Chapter 96: The Karma is Settled

The Summers family frowned. The Sterlings again?

Melody Summers asked, "Is she with three men—old and young?"

The staff member paused, then shook his head. "No, she’s by herself."

The Summers family discussed it for a moment, and finally, Miss Lowell said, "Then let her come up."

Ruby Willow waited anxiously in the lobby of the Nimbus Hotel. The air conditioning was on full blast, and she was dressed too lightly. The cold air made her shiver.

She surreptitiously watched the people entering and leaving the hotel, noticing they were all dressed cleanly and neatly, with their hair combed immaculately.

Ruby Willow looked at her own clothes, which she hadn’t washed in months, and the dark dirt caked on her arms. Feeling self-conscious, she shrank into a corner, hoping her smell wouldn’t affect anyone else.

A hotel employee then walked over to her. "Miss Willow, the occupants of Room 3602 would like you to come up. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you there."

Ruby Willow followed the employee to 36-02, her heart pounding the entire way. As soon as the door opened, she found Miss Lowell and the Summers family sitting in the living room, all watching her.

Melody Summers welcomed Ruby Willow in and pointed to an armchair in the living room. "Please, sit."

Then, Melody Summers gestured toward Miss Lowell and said, "This is Miss Lowell. You can say what you came to say."

Ruby Willow didn’t sit. She was afraid her dirty clothes would stain the sofa.

She remained standing there awkwardly, her head lowered. Looking at Miss Lowell, she whispered, "Ma... Last night, Dad and Regan... they’re gone. Theo... Theo is gone, too."

Miss Lowell and the Summers family were all stunned. Melody Summers immediately pressed, "All of them are gone? How could that be? What happened?"

Sobbing quietly, Ruby Willow recounted what they had gone through the previous day.

Seeing that Mr. Sterling was suffering from heatstroke, the group was hurrying home, pushing his cot. They had just reached a dark alley on the street behind the hotel when a group of masked robbers appeared.

Before Regan Sterling and the others could react, the robbers had already surrounded them.

Seeing that Regan Sterling was dressed relatively well, the robbers stopped them and demanded they hand over all their money.

Regan Sterling refused. He had just lost his job and needed that money to cover his family’s expenses.

Regan Sterling was nervously trying to negotiate with the robbers when, unexpectedly, the hot-tempered Theo Sterling lunged at one of them.

Theo Sterling had watched too many TV shows and was always imagining himself as some great martial arts hero. He was also used to beating Ruby Willow at home, so he believed himself to be an invincible fighter. He lunged forward, grabbed the robber’s leg, and opened his mouth to bite.

The robber, however, wasn’t about to spoil him like the Sterlings did. Before Theo’s teeth even made contact with the robber’s leg, the man quickly lifted his other foot and viciously kicked Theo in the head, knocking his face askew.

Theo Sterling cried out in pain and instinctively let go of the robber’s leg, his mouth opening to let out a howl.

But the robber didn’t give him the chance. He launched a flying kick that sent Theo Sterling flying.

This robber was a hardened street fighter, and he had used his full strength in that kick. Theo Sterling’s portly body was sent flying, and the back of his head slammed hard against a rock when he landed.

Theo Sterling’s body twitched a few times, and then he was still.

Seeing his son get hit, Regan Sterling lost his cool. He rushed forward in a panic, yelling at the robbers, "You dare hit my son! I’ll fight you to the death!"

When the robber saw Regan Sterling charge at him, he didn’t say a word. He just pulled out a knife and plunged it—steady, precise, and ruthless—into Regan’s chest.

Regan Sterling looked at the knife in his chest in disbelief. He had never thought these robbers would actually dare to kill. He stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground, lifeless.

Seeing his son and grandson meet their end one after the other, Mr. Sterling panicked. Coupled with his pre-existing heatstroke, he let out a few agonized wails, sprayed blood from his mouth and nose, and then also fell silent.

Seeing the scene, the robbers simply pulled the wallet from Regan Sterling’s pocket and left.

Ruby Willow stood frozen in place, not daring to move. It wasn’t until the robbers were long gone that she finally, trembling, ran out to call the police.

The police helped Ruby Willow handle the bodies of the three family members, took her statement, and told her to go home and wait for updates.

Ruby Willow walked home in a daze. Looking at the empty room, she was lost and bewildered, unsure of what to do next.

Then she suddenly thought of her mother-in-law in name, Miss Lowell. ’No matter what,’ Ruby Willow thought, ’I have to tell Miss Lowell that my husband and son are gone.’ And so, she came to the Nimbus Hotel.

