please, come in and talk."

Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes felt the heat too and eagerly stepped into the yard. Silas Lancaster, however, followed behind them reluctantly with his head down.

Silas Lancaster hadn’t wanted to come at all. He would rather have his water and electricity cut off, rather starve or die of thirst, than come here and be at Melody Summers’s mercy.

But Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster had yelled at him and forced him to apologize to Melody Summers, threatening to disown him if he didn’t...

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and come.

Winnie Summers wracked her brain but couldn’t recall who these relatives were. The young man who followed them in kept his head so low she couldn’t even see his face.

She could only ask again, somewhat awkwardly, "I’m sorry, it’s been so long since we’ve visited with relatives, I’m afraid I don’t quite remember... Which side of the family are you from?"

Robert Lancaster replied with a smile, "You must be Winnie Summers. Hello. My surname is Lancaster, and I am Melody’s biological father. Today is a special day, and we wanted to spend the New Year with Melody, so we took the liberty of bringing some gifts and paying you a visit."

Upon hearing this, Winnie Summers’s expression immediately darkened.

She had assumed they were relatives from the countryside paying a New Year’s visit, which was the only reason she had let them in.

She never imagined they were the Lancasters!

She still remembered how, not long ago, the Lancaster family had tried to force Melody Summers into a marriage with a stranger and then demanded the Summers family pay them eight million. She was certain this family was up to no good.

’I can’t believe my momentary carelessness led me to let these people in...’ Winnie Summers thought, annoyed with herself.

With a grim face, Winnie Summers said, "If you truly cared about Melody, you wouldn’t have ignored her all this time. You’re not welcome here. Please leave."

Robert Lancaster knew Winnie Summers was upset about what had happened before. He feigned a regretful sigh, gave a self-deprecating smile, and looked at her sincerely. "I’m sorry, Ms. Summers. In an effort to save The Lancaster Enterprises, my wife and child did many foolish things behind my back. I was filled with regret when I found out, and I reprimanded them for it. It was all due to my failures in raising them. I hope you can forgive me."

"Now that our Lancaster Group is bankrupt, we’ve finally come to understand that in the face of family, money is just a fleeting cloud!"

"Now, I’m just an old father who hopes to have a proper New Year’s celebration with the biological daughter I was separated from for so many years. I hope you can grant us this wish..."

Seeing Winnie Summers’s expression soften slightly, Robert Lancaster pressed his advantage, forcing his eyes to redden. He continued, "We don’t expect our child to accept us. But if we could just have one reunion dinner with her, I would have no regrets in this life...!"

Seeing Robert Lancaster’s sincere expression, Winnie Summers felt a stir of emotion.

In truth, the fact that Melody Summers had grown up in a single-parent household had always been a thorn in Winnie Summers’s side.

’If Robert Lancaster could give Melody a father’s love...’ Winnie Summers couldn’t help but think. ’Then I seem to have no reason to stop him...’

Having learned her lesson from last time, Elaine Hughes didn’t dare show any attitude toward Winnie Summers after entering the yard.

After all, the last time she and Mrs. Lawson were here, Grace Sutton had pushed them out before they even got past the yard.

Elaine Hughes suppressed her resentment, lowered her head, and said softly to Winnie Summers, "I won’t try to arrange a marriage for Melody ever again. Can you just let me see her? I really miss her... We’re both mothers. You can understand how I feel, can’t you?"

Hearing this, Winnie Summers looked at Elaine Hughes with a complicated expression. At the art exhibition in the Nimbus Hotel, Elaine had been elegantly dressed, exuding an air of wealth and nobility.

She couldn’t believe that in just a few months, Elaine Hughes looked as if she had aged ten years. Her clothes were so plain that Winnie Summers hadn’t even recognized her at first.

Seeing Elaine Hughes in this state, Winnie Summers hesitated but still didn’t let them into the house.

She decided that regardless of whether she agreed or forgave them, she had to ask Melody Summers for her opinion.

So she called out toward the living room, "Melody, could you come here for a moment?"

Melody Summers had just finished picking a small basketful of satsuma oranges in the backyard. Hearing Winnie Summers’s call, she thought the Lynch family had arrived, so she quickly put down the oranges and ran smiling to the front yard.

The moment she saw Robert Lancaster and the other two standing in the front yard, the smile on Melody Summers’s face vanished.

Miss Lowell had also heard the commotion in the front yard. She was now standing in the living room, secretly watching the situation unfold in the yard.

When she saw Melody Summers come out, Miss Lowell whispered to her, "Don’t worry, I already called the police."

Miss Lowell had a feeling this family was trouble and that a conflict was inevitable. Just in case, it was better to call the police first!

Melody Summers nodded and whispered back to Miss Lowell, "In a minute, I’ll have my mom come inside. After she’s in, lock the door and don’t come out, no matter what you hear."

After Miss Lowell nodded in agreement, Melody Summers grabbed a small hunting knife, tucked it behind her back, and walked out.

When Melody Summers stepped out, she ignored the three Lancasters completely. Instead, she spoke directly to Winnie Summers. "Mom, you go inside. I’ll talk to them."

Seeing Melody Summers emerge, Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes were delighted and stared at her with hopeful eyes.

Silas Lancaster, meanwhile, stood off to the side with his head bowed, nearly burying it in his chest. His hands fidgeted nervously with the legs of his pants, wishing he could just disappear into thin air.

After Winnie Summers went inside, Melody Summers turned to the three Lancasters, her face cold. "What are the three of you doing here?"