Seeing she couldn’t avoid them, Melody Summers had no choice but to turn and shoot a cold glance at Sylvia Lancaster and Elaine Hughes.

Elaine Hughes was surprised to see it was Melody Summers.

Melody Summers’s clothes were clean, her face fair, and her hair neat. It was clear she had been doing well lately and hadn’t been affected by the natural disaster.

This filled Elaine Hughes with a tinge of regret. She had hoped Melody Summers wouldn’t be doing so well, thinking it would make her more willing to return to the Lancaster family.

"Melody, I’ve been calling you for the past few days. Why haven’t you been picking up? When are you planning to come home? And where are you living now?" Elaine Hughes asked, her voice laced with urgency.

The Lancaster family had sent people to find Melody Summers’s address. Through her school, they only managed to get the address of her old apartment in the school district, but when they rushed over, they discovered she had already sold it.

"What nonsense are you spouting in broad daylight? Of course I’m living in my own home," Melody Summers replied with a frown.

Elaine Hughes froze, then said with displeasure, "Melody, stop throwing a tantrum. You’re refusing to come home just because Sylvia is there, aren’t you? I already told you, Sylvia will move out after she gets engaged. What more could you possibly be unsatisfied with?"

Elaine Hughes tried to grab Melody Summers again, but Melody dodged her, frowning in disgust. "Are you insane? Getting physical in a mall in broad daylight. Are you trying to kidnap someone?"

Elaine Hughes stood frozen, staring at her in disbelief with a wounded expression. "How can you say that to me? I’m your biological mother..."

Melody Summers scoffed. "Biological mother? Besides your daughter, Sylvia Lancaster, doesn’t the Lancaster family only have an illegitimate daughter? Whose mother could you possibly be?"

Seeing her chance, Sylvia Lancaster, who was standing to the side, quickly tried to change the subject. "Sister, how can you talk like that? Besides, are you refusing to come to my wedding because you have feelings for Ethan, too?"

Melody Summers completely ignored Sylvia Lancaster. She’d become immune to Sylvia’s topic-changing tactics in her last life. She stared right at Elaine Hughes. "Go on, tell me. Your family publicly claims to have one legitimate daughter and one illegitimate one. So, whose mother could you possibly be?"

Elaine Hughes’s face was so red it looked like it could bleed. She didn’t know how to answer Melody’s question and could only say in a low voice, "Melody, I’ve already spoken with your father. After Sylvia’s engagement is settled, we’ll arrange a good match for you, too, so you’ll have a good family to marry into and rely on. Your adoptive mother can’t arrange a good marriage for you. Just come home. Stop being difficult." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Melody Summers was left speechless. She looked at Elaine Hughes with a hint of pity. "I don’t know what kind of values you instilled in Sylvia Lancaster, but my mother taught me from a young age that the only person you can ever truly rely on is yourself. A husband’s family is not a safety net. Ms. Hughes, forgive me for being blunt, but you’re not fit to hold a candle to my mother."

Just then, the sales associate finished packing the jewelry Sophie Thorne had paid for. Not wanting to stick around and be the subject of gossip for the store staff, Melody Summers grabbed Sophie and walked right out of the store, leaving Elaine Hughes and Sylvia Lancaster behind.

Sophie Thorne had been standing there in stunned silence, trying to process the massive amount of information from the conversation between Melody and Elaine Hughes. Then, it suddenly clicked. "So you’re the Lancaster family’s rumored..."

’The illegitimate daughter?’

But Sophie felt that wasn’t quite right. Melody Summers and Elaine Hughes looked somewhat alike—at least, they looked more like a biological mother and daughter than Sylvia Lancaster and Elaine Hughes did.

No wonder she’d always thought Melody Summers looked familiar but couldn’t place who she resembled. Seeing Elaine Hughes today, it all made sense.

