Melody Summers instinctively shook her head and said, "Don’t say that. It’s not your fault."

Everything today had been too chaotic. It started with Ivan Warren getting lecherous with Lucy White, and then a whole mess of other things got dragged into it.

Even though that Leopold Lowell guy was a hotel security guard, judging by his expression, he clearly knew Supervisor Walsh. You couldn’t blame the owner, Carter Jennings, for that.

Hearing this, Carter Jennings chuckled. He looked at Melody Summers with his charming, almond-shaped eyes and asked softly, "Don’t you remember me, Miss Summers? We’ve met before."

Melody Summers froze for a moment. She really didn’t remember.

’Why does everyone recognize me? It makes me seem like I’m face-blind.’

Seeing Melody Summers’s blank expression, Carter Jennings smiled faintly and reminded her, "My name is Carter Jennings. We met at Zane Simmons’s party last summer during that heatwave. You got into an argument with the youngest son of the Lancaster family. He was about to get physical, and I stepped in to stop him."

Melody Summers frowned, trying to recall, but found that she still had no memory of it.

So much had happened in the past two years. Forget Carter Jennings, she could barely even remember Silas Lancaster anymore.

Seeing this, Carter Jennings put on a hurt expression. He sighed and said forlornly, "I can’t believe Miss Summers has no impression of me at all. I, on the other hand, have remembered you all this time."

Hearing him say that made Melody Summers feel a little embarrassed.

After all, Carter Jennings had been kind enough to help her back then, so when he suggested they sit down for a drink, Melody Summers didn’t have the heart to refuse.

Melody Summers turned to Lucy White, who had been standing silently to the side, and asked, "What about you? Do you want to join me?"

When Lucy White saw Melody Summers looking at her, she was a bit overwhelmed by the attention.

For some reason, she felt her cheeks starting to burn again.

Meeting Melody Summers’s questioning gaze, Lucy White quickly stammered, "O-Okay."

Ronan Rhodes’s gaze flickered between Carter Jennings and Melody Summers. Carter’s interest was all too obvious, and alarm bells immediately went off in Ronan’s mind.

He then ignored Carter Jennings’s objections and tagged along anyway.

...

The four of them had just sat down by a window when Zane Simmons walked over.

Seeing the four of them sitting together, Zane Simmons said in surprise, "Well now, how did the four of you end up together?"

When Lucy White saw Zane Simmons arrive, she instinctively remembered the "plan" that Joanne White and the others were going to carry out tonight.

Her mind was suddenly in turmoil, her feelings a tangled mess. She could only lower her head, not daring to meet Zane Simmons’s gaze.

Carter Jennings handed Zane Simmons a glass of wine and asked, "Is your mother feeling better?"

Zane Simmons nodded. "Much better. She just needs some bed rest. I saw she’d fallen asleep, so I came out to get some air."

A little while ago, Paige Walsh had accidentally eaten something that triggered an allergic reaction. She broke out in a rash, swelled up, and had difficulty breathing, so she was rushed to The Nimbus Hotel’s medical room for treatment.

Fortunately, she hadn’t consumed a large amount, and after treatment, she was out of danger.

Hearing this, Carter Jennings said with a guilty expression, "I’m truly sorry. Our guests’ meals are all prepared to avoid items on their allergy lists. I don’t know why this happened, but I’ve already arranged for an investigation. I’ll visit your mother tomorrow to apologize to her in person."

Zane Simmons waved his hand dismissively. "No need. Don’t worry about it. My mom just got back from the research institute; she doesn’t even remember what she might have touched outside earlier. It might not be the hotel’s fault."

Every word of Zane Simmons and Carter Jennings’s conversation reached Lucy White’s ears. Her fingers twisted the hem of her dress, her feelings growing more and more complicated.

Her intuition told her that Paige Walsh’s allergic reaction was inextricably linked to her sister Joanne White’s "plan"!

Lucy White pondered inwardly, ’Joanne is supposed to help Bernard Simmons and his old flame "rekindle their past love" tonight. Could they have used this method to get his wife, Paige Walsh, out of the way?’

The more Lucy White thought about it, the more desperate she felt. ’If this gets exposed,’ she thought, ’the two of us sisters are going to meet a grisly end!’

Melody Summers noticed Lucy White fidgeting beside her and turned to ask with concern, "What’s wrong?"

Melody Summers’s sudden question made Lucy White jump.

She looked up at Melody Summers in a fluster, her eyes meeting Melody’s worried gaze.

For some reason, as Lucy White looked into Melody Summers’s caring eyes, her chaotic thoughts began to settle.

Under Melody’s gaze, she slowly shook her head and said, "I-I’m fine..."

Lucy White paused, then suddenly leaned close to Melody Summers and whispered in her ear, "Miss Summers, can I ask you a question?"

Melody Summers smiled, nodded, and replied, "Of course. Go ahead."

Lucy White hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "...If... if you found out that a loved one you depend on was about to do something wrong—something with terrible consequences, a dead end if it gets exposed—and it would drag you down with them."

"But for various reasons, you have no way to stop it from happening... what would you do?"

Melody Summers: "..."

Melody Summers almost blurted out, ’What the hell is Joanne White planning? Just spit it out!’

She felt like Lucy White’s little hypothetical was just short of giving her Joanne White’s social security number!

But looking at Lucy White’s anxious, tear-filled eyes, Melody Summers swallowed her words.

She thought for a moment, then asked tentatively, "If it’s wrong and the consequences are so severe, why would she do it? Is it because she stands to gain a lot if she succeeds?"

Melody Summers thought, ’Joanne White isn’t involved in smuggling, is she? Did she tamper with state supplies like Zara Walsh did?’

Lucy White bit her lower lip and answered softly, "No, there’s nothing to gain... It’s because she’s being forced... The person coercing her has something on her. If she doesn’t do it, it’s a dead end for her either way, so she has no choice."

Hearing this, Melody Summers frowned. ’Something on Joanne White?’

’Zane Simmons has been keeping her ever since she graduated from college. What kind of dirt could anyone have on her?’

’Could it be...’

’Could it be Austin Hale?!’

Austin Hale had been on the run this whole time. Melody Summers had even assumed he was dead. ’Could he still be alive?’

Melody Summers’s mind raced. All she could say to Lucy White was, "In that case, it’s a dead end no matter what. I can’t solve it. But since I’ve been an outsider from the beginning, I won’t necessarily get dragged into it. So there’s no point in borrowing trouble before anything has even happened."

After saying this, Melody Summers patted Lucy White’s shoulder reassuringly. ’I’ll have Albus go check things out later,’ she thought. ’See what kind of trouble Joanne White is stirring up...’

Meanwhile, Zane Simmons plopped down next to Ronan Rhodes, greeted him, and asked, "I hear your grandfather is here today too? That’s not something you see every day. The old man hasn’t been out in ages. As his grandson, why aren’t you with him instead of sitting here?"

Ronan Rhodes froze. He instinctively glanced at Melody Summers and saw she was engrossed in her phone, not paying attention to them. Only then did he relax.

Mr. Rhodes was here today to size up a potential "daughter-in-law."