Gregory Lawson scoffed. He made a face at Joyce Lawson and taunted with a grin, "See, I told you! You’re a waste of money, a waste of money, a waste of money, a waste of money, a waste of money!"

Joyce Lawson’s fingertips trembled with rage. Suppressing her anger, she shot back at Gregory Lawson, "Gregory Lawson! I’m your own sister, you can’t talk to me like that!"

Seeing her reaction, Gregory Lawson just laughed. "HA HA HA, look at you getting all worked up! You’re triggered! The waste of money is losing her cool!"

Joyce Lawson couldn’t take it anymore and shouted at him, "Gregory Lawson! You live off my money, in a house I bought! What right do you have to say that to me?!"

Since the disaster, the entire family had been unemployed. Joyce Lawson had been supporting them all on her salary. For Gregory to say this to her now was something she simply couldn’t accept.

At that moment, Joyce’s father, Mason Lawson, had heard enough. He frowned and said to her, "Alright, Joyce, that’s enough from you."

Joyce almost laughed in disbelief. In an accusatory tone, she asked, "Why didn’t you tell him to shut up when he was cursing me just now? Am I not telling the truth? Why are you telling *me* to shut up?"

Hearing this, Mason Lawson turned to his wife, Yvonne York, and said, "Look at this daughter you raised! You just let her talk to her own father and brother like that? What kind of mother are you?!"

’In Mason Lawson’s eyes, if the children were disobedient, it was because their mother hadn’t disciplined them properly. As for him, the father, he of course had no obligation to discipline his children.’

Yvonne York let out a faint sigh. She looked up at Joyce Lawson with a disappointed expression and said softly, "Joyce, your brother was just joking with you. How can you take it so seriously? Can’t you be a little more sensible and not make your father and me worry?"

Seeing Yvonne’s disappointed expression, Joyce felt a pain in her heart as if she’d been stabbed.

’Yvonne was always like this. The look she gave her was always one of disappointment, as if Joyce were some kind of terrible, ungrateful person.’

Seeing Joyce’s eyes turning red, Gregory Lawson grinned triumphantly. He made another face at her and gave her the middle finger.

Joyce glared fiercely at Gregory with her reddened eyes and said, "Fine. Since you won’t respect me as your sister, don’t expect me to buy you any more food from now on!"

Before Gregory could say anything, Mason Lawson erupted.

Mason Lawson threw off his blanket, sat up straight, and yelled at Joyce, "How can you say that? Is that any way for a sister to act?! Other sisters know to support their younger brothers, so why are you so selfish? If you ask me, a daughter like you is rotten to the core!"

Yvonne also looked at Joyce with disappointment, shaking her head and sighing. "Joyce, how did you become like this... You’re breaking my heart..."

Hearing this, as if she couldn’t bear it another second, Joyce covered her face, pushed open the door, and ran out...

******

Meanwhile, after a morning of trouble, Melody Summers returned home to find that the bowl of seafood congee she hadn’t finished was gone.

Melody Summers looked at her grandma in confusion. "Grandma, where’s my congee?"

Her grandma gently poked Melody Summers’s forehead and said reproachfully, "You! You ran off halfway through your meal. The congee got cold long ago, so I threw it out!"

Melody Summers let out a regretful "Ahhh—" at the news.

’That congee had been delicious. The savory sweetness of the seafood and the fragrant aroma of the rice had blended perfectly. It was such a shame for it to be poured out; Melody truly regretted it.’

Melody thought angrily, ’It’s all the fault of that old Sutton couple and Ivan Warren and his wife!’

Grace Sutton chuckled nearby. "Don’t worry. We still have some seafood at home. If you like it, I’ll make more for you tonight!"

Miss Lowell also came over, stroking Melody Summers’s head. "Why did you run out so early in the morning? Did something happen?"

Melody Summers thought for a moment and briefly told the three of them what had just happened.

After hearing the story, Grace Sutton was so angry she slammed her hand on the table. "How can people like that exist! I say they shouldn’t be living in this community, they should be out on a stage somewhere! Why are they so dramatic all the time!"

