Chapter 277: Chapter 277: Great Benefactor

In the living room, Officer Tristan Tanner and Melody Summers looked at each other, speechless.

Melody Summers pinched the bridge of her nose in resignation. She leaned close and whispered in Officer Tanner’s ear, "Maybe we should just let it go..."

Melody Summers had originally thought Mrs. Vance and her family were hardened criminals, repeat offenders who would stop at nothing. She had been prepared to teach them a harsh lesson.

But she never expected this.

Their family was genuinely struggling.

Melody knew that in this post-apocalyptic world, you couldn’t be a bleeding-heart saint. You couldn’t afford unnecessary sympathy. But...

Looking at the child, who was as thin as a stick, and the pregnant woman with her sunken cheeks—still unnaturally gaunt despite her belly...

Faced with this family of the old, the weak, a woman, and a child, Melody just couldn’t bring herself to be harsh with them.

Just then, Mrs. Vance returned.

She held the piece of pork in her hands, awkwardly offering it to Melody Summers. "Young lady," she said sheepishly, "I’m so terribly sorry. We’ve already eaten a third of it. This is all that’s left..."

The day before, after Mrs. Vance had brought the stolen meat home, she had immediately cut off a portion, cooked it for her daughter-in-law, and given the broth to her grandson.

Even though the piece of meat was only palm-sized, they couldn’t bring themselves to finish it all at once, eating only a third.

Melody Summers glanced at the pork but didn’t take it. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

’I might as well just let Mrs. Vance’s family keep the pork,’ she thought. ’I wouldn’t eat it now anyway.’

Seeing Melody refuse the pork, Mrs. Vance thought she was displeased and quickly said, "Young lady, please, don’t worry! We don’t want you to be at a loss. We’ll compensate you!"

Mrs. Vance then turned, opened the doors to the bedrooms, and said to Melody in a fawning tone, "Young lady, please, look around our home. See what you need and just take it! As long as you leave us two winter coats and a quilt, you can take anything else!"

Susan Warren nodded hurriedly as well. She looked at Melody with guilt in her eyes and said, "Miss, we’ve wronged you. It’s all my fault, I was just so greedy. Here, take my snow boots and winter jacket. I haven’t worn them once since I got them. They’re still new. You could trade them for some rice on the black market!"

"Oh, right, we also have two coal stoves in the bedroom. If you need one, you can take one. Just leave one for us."

With that, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law stared at Melody, their eyes wide with pleading.

Under their intense gaze, Melody let out a quiet sigh.

She was silent for a moment before speaking. "Let’s just forget about it this time. I don’t need any compensation. But I hope this won’t happen again."

On humanitarian grounds, Melody could give Mrs. Vance and her family one chance.

But if it happened again, or if Mrs. Vance’s family did anything to harm the Summers family, Melody would not be so tolerant.

She had plenty of ways to make this family disappear without a trace.

Seeing that Melody had spoken, Officer Tanner added, "Since the victim has forgiven you, we’ll let it slide this time. But I’m giving you a formal warning. If this happens again, the punishment for both incidents will be severe!"

Hearing this, both Mrs. Vance and Susan Warren’s faces lit up with a mixture of shock and joy. ’Melody Summers forgave them just like that?’

These days, supplies were precious, and pork was even rarer. They never thought Melody would be so magnanimous.

They excitedly grabbed Melody’s hands and thanked her profusely.

"Thank you, miss, thank you so much!"

"We promise it will never happen again! Thank you for giving us this chance!"

Melody was a little overwhelmed by the situation. She waved her hands and said awkwardly to the pair, "Just keep the pork. You need it to get your strength back... But please, don’t tell anyone about this..."

Melody didn’t want Mrs. Vance to spread the word. She didn’t want anyone else to know that apartment 1606 had supplies.

Melody wasn’t afraid of bad people, but she didn’t want to invite trouble either.

