The two men blocking Silas Lancaster froze for a moment but remained protectively in front of Melody Summers, unmoving.

Melody Summers listened, then said with undisguised disgust, "What family matter? Who’s an illegitimate daughter of your family? Have all the Lancasters dropped dead, or are you just that desperate for relatives? If you’re so desperate for family, go to an orphanage. I have no intention of being one of yours."

Silas Lancaster’s face was a mask of disbelief. "You!" he said, aghast. "How can you curse your own mom and dad? They’re your biological parents!"

Melody Summers let out a scoff and shook her head. "Silas Lancaster, oh, Silas Lancaster, you really are a blockhead. Do you even hear the nonsense you’re spouting? A moment ago, you called me an illegitimate daughter. So how could your parents also be my biological parents?"

’Silas Lancaster was just too stupid.’ Melody didn’t even have the energy to argue with him. If the two men in front of her weren’t in the way, she would have given Silas an electrifying lesson. The taser she’d brought today was a cattle prod; its power was not to be underestimated.

The argument in the back garden attracted others from the banquet hall. A crowd soon gathered to watch the drama unfold.

Sophie Thorne, having been unable to find Melody Summers anywhere, also hurried over. The moment she saw the scene, she knew exactly what was happening.

Sophie was well aware of the feud between the Lancaster Family and Melody Summers and had no fondness for the Lancasters herself. She walked over to stand in front of Melody, frowning at Silas Lancaster.

"You Lancasters are really something else," she said. "Treating the fake daughter you mistakenly raised as your own flesh and blood, while your real daughter, who was lost for so many years, is finally found only to be called an illegitimate child by you."

Sophie Thorne’s words were packed with information. The wealthy heirs watching were all sharp, and connecting her statement to the recent rumors about the Lancaster Family’s true and false heiresses, they immediately put two and two together. A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"So, does this mean the rumors about the Lancaster Family having the wrong daughter were true?"

"I was wondering why this woman looked so familiar. Now that I’m getting a good look, she’s the spitting image of Mrs. Lancaster."

"So Sylvia Lancaster really was the one switched at birth. No wonder the elder Suttons looked so sour and reluctant during the engagement party. Tsk, tsk."

"I mean, let’s be real, calling your own biological daughter an illegitimate child is just plain vicious. Is that really something a parent is capable of? I guess it’s true what they say—if you didn’t raise them yourself, you don’t care."

"Are the Lancasters idiots? Choosing an adopted daughter over their own flesh and blood. No wonder their last few investments tanked. Brainless people like that can’t succeed in business, ha-ha."

"..."

Listening to the crowd’s chatter, Silas Lancaster’s face turned ashen. He glared fiercely at Melody Summers, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles cracked.

Just then, Zane Simmons walked over. Having heard a summary of the events from a friend, he had a rough idea of what had happened. He addressed Silas Lancaster with a smirk.

"Mr. Lancaster," he began, "you’re here today to have a good time. If you can’t handle that, then please leave. Miss Summers is my honored guest, so I’ll ask you to treat her with some respect."

The bodyguards behind Zane Simmons also stepped forward, silently surrounding Silas Lancaster.

Silas Lancaster looked at Melody Summers, now securely shielded by the others, then at the murmuring crowd. He was furious but helpless.

His face a grim mask, he snarled at Melody Summers, "You just wait!" before turning and storming away.

Zane Simmons smiled at the onlookers. "Just a small misunderstanding, everyone. No need to crowd around. The banquet is about to begin, so please, find your seats."

After the crowd dispersed, only Melody Summers, Zane Simmons, Sophie Thorne, and the two men who had shielded Melody from Silas Lancaster remained in the garden.

Zane took the initiative with introductions. "Let me introduce you. This is Melody Summers, my deskmate from high school. She graduated from a prestigious university and is a stand-up person."

Then, he introduced the two men to Melody. "This is Carter Jennings, the heir to the Jennings Group. The Nimbus Hotel downtown is his family’s. And this is Yuri Walsh, a chief surgeon. It’s nearly impossible to get an appointment at his private hospital."

Melody Summers nodded to them both in thanks.

Since it was Zane Simmons’s party, and she had caused a scene, Melody felt a little embarrassed. "I’m so sorry," she said to Zane. "I didn’t mean to cause you trouble."