Seeing Sophie Thorne’s shocked, conflicted, and confused expression, Melody Summers had no choice but to briefly explain her history with the Lancaster family. Then she reiterated, "I want absolutely nothing to do with them. They’re all like psychos. Whatever you do, don’t you dare lump me in with them!"

Sophie Thorne was completely stunned after hearing the story. She couldn’t imagine a situation where someone would pass off their own biological daughter as an illegitimate one. It was tragic enough that their real daughter had been estranged, but how could her biological parents be so biased?

After a long moment, Sophie Thorne sighed and said with a frown, "Mrs. Lancaster is just too greedy."

Melody Summers was taken aback, but Sophie continued, "She wants her adopted daughter, but she also wants her biological daughter. She wants them both. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too."

Melody Summers smiled contemptuously. "From what I can see, the only one she wants is Sylvia Lancaster."

But Sophie shook her head. "If that were the case, she wouldn’t keep trying to contact you. She wants you both."

"She treats Sylvia Lancaster better because she thinks ’blood is thicker than water’—that you can’t run away from family. But an adopted daughter is different. With no blood ties, she could leave. Since she wants both of you, she has to shower the adopted one with money to maintain the relationship while constantly playing the victim to win you back."

Suddenly, everything became clear to Melody Summers. It was true what they say: ’you can’t see the forest for the trees.’ After hearing Sophie’s analysis, things that had puzzled her across two lifetimes suddenly made perfect sense.

No wonder in her past life, after she returned home, Elaine Hughes had been lukewarm toward her while doting on Sylvia more and more. But in this life, now that she refused to go home, Elaine Hughes was suddenly so much more enthusiastic.

Melody Summers now felt an equal measure of disgust for all the Lancasters. She shook her head, pushing the thoughts aside. She had her own family and didn’t want to waste any more time dealing with these people.

As they walked out of the mall, Melody Summers noticed that the prices of many daily necessities had gone up significantly.

The fans in the electronics section were completely sold out. The entire aisle was empty, and many customers who had come to buy one could only turn away in disappointment.

The mall was as stuffy as a steam room, so neither of them was in the mood to shop anymore. They drove back to The Metropolis Residences.

On the way back, Sophie Thorne kept saying how unfair it all was and tried to console Melody.

"Melody, don’t let relatives like that get to you. I heard from my father that the Lancaster family is barely holding on. If this heat wave doesn’t break, they won’t be far from bankruptcy. When that happens, who’s going to care about their ’real heiress’ versus ’fake heiress’ drama?"

Sophie Thorne didn’t have high expectations for family. Her parents had divorced when she was a child. Her mother moved abroad alone after the divorce and hadn’t contacted her in years. Her father never remarried but had six or seven illegitimate children with other women.

Both of her parents had their own lives. Aside from regularly sending her money, they didn’t seem to care whether she lived or died.

Melody Summers, however, looked unconcerned. She smiled and said, "Don’t worry, I’m fine. I never considered them family in the first place."

In this life, Melody Summers only wanted to live a good life with her real family through the apocalypse. She couldn’t care less if the Lancasters lived or died.

She had already repaid the debt of her birth in her last life. If anything, the Lancaster family still owed her a life. This time around, she was just waiting for their downfall so she could enjoy the show—and maybe twist the knife a few times.

Seeing that she was taking it well, Sophie Thorne felt relieved.

*

After getting home, Melody Summers took a shower. She was about to head out to Crystal Mart to check on things. There had been arguments in the group chat about the massive price hikes, and she was worried someone might cause a scene at the store.

As she was passing through the residential area, she unexpectedly saw a group of people from property management gathered outside Building 4, discussing something.

"What’s going on? Why is everyone standing out here in this heat?" Melody Summers asked as she walked over.

A property management employee answered her with a troubled look. "It’s the owner of unit 1009 in Building 4. He hoarded a lot of food and water on his balcony, but it couldn’t handle the weight and collapsed. The entire floor gave way and fell, smashing all the way down from the 10th floor to the 1st. All the floors in between are a disaster."