Elaine Hughes and Mrs. Lawson knocked and shouted at the door for ages, but to their dismay, the Summers family refused to open up.

They waited a bit longer, but there was still no response from inside. It was too hot to linger, so they supported each other and started walking back.

The sun was even more punishing now than when they had arrived. Their parasols offered little relief, and their meticulously applied makeup was now smudged and ruined by sweat.

As they walked, Elaine Hughes apologized sheepishly to Mrs. Lawson. "Mrs. Lawson, I am so terribly sorry. This is so embarrassing. I never expected that girl to be so ungrateful. Ugh, her adoptive mother must have been a terrible influence. Don’t worry, I’ll try to persuade her again."

Mrs. Lawson scoffed inwardly. ’What a witless ornament,’ she thought. ’Elaine Hughes doesn’t even have a handle on her own daughter’s personality, yet she had the gall to drag me here to propose a marriage.’

Outwardly, however, she said, "Mrs. Lancaster, my family has already made all the arrangements for the wedding and the banquet. We’ve even had their birth charts read for compatibility and arranged for the invitations to be printed. What exactly is this supposed to be?"

Seeing the worried look on Elaine Hughes’s face, Mrs. Lawson pressed on. "Mrs. Lancaster, you have to figure out a way to get Melody to agree to walk down the aisle on the first of next month! Besides, your family’s company is still waiting for capital from the Lawson family, isn’t it? Dragging this out won’t do anyone any good. Am I wrong?"

It had been difficult enough to find a prestigious family willing to marry off a daughter—even if they were on the brink of ruin. As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Besides, the Lancaster Family wasn’t entirely without a chance of recovery, and Mrs. Lawson had no intention of letting this opportunity go.

Everyone laughed at her for having a simple-minded son. Well, she would show them. She was determined to marry him to a daughter-in-law from a prestigious family and shove it in the faces of everyone who had ever mocked her!

Elaine Hughes was just opening her mouth to speak when she suddenly felt a hard shove from behind!

She cried out as her body pitched forward uncontrollably.

Mrs. Lawson saw Elaine Hughes suddenly hit the ground. Before she could even process what was happening, she too felt a powerful shove from behind!

Both women tumbled to the ground. Their delicate, pampered skin made contact with the pavement, which was scorching hot from the sun, and the searing heat made them both shriek in pain.

Before they could even react, two dark figures darted past, snatching up the two gift bags, their purses, and the parasols that had fallen to the ground, and took off running.

Furious and frantic, Elaine Hughes and Mrs. Lawson watched the retreating figures of their attackers, screaming, "Thieves! We’re being robbed! Somebody help!"

But the area was deserted. They screamed until their throats were raw, but no one came to their aid.

Left with no other choice, they helped each other to their feet. It was only then that Mrs. Lawson realized she had twisted her ankle. Muttering a stream of curses, she and Elaine Hughes limped their way to the emergency police substation next to Crystal Mart.

The moment she was through the door, Mrs. Lawson began to shout frantically, "Police? I want to report a crime! We’ve been robbed! They took our purses!"

Officer Tate, who was on duty, saw their condition and quickly had them sit down to ask for the details of the incident.

Mrs. Lawson and Elaine Hughes recounted the entire incident in detail.

Mrs. Lawson added anxiously, "Officer, you have to get my purse back! My ID and all my cards were in it!" It was a major hassle to replace all those things these days.

While calming them down, Officer Tate arranged for someone to review the security footage.

But a review of the footage revealed that the two assailants had come from outside the community.

They had arrived by car, parking it on the street. Two of them had scaled a side wall of the complex and laid in wait around a corner, where they happened upon Elaine Hughes and Mrs. Lawson.

Both women were dressed elegantly and carrying two bags, making them look like a pair of easy marks.

The two men had circled around behind them, pushed them down, and grabbed their belongings. Then they vaulted back over the wall, jumped into their car, and sped off.

After reviewing the footage, Officer Sean Pierce said with a grave expression, "This looks like a professional crew. They cruise around the nearby residential areas looking for targets. The two of you were likely spotted the moment you came in."

Since the perpetrators weren’t from within the community, tracking them down would be considerably more difficult.

Officer Tate said with a hint of resignation, "We’ve filed a report and opened an investigation. If we recover your belongings, we will notify you both."

Hearing this, Mrs. Lawson and Elaine Hughes knew they wouldn’t be seeing their stolen belongings anytime soon. Mrs. Lawson scowled, muttering about what rotten luck it was.

Elaine Hughes was miserable as well. ’I should have brought a couple of bodyguards,’ she thought bitterly.

*

That evening, Winnie Summers and Colin Summers returned home, their expressions grim.

Winnie Summers said, "Officer Tate told us there was another robbery in the community today. The victims were here visiting family or friends. The robbers took their gifts and designer purses."

Grace Sutton asked in surprise, "But didn’t they execute all the members of that other robbery gang from the community? How could someone still have the guts to pull a robbery here?"

Colin Summers sighed. "It wasn’t anyone from inside. They were outsiders. They scaled the side wall, acted fast, and even had a getaway car waiting. It looked like a professional crew."

