Chapter 81: Blackmail

The Lancasters on the other side of the screen were all stunned.

They had considered many possibilities. They had thought Melody Summers might agree, that she might hesitate, and even that she might refuse. But they never, ever expected her to mention a will.

For a moment, none of them could react, simply staring blankly at Melody.

Seeing the dumbfounded expressions appear on all the Lancasters’ faces at once, Melody found it so comical that she let out a snort of laughter.

Melody continued with a faint smile, "Since you claim I’m the one he’s most worried about, let me see how much money he left for me in his will. Go on, bring it out and show me."

Sylvia Lancaster’s hand, holding the phone, trembled slightly. She could barely maintain the sad and heartbroken expression she had put on. She had no idea how to answer Melody.

’This is just a spur-of-the-moment act! How could we have actually called a lawyer to draft a will? And who could have predicted that Melody would bring up a will?’

Simon Lancaster was the first to snap out of it. A rare look of annoyance crossed his usually reserved and indifferent face.

He moved closer to the phone screen, frowning at Melody. "There’s no will yet. Why are you suddenly bringing that up? If you truly care about Father, you should come see him right now."

Hearing this, Melody feigned a surprised expression and replied, "You’re kidding, right? A rich family like yours, and the patriarch doesn’t even have a will prepared when he’s on his deathbed? Don’t tell me your family is completely broke and saddled with a mountain of bad debt."

Her words were like daggers plunging straight into the Lancasters’ hearts. She had hit the nail right on the head. Simon could no longer maintain the composure he was so proud of.

He snapped at Melody, "What kind of nonsense is that? Your own biological father is lying here on his deathbed, and you don’t have a single word of concern for him, only thoughts of money? Besides, you’re an outsider. What right do you have to covet the Lancaster family’s assets?"

Melody nodded with feigned helplessness and sighed. "You’ve got a point. I’m just an outsider with no real connection to your family. Besides dividing up the assets, I can’t think of any other reason you’d contact me."

At Melody’s words, Elaine Hughes’s eyes widened in disbelief. She stared at Melody and said angrily, "Melody Summers! Your biological father is about to die, and all you can think about at a time like this is money? How can you be so unfilial? A-Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?!"

Melody just let out a couple of taunting clicks of her tongue. "Tsk, tsk. Well, well, has Mrs. Lancaster lost her temper out of embarrassment? Seeing you so worked up, I must have hit a nerve. Mr. Lancaster really didn’t plan on giving me a dime, did he? So this is what you meant by him being ’most worried’ about me? Mr. Lancaster’s concern sure is cheap."

Elaine’s face flushed crimson with rage. She snatched the phone from Sylvia’s hand, glaring at Melody as her voice trembled. "We are your biological parents! How can you speak to me like that? Is this how you repay us? You get back here right now! Or I’ll truly disown you as my daughter!"

Because Elaine was closer to Robert Lancaster, from this angle, Melody could clearly see him lying on the bed with his eyes shut, feigning unconsciousness. His facial muscles were twitching slightly, and the veins on his forehead were bulging from the strain of holding his breath.

Now Melody understood everything. The Lancasters were setting a trap for her. They probably hadn’t given up on the matchmaking scheme and were trying to trick her into coming back.

The smile on Melody’s face faded. She said nothing, just calmly watching Elaine’s frantic expression, finding the sight oddly novel.

In her past life, Elaine had always been aloof toward her. Even when Sylvia framed her, Elaine had just looked at her with a condescending, disappointed expression, as if all she could ever feel for Melody was distance and disappointment.

This was the first time in two lifetimes that Melody realized Elaine could show such strong emotional fluctuations toward her.

The thought of the misery from her past life extinguished any desire Melody had to continue teasing the Lancasters.

She shook her head and said to Elaine, "You say he worries about me the most, yet you won’t give me a single cent. I don’t want such cheap love. Next time you’re on your deathbed, Mrs. Lancaster, the same rule applies. If my name isn’t on your will, don’t bother contacting me."

With that, Melody ended the video call and immediately blocked the number. Only after all that was done did she hand the phone back to Grace Sutton.

"Auntie, if you get any more calls or video chats from the Lancasters, just hang up. They have nothing to do with us, so don’t pay them any mind," Melody said to Grace.

"Okay, don’t you worry. That family seems very strange to me, too. It didn’t look like someone was dying; it was more like they were putting on a stage play. Their crying was so forced," Grace replied with a frown.

Melody sighed inwardly. ’Even my great-aunt could see they were acting. Yet in my past life, I was fooled by such a clumsy performance. I was so stupid. I was too desperate for a family’s affection, blinded by the so-called ties of blood.’

On the other side of the screen, Elaine stared in disbelief at the disconnected call. What had Melody just said? Did she just curse her own mother to die?

’I must have misheard her! Melody is my own daughter, how could she speak to me like that?’

Unwilling to give up, she tried calling back, only to find that Melody had already blocked the number.

"She... how could she say that to me!" Elaine said in disbelief. "I’m her biological mother!"

Robert Lancaster sat up in bed, his face grim. He had heard every single word Melody said. A wave of fury shot through him, making his head spin. He almost fainted for real.

Furious, Robert swept the vase from his bedside table to the floor. "Unfilial daughter!" he roared. "I’ll kill her!"