Her grandma grew worried. "Those people are too much. To think they’d come up with such a malicious plan. Can the police have them evicted from the community?"

’Who could stand having neighbors like that living nearby?’

Melody Summers gave a helpless smile and replied, "Evicting them probably isn’t possible... After all, they just conspired to put on an act. There was no breaking and entering, and they didn’t do anything to threaten my physical safety."

Melody then warned her family, "Ivan Warren and Maisie Lynch live in 1601, and the Suttons are in 1506. We’ll have to be careful around both of those families from now on!"

After warning her family, Melody Summers quickly packed a few things, changed her clothes, and headed to the Emergency Response Office.

******

At the Emergency Response Office, the case was already mostly wrapped up.

All the lines of evidence were clearly connected. It was useless for Mr. and Mrs. Sutton to try and deny it any longer.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had apparently figured this out as well and decided to try for leniency by confessing. So, before the investigators even had to use the "Big Memory Recovery Technique" on them, they admitted to everything they had done.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton confessed that they had previously overheard the argument between Melody Summers, Ivan Warren, and Maisie Lynch in the stairwell. From this, they knew that Ivan and Maisie also held a grudge against Melody.

So, operating on the principle of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Mr. and Mrs. Sutton approached Ivan Warren and Maisie Lynch, planning to put on a show together and frame Melody Summers.

Everything that followed was just as Melody Summers had predicted. They followed a pre-rehearsed script and staged a farce.

To make their story more believable, Maisie Lynch even changed into a down jacket that was the same style as Melody Summers’s...

After reviewing the case file, Officer Sean Pierce slammed his hand on the desk and addressed the four people standing before him, "Are you kidding me?! You directed and staged this whole thing just to file a false police report!"

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton looked at the stern-faced officer, their previous arrogance and defiance completely gone.

They hurried forward and said to the officer repeatedly, "We’re so sorry, Officer. It was a moment of foolishness. We promise it will never happen again."

Officer Sean Pierce was not the least bit moved by their apology. He just pointed at Melody Summers and said, "You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. You should be apologizing to the person you framed!"

Hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton’s faces flushed then paled.

’Having to bow their heads and admit their wrongdoing to Melody Summers was worse than death for them!’

But things had come to this. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton could only grit their teeth and reluctantly say to Melody Summers, "We... we’ll never do this again. We hope you can forgive us..."

Melody Summers let out a cold snort and said nothing.

’Their apology was so forced. If she forgave Mr. and Mrs. Sutton just like that, it would be letting them off way too easily. Melody wasn’t that accommodating.’

Just then, Ivan Warren came over, dragging Maisie Lynch with him.

Ivan Warren had a fawning expression as he said to Melody Summers, "Student Summers, this was all my wife’s fault. I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize what she was doing and stop her in time! I’ll have her apologize to you right now!"

With that, Ivan Warren turned and glared at Maisie Lynch, hissing at her, "Look at the mess you’ve made! You’re a complete embarrassment! Hurry up and apologize to Miss Summers! If Miss Summers doesn’t forgive you, don’t even think about coming home!"

Of the four, Ivan Warren was the only one still trying to squirm his way out of it.

After all, he hadn’t appeared in any of the surveillance footage, nor had he shown his face during the incident. Thus, he insisted he had known nothing about it.

Maisie Lynch, for her part, had accepted her fate. She told the police that she had done everything herself and that it had nothing to do with Ivan Warren.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had no intention of offending Ivan Warren either. After all, they would still be living in the same apartment building for the foreseeable future. Seeing Maisie take the blame, they tacitly went along with her story.

For a moment, it actually looked like Ivan Warren was going to get away with it!

But just then, the unexpected happened.

Maisie Lynch, who had been hanging her head, suddenly looked up. She pointed at Melody Summers and declared loudly, "Officer, I want to atone for my crime by reporting another! I want to report this woman for illegal possession of a firearm!"