Chapter 442: A Family of Actors

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Most of the residents in the building had gone to the temporary shelter on the 23rd floor. Because they had to settle everyone in and distribute supplies, Winnie Summers and Colin Summers didn’t get back until very late.

At the dinner table, seeing how exhausted the siblings Winnie and Colin looked, Grace Sutton asked worriedly, "Do you two have to go to the shelter every day? Climbing to the 23rd floor once a day without an elevator... you must be dead tired."

Colin Summers stuffed a greasy beef bun into his mouth and replied, his words muffled, "We have to go every day for now. The shelter was just established, so we’re worried about trouble breaking out. Once things stabilize in a while, we’ll start taking shifts."

Hearing this, her grandmother pursed her lips. "They’re all neighbors. We’ve lived together for so many years. What kind of trouble could there be?" she said, puzzled. "I think you’re just worrying over nothing."

Hearing this, Melody Summers thought, ’That’s not necessarily true.’

’Thinking of Chloe Sharp and Frank York, whom I’d encountered today, not to mention the man with glasses and the long-haired man who had been clamoring to eat someone else’s pet dog, I feel like there will be no shortage of trouble in the days to come.’

’Neighborly love is built on a foundation of no conflicting interests. In times like these, everyone knows supplies are scarce, and it’s impossible to know what’s in people’s hearts. Fortunately, Winnie has a gun, and we have some crossbows at home. That should be enough to deter some of the troublemakers...’

******

After the temporary shelter was established, a few relatively peaceful days passed.

This morning, Winnie and Colin had just left after breakfast. Melody was about to return to her space to harvest some seafood when a frantic knocking suddenly erupted at the door.

Grace Sutton hurried over to see who it was. After getting a clear look through the peephole, her expression turned to one of surprise.

She then looked over at Melody and whispered, "It’s Jade and Clark!"

Melody’s heart sank.

For Jade Rowan and Clark Summers to show up now, there was only one likely reason—Cameron Summers had finally imploded.

’This day had finally come.’ Melody paused for a moment, then said to Grace Sutton, "Auntie, let them in. But don’t let Grandma find out."

Right now, Grandma and Miss Lowell were in the gym in 1605, line dancing. The two old ladies had taken up exercising since the start of winter. Melody planned to use her grandmother’s absence to deal with this situation quickly and decisively.

’If Grandma finds out Uncle Cameron has started gambling again...’ Melody was afraid the shock would make the old woman sick. It was better to keep it from her.

Melody’s guess was correct. The moment Jade Rowan stepped inside, her knees buckled, and she fell to the floor before Grace Sutton with a THUD.

Jade Rowan wasn’t even wearing a scarf, and her face was red from the freezing cold. She was crying wretchedly, her tears freezing into icy beads that clung to her cheeks.

She grabbed Grace Sutton’s pant leg and pleaded through her sobs, "Grace, I’m begging you! Please, you have to help us!"

Grace Sutton was taken aback by this display. She rushed forward to help Jade up, saying, "What are you doing? Get up, please get up!"

Grace helped Jade to the sofa and poured hot water for her and her son. "Here, drink some hot water first," she said soothingly. "What’s happened? Don’t panic, just tell me slowly."

Jade took the cup of hot water and said between sobs, "Grace, they’ve taken Cameron... He owes them two hundred pounds of rice, ten cases of ham sausage, and five hundred pounds of coal. They said we have to bring the supplies to get him back... Please, I’m begging you, you have to save Cameron!"

"What?!" Grace Sutton jumped, shocked by Jade’s words.

She grabbed Jade’s hand, her tone turning serious. "Jade, what exactly is going on? How could Cameron owe them so much? Explain everything, clearly!"

Clutching the warm cup, Jade haltingly explained the whole story.

Melody had been right. Cameron and Clark’s frequent trips to apartment 1105 hadn’t been to care for an elderly person at all—they were going there to gamble.

At first, Cameron and Clark kept winning, bringing back a great deal of supplies. The coal and down jackets in their apartment, 1101, were all part of their winnings.

But for some reason, a few days ago, their good luck suddenly ran out. They went from winning every time, to breaking even, to losing more than they won. By the end, they were losing almost constantly.

In just a few short days, they’d gambled away nearly all the food and coal their family had. Their winter coats and quilts had also been lost as stakes in the game.

Yesterday morning, Cameron and Clark took the family’s last case of coal. Cameron told Jade they were using it for one last bet, guaranteeing her that this time he would "win it all back."

At this point, a look of confusion and remorse filled Jade’s eyes. She choked out, "Cameron said he was going to ’use leverage’ to win back everything he’d lost... I don’t even know what ’using leverage’ means, but he left yesterday morning and never came back..."

Jade wiped the tears from her face and glanced at Clark, who stood silently beside her with his head bowed. "This morning, Clark ran home by himself. That’s when I found out how much the two of them lost yesterday..."

"...Now they’re demanding two hundred pounds of rice, ten cases of ham sausage, and five hundred pounds of coal. They said if we don’t pay up, they’ll let Cameron freeze to death... Grace, what are we going to do?"

Having said her piece, Jade couldn’t hold back any longer. She covered her face with her hands and began to sob.

Melody frowned. ’Two hundred pounds of rice, ten cases of ham sausage, and five hundred pounds of coal...’

’How could Cameron have dared to bet so much?! He doesn’t have anywhere near that amount of supplies!’

’It just goes to show, once a gambler gets caught up in the moment, they become completely reckless. They don’t even stop to think if they can actually cover their bets...’

After hearing Jade’s story, Grace Sutton’s face turned pale. If she had known Cameron was a lost cause, she never would have spoken up for his family.

Now that Cameron had gotten into such huge trouble, Grace was at a loss. She could only look to Melody for an answer.

Melody was silent for a moment, a flicker of suspicion in her mind.

She looked at Jade and asked in a low voice, "Aunt Jade, I need to ask you something... You said Uncle Cameron had changed, that he hadn’t gambled at all these past few years. Was that true?"

Cameron’s gambling addiction was so severe. Melody found it hard to believe he had truly reformed as he claimed.

Under Melody’s intense questioning, Jade finally confessed what had really been happening for the past several years.

It turned out that ever since being kicked out of the family home for online gambling, Cameron had never stopped!

It was true that he had been working a steady job, but it was also true that he was still gambling online. To fund his addiction, he’d taken out so many online loans that his credit was ruined. Then he went to a private loan company for "debt consolidation" and ended up taking on high-interest loans from loan sharks.

He was on the verge of financial collapse, but then the cataclysm hit. The people at the loan company he owed money to were almost all wiped out. In a twisted way, Cameron had benefited from the disaster, managing to hang on until now.

Hearing Jade’s confession, Melody’s vision swam. She nearly fainted from pure rage.

’So this family of three has been putting on an act ever since they arrived at The Metropolis Residences a few months ago!’

’And to think I’d been foolish enough to believe Uncle Cameron had reformed. I even felt sorry for Aunt Jade and my little cousin. Turns out the whole family deserves an Oscar for their performance!’