Simon Lancaster saw what was happening and rushed forward to pull Ethan Sutton away, roaring, "Ethan Sutton, have you lost your mind?! What’s all this about being cheated on? What nonsense are you spouting? Sylvia is so innocent, there’s no way she’d do something like that!"

Ethan Sutton was already seething. Seeing Simon Lancaster—’the other man’—dare to step forward, his fury intensified.

Ethan Sutton threw a punch straight into Simon Lancaster’s face, cursing, "Simon Lancaster, you son of a bitch! How dare you cuckold me! You even screwed your own sister. Are you even human?!"

The results of the paternity test had arrived at the Sutton residence that day. The Suttons opened the report with trepidation, and the conclusion was starkly clear—the miscarried child was not Ethan Sutton’s.

Upon seeing the results, Mr. Sutton was so overcome with rage that he fainted on the spot!

Mrs. Sutton and Ethan Sutton had rushed Mr. Sutton to the hospital for a series of examinations.

After getting his father settled, Ethan Sutton had immediately stormed over to Sylvia Lancaster’s hospital room.

He truly couldn’t understand. He had been so good to Sylvia Lancaster. He hadn’t cared about her humble background, her family’s bankruptcy, or her lack of income. Why did she have to betray him?!

What he understood even less was how this could happen. Back then, it was clear that Sylvia Lancaster had eyes only for him. She seemed so gentle and pure. Why would she get pregnant with her own brother’s bastard child?!

Simon Lancaster wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. With a grim expression, he threw a punch back at Ethan Sutton, shouting, "Ethan Sutton, what the hell are you talking about? Sylvia is my sister!"

Ethan Sutton barely dodged the punch, but he didn’t expect Simon Lancaster to lunge at him again. In an instant, the two furious men were wrestling and brawling on the floor.

Seeing the brawl, Elaine Hughes quickly shielded Sylvia Lancaster with one arm while pressing the call button to have a nurse summon security.

Both Simon Lancaster and Ethan Sutton were blinded by rage, completely abandoning the high-society decorum they once prided themselves on. They fought like a pair of wild animals.

They wrestled and hurled the foulest curses at each other until hospital security arrived to pull them apart.

Restrained by the security guards and unable to break free, Ethan Sutton glared at Sylvia Lancaster, panting as he demanded, "Sylvia Lancaster, tell me! Why in the world did you betray me?!"

Sylvia Lancaster’s face had been deathly pale from the moment he burst in, and her heart was pounding with panic.

All this time, Sylvia and Simon hadn’t dared to tell their parents, Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes, what had really happened in the room that day. The two of them had simply claimed they’d accidentally bumped into each other and lost their footing, which led to the miscarriage.

Thankfully, Holly Rhodes hadn’t told Robert and Elaine about it either, so Sylvia had assumed she’d gotten away with it.

’Did Holly Rhodes tell Ethan what she saw in the room that day?’

Sylvia Lancaster gritted her teeth. ’In any case, Ethan doesn’t have any proof,’ she thought. ’Holly Rhodes’s word alone means nothing!’

So, her voice trembling, she defended herself. "I didn’t. There’s nothing going on between my brother and me. Ethan, how could you think that of me? Did someone go and spread vicious rumors to you?"

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. It was a tragically beautiful performance. She continued in a plaintive, wounded voice, "Ethan, we’re married. I love you so much... How could you suspect me like this...?"

Seeing Sylvia still putting on an act, Ethan felt like he was looking at a complete stranger. He never imagined that beneath her innocent, gentle facade lay such a filthy soul!

The very thought that he had once loved her made him feel sick to his stomach.

His rage turned into a bitter laugh. He sneered, speaking slowly and deliberately, "Sylvia Lancaster, you still have the nerve to pull this routine on me?"

With that, Ethan Sutton violently wrenched himself free from the guards, pulled a report from his pocket, and threw it down in front of the Lancasters. "See for yourselves," he sneered. "This is the paternity test. The baby that was in Sylvia Lancaster’s womb wasn’t mine!"

Upon hearing this, both Elaine Hughes and Simon Lancaster stared in utter disbelief.

Elaine Hughes’s hands trembled as she unfolded the report. Once she saw its contents, her legs gave out, and she sank to the floor, muttering, "No... It can’t be..."

Simon Lancaster snatched the report away. As soon as he read it, his vision went black.

Simon Lancaster staggered back a few steps. He stared at his sister in disbelief, his voice a mixture of shock and confusion. "Sylvia, wh-what’s going on?!"

The color drained from Sylvia Lancaster’s face in an instant. She never, ever imagined the Suttons would actually go and get a paternity test!

As every eye in the room turned to her, Sylvia Lancaster felt her blood run cold. The proof was right there. She didn’t even have a chance to deny it.

A wave of panicked desperation washed over her. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.

Seeing this, Simon Lancaster rushed to her side, calling her name while simultaneously pressing the call button for a doctor.

When Ethan Sutton saw Simon Lancaster’s panicked reaction, he became even more convinced: ’Simon Lancaster is the father of Sylvia’s child!’

He let out a cold sneer. The brother and sister were absolutely disgusting.

Not wanting to spend another second in that room, he turned to walk out.

As he passed Elaine Hughes, the woman, still collapsed on the floor, suddenly latched onto his leg.

Ethan Sutton frowned down at her. He heard Elaine Hughes muttering, "This isn’t real... Ethan, there has to be some kind of misunderstanding. The test has to be a mistake..."

Looking at Elaine Hughes’s dazed expression, Ethan Sutton snorted. "I’ll have the divorce papers sent over tomorrow. Sylvia Lancaster will leave with nothing. We’re also done paying for this hospital room. And every single cent our family spent on her, you’re going to spit it all back out!"

Tears instantly welled in Elaine Hughes’s eyes. "No," she answered, her voice trembling. "You can’t divorce Sylvia. She’s just a young woman. If she gets divorced, her life will be ruined."

"Ethan, there has to be a misunderstanding. The report must be wrong... Yes, that’s it, it’s wrong..."

Elaine Hughes’s words filled Ethan Sutton with revulsion. He sneered down at her and said, "Sylvia Lancaster cuckolded me. The evidence is irrefutable. What good will your excuses do?"

As Elaine Hughes’s face grew even paler, Ethan Sutton enunciated each word with cold precision. "Besides, now that your son and daughter have gotten together and produced a bastard, don’t you think you, as parents, bear some of the responsibility? If you ask me, this is all your fault!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

At his words, Elaine Hughes’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted completely.

Simon Lancaster quickly laid Sylvia down and turned to check on his mother. The hospital room descended into utter chaos.

Ethan Sutton sneered at the scene. Ignoring the whole mess, he turned and strode briskly out of the room.

******

To help get the special remedy to the public sooner, Melody Summers had spent the last two days in her space, working nonstop to brew loquat paste.

Aside from coming downstairs for meals, she spent all her time buried in The Arcadian Workshop, brewing the paste. She had even compressed her sleep into short, fragmented naps.

The reason was simple: over the past two days, news reports had been constantly updating the death toll from respiratory and pulmonary issues. The numbers were climbing exponentially, and watching them rise filled Melody Summers with immense anxiety.

Fortunately, her frantic work was paying off. In just two days, she had managed to bottle two thousand jars of loquat paste. At this rate, she would be able to deliver all five thousand jars within a week.

She finished bottling a freshly made batch of paste, then added new medicinal herbs to the pot, leaving it to simmer on low heat. With that done, she exited her space, planning to head downstairs for a meal.

If she weren’t afraid that skipping meals would make her family suspicious, Melody Summers would have gladly foregone eating altogether.