After hearing Ruby Willow’s account, the Summers family was silent for a long time. They never imagined that the people who had been throwing a tantrum at their door just a few days ago would so suddenly lose their lives.

After a while, Miss Lowell asked Ruby Willow, "What are your plans now?"

Hearing this, Ruby Willow murmured, "I... I don’t know... I don’t know where to go, or what I’ll do now."

Ruby Willow had spent half her life revolving around the three Sterling men. Now that they were all gone, she suddenly had no idea how to live.

Seeing her lost and broken expression, Miss Lowell sighed and said, "I don’t want anything from the Sterling family. It’s all yours now. Whether you want to remarry or live by yourself, it’s up to you. Times are tough right now. If your own family is dependable, you should go back to them."

Ruby Willow opened her mouth, but she didn’t know what to say.

Melody Summers glanced at her clothes, then took out her own bathrobe and offered it to her. "The room has a bathroom. You should go take a shower and change."

Ruby Willow was desperate for a shower. The water supply in her neighborhood was unreliable, sometimes only running once every 48 hours. She took the bathrobe and nodded at Melody Summers repeatedly, thanking her profusely.

Melody Summers led Ruby Willow to the bathroom and closed the door for her.

Melody Summers returned to the living room to find her family consoling Miss Lowell.

"Everyone has their own destiny. Don’t dwell on it," Melody’s grandmother said, patting Miss Lowell’s hand.

Miss Lowell actually smiled and replied, "I’m fine. After hearing what happened, I feel like the karma of this lifetime has been settled. I feel relieved, actually. It’s just..."

Miss Lowell glanced toward the bathroom, sighed, and continued, "It’s just... she’s a pitiful soul, too."

Melody Summers nodded silently in agreement. She remembered seeing Mr. Sterling on the cot the other day. Although he had been paralyzed for years, he wasn’t emaciated like other bedridden patients. It was obvious he had been well-cared for all this time.

The three generations of Sterling men were all plump, one more so than the next. Theo Sterling, in particular, was built like a sturdy young bull. But Ruby Willow was so thin she was practically a skeleton. It was clear the Sterling men had been bleeding her dry.

Grace Sutton sighed as well. "In times like these, it won’t be easy for a woman to survive on her own."

Ruby Willow spent a long time alone in the bathroom, washing and thinking.

She stood under the shower, thinking back on the first half of her life. It suddenly felt like a nightmare, and now that she had woken up, she could no longer find the young girl who once held so much hope of starting a family of her own.

When she came out, she felt incomparably clean and peaceful, both in body and mind.

There was some food on the dining table. When Melody Summers saw Ruby Willow come out, she handed her a bowl of porridge and two buns. Ruby hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a long time. She took them and wolfed them down.

Once she had finished eating, Miss Lowell asked, "Do you have any plans for the future?"

"I’ve thought about it," Ruby Willow replied softly, wiping her mouth. "I still have some savings. I’m going to sell my current apartment for a low price, take the money, and go back to my parents’ home. They live in Jaspen."

Ruby Willow gave a bitter smile and continued, "They always advised me against the marriage, but I was obstinate. I let them down. Now, I just want to ask for their forgiveness and live with them in peace. When this disaster is over, I’ll go out and find a job—as a nanny or a caregiver—and support myself."

’Jaspen?’ Melody Summers’s eyelid twitched. She remembered that in her previous life, that place had been one of the hardest-hit areas during the floods.

Melody Summers thought for a moment before trying to persuade her, "The supply of resources is more stable in the city than in the countryside. Besides, you won’t get much money for the apartment right now. Why not bring your parents to the city to live instead? You still have some savings, so you won’t have to worry about utilities for now. The government is also handing out sand vine cakes every day based on population. It will be difficult, but at least you won’t starve."

Ruby Willow listened earnestly, then nodded at Melody Summers to thank her.

Soon, her clothes in the dryer were done. Ruby Willow changed back into her own clothes, and then put the bathrobe she had used into the wash. Afterward, she bid farewell to the Summers family and Miss Lowell. "Thank you for everything. I’ll be leaving now."

Melody Summers saw how hot it was outside, so she escorted Ruby Willow downstairs. She gave the front desk a tip and had them arrange for a car to take Ruby home.

Ruby Willow was unable to refuse and could only thank Melody Summers over and over again.

After seeing Ruby Willow off, Melody Summers was about to head back upstairs to her room when she saw a group of people walking into the hotel lobby.

At the center of the crowd was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his fifties, with a potbelly. He was smiling and chatting with the person beside him, but for some reason, his expression carried a menacing aura.

Melody Summers froze. That man... She’d recognize him even if he were burned to ash!

In her past life, she had dragged this man to hell with her...