Chapter 440

Melody Summers arrived at the secondary bedroom and found several people in a standoff.

On one side was a young woman in a black down jacket, brandishing a steel pipe. She yelled at the group in front of her, "Stay back! I’ll hit anyone who comes closer!"

Her voice trembled slightly, betraying her fear.

Facing her were three men and a woman. Melody Summers froze for a second when she saw them—the man and woman were none other than the bizarre couple, Chloe Sharp and Frank York, whom she had just run into on the 15th floor!

Melody Summers didn’t recognize the other two men. One had long hair, and the other wore glasses.

The man with glasses sneered contemptuously. "You? A lone woman thinks she can take on the four of us? Haha, believe it or not, a little girl like you... I could knock you flat with a single punch!"

The long-haired man also scoffed. "You’d better just hand over the dog obediently," he said to the girl with the pipe. "Or don’t blame us for what happens next!"

Only then did Melody Summers notice a white dog at the feet of the girl with the steel pipe.

The dog was pure white with pointed, erect ears and a sharp muzzle. It looked like a small fox, but was a size larger.

It was trembling, huddled by the girl’s feet. Seemingly sensing the tense, confrontational atmosphere, it didn’t dare to move a muscle.

The girl with the pipe protectively shielded her little white dog and snarled at the group, "In your dreams! I will never give you Snowball!"

Hearing this, Frank York shook his head in disapproval. In an exasperated tone, he said to the girl, "In times like these, people are freezing and starving to death. How can you still keep a dog? Isn’t that a waste of resources? How can you be so selfish?"

The man with glasses on the other side smirked. "That’s right, little girl. You can’t be so selfish! Instead of wasting supplies on an animal, you should just slaughter it so we can all have some meat!"

He couldn’t help but swallow as he spoke, his eyes glinting greedily behind his glasses.

The girl spat in the man’s direction. She gripped her steel pipe tightly and retorted, "You’re the animals! I’m using my own supplies to feed Snowball. It’s none of your business! What right do you have to meddle?!"

Just then, Chloe Sharp, who had been standing to the side, suddenly spoke up. "Miss, that’s not right. How could you bring a dog in here? We’re all human; none of us want to live with an animal! Besides, who knows if your dog has some contagious disease? What if it bites someone..."

Then, Chloe Sharp’s tone shifted, and she said with a smile, "How about this, miss... why don’t you just release the dog into the wild? Otherwise, we’ll have to report the situation to the emergency management office and have you both thrown out, you know~"

Hearing Chloe Sharp say this, the corner of Melody Summers’s eye twitched involuntarily.

’Release the dog into the wild?’

’The nerve of her to even suggest that!’

The girl across from them shook her head violently. She bent down, scooped up the little white dog, and held it tightly in her arms.

Then she looked up at Chloe Sharp and said in a heavy voice, "No! I won’t be separated from my dog! You don’t have to kick me out. I’ll leave on my own!"

"You think Snowball is dirty, and you’re afraid he’ll bite. Fine, I’ll go! I won’t be an eyesore here. I’ll take Snowball and go back home. That should be good enough for you, right?!"

With that, she turned to pack her luggage and bedding on the floor, ready to leave.

Seeing this, the man with glasses and the long-haired man quickly stepped forward to block her path.

The man with glasses stared intently at the little white dog in her arms. "You can go," he said harshly, "but the dog stays! We haven’t eaten meat in over a year. We’re eating this dog today, and that’s not up for discussion!"

The girl panicked, clutching the dog in her arms. She swung the steel pipe in her hand at the man with glasses and yelled, "Never! Stay back! Get away from me!"

She was too flustered and hesitant. Her swings with the pipe were wild and erratic, and she didn’t dare to actually strike the two men in front of her.

The man with glasses saw his chance, grabbed the steel pipe, and yanked it forcefully from her grasp!

Holding the pipe, the man with glasses let out a nasty laugh. "Little lady, with that little courage, you thought you could fight me? I’ll teach you what real power is!"

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, Melody Summers was about to step in when she saw Winnie Summers rushing over with the Lynch father and son.

Winnie Summers and the Lynches stood in front of the girl, sharply rebuking the man with glasses and the long-haired man. "What are you doing! There’s no fighting here! If you dare cause trouble, we’ll expel you from the shelter right now!"

Chloe Sharp, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, quickly stepped forward and spoke first. "Officers, you don’t understand. This young lady actually brought a dog in here! Her dog is vicious; it kept barking at us and even tried to bite us. These two gentlemen were only acting in self-defense!"

Frank York quickly chimed in, "That’s right, officer! The dog is terrifying. You should kick it out. What if it bites someone? There’s no way to get a rabies vaccine now!"

The man with glasses caught on. He suddenly crouched down, clutching his ankle with a pained expression, and yelled dramatically, "OW! Officer, the dog just bit me! I don’t know if it broke the skin! You have to get it out of here before it hurts someone else!"

Watching their clumsy, back-and-forth performance, Melody Summers found it almost laughable.

The girl holding the dog was on the verge of tears from anxiety. She kept repeating, "No! No! Snowball didn’t bite anyone! You’re lying!"

Chloe Sharp blinked, flashing a brilliant smile at the girl. "Miss, you might as well admit it. So many people here saw it. There’s no use denying it! We’re all reasonable people. As long as you throw out the biting dog, we can still accept you here!"

Melody Summers couldn’t watch any longer. She silently stepped out from behind the door.

The moment she saw Melody Summers’s face, the chattering Chloe Sharp instantly fell silent.

Her expression filled with a trace of terror, and she shrank fearfully into Frank York’s arms.

When Frank York saw Melody Summers, he instinctively clutched his stomach. He couldn’t understand how she was so strong; the spot where she had kicked him was still aching.

Melody Summers couldn’t be bothered with the bizarre pair of Chloe Sharp and Frank York. She walked over to Winnie Summers and the Lynches and briefly explained the whole story to them.

After listening, Winnie Summers patted the girl’s shoulder reassuringly. She led her aside and said, "Your name is May Sherman, right? How about this? I’ll arrange a new room for you."

May Sherman hugged the little white dog tighter, her head bowed. "...Maybe I should just go home..." she whispered. "I don’t want to cause you any trouble."

"But I really can’t be separated from Snowball... My whole family is dead. Snowball is all I have left... If I lose him too, I don’t think I can go on living..."