Zane Simmons shook his head. "We can’t trace it. The housekeeper said it was a drone delivery. It dropped off the package and flew away in a flash. It was incredibly fast."

"A drone? A drone with that kind of payload capacity requires a flight permit. I’ll have someone look into previously authorized permits later and see if we can find any leads."

"That seems like a lot of trouble, doesn’t it? We could just check the seller’s payment account."

"It might not be a big corporation. The government has started to heavily support indoor cultivation, so it’s probably some small, subsidized business."

"What small businesses? It’s hard to enter the market now. The government stopped approving land for it a long time ago. The industry is monopolized by two major corporations, led by Rhodes. Unless you have some solid technological patent, it’s nearly impossible to get a piece of the pie."

"..."

Melody Summers listened quietly to the conversation while she ate. She had mixed feelings and broke out in a cold sweat for herself. ’Thank goodness Albus and I considered all of this beforehand. Otherwise, my cover would have been blown in an instant.’

*

「The Lancaster Residence.」

Silas Lancaster was fuming on his way home, flooring the accelerator. A traffic officer on patrol happened to see him, pulled him over, and asked for his driver’s license.

Irritated, Silas Lancaster not only refused to cooperate but even assaulted the officer, leading to his immediate detention.

Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster heard the news late at night and rushed over to bail him out.

As soon as they got home, Robert Lancaster started berating Silas Lancaster. "You brat! The company is in such a difficult position right now, and not only are you no help at all, you just go out and cause trouble for me every day!"

As he spoke, Robert Lancaster reached for his belt to whip him.

Elaine Hughes, doting on her youngest son, quickly stepped in to stop him. "Oh, that’s enough," she coaxed. "What’s done is done. What good will hitting him do now?"

But Silas Lancaster said furiously, "Mom, Dad, it’s all that Melody Summers’s fault! She’s the one who humiliated me at the party! I was in a bad mood, that’s why I was speeding!"

Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes were both stunned. Elaine quickly asked, "What does this have to do with Melody?"

Ever since Sylvia Lancaster had moved out of the Lancaster home, Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster had hoped Melody Summers would move back in, but Melody had been ignoring them, much to their disappointment.

"I ran into her at the party Zane Simmons hosted tonight. I don’t know how she managed to hook up with him." Silas Lancaster ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Zane Simmons defended her and had his bodyguards throw me out!"

"Zane Simmons? The only son of the Simmons family?" Robert Lancaster asked with a slight frown.

"That’s him." A look of contempt crossed Silas Lancaster’s eyes. "Zane Simmons even had another woman with him. I think Melody Summers has just decided to debase herself, which is why she’s cozying up to him!"

Robert Lancaster said nothing, his mind already spinning with calculations.

After Sylvia Lancaster and Ethan Sutton’s engagement, the Sutton family had yet to invest in the Lancaster Group. With the persistent high temperatures, several of the Suttons’ real estate projects had also stalled. If this continued, the Sutton family would likely be in trouble themselves, making it even less likely they could help the Lancasters.

It was only August, and the Lancaster family needed to hold on for at least a few more months until winter for the situation to have any chance of improving. What they desperately needed right now was capital.

Lately, the banks had been aggressively calling in their debts. Simon Lancaster couldn’t secure a loan anywhere, and even the loan sharks knew the state of the tourism industry, so they kept hiking up their interest rates. The Lancaster family was now drowning in debt.

Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes wanted to bring Melody Summers back for another marriage alliance. They hoped to secure another round of financing to survive the next few months. Once winter arrived, the Lancaster Group might still have a glimmer of hope.

"Look into the relationship between Melody and the Simmons family’s only son. If we can form a marriage alliance with the Simmons family, our problems might just solve themselves," Robert Lancaster instructed Elaine Hughes.

The Simmons family’s business interests were diverse, with ventures in both energy and healthcare. Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Simmons had come from a powerful union themselves, so their family’s foundation was much stronger than that of the Lancaster and Sutton Families combined.

Seeing that the Sutton family was no longer of any help, he figured that if there was a chance with Melody Summers and Zane Simmons, he would publicly declare that Melody was their biological daughter who had been switched at birth, and that Sylvia Lancaster was the adopted one. That way, the Simmons family wouldn’t have any objections.

