Chapter 17: Chapter 17: One Hundred Million

The Sutton Villa.

After running away from the Lancaster estate, Sylvia Lancaster went straight to the Sutton family to find her fiancé, Ethan Sutton.

She confessed to Ethan that she and Melody Summers had been switched at birth.

Rumors were already circulating that the Lancasters’ biological daughter was someone else, and Robert Lancaster was adamant about acknowledging Melody Summers. The Suttons were bound to find out about their identities sooner or later.

Rather than wait for someone else to break the news, Sylvia figured it was better to lance the boil herself—to seize the initiative!

Sylvia had been planning her marriage since she was a teenager. Over the years, she had sifted through countless sons of wealthy families before finally setting her sights on Ethan Sutton, the eldest son of the Sutton family.

Ethan’s family was wealthy; the Suttons had made their fortune in real estate and were even richer than the Lancasters. Ethan himself was a graduate of a prestigious international university, handsome and dashing, with a cool, noble air that had completely captured Sylvia’s young heart.

Sylvia had schemed to create "chance" encounters to get to know Ethan, slowly cultivating their relationship. With the help of her mother, Elaine Hughes, and her father, Robert Lancaster, she had finally succeeded in securing their engagement a few months ago.

Emotionally, she didn’t want to lose Ethan. She truly liked him.

Rationally, she also knew that since she wasn’t the Lancasters’ biological daughter, she absolutely could not afford to lose this marriage now. It was her bargaining chip against Melody Summers in the fight for status within the Lancaster family. Only by marrying well could she make the Lancasters look at her with respect.

With this in mind, Sylvia leaned gently into Ethan’s arms and looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes but not quite falling. She had practiced this expression in the mirror many times; she knew this angle made her look her most pitiable.

"Ethan, that’s the whole story. I’m not the Lancasters’ biological daughter. I’m not good enough for you. We should just cancel our engagement. The one you should really be marrying is the Lancasters’ real daughter."

Ethan was still reeling from the news, but seeing Sylvia’s heart-wrenching expression, his heart ached for her. He pulled her into his arms and comforted her.

"Our parents have already settled our marriage. How can we just swap people out? That’s absurd. Besides, even if you aren’t the Lancasters’ biological daughter, you were raised in their family. There’s no difference. Don’t sell yourself short."

Sylvia shook her head and said through a sob, "But Ethan, I don’t even know who my real parents are. How could your parents possibly accept me? And... even though my sister grew up in the countryside, she’s the one with Lancaster blood. Only she is worthy of you."

Hearing Sylvia’s description, Ethan felt a sense of aversion toward Melody Summers. A country bumpkin who grew up in the middle of nowhere was obviously no match for the sophisticated, high-society Sylvia, who had been raised by the Lancasters. She was far more suitable as a wife.

Ethan said sternly, "Sylvia, I told you, no matter who the Lancasters’ real daughter is, you’re the only one for me. My family will only ever accept you as our daughter-in-law. That’s not going to change."

Ethan thought for a moment, then added, "Are you worried that Mr. Lancaster and Miss Hughes will change their minds? If that’s the case, I can have my parents go talk to the Lancasters and make it clear that the Suttons will only accept you."

Hearing this, Sylvia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. ’That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,’ she thought. Outwardly, however, she maintained a neutral expression and asked, "But... my sister is prettier than me. If you see her, will you regret being with me?"

"Never!" Ethan said firmly. "Don’t you trust the years we’ve spent together? If you’re still worried, I’ll talk to my parents and have them arrange for us to get married as soon as possible. Then you can finally relax."

A smile finally appeared on Sylvia’s face. She gazed at her handsome, wealthy fiancé, gently closed her eyes, and leaned in to kiss him.

*

Her stockpiling complete, a delighted Melody Summers drove home. The rest of the Summers family were also busy around the villa.

Her uncle and mother were still supervising the construction workers, occasionally lending a hand. In the yard, Miss Lowell and her grandmother were planting vegetables with the seeds Melody had given them.

Melody went down to the basement. The largest empty room was already piled high with food and daily necessities. She walked into the second-largest empty room.

Melody set up several rows of storage shelves along one side of the room and placed some of the outdoor equipment she had bought today on them.

On the other side of the room, she set up several generators of various sizes, then took out over twenty barrels of gasoline and diesel. The rest remained in the Arcadian Space’s warehouse.

*

After finishing her work, Melody returned to her room, locked the door, and entered the space again.

The crops in the fields were growing well. Melody found some bamboo in the Arcadian Woods, split it into appropriately sized poles, and built trellises for the green beans and cucumbers. Then, she drew water from the Arcadian Stream for a quick watering.

The fruit saplings planted in the Arcadian Woods a few days ago had all survived and even grown a fair bit. Melody pruned them using the method her eldest uncle had taught her.

After finishing with the fields and the woods, Melody grabbed a bag of corn and soybeans from the warehouse, cut down a few stalks of sugarcane, and went to the processing workshop to turn it all into animal feed.

Melody took the feed to the livestock farm. She found that many of the hens in the henhouse had laid eggs and were busy incubating them. The ducks hadn’t laid any eggs yet; they were all splashing happily in the pools inside their enclosures.

The rabbits, pregnant with kits, were wary when Melody approached and refused to come out from behind a pile of sweetgrass.

The miniature pigs had visibly grown a size larger. The moment Melody filled the trough with feed, they scrambled over each other to gobble it down.

The cattle pasture was at the very back, connected to a large meadow. They were grazing leisurely and ambled over when they saw Melody come to fill their feed.

Melody filled the feed troughs, refilled all the water troughs, and placed a few sea salt licks in the cattle and sheep pens. She had read in the information Lester Archer sent her that these animals needed extra salt.

Once all that was done, Melody took a slow walk with Albus along the stream.

Melody looked at the white mist lingering in the distance and asked, "System, why haven’t the remaining areas been unlocked yet?"

Albus shook his body at her feet and replied:

[Host, unlocking the next areas will cost money. A lot of money.]

Melody froze, completely petrified.

"You! Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’ve spent almost all my money in the past two days." Melody felt like crying but had no tears. "I have a little over 600,000 left. Is that enough to unlock it?"

Albus shook his head.

[Not enough.]

"How much does it cost to unlock the next area?" Although Melody was deeply against taking out loans and spending money she didn’t have, she decided she would find a way to borrow some if the amount wasn’t too different. At worst, she could sell some supplies in the early days of the apocalypse and pay it back before the government audited everyone’s assets and debts.

[One hundred million.]

Melody: "..."

"Oh. Never mind then."

Completely disheartened, Melody left the space.