Chapter 241: Chapter 241: The Foreclosed Apartment

As this realization settled in, Sylvia Lancaster’s sorrow slowly began to subside.

Sylvia Lancaster knew she couldn’t just sit idly by. She had to do something to win back the hearts of the Lancaster family.

Once she had made up her mind, she headed to the kitchen.

She rummaged around the kitchen and found that there wasn’t much food left in the house.

Apparently, to save on electricity, both the refrigerator and the freezer had been unplugged. Sylvia Lancaster opened them and, just as she expected, found them completely empty.

The cupboards held only some rice and seasonings, along with a few small potatoes, a couple of sweet potatoes, and some onions.

There were, however, two large jugs of oil, but they were close to their expiration date.

Sylvia Lancaster thought for a moment, then pulled out her phone to check her account balance.

Her account still had some of the allowance money Lily Adler had given her.

Sylvia Lancaster checked her transaction history with Lily Adler. Lily had been very generous, frequently transferring her money—hundreds of thousands at a time. All told, the transfers added up to nearly ten million.

But Sylvia Lancaster’s account didn’t hold anywhere near that much now.

Looking through her statements, she discovered a large charge from an online luxury boutique made a few days prior. She must have bought a set of jewelry.

As for the jewelry, it had been seized by the police, along with the Hayes Family’s villa.

Staring at the balance of a few hundred thousand in her account, Sylvia Lancaster sighed. ’With the exorbitant price of supplies after the cataclysm, this money won’t buy much.’

She logged into an online shopping platform she had used frequently in her past life. After carefully picking and choosing, she placed an order for some of the more cost-effective ingredients available, planning to cook a meal for the Lancasters.

Sylvia Lancaster bought some pasta, dehydrated vegetables, chicken, and eggs.

When she saw the succulent-looking snow pears on the promotional page, she gritted her teeth and bought five of them as well. After clicking "pay," she settled in to wait for the delivery.

Staring at the order confirmation page, Sylvia Lancaster felt a wave of self-pity.

’When in my past life did I ever have to cook to curry favor with my family?’ she thought. ’That’s what Melody Summers did!’

In her past life, Melody Summers had taken on all the cooking and chores to fit in with the Lancaster Family and win their favor.

Now the tables had turned, and it was her turn to do it. She felt incredibly sorry for herself...

While Sylvia Lancaster was zoning out in the kitchen, Silas Lancaster silently approached.

Sylvia Lancaster’s heart leaped when she saw him, and she quickly called out, "Silas!"

But to her surprise, Silas Lancaster—who had always adored his older sister—just stared at her coldly. "Don’t call me that," he said with disgust. "You don’t have the right... You make me sick!"

The color drained from Sylvia Lancaster’s face. "Silas... How can you talk to me like that...?"

Sylvia Lancaster stared at Silas in disbelief. ’They had always been so close!’

’He used to say she was the best sister in the world!’

’Why had things become like this?!’

Seeing Sylvia’s eyes well up with tears of indignation, Silas remained completely unmoved.

He just couldn’t understand it. ’Why would his own sister hook up with their older brother?!’

’Right now, he just found them both utterly repulsive!’

’Sylvia Lancaster wasn’t the pure, perfect, flawless sister he’d imagined. She was just a slut who seduced her own brother!’

Under Sylvia Lancaster’s heartbroken gaze, Silas snorted, turned, and went upstairs.

Leaving Sylvia Lancaster standing there, stunned...

******

It was unclear how Simon Lancaster managed to persuade Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes, but in the end, they finally relented, agreeing to let Sylvia Lancaster remain with the family.

Elaine Hughes sat in the living room, her face a cold mask. She looked at Sylvia Lancaster, who stood before her anxiously. "You can stay," she said, "but from now on, all the household chores—the laundry, the cooking—that’s all your job. And you’d better do it well!"

Though bitterness filled her heart, Sylvia Lancaster put on an obedient expression and nodded. "Okay, Mom, Dad. You don’t have to worry."

With that, Sylvia Lancaster hurried to the kitchen and brought out the meal she had prepared.

She addressed everyone in the living room in a placating tone, "Mom, Dad, Big Brother, Silas, this is what I just cooked. Please, try it and see if you like it."

Seeing the four dishes and a soup that Sylvia Lancaster had painstakingly prepared, the expressions on Robert Lancaster, Elaine Hughes, and Silas Lancaster’s faces finally softened a little.

After all, it had been a long time since they had eaten a decent meal.

Especially one that included pan-seared chicken breast.

So, they stopped giving Sylvia a hard time and sat down at the dining table to eat.

Seeing this, Sylvia Lancaster breathed an inward sigh of relief.

Simon Lancaster also relaxed at the sight. He patted Sylvia Lancaster’s hand reassuringly. "Sylvia, you’ve worked hard."

