Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Picking Up the Cars

The next morning, Melody Summers called the renovation team that had worked on her villa.

The team manager still remembered Melody Summers; after all, clients who wanted their villas modified in such a way were few and far between.

The manager greeted Melody warmly. "Miss Summers, acquired another property? What kind of modifications are you looking for this time?"

Melody led the team to Crystal Mart and said, "I want to reinforce this supermarket. The doors and windows need to be fortified, fitted with blast-proof glass, and the walls need to be reinforced as well. I also want security cameras installed all around the building."

Melody gave a few more instructions, and the manager chuckled. "With all these upgrades, you’re treating these instant noodles like they’re gold bars in a bank vault."

Melody laughed at his comment. He wasn’t wrong. ’In the apocalypse, a bag of instant noodles would be worth about the same as a gram of gold.’

Crystal Lynch, who had been watching them discuss the plans, looked surprised. "Melody, is all this really necessary? The neighborhood is pretty safe; we’ve never had any break-ins or robberies. I often mind the store by myself at night and have never run into any trouble."

Melody didn’t answer her directly, saying only, "Crystal, there are supposed to be gale-force winds in a few days. You mentioned you live in a high-rise. Maybe you should have the crew reinforce the doors and windows at your place, too?"

"Oh, right. I think I saw in the group chat that some strong winds are coming, and my windows aren’t the sturdiest. So yeah, let’s get them reinforced too," Crystal Lynch mused.

"Excellent. We can schedule that for you at the same time and give you a 20% discount on both jobs," the renovation manager said with a wide grin. He hadn’t had many orders recently, and Melody Summers had just handed him two jobs at once. He was thrilled.

*

After finalizing the renovation plans, Melody left Crystal Lynch to supervise the crew and departed.

Today was the day she had arranged to pick up her cars, so she went to the dealership with her mother, Winnie Summers.

An SUV and an off-road vehicle, both brand new. Melody couldn’t be more satisfied, and Winnie was delighted as well.

"Melody, do you still have enough money?"

Melody had recently bought a villa and cars, not to mention stockpiling so many supplies. When the Summers Family saw the basement yesterday, filled to the brim with food and daily necessities, they were utterly shocked. It was as if Melody had moved an entire supermarket into their home. Winnie was worried she might be running out of money.

"I have enough." The money from selling the Arcadia land contract and the school district apartment was all in Melody’s hands. Winnie had never asked for it back. In Winnie’s eyes, she only had one daughter, Melody. Everything she owned belonged to Melody, and Melody was free to do with it as she pleased. The trust and unspoken understanding between mother and daughter went without saying.

Melody then told Winnie about the money Miss Lowell had given her. "So you can consider the cars a gift from Miss Lowell. She not only helped pay off the hundreds of thousands in renovation costs, but she also gave me all the money she had. I plan to take care of her for the rest of her life."

Winnie nodded. In her eyes, Miss Lowell was like her own mother.

Back then, all the other girls in the village had dropped out of school, but Miss Lowell insisted on funding Winnie’s education. Everyone else in the village told Winnie that the most important thing for a woman was to get married. Only Miss Lowell told Winnie that a woman needs her own career, that a career is the foundation of her independence.

When Winnie first started her business, Miss Lowell was a huge support, teaching her how to identify a customer base and set prices. After Winnie’s divorce, Miss Lowell also frequently helped look after little Melody.

Winnie had always considered Miss Lowell her greatest benefactor. Over the years, she had watched the other women her age from the village. While some had done well for themselves, many more had devoted themselves to pleasing their husbands and caring for their families, only to end up with lives full of petty frustrations. The thought was heartbreaking to Winnie. She knew that if she hadn’t had the ability to earn her own money, she never would have been able to get back on her feet so quickly after the divorce.

The mother-daughter pair were excitedly heading off to inspect their new cars and get the plates registered when they unexpectedly ran into Elaine Hughes, who was there to get her own car serviced.