"Mom, Dad, don’t be angry. Now’s not the time for that." Simon was still relatively composed. Although he didn’t understand why Melody harbored such animosity toward the Lancasters, he was always rational. He knew the priority right now was to facilitate the marriage alliance with the Lawson family, not to get bogged down by Melody’s attitude toward her parents.

Simon had already come up with a plan. He continued, "Since we can’t get through to Melody, let’s change our approach. We’ll start with the people around her."

*

After Grace Sutton left, Albus, who had been napping in his cat bed, suddenly opened his eyes. He leaped into Melody’s arms and said excitedly:

[Host! Our Pink Diamond has been sold!]

Melody was startled. She immediately opened the shop interface. Sure enough, the Pink Diamond had been purchased.

Melody checked the delivery address: The Nimbus Hotel, the largest in the city center.

’Why would a hotel buy a diamond?’ Though puzzled, Melody quickly packed the item. Albus immediately manipulated the pocket dimension to ship it.

This was the biggest transaction in the history of The Arcadia Store. The girl and the cat stared nervously at the drone’s control screen.

After the drone flew over the hotel, Albus had it descend to a lower altitude. A group of hotel security guards, who were already prepared, immediately stepped forward, took the package, and escorted it into the hotel.

Melody waited anxiously. An hour later, the buyer confirmed the transaction, and 100 million was deposited into her account.

"This is great!" Melody and Albus hugged each other joyfully. They had easily hit their first major milestone. This was so much easier than selling crops. It was a huge step toward unlocking a new map!

*

Spurred on by the success of the Pink Diamond, Melody threw herself into mining with even more vigor. She didn’t leave the villa for several days in a row, hiding in her pocket dimension and digging away. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found any more diamond veins recently, just mostly iron and silver ore.

As Melody was mining diligently, the phone in her pocket suddenly rang. She pulled it out and saw it was a call from her uncle, Colin Summers.

Melody answered at once. Colin’s flustered voice came through the receiver. "Melody, a few men just came to the supermarket. The one in the lead claimed to be the CEO of the Lancaster Group. He’s demanding eight million in compensation from us. What should we do?"

"What!?" Melody’s heart sank. Her grip on the pickaxe in her hand tightened. ’Simon Lancaster again!’

*

「One hour ago, at Crystal Mart.」

"How can you be out of pickled vegetables?" a customer in a yellow T-shirt asked, annoyed.

"The manufacturer is out of stock. They officially ran out yesterday," Finn Lynch replied.

"I bought the last bag yesterday. I was groaning about how expensive it was at over 200 per bag, but now I think it was totally worth it," another customer chimed in happily.

"We rely on those pickled vegetables for our salt intake. If they’re out, what are we supposed to eat?" the customer in the yellow T-shirt complained with a frown.

Finn Lynch hurried to reassure him. "We still have plenty of table salt! The salt inventory is very high, we won’t run out for years."

"Fine, I guess that’ll have to do." The customer in the yellow T-shirt reluctantly grabbed a bag of salt and went to check out.

Just then, four or five men in black suits walked into the supermarket. They were all new faces. Officer Tristan Tanner, who was standing guard nearby, immediately grew vigilant.

The man in the lead was Simon Lancaster. He walked straight up to Winnie Summers and said, "Ms. Summers, hello. We’re from the Lancaster Group."

Winnie was stunned for a moment, then her expression immediately darkened. She frowned and asked, "What do you want?"

At that moment, Officer Tanner also approached. He said to Simon and his men, "You’re not residents of this community, are you? Don’t disrupt the normal operation of the supply point. If you have business, please take it to the emergency office next door."

With that, Officer Tanner escorted Simon’s group and Winnie Summers to the adjacent emergency office.

Sensing trouble, Colin Summers quickly took out his phone and called Melody.

Under Winnie’s puzzled gaze, Simon took a document from his briefcase and said to her, "This is the transfer agreement for the Mount Anworth contract that we signed previously. This agreement did not follow proper procedures, so the Lancaster Group considers it invalid. We transferred a total of 6.4 million to the Summers Family at the time. We now expect you to return 8 million, including principal and interest. Otherwise, we will consider legal action."

At the time, to get the money to Melody quickly, the funds had been transferred from Robert’s personal account instead of going through corporate channels, which was against regulations.

Simon glanced over Winnie’s attire. She was dressed plainly in a simple T-shirt and long pants. Not only was she not wearing any luxury items, she didn’t have a single piece of jewelry on.

A trace of contempt flickered in Simon’s eyes. ’It seems the Summers Family spent all of that 6.4 million on their villa.’

’Unless they sell the villa they’re living in now, there’s no way they can pay back this 8 million.’

At this thought, Simon’s confidence surged.

He continued, "But rest assured, the Lancaster Family is not unreasonable. Melody is our biological daughter, after all. If you can’t produce the 8 million, the Lancaster Group can offer you a second option."

As Winnie watched him warily, Simon said in a low voice, "Have Melody Summers return to the Lancaster family, cooperate by changing her name to Melody Lancaster, and marry the Lawson family’s third son as soon as possible. After the wedding, she is to stay with her husband’s family and be a dutiful wife and mother. As long as she stays put with the Lawsons and doesn’t cause any trouble, we will drop the matter of this 8 million debt."