Sylvia Lancaster shook her head and replied softly, "Big Brother, as long as you, Mom, Dad, and my little brother like it, it’s no trouble at all."

Once everyone had eaten their fill, Sylvia Lancaster mentally reviewed the timeline from her past life.

Thinking about the coming snowfall and torrential rain, she spoke to the Lancasters with a serious expression. "Mom, Dad, Big Brother, Silas, listen to me. We can’t stay here."

At her words, Elaine Hughes slammed her chopsticks down with a CLACK. She glared at Sylvia Lancaster, annoyed. "What nonsense are you spouting? If we don’t live here, where else would we go?"

Facing the family’s confused stares, Sylvia Lancaster explained, "Mom, Dad, please listen. Experts are saying there’s going to be heavy snow soon. The villa could be completely buried. It would be best for us to move to a high-rise apartment."

’The snow wasn’t even the biggest problem,’ she thought. ’The real danger was the torrential rain and floods that would follow. In her past life, this very villa had been mostly destroyed by the floodwaters, leaving behind a worthless, debris-strewn wreck.’

Sylvia Lancaster continued, "Mom, Dad, I remember we have a high-rise apartment over at The Metropolis Residences. We should move into that apartment as soon as possible!"

’In her past life, the Lancasters had been living at The Metropolis Residences during the flood. Sylvia knew that a post-disaster reconstruction zone would be set up there. The residents would get priority for job opportunities and would be first in line for government supply distributions.’

After another moment of thought, Sylvia Lancaster added, "Mom, Dad, and as for this villa... we need to sell it as soon as possible! Turn it into cash!"

’In her past life, Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes had often complained after the flood. If only they’d known it was coming, they could have sold the villa beforehand and recouped some of their losses.’

But who could have known that upon hearing Sylvia’s words, Robert Lancaster would fly into a violent rage?

He grabbed the empty bowl beside him and hurled it at Sylvia, roaring, "You damn girl, how dare you get ideas about this villa! You must have a death wish!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Ah!" The empty bowl struck Sylvia on the forehead. She cried out in pain as a large lump quickly swelled on the spot.

Seeing this, Simon looked at Sylvia with pity in his eyes. He tried to soothe her, "Sylvia, don’t you remember? Our high-rise at The Metropolis Residences was foreclosed on last year. This villa is all the family has left."

Sylvia Lancaster was completely stunned—

’The high-rise at The Metropolis Residences was foreclosed on?!’

’But that’s not what happened in my past life!’

’Then what was the family supposed to do after the flood came?!’

Sylvia Lancaster’s mind went blank.

She touched her swelling forehead. ’No matter what,’ she thought, ’I have to find a way to buy that apartment back!’

******

「Meanwhile」

With Ian Summers and Grace Sutton back home, the Summers family sat down together for a wonderful reunion dinner.

It was a lavish spread of ten dishes, including chicken, duck, beef, lamb, fish, shrimp, and crab. Everyone ate until they were stuffed.

After dinner, with the whole family gathered, Melody Summers told them she had bought two high-rise apartments. "It’s going to snow in a couple of days," she explained. "The lower floors will be buried, so we’ll have to move out of here."

Ian Summers nodded thoughtfully. "I think I heard some of the guys in my unit saying something about that. The higher-ups are predicting this snowfall will be massive. There could be snow-related disasters all over."

Melody Summers nodded. "That’s right. The snow will be several meters deep. We won’t be able to stay in this villa."

Colin Summers seemed hesitant. "Do we really have to move? I can go out and shovel every day to keep it clear. It should be fine."

But Melody shook her head. "No, it’s too dangerous, Uncle. If the blizzard is too strong, we won’t be able to get out the door. The snow will pile up and bury the villa. If we’re trapped inside, we could suffocate."

Hearing Melody’s explanation, everyone nodded in agreement, convinced that they really had to move.

Grace Sutton gave Colin Summers a light smack. "What are you going on about?" she said, exasperated. "When it comes to the big decisions in this family, we just listen to Melody! Since the heatwave last year, has she ever been wrong?"

Colin Summers grinned good-naturedly and nodded. "You’re right. We’ll listen to my niece! How are we moving? I’ll do the heavy lifting!"

Ian Summers, who was sitting nearby, also spoke up. "I happen to be home. Whatever needs moving, I can start tonight."

Winnie Summers waved her hand. "Ian, you finally managed to get leave and come home. You should be resting. Let us handle the move."

But Ian insisted, "I’m fine, Auntie. After that home-cooked meal, I’m full of energy. I’m not tired at all."

In the end, Melody made the final call. "There’s no need to rush. Everyone get a good night’s sleep tonight. We’ll start moving tomorrow!"