Yesterday, after Melody Summers sent Ivan Warren and Maisie Lynch packing, she came home to find a seafood feast already prepared.

Plump and succulent crabs, tender and juicy lobster, delicate abalone, silky smooth steamed eggs with sea urchin...

So Melody Summers cast all her worries aside and enjoyed a magnificent seafood feast with her family.

After the feast, she clutched her round, full stomach and entered her space. Cradling Albus, she strolled along the beach to help with digestion, all the while considering taking the yacht out for some sea fishing next time to catch some live seafood.

Thus, the whole affair with Ivan Warren and Maisie Lynch was completely and utterly forgotten...

Melody Summers looked at Officer Tate and thought, ’Ivan Warren, that animal. He actually dared to call the police and turn the tables on me? Later, I’ll take the recording and report him on the Rhodes official website!’

To her surprise, however, Officer Tate’s visit today had nothing to do with Ivan Warren.

Officer Tate looked at Melody Summers, his expression complicated. "We received a report today," he said. "The people in 1506 downstairs filed a police report saying you broke in and stole their property... I’m here to investigate and get a handle on the situation."

Melody Summers: "..."

Melody Summers was suddenly wide awake.

She and Officer Tate stared blankly at each other. Pointing to herself in disbelief, she asked, "Me? Burglary? ...Do I even have a reason to?!"

Melody thought, ’Even if you combined all the supplies of everyone in this entire complex, it probably wouldn’t equal what I have. And I’m supposed to be stealing from others? Am I insane?’

Officer Tate looked conflicted as well. When he received the report, his first reaction had been to find it absurd.

Ever since the cataclysm, the Summers family had quietly donated a great deal of supplies to the emergency management office. In his and Officer Sean Pierce’s own dorm room, there was still half a box of compressed biscuits and beef jerky Melody had brought over, along with two extra-thick down comforters.

Since they’d been stationed here, the Summers Family had taken great care of them, and he knew they were people of impeccable character.

Officer Tate refused to believe that Melody Summers would break into someone’s home to steal supplies.

But he was a police officer, and he had to treat every case with fairness and impartiality.

Before Officer Tate could speak, a voice cried out from behind him: "That’s her! Officer, she’s the one who broke into my home yesterday and stole from us!"

Melody Summers frowned. Gently pushing past Officer Tate, she looked behind him and saw that the speaker was Ethan Sutton’s mother.

Standing beside Mrs. Sutton was Ethan Sutton’s father, currently glaring at her with a sinister expression.

Melody Summers: ...

Melody Summers: Got it.

’How could I forget?’ Melody thought. ’1506... isn’t that where Ethan Sutton’s family lives!’

It was just that so many new neighbors had moved in lately that Melody hadn’t kept track.

Now Melody Summers understood everything.

The Sutton family had called the police on purpose, just to make trouble for her.

As for the reason... perhaps it was because their own son had been castrated, and now they were lashing out, taking their bitterness out on everyone as a way of getting back at the world.

Or perhaps they considered her one of the Lancasters, and because their son’s castration was connected to Sylvia Lancaster, they were practicing guilt by association.

In any case, now that she knew who her opponents were, Melody Summers was no longer afraid.

She first pulled the door shut behind her, not wanting these two pests to disturb her family.

Then she turned to Officer Tate and said, "I didn’t steal anything, Officer. This couple and I have had run-ins before. They’re definitely filing a false report to slander me."

Hearing this, Mrs. Sutton frowned in displeasure. "Slandering you? I saw you sneak into our house and steal our things with my own two eyes! Don’t even think about denying it!"

Melody scoffed at that. She crossed her arms, calmly observing Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, and spoke in a taunting voice, "Oh? Then why don’t you swear on it? If you’re slandering me, then may you—be left with no descendants to carry on your name!"

Melody deliberately drew out the final phrase, adding extra emphasis to her tone.

Mrs. Sutton, who had opened her mouth to argue, fell instantly silent. Stunned by Melody’s words, she resembled a chicken with its neck seized; her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

The moment Mr. Sutton heard her words, his face went deathly pale. He stared wide-eyed at Melody, unable to comprehend why she would suddenly say something like that.

’Could she possibly know something?!’

Seeing this, Melody sneered. A mocking smile hung on her lips as she continued to provoke the pair, "What? You don’t dare? Feeling guilty? Or is it that... you have some particular hang-ups about being left with no descendants?"

Hearing Melody’s words, Mr. Sutton choked, unable to catch his breath, and began coughing violently. "COUGH, COUGH COUGH..."

While coughing, Mr. Sutton pointed a trembling finger at Melody, his eyes filled with a look that suggested he wanted to lunge forward and tear her to shreds.

Ever since what happened to Ethan Sutton, the very word "descendants" had become Mr. Sutton’s sorest spot.

Now, with Melody directly saying he’d be "left with no descendants," Mr. Sutton felt as if a steel knife had been stabbed straight into his heart. A massive wave of resentment and humiliation crashed over him, threatening to swallow him whole.

For a moment, the entire hallway filled with Mr. Sutton’s ragged gasps and violent coughing.

Seeing this, Mrs. Sutton quickly began patting Mr. Sutton on the back with a worried look, trying to help him catch his breath.

She then shot a venomous glare at Melody before turning to Officer Tate with a grief-stricken expression. "Officer, you see? You see how vicious this woman is? Not only does she sneak into our home to steal, but she also curses our family to be left without descendants! How can a person like this be allowed to remain in our residential complex? You need to evict her and her entire family!"

Mr. Sutton also quickly lifted his head and said, his words muffled, "COUGH COUGH... That’s right, evict... COUGH COUGH... Evict them! Evict their whole family from the complex!"

Hearing this, Melody understood. ’So this was their plan all along.’

She couldn’t help but find it almost laughable.

She hadn’t expected this. In this life, she had barely gotten involved in the messy business between the Suttons and the Lancasters, yet the Sutton family was still blaming her for what happened to Ethan Sutton...

Officer Tate addressed Mrs. Sutton with a stern expression. "Alright, that’s enough fighting. If you’re accusing the resident of 1606 of theft, you need to provide evidence."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Sutton immediately piped up, "We have evidence! Officer, we have evidence! You can look at our security footage!"

Mrs. Sutton then took out her phone and played the security footage from her home.

The first clip was from the camera outside the Suttons’ front door.

On the screen, a person in a long, white down jacket was holding a piece of wire, attempting to pick the lock on the Suttons’ door.

The person wore a hat and a mask, obscuring their face. Only their long hair, spilling over their chest, was visible, suggesting it might be a woman.

She fumbled at the door for a while, and after about five minutes, she gently pushed it open.

Then, she put on shoe covers and gloves and tiptoed inside.

...

Melody frowned slightly as she watched the footage—the build of the person in the video did look a bit like hers.

The crucial part was...

Melody silently glanced down at the white down jacket she had casually thrown on before leaving her apartment...

The jacket she was wearing right now was identical to the one worn by the person in the video!