Chapter 80: Let Me See the Will

Then, Sylvia Lancaster said anxiously to Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster, "Dad, Mom, Ethan and I are doing great right now. I don’t want to break up with him."

The truth was, Ethan Sutton had been treating Sylvia Lancaster very poorly lately.

Before Sylvia and Ethan got engaged, he had been incredibly gentle and protective of her. Even the tone of his voice when he spoke to her was filled with deep affection and tenderness, as if Sylvia were a precious, fragile glass doll.

But lately, Ethan Sutton had grown cold toward Sylvia. He’d become impatient if she tried to talk to him for more than a few sentences. Whenever things weren’t going his way, he would take his anger out on her, saying she was useless to him and only dragged him down with her family.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were even more distant and formally polite toward Sylvia. Mrs. Sutton, who had once claimed to see Sylvia as her own daughter, had recently hinted multiple times that she should move back in with the Lancaster family before the wedding.

Although Sylvia had long known people were fickle, she still felt deeply wronged. ’The man who swore eternal love and treated me with such tenderness now looks at me with nothing but impatience.’ The drastic change was driving her mad.

But Sylvia wasn’t willing to leave Ethan now. She knew he was her best option at the moment.

She wouldn’t be able to find someone better if she left Ethan. She had recently tried contacting the men who used to dote on her and follow her around like puppies, but they’d all abandoned their fawning admiration and were now giving her the cold shoulder.

Fearing that the marriage to the Lawson family’s dull-witted younger son would fall to her, Sylvia forced out a few tears. She looked up pitifully at Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster and said,

"I was never your real daughter to begin with. Marrying into the Sutton family is already my best option. Dad, Mom, I’ll go beg Mr. and Mrs. Sutton again to invest. Please, I’m begging you, don’t make me leave Ethan."

Silas Lancaster, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "The Suttons are being awfully arrogant right now, if you ask me. You two have been engaged for almost half a year, and they haven’t said a word about the wedding. A few days ago, someone told me they saw Ethan Sutton at a party, fawning all over the Walsh family’s daughter. Sis, you should really reconsider."

Silas felt a pang of pity for Sylvia. In his eyes, Ethan was being unfaithful and was no longer worthy of her.

Sylvia’s face fell at his words, which stabbed into her heart like a vicious thorn. It was true—the Suttons and Ethan had completely avoided the topic of marriage. Sylvia was panicked, but there was nothing she could do.

Robert Lancaster suddenly said in a deep voice, "Enough! Our priority right now is to finalize the marriage between Melody and the Lawsons. We can discuss Sylvia and the Suttons’ situation later."

It wasn’t that Robert hadn’t considered switching the marriage alliance to Sylvia, but the Lawsons had refused. They had even told him to his face that they didn’t want ’the fake’.

Robert had also sounded out several other wealthy families with available capital, but ever since the news about the real and fake heiresses got out, the young masters who had once praised Sylvia’s personality and talents had all flatly rejected his marriage proposals.

After all this, Robert understood that the Suttons were indeed Sylvia’s best option. With her in their family, the Lancasters could at least save some face. He didn’t want to see her "returned" by the Suttons at such a critical moment.

Elaine Hughes glanced at Robert Lancaster’s expression, then gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "Actually, Mrs. Lawson asked me before if I minded them... forcing the issue with Melody and her son. I agreed."

"After I agreed, Mrs. Lawson had her nephew send people to wait near the Summers’ house, planning to grab Melody the moment she stepped outside. But Melody hasn’t left the house at all! What’s more, when her adoptive mother and uncle go out, they’re escorted by a group from the neighborhood patrol. They all carry knives and clubs, which makes it very inconvenient to make a move."

"Her villa has also been reinforced. She turns on an electric fence at night, so you can’t sneak in. And her next-door neighbors have a bunch of bodyguards who patrol around the villas at night. If we made a big scene, we’d definitely be discovered."

When Elaine Hughes finished, the others were surprised. ’Melody Summers made so many preparations? She even installed an electric fence? Who on earth is she guarding against?’

Sylvia listened, thought for a moment, and said softly, "Dad, Mom, we don’t necessarily have to go to the Summers’ house. We could just lure Melody out."

Robert frowned. "With that temper of hers, why would she ever agree to meet us?"

Sylvia pursed her lips and spoke softly. "What if we lie and say you’re both gravely ill... She’s your biological daughter, after all. Could she really bear not to see you one last time?"