Elaine Hughes, however, felt a bit awkward. In her youth, Elaine had been a famous beauty, and Zane Simmons’s father had been one of her suitors. But she had found Mr. Simmons to be frivolous and wild, not someone she could entrust her life to, so she had chosen the more dependable Robert Lancaster instead.

Now, Robert Lancaster bringing up the Simmons family made Elaine’s expression a little uncomfortable.

Silas Lancaster was shocked to hear this. He blurted out, "Dad! Zane Simmons is no good! You don’t know, he’s entangled with a bunch of women, and I heard he even has an illegitimate child!"

"Shut up! All you do is cause trouble day after day! Can’t you see how much difficulty the company is in?!" Robert Lancaster roared at Silas Lancaster. "Your older brother is practically living at the office, the company has sold off so many assets just to survive, and you’re no help at all, just fooling around everywhere!"

Robert Lancaster threw the belt in his hand to the ground and shot Silas Lancaster another vicious glare. "From now on, you’re staying home! You’re not to go anywhere!"

Silas Lancaster felt a suffocating anger trapped in his chest, but he didn’t dare to talk back to Robert Lancaster. Fuming, he could only storm upstairs to his room.

*

After the party ended, Melody Summers was waiting by the entrance for Sophie Thorne when Zane Simmons sidled up to her. He whispered, "Don’t worry about the Lancaster family calling you an illegitimate daughter. I’ll spread the word and clear things up for you."

Melody Summers was a bit surprised. "There’s no need," she said quickly. "I don’t run in your circles anyway, so it doesn’t affect me. You really don’t have to go to the trouble."

"Why are you being so polite with me? We go way back," Zane Simmons said with a grin.

He then added wistfully, "Back then, my family pulled strings to get me into the advanced class. I couldn’t understand a thing in lectures. All the other students were snobs who looked down on a poor student like me. You were the only one who treated me the same as everyone else and patiently explained the problems to me."

Zane Simmons looked at Melody Summers and said sincerely, "If you need anything in the future, just let me know. Maybe I can help."

Melody Summers smiled and nodded, but she didn’t take his words to heart. She was well aware that she and Zane Simmons were from different worlds. In her past life, she had been bullied relentlessly and had suffered enough in those upper-class circles. In this life, all she wanted was to live a good life with her family through the cataclysm.

Just then, Sophie Thorne came out. The two said their goodbyes to Zane Simmons and left.

*

Thanks to Zane Simmons’s promotion at the party, business at Melody Summers’s shop boomed over the next few days. She gritted her teeth and raised the price of the wild mushroom set to 150,000 per serving, but it still sold out quickly.

Melody Summers also restocked the honey, raising the price to 30,000 a jar and limiting each customer to two jars. Many customers flocked to place their orders:

"User xxx: It’s finally back in stock! It’s been so hot and dry these past few days, I’ve been feeling really irritable. After drinking this honey water, my whole body feels so much better."

"User xxx: Why the purchase limit? Two jars aren’t enough!"

"User xxx: Is the recipe for your honey for sale? I’ll pay for it! My grandmother’s gout has eased up after drinking it. This is more miraculous than medicine." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"..."

With the help of the wild mushrooms and honey, plus the crops from her fields and the chickens, ducks, and rabbits from her farm, Melody Summers quickly earned her first ten million.

’If I have ten million, can a hundred million be far behind?’

Melody Summers and Albus were ecstatic. They decided to explore the Arcadian Woods more often to see what other treasures they could find!

In the past few days, the cows and sheep in her space had given birth, yielding seven lambs and two calves. Melody Summers cleaned the newborns, then opened a few bags of corn and soybeans to make feed. She piled the troughs high with it to provide extra nutrition for the nursing mothers.

A few pregnant miniature pigs were also close to giving birth, their bellies round and swollen. Melody Summers gave them plenty of extra feed as well.

She had lost count of how many litters the rabbits had produced. Little white furballs, like cotton candies, scurried all over the ground. Melody Summers gave the pregnant does some extra hay.

After finishing her work, Melody Summers went downstairs holding Albus. She saw Miss Lowell, her grandmother, and her aunt gathered together. Both her grandmother and aunt looked worried.