The Summers family’s expressions grew heavy at this news. The Metropolis Residences was massive; the front section consisted of apartment buildings, while the back was all villas. The property management’s security team mostly patrolled the main entrance and the supply distribution points, making it impossible for them to cover every corner of the complex.

Now that an outside gang had targeted the community, there was likely more trouble to come.

Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Melody Summers asked, "Were the victims by any chance two conspicuously well-dressed, wealthy-looking women?"

Winnie Summers nodded, then looked at Melody in confusion. "That’s exactly what Officer Tate said. He even lectured them about how chaotic things are now and how they should try to dress more discreetly. Melody, how did you know?"

Melody Summers had to suppress a laugh. The two victims were almost certainly Elaine Hughes and Mrs. Lawson, the very women they had thrown out earlier that day.

It dawned on Grace Sutton as well. She slammed her hand on the table and recounted the entire story of Elaine Hughes and Mrs. Lawson showing up to arrange a marriage for Melody.

Grace Sutton said, her voice tinged with excitement, "You should have seen it! Those two were about to start a real scene, but I just grabbed one in each hand and tossed them out! I can’t believe they got robbed right after. It serves them right! You could tell they were up to no good. Who just shows up out of the blue to arrange a marriage for another family’s child? As if our daughter is some piece of merchandise for them to pick over!"

Colin Summers grew angry as he listened. "What kind of person does that!" he said with a frown. "She completely ignores her daughter for years, and now she just shows up out of nowhere to arrange a marriage? Is she trying to sell her?"

Winnie Summers frowned but remained silent. She was also displeased with Elaine Hughes’s presumptuousness, but a part of her suspected that any match Elaine could arrange for Melody would be with someone from a powerful family.

Winnie couldn’t help but wonder, ’Will I ever be able to find a good match for Melody? Our family is just ordinary. We don’t have the right connections or influence. Compared to a powerful clan like the Lancaster Family, we’re worlds apart. What will become of Melody’s future?’

As these chaotic thoughts ran through her mind, Winnie’s heart grew heavy.

Melody Summers, not wanting to upset her family further, decided not to mention that the groom Elaine Hughes had in mind was a simpleton. Instead, she just smiled and said a few comforting words.

After dinner, Melody Summers saw a message in the community’s group chat. The police and property management were recruiting residents to form a neighborhood watch.

The last string of gang robberies had left everyone rattled, and with the incident today, the property management and the police had decided to get the residents involved in securing the community.

"Property Management Center: @All Residents. Due to the recent increase in security incidents, the community is forming a new neighborhood watch patrol. We encourage all interested residents to sign up. Requirements: Age 18-45, height 170cm or taller...

Patrol members will receive 5.5 pounds of free rice and a pound of cooking oil each month. The patrol’s break room is equipped with air conditioning, which members are free to use. We encourage everyone to sign up enthusiastically."

Lured by the promise of free rice, cooking oil, and air conditioning, many residents eagerly signed up.

The property management screened the applicants and organized them into ten teams of six people each. These teams then began patrolling the front and back of the complex in shifts.

The selected residents were overjoyed, happily collecting their free rice and oil.

With the new patrols, Winnie and Colin Summers could walk with a team on their way to and from their destinations each day. Melody Summers could finally breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now; she no longer had to worry about their immediate safety.

* 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Recalling Sophie Thorne’s advice, Melody Summers hadn’t left the house for the past few days. Her top priority now was to accumulate one billion to unlock a new space. The less trouble, the better.

But just because she didn’t go looking for trouble, it didn’t mean trouble wouldn’t come looking for her.

The doorbell rang early that morning while Melody Summers was busy mining in the Arcadian Mines.

After several days of hard work, she had managed to gather over 9,000 grams of gold. The gleaming gold bars, piled up together, were a deeply satisfying sight.

Besides that, she had also dug up a good amount of coal, which she planned to save. After the extreme heat passed, there would be extreme cold.

In the Arcadian Woods, the mangoes, apples, kiwis, and pomegranates had all ripened. Heavy fruit weighed down the branches, filling the air with a sweet, fragrant aroma, but Melody Summers had no time to pick them. She remained focused on her diligent work in the mines.

Melody was digging away happily when Albus suddenly informed her that her aunt, Grace Sutton, was knocking on her bedroom door.

Melody quickly put down her pickaxe, exited the space, brushed the dirt from her clothes, and ran to get the door.

"Auntie, what is it?"

Grace Sutton’s expression was complicated. "Melody, you’d better go see. There’s a young man at the gate asking for you."

*

Austin Hale stood under the blazing sun in front of the Summers Villa, wiping away sweat as he sized up the building.

The roof was covered in solar panels. On the current market, a single panel could sell for hundreds of thousands, and they were still nearly impossible to find. This villa had a whole array of them installed—a conservative estimate put the cost in the millions.

The courtyard was also fully enclosed. Austin Hale had just pressed his ear to a crack in the gate and listened; he could faintly make out the hum of an air conditioner running inside.

He guessed that, incredibly, the entire villa—courtyard included—was probably air-conditioned.

Austin Hale’s heart began to race with excitement. If he could win Melody Summers back, he could bring his mother to live here with him.