Upon hearing this, Zella Kane blurted out, "What?!"

The same owner is living in both 1605 and 1606?

That means Zoe Kane’s in-laws are enjoying two large apartments all to themselves?

Zella Kane’s expression instantly became very complicated.

Mrs. Kane didn’t notice her daughter’s strange reaction and continued to mutter, "And that’s not all. I heard that family also has a large villa in the complex. They only moved over from the villa because of the snow disaster. These two apartments are just their backup homes."

"There are five of us, all squeezed into one tiny apartment without even a proper bed. Meanwhile, their family gets to live in two large, fully-furnished apartments, and they’re just backups... Sigh. Comparing yourself to others will only make you miserable!"

As soon as Mrs. Kane finished speaking, Zella Kane grabbed her arm and asked urgently, "Mom, do you know who lives in 1606 and 1605?"

Mrs. Kane looked bewildered. She said blankly, "What a question. We just moved in. How would I know who lives over there..."

Before she could finish, Zella Kane cut her off. "It’s Zoe’s in-laws!"

Mrs. Kane froze, not quite processing it. "What? ...Zoe’s in-laws?" she asked instinctively.

Zella Kane nodded. "I just ran into Zoe’s sister-in-law’s daughter in the hallway. I saw her go into 1606 with my own eyes!"

After hearing Zella’s words, Mrs. Kane said in surprise, "Really? Good heavens, what a coincidence..."

Then, Mrs. Kane glanced discreetly at Forrest Archer before leaning in to whisper in Zella’s ear, "It seems Zoe’s in-laws are really rich, then. A villa and large apartments... buying two backup homes at once, and both of them large units..."

Now, Mrs. Kane was even more pleased with her son-in-law, Caleb Summers!

She had only known that Caleb Summers had a government job and was capable, having secured a position in a good department. She never expected his family to be so well-off!

Mrs. Kane couldn’t help but calculate in her head. ’A villa plus the large apartments, that’s at least three properties. When Zoe Kane’s mother-in-law dies, Caleb and his wife should be able to inherit at least one of them...’

Just then, Zella Kane whispered in her mother’s ear again, "Mom, Zoe told me before that even though her mother-in-law has five children, only the eldest son and eldest daughter live with her..."

Zella Kane had a rough idea of Caleb Summers’s family situation from what Zoe Kane had told her. She knew Caleb’s eldest brother and third brother each had a son. His older sister was divorced and childless, with only an adopted daughter. His younger sister had married far away and lost contact with the family after she left.

Thinking of this, Zella Kane said with a touch of jealousy, "Zoe said their eldest son’s son is away in the army. There are only five people in their family right now, so why would they need to live in two four-bedroom apartments!"

"If... if they could spare one for us to live in, we wouldn’t have to sleep in this tent!" As she said this, Zella Kane’s eyes glittered with excitement.

Hearing this, Mrs. Kane said hesitantly, "We’re family by marriage, but we’ve never really interacted before. I doubt they’d be willing..."

Zella Kane gave a slight smile and grasped her mother’s hand. "Mom, Zoe gave their family a son. Caleb Summers’s ex-wife only left him a daughter. If it weren’t for our Zoe, Caleb’s family line would have ended! Zoe is their family’s greatest benefactor!"

"And right now, our family is in trouble. If Zoe’s in-laws have any gratitude for what she’s done, they should take care of us—her maiden family—on Caleb’s behalf! We’re just asking to borrow an apartment. Are they really not willing to help with such a small thing?"

After hearing Zella’s argument, Mrs. Kane felt she had a point.

They would only be borrowing it for a few months. Considering that Zoe Kane had given them a son, the Summers family should have no reason to refuse.

Zella Kane continued, "Mom, I also got a good look at the daughter of Zoe’s sister-in-law just now. That little girl had a rosy complexion—you can tell she’s not worried about food or drink!"

"If we move in with them, we can eat and drink with them too and save a lot of our rations! Otherwise, the fifty jin of rice our brother-in-law gave us won’t last the five of us for three months!"

Hearing Zella Kane say this, Howard Fletcher and Gemma Fletcher, who had been unpacking their sleeping bags, ran over.

Howard Fletcher threw his arms around Zella Kane’s arm and cried, "Mommy, I want to eat good food too! I don’t want to drink plain porridge anymore!"

Zella Kane smiled, stroking her son’s head. "Okay, okay. From now on, Mommy will have them make you delicious food every day!"

...

******

Melody Summers was unaware of the Kane family’s plans. She was busy helping Winnie Summers pick out clothes for the banquet they were attending tonight.

Winnie Summers hadn’t been sleeping well the past couple of days. Whenever she closed her eyes, her mind would be filled with images of the roomful of people who had tragically died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

It was especially heart-wrenching because among the victims were four university students who were renting together. Those four were around Melody Summers’s age, and Winnie’s heart ached every time she thought of them.

This banquet was a good opportunity for her to get out, get some fresh air, and change her state of mind.

Melody Summers watched as Winnie Summers casually pinned a blue brooch to her collar, feeling a little surprised.

’Winnie rarely buys little accessories like this. Where did that brooch come from?’

And...

For some reason, as Melody looked at the brooch, she felt it was a little familiar.

The main stone of the brooch was large. It looked like blue synthetic crystal, but it had a high-quality finish, sparkling with a fire that made it look almost like a real diamond.

Looking at the brooch, Melody asked curiously, "Auntie... where did you buy this brooch?"

Winnie Summers glanced down at the brooch and replied, "I didn’t buy it. Officer Roman Rhodes gave it to me a few days ago."

Winnie normally didn’t like to wear jewelry. She found it uncomfortable on her skin and inconvenient for work. But since she was going to a banquet today, she figured she should dress up a little and casually put on the brooch.

Melody was even more curious now. She asked in surprise, "Officer Rhodes? Why would he suddenly give you this?"

Winnie Summers replied, "Because I gave him a scarf, he said this brooch was a return gift."

Winnie had originally intended to refuse, but Roman said the brooch wasn’t valuable and had been given to him by someone else. Since it was a women’s brooch, he wouldn’t know what to do with it if she didn’t accept it. Hearing this, Winnie accepted it.

Now Melody was even more confused. She asked, even more baffled, "...Then why did you give him a scarf?"

Winnie replied, "That’s because he lent me a pair of gloves last time, and I accidentally lost them... I was going to pay him back, but he said he didn’t need gloves, he needed a scarf. I saw we had a scarf at home with the tag still on, so I just gave it to him."

Melody Summers was speechless.

’Why are these two exchanging gifts back and forth?’

For some reason, Melody felt Officer Rhodes’s behavior was a bit strange.

But she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was strange about it, so she just murmured an "Oh." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Winnie Summers smiled and continued, "Actually, Officer Roman Rhodes is a pretty good person. He’s been coming to help out at the supply distribution point almost every day recently."

At first, Winnie always felt a bit reserved around Roman, but after spending some time with him, she realized his personality wasn’t as serious as it seemed on the surface. He was actually a very easygoing person, and they found they had a lot in common when they chatted.

After a while, Winnie was able to interact with Roman like a friend.

Melody Summers: "...Oh."

Melody found it even stranger now. Roman was a very busy man—he was even handling official business while hospitalized with an injury. How did he suddenly have so much free time?

’Could it be that now that Hector Hayes and his people are dead, Anworth is completely at peace?’

Melody couldn’t figure it out at all. She could only hope that nothing else messy would happen.