*

What Sylvia hadn’t expected was that Melody really could.

"One last time?" Melody was baffled, staring at her phone screen with suspicion.

On the screen, Robert Lancaster lay in bed, his chest rising and falling faintly. His eyes were shut tight, his face was pale, and his lips were completely devoid of color.

Elaine Hughes sat by Robert’s bedside, sobbing as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

Sylvia held the phone, tears streaming down her face as she spoke to Melody on the other end of the screen. "Melody, you can see for yourself, Dad’s not going to make it. He keeps saying he wants to see you one last time. Please, hurry back and see him!"

Melody found the whole thing bizarre. She had no idea what game the Lancasters were playing now, only that this family was truly tireless when it came to making trouble.

Melody had already blocked all the Lancasters, so she was surprised they’d managed to find the clothing factory where Grace Sutton worked and get her contact information from them.

When Grace Sutton received the video call from the Lancasters today, she was startled, thinking it was some new type of medical fundraising scam. It was only after a long explanation that she understood something had happened to Melody’s biological parents.

Grace Sutton hesitated for a moment before handing the phone to Melody.

On the other end of the screen, Elaine Hughes sobbed softly and said, "Melody, I know you don’t want to acknowledge us, but we are your birth parents. Can you really be so heartless as to abandon your father? Before he lost consciousness, your name was all he could say. He said you’re the only one he worries about. Please, just come and see him one last time!"

The Lancasters had already made their plan. The moment Melody stepped through the door of the Lancaster home, they would tie her up and send her directly to the Lawsons. As for how to make Melody bow her head, that would be up to the Lawson family’s methods.

Whether they locked her up without food and water until she agreed, forced the issue, or kept her locked away for life, the Lancasters wouldn’t ask any questions—as long as the Lawson family transferred the funds.

Melody, however, watched the screen with a complicated expression. She wasn’t sure if Robert Lancaster was really dying, because the Lancasters had used this exact trick—faking an illness—on her in her past life.

Back then, Melody had landed a job after an interview with the reconstruction department for The Metropolis Residences. Elaine Hughes had faked an illness to trick Melody into coming home, demanding that she give the job to Silas Lancaster.

Elaine had acted as if she were on her last breath, looking like she didn’t have long to live. With a pale face, she told Melody that the one person she couldn’t stop worrying about was Silas. She pleaded with Melody to give the job to Silas, so that he could have a stable, respectable career and she could finally rest in peace.

When Melody refused, Elaine and Robert simply locked her in the house, not allowing her to leave and causing her to miss the deadline to report for duty.

And just like that, Melody lost the job opportunity.

Seeing Melody’s grim, silent face on the screen, Elaine shouted anxiously, "Melody, are you really that heartless? Your father has always been worried about you! Do you not even want to see him one last time?!"

Sylvia also chimed in tearfully, "Sister, stop being so stubborn! No matter what grudges we had in the past, can’t you let go of your hatred in the face of life and death?!"

Simon Lancaster also spoke up, his expression grave. "Melody Summers, the first time you came back to the Lancaster family, Dad gave you 6.4 million. He hasn’t been stingy with you! And now you won’t even come back to see him one last time? Do you want him to die with regrets? Do you have any conscience at all?"

Melody sneered. ’Simon is as good at guilt-tripping as ever,’ she thought. ’Just like he was in my past life.’

Silas Lancaster watched the rest of his family’s performance from just out of the camera’s view. He suddenly felt that the Lancaster family of today was suffocating him.

And for some reason, whenever he heard Melody’s voice now, he would inexplicably think of the missing Hugh Hayes.

Hugh Hayes had been missing for many days without a single trace. Because Silas and Hugh were good friends, Raymond Hayes had even sought him out privately a few times to ask what Hugh had said to him before he disappeared.

Silas knew the Hayes family’s business dealings weren’t entirely clean. Afraid of dragging the Lancasters into those muddy waters, he didn’t dare mention that Hugh had gone to see Melody. He just said he had no idea what Hugh had been up to.

Grace Sutton watched from the side with a frown, feeling that the whole scene was very odd. She whispered to Melody, "Melody, you need to be careful..."

Melody patted her aunt’s hand reassuringly, signaling for her not to worry. Then, with a look of great interest, she spoke to the screen. "Oh? He’s dying? In that case, has the will been prepared? Let me take a look at it."