Chapter 246: Chapter 246: Innumerable Crimes

Melody Summers smiled faintly, then gently patted Ian Summers’s shoulder, signaling him to let go of Simon Lancaster.

Once Simon Lancaster scrambled up from the floor, Melody Summers looked at him and said coldly, "Get lost. If you ever dare to show up in front of me again, I guarantee you won’t be as lucky as you were today and just get to walk away."

After all, Mrs. Vance was present, so Melody Summers didn’t want to say anything more to the Lancaster siblings.

Sylvia Lancaster stared at Melody Summers in utter disbelief. She still couldn’t accept the fact that Melody had suddenly transformed from a doormat desperate for their affection into someone so cold and ruthless.

’It’s like she’s a completely different person!’

Humiliation was written all over Simon Lancaster’s face. He glanced at Ian Summers standing beside Melody Summers, and a strange sense of grievance welled up inside him.

’I’m her only biological older brother! But now Melody is treating me so coldly!’

For a moment, Simon Lancaster couldn’t tell if he was more angry or indignant.

’Does Melody really not care about our blood ties anymore?!’

Simon Lancaster wanted to question Melody Summers, but when he looked up and saw Ian Summers glaring at him threateningly, he ultimately didn’t dare to say what was on his mind.

Finally, supported by Sylvia Lancaster, Simon Lancaster staggered toward the elevator.

Seeing this, Mrs. Vance didn’t say anything more. Instead, when she thought no one was looking, she slipped into the fire escape stairwell and quietly headed downstairs.

Once they confirmed all three were long gone, Melody Summers and Ian Summers finally opened the door.

Winnie Summers and the others were huddled together in the living room, waiting for them with anxious expressions.

Seeing the two of them enter, Grace Sutton rushed over. "How did it go? Are those three gone?"

When Melody and Ian nodded, Grace Sutton finally breathed a sigh of relief. "What a mess! We just moved in, and they’re already here causing trouble. Such bad luck! I wanted to just open the door and drive them away, but our living room is full of styrofoam planters, and with all these snacks lying around, I was afraid opening the door would expose everything!"

Melody Summers nodded in agreement. ’Besides the Lancaster siblings, that nosy neighbor, Mrs. Vance, was also out there. If a neighbor saw the supplies in our living room... I’m afraid things would get very difficult for our family.’

Grandma clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Alright, alright. It’s a happy day, so let’s not let those people ruin our mood. Let’s go cook the dumplings!"

While Melody Summers and Ian Summers were at the villa finishing things up, Grandma and the others had been busy kneading dough, washing vegetables, mincing meat, and wrapping dumplings. They were just waiting for the siblings to return to boil them!

The family quickly gathered in the kitchen, dropping the plump, thin-skinned dumplings one by one into the pot.

The family hadn’t eaten lunch, so faced with delicious handmade dumplings, everyone had a hearty appetite. Each of them polished off two large plates!

******

After dinner, Melody Summers curled up on the living room sofa, chatting idly with her family while she pulled out her phone to scroll through her group chat messages. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

’I hope the argument in the hallway didn’t attract the attention of other neighbors,’ she thought. ’The last thing I want is to draw attention to us on our very first day here.’

Fortunately, although the group chat was as lively as ever, the gossip wasn’t about them.

"12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business): Have you guys seen the latest official bulletin? The one about the Oceanus Hotel."

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: @12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business) What hotel? In this day and age, with no food or water and electricity so expensive, are there still hotels that can operate normally?"

"12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business): Small hotels and inns can’t, but a place like the Oceanus Hotel definitely can. It’s one of the biggest hotels in the city!"

"12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business): The Oceanus Hotel has partnerships with several desalination companies and indoor agriculture businesses. They have their own food and water supply chains, plus their own channels for buying energy, so they can operate completely normally. On top of that, their room rates skyrocketed after the disaster. They’re making a killing!"

"4-1209 JustSlacking: @12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business) I saw that bulletin too. I can’t believe the owner of the Oceanus Hotel is that kind of person! I’ve seen so many news stories about him donating to poor regions; I really thought he was a good guy who liked doing charity!"

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: @4-1209 JustSlacking @12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business) What’s going on? What’s the deal with the hotel owner?"

"4-1209 JustSlacking: @3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two The owner, Hector Hayes, and his family are suspected of human trafficking and kidnapping, organ trafficking, organizing forced prostitution, illegal detention, selling drugs and harboring drug users, illegally manufacturing and selling firearms and ammunition, colluding with foreign powers... It’s a massive list of charges! The rap sheet is longer than a lifetime!"

"2-1908 Coco: I saw that news too. This has to be the biggest criminal case in Anworth since the founding of the nation, right? Their crimes are too numerous to even count!"

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: Oh my god, that’s a surefire death sentence, isn’t it? How many times over do they deserve to be executed?"

"2-1908 Coco: It’s definitely the death penalty, and immediate execution, too. They weren’t even allowed to appeal! The masterminds of the Hayes Family and—"

"4-1209 JustSlacking: The wildest part is that they even had protectors high up in the city government, and they were all taken down in one fell swoop!"

"12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business): Death is too good for those people! That Hayes Family crime ring started robbing people traveling alone back during the heatwave last year. They’ve been at it for a long time!"

"12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business): Remember that group that broke into our residential complex with guns around the New Year last year, trying to rob our holiday supplies? That was the Hayes Family’s crew!"

"2-1408 Bella Grant: @12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business) Now that you mention it, I remember! Those disgusting bastards! They almost made off with our pork!"

"12-1803 AAA Lawson’s Supplies (Out of Business): That’s not even the half of it! The cultists who launched that terrorist attack on our complex? The word is that the Hayes Family supplied their guns and ammunition."

"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: Holy shit! So it was them! Dying once isn’t enough for those bastards! Even if they died ten thousand times, it wouldn’t bring back the neighbors we lost in that attack!"

"6-702 The Lover: Those people are disgusting. I’m so angry my hands are shaking! I really don’t get what goes through their minds. Weren’t they making enough money running such a huge hotel? They must have earned more than they could spend in a lifetime! Why would they still do such things to hurt innocent people?!"

"4-1209 JustSlacking: They’re just twisted. They probably get a sick thrill from the power to abuse and ruin other people’s lives whenever they want."

"3-805 HardCandy: Just executing them is letting them off easy. They should be forced to go through everything their victims suffered!"

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: I’m more curious about what happens now. Is the hotel just going to shut down? With its own supply chains and everything, it sounds like a perfect safe haven. It would be such a waste for it to just close!"