Melody tried to pretend she hadn’t seen her and slip away, but Elaine spotted her first.

Elaine immediately walked over and grabbed Melody’s hand. "Melody, where on earth did you move? Can you give your mother an address? That way I can come visit when I miss you."

Elaine’s gaze then fell on Winnie, who was standing beside Melody, and she sized her up.

Although Winnie was tall and had delicate features, she couldn’t compare to a socialite like Elaine, who clearly maintained her appearance with regular cosmetic treatments.

Noticing Winnie’s inexpensive clothes and the slight pilling on her sweater, Elaine’s eyes flashed with disdain. She turned away from Winnie and back to Melody. "Are you here to buy a car? Which one do you like? Let your mother help you choose."

"That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Lancaster. I’ve already bought them," Melody replied calmly. She put an arm around Winnie. "This is my mother. Mrs. Lancaster, your daughter, Sylvia, is waiting for you at home," Melody added pointedly.

Elaine frowned slightly. A couple of days ago, Melody had run into Sylvia and her two friends at the supermarket. Perhaps Melody’s words had caused a misunderstanding with Clara Hayes and Wendy Sheffield, or perhaps Sylvia had said something to mislead them.

Whatever the case, Clara and Wendy had ended up interpreting the situation to mean that Melody was Elaine’s illegitimate daughter.

The two of them were so shocked by this that they had let it slip.

So, for the past two days, the high society rumor mill had been churning with gossip that Elaine Hughes had cheated on Robert Lancaster and had a daughter with another man.

Most people didn’t believe it. Elaine was a prominent socialite, skilled at networking. Ever since marrying Robert, she had been a constant presence at social events, attending several gatherings of all sizes each month. Everyone was well aware that she had only been pregnant three times and had only given birth to three children.

Besides, each of her pregnancies and births had been hot topics on the local news; it would have been impossible for her to hide a fourth child from everyone.

But some people just love drama and enjoy blowing things out of proportion. After all, cuckolding gossip is always more entertaining.

Robert Lancaster was furious when he heard the news.

In their wealthy circles, a man having an illegitimate child was a completely different matter from a woman having one. Robert could claim Melody was his own illegitimate daughter with another woman, but he could not tolerate the world thinking Elaine had secretly borne another man’s child.

Robert couldn’t bear the humiliation. In a rare outburst, he had lost his temper with both Elaine and Sylvia.

At this thought, Elaine looked at Melody with a hint of resentment. "Melody, about the other day at the mall... Even if you don’t like Sylvia, you shouldn’t have said those things in front of her friends."

Hearing the blame in her tone, Melody suddenly asked, "So, did you know they were telling people I was an illegitimate daughter?"

Seeing Elaine freeze and avert her eyes, Melody pressed on:

"Did the Lancaster Family spread this rumor? Did you know they were spreading it? And if you knew, did you just let them do it?"

Hearing Melody’s barrage of questions, Elaine instinctively lowered her head, unable to meet her gaze. She stammered a denial, "No, I didn’t know..."

By now, Winnie had pieced together what was happening. She said angrily, "Mrs. Lancaster, Melody is my daughter. She has nothing to do with your family anymore. I hope the Lancasters will stop slandering her."

Elaine looked up in disbelief. "I’m her biological mother! I gave birth to her! You’re just her adoptive mother!"

"Mrs. Lancaster, my mother and I are leaving. Please move."

Ignoring Elaine’s pale face, Melody led her mother out of the dealership.

*

The little incident didn’t dampen the mother and daughter’s mood. Thrilled to have acquired two new cars at once, Melody and Winnie followed a dealership employee to the vehicle registration office. They submitted their documents, paid the purchase tax, and then began the process of inspecting the vehicles and choosing their license plates.

By the time they’d chosen the plates, it was lunchtime. The two of them found a nearby place and enjoyed a hearty meal.

The registration office was remarkably efficient. When they returned, both sets of license plates were ready.

The mother and daughter were overjoyed. They each got into one of the new cars and drove home.