Mrs. Vance and Susan Warren nodded repeatedly, practically swearing an oath to the heavens. "Don’t worry, we won’t say a word!" Mrs. Vance promised Melody. "If I tell anyone, may I drop dead on the spot!"

Neither Mrs. Vance nor Susan Warren was the ungrateful type. Melody was willing to let them off the hook and even gave them the pork. They were beyond grateful and would never do anything to harm her.

Although Mrs. Vance and Susan Warren made repeated, sincere assurances, Officer Tanner was still a little worried.

After all, you could never know what was truly in a person’s heart. In a world like this, you couldn’t be too trusting.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, Officer Tanner decided to bring something else up. "Mrs. Vance, you really, really shouldn’t have tried to steal from apartment 1606."

"I don’t know if you remember, but late last year, the government was distributing a batch of New Year’s supplies. A group of thugs got wind of it, drove a truck into The Metropolis Residences, and tried to rob the shipment. They also kidnapped two hostages and locked them in the warehouse behind Crystal Mart..."

Mrs. Vance nodded vigorously. "I remember, I remember, of course I do! Those damn robbers... the hostages they took were my daughter-in-law and my grandson! I’ll never forget that as long as I live!"

Mrs. Vance had been scared to death that day. She didn’t dare imagine the worst-case scenario. If something had really happened to her daughter-in-law and grandson, how could she have gone on?

Mrs. Vance looked at Officer Tanner gratefully. "Officer, it’s all thanks to you and the police that my daughter-in-law and grandson were rescued! Otherwise, my family would have been destroyed..."

But to her surprise, Officer Tanner shook his head, interrupting her. "We weren’t the ones who rescued your daughter-in-law and grandson."

Mrs. Vance froze. "What...?"

She couldn’t understand what Officer Tanner meant. If the police hadn’t rescued them, then who did?

As Mrs. Vance stared in confusion, Officer Tanner turned and pointed to Melody. "The robbers had taken hostages, and the police didn’t dare rush in, for fear they would be killed. It was all thanks to Comrade Summers here. She was the one who climbed in through a window, took down the robbers, and saved your daughter-in-law and grandson!"

"The situation was critical. If it weren’t for Comrade Summers, we couldn’t have guaranteed a successful rescue."

"Afterward, to protect her and prevent retaliation from the rest of the gang, we kept her involvement a secret."

"Mrs. Vance, Comrade Summers went into that dangerous situation all by herself to save your daughter-in-law and grandson. If you feel any gratitude for what she did, then I hope you’ll keep your mouth shut. Don’t tell anyone you found pork in her apartment, or you’ll bring unnecessary trouble to the Summers family!"

At this, it wasn’t just Mrs. Vance’s family who was stunned—Melody was, too!

Melody racked her brain and finally recalled it. Before the New Year last year, a group of robbers had indeed broken into The Metropolis Residences and taken two hostages...

When she heard the news, she had used her spatial ability to remove the window of the supermarket warehouse.

Then she’d climbed inside, dealt with the two robbers, and saved two unconscious hostages.

Melody had almost completely forgotten about it. She never imagined such a coincidence. The two unconscious hostages had been Susan Warren and her son...

Meanwhile, Mrs. Vance and her family were so shocked they couldn’t speak.

Once the shock wore off, Mrs. Vance suddenly realized something—she had gone to steal from her family’s savior!

She felt her vision go black and nearly fainted from shame.

Her very soul was screaming. ’Heavens above, isn’t this repaying kindness with evil!’

’I’m the snake in the fable of the farmer and the snake! I’m no better than a dog biting the hand that feeds it!’

’I’m a horrible person!!’

When Mrs. Vance came to her senses, she said nothing, simply pulling her grandson to his feet. Then, with a THUD, she fell to her knees before Melody.

She hugged Melody’s legs and cried, "Miss Summers, you’re our family’s great benefactor! I’m the one who wronged you!"