"Don’t mention it. We’re old deskmates, aren’t we?" Zane said with a grin. "No wonder I always thought you looked like Mrs. Lancaster. So you’re really the Lancaster Family’s biological daughter! Ha-ha, this is just surreal."

Melody Summers quickly shook her head. "No, no, please don’t put it that way. I want absolutely nothing to do with the Lancaster Family. Every one of them is a bigger freak than the last, and it’s like they’re incapable of understanding human speech."

Carter Jennings, standing to the side, chuckled. "They certainly are freaks. You’re better off without relatives like that. Besides, if this heat wave doesn’t break soon, the Lancaster Family’s good days are numbered anyway."

Calling your own long-lost daughter an illegitimate child—it was such a bizarre act that no decent person could stand for it.

Carter Jennings thought for a moment before adding, "It’s been almost two months since the engagement between the Lancaster and Sutton families, right? The Sutton Family’s attitude has been ambiguous; they haven’t offered to bail the Lancasters out. If this keeps up, the Lancaster Family is going to be staring bankruptcy in the face."

Yuri Walsh shook his head. "The Sutton Family can barely fend for themselves right now; they’re in no position to worry about the Lancasters. Director Sutton has already listed two of his landmark properties for sale. That shows you just how dire their situation is."

Melody Summers listened with her eyes downcast. ’In her past life,’ she recalled, ’the Sutton Family had injected capital into the Lancaster Group after she returned home, but even that hadn’t been enough to turn things around.’

’Later, when the Suttons saw the Lancaster Family was beyond saving, they promptly pulled their support.’

’Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster had blamed her for it all, saying she’d failed to win over the Suttons. If Sylvia Lancaster had been the one to marry into their family, they claimed, the Suttons would have surely been willing to provide more funding.’

’She never expected that in this life, they would get their wish. Sylvia was marrying into the family, yet the Suttons hadn’t coughed up a single penny.’

***

The group walked from the back garden into the banquet hall, where the feast had already begun.

Looking at the dishes served at the banquet, Melody Summers sighed to herself. ’These ingredients were rare even before the natural disasters started. Nowadays, ordinary people are surviving on canned food and dried noodles, yet this banquet is laden with exotic delicacies. This world truly is fractured.’

"Not bad, Mr. Simmons," one of the rich heirs quipped. "Managing to find matsutake mushrooms these days. I thought that stuff disappeared ages ago."

"Matsutakes can’t possibly grow in this weather, right? Were these grown indoors?" another person asked curiously.

Matsutake mushrooms require abundant rainfall before they sprout. But after several consecutive months of extreme heat without a single drop of rain, it was impossible for them to grow naturally. Furthermore, matsutakes have incredibly demanding environmental requirements, and artificial cultivation had, to date, been impossible.

"I bought them from that online trading platform we were talking about," Zane Simmons replied. "I was curious myself. With the global heat wave and drought going on for nearly half a year, I couldn’t believe someone was selling matsutakes, so I placed an order on a whim. I was mostly just curious to see if they were legit, but I was shocked when they actually showed up."

Melody Summers froze, her chopsticks hovering over a dish. ’At the time, she had been so busy processing honey that she’d just had Albus ship the order without even looking at the address.’ So, the person who bought ten portions was Zane Simmons?

Hearing this, everyone at the table began talking at once:

"Is that the online platform that was being shared in our circle? I’ve seen it. They sell gasoline and crossbows, too. You guys have some nerve. Those are all regulated items. Aren’t you afraid the authorities will come knocking?"

"Things are chaotic everywhere these days. The higher-ups don’t have time to deal with this stuff. As long as you don’t cause a huge stir, they’ll turn a blind eye. We just have to keep a low profile, and we’ll be fine."

"Which company owns this shop selling matsutakes? Their tech must be insane. I thought no one had ever cracked the technique for cultivating these things indoors, right?"

"There are only two or three companies in all of Anworth doing indoor cultivation. To pull off artificially grown matsutakes, it’s probably Rhodes Enterprises—they have the most advanced tech."

"I doubt it’s Rhodes. They don’t even sell them in their own stores."

Melody Summers ate in silence. Being discussed so openly made her a little nervous.

Just then, someone asked Zane Simmons, "What was the license plate on the delivery vehicle? I can have someone run it."