Chapter 157: Extortion

After speaking, Holly Rhodes shrugged and said, "My dad says you shouldn’t corner a desperate dog. It’s best not to push Simon Lancaster too hard, so we’re not bringing up getting him fired for now. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to let him have an easy time of it."

Melody Summers sighed to herself. ’A girl with parents who protect her with all their heart is so lucky. She has so much more room to make mistakes than other people...’

Suddenly, Melody Summers thought of something else. Her brow furrowed slightly as she said, "Ms. Rhodes, the Lancasters are the type to hold grudges and forget favors, especially Simon Lancaster. Your father is being lenient with him, but he’s not likely to appreciate the gesture. It’s best for you and your family to be careful around him."

Seeing Holly Rhodes’s pensive expression, Melody Summers added with sincerity, "He may be powerless and without influence now, and he might not seem like much of a threat, but he’s an incredibly cunning person. If he gets an opportunity, the consequences will be unimaginable. No matter what, you must be careful."

Melody Summers had experienced Simon Lancaster’s tactics firsthand. ’On the surface, he’s a reserved, noble young gentleman, but inside, he’s despicable and vile. He’d even go so far as to have a nanny tamper with his food. Is that something a normal person would do?’

Holly Rhodes paused to think for a moment, then nodded solemnly. "I understand. Thank you, Miss Summers. Thank you for the warning."

Melody Summers smiled and shook her head. "You’re welcome. It was no trouble at all."

Looking at Melody Summers’s gentle smile, Holly Rhodes recalled how she had once considered her a crude country bumpkin, and she couldn’t help but feel ashamed. ’I shouldn’t have been so judgmental,’ she thought.

’So what if you’re poor? So what if you’re rich? A prestigious family like the Lancasters might look glamorous and distinguished on the outside, but aren’t they just hiding all sorts of filth and sordid secrets within?’

She pressed her lips together and looked at Melody Summers guiltily. "Miss Summers, I apologize for my previous ignorance. Thank you for helping me this time. If you need anything in the future, feel free to call me anytime. If there’s anything my family can do to help, we won’t hesitate."

Melody Summers was taken aback for a moment, then she nodded and thanked Holly Rhodes.

As they were about to part ways, Melody Summers hesitated before saying to Holly Rhodes, "Ms. Rhodes, there’s something I feel I have to tell you—the child Sylvia Lancaster is carrying isn’t actually Simon Lancaster’s."

Holly Rhodes froze for a second, then subconsciously blurted out, "So the baby is really her husband’s?"

But Melody Summers shook her head.

Holly was bewildered. ’The baby isn’t Simon Lancaster’s, and it’s not from the Sutton Family, so whose could it be?’

’Simon Lancaster dotes on his sister so much. How would he feel knowing she’s pregnant with another man’s child?’

Holly Rhodes couldn’t help but find it amusing, though she didn’t want to get involved.

Regardless of whether the baby was Simon Lancaster’s or not, just based on what he had said in Sylvia Lancaster’s room, Simon Lancaster was already completely irredeemable in Holly Rhodes’s eyes.

Still, Holly Rhodes was grateful to Melody Summers for telling her all this. ’If Simon Lancaster really had gotten his sister pregnant, the fact that I dated him for so long would be absolutely disgusting!’

*

On the way home from the Oceanus Hotel, Sophie Thorne teased from the driver’s seat, "Holly Rhodes really spared no expense this time. A lot of the thank-you gifts she gave you are limited-edition luxury items. Looks like she’s genuinely grateful."

Melody Summers’s mind was elsewhere. ’I didn’t run into any trouble at the Oceanus Hotel this time. Could it be that Hector Hayes hasn’t started his criminal scheme yet?’

’And what’s with all the recent kidnappings? When Grace Sutton and Joanna Dunn were abducted, I was already puzzled.’

’Why would kidnappers abduct Joanna Dunn’s bodyguard? The usual targets are women and children. What’s the point of taking a grown man...?’

The endless night, threatening to devour everything, had taken a toll on Melody Summers’s mood.

She remembered her past life. She had lived through this long night at the Lancaster estate, waking up each day to endless chores. She had nothing to eat but sand vine cakes and had to face the Lancasters’ indifference, mockery, and torment. She had despaired so many times that she’d wanted to kill herself...

Sophie Thorne’s voice pulled Melody Summers’s thoughts back to the present. Sophie chuckled and shook her head. "If a guy like Simon Lancaster ever managed to climb his way to the top, he would have devoured Holly Rhodes, leaving nothing but bones. The price she’d have to pay would be far greater than a few luxury goods."

Melody Summers just sighed and replied, "I have a feeling Simon Lancaster isn’t going to let this go..."

*

Just as they returned to The Metropolis Residences, Melody Summers noticed a large crowd gathered in the commercial district. Many security guards were rushing toward the residential area.

Someone shouted, "Quick, over at Building 6! Someone else jumped!"

Melody Summers and Sophie Thorne exchanged a look, each seeing the unease in the other’s eyes.

’Because of the long, oppressive darkness, quite a few people had jumped to their deaths in despair over the past few days. Has someone else committed suicide now?’

The two of them conferred for a moment and decided to drive over to see what was happening.

They followed the crowd and drove all the way to Building 6.

Melody Summers got out of the car and saw the crowd gathered in a circle at the base of the building. Someone in the throng shouted, "The woman is still breathing! Quick! Call an ambulance!"

Another person yelled back, "It’s no use calling an ambulance! With all the disasters happening lately, the medical system has practically collapsed. There are no beds available! Not unless you can get into one of those ridiculously expensive private hospitals!"

Melody Summers quickly squeezed through the crowd. On the ground lay a man and a woman; the man was pinned underneath the woman. According to the bystanders, the man was already gone, but the woman was still breathing faintly.

Melody Summers quickly shouted, "I have a car! Quick, get her into my car! I’ll take her to a private hospital!"

Hearing this, everyone scrambled to lift the barely-breathing young woman into the car.

Sophie Thorne was in the driver’s seat, Melody Summers held the young woman in the back, keeping her steady, and Officer Tate, who had rushed to the scene, sat in the passenger seat, ready to go with them.

Sophie drove as fast as she could, but Melody Summers could feel that the young woman in her arms wasn’t going to hold on for much longer.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, staining Melody’s clothes. Her breathing grew fainter, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.

Melody Summers gently pried open the young woman’s eyelids and saw that her pupils were starting to lose focus.

’The hospital is still at least ten minutes away. This isn’t going to work.’

Gritting her teeth, Melody Summers decided to take a long shot. She retrieved the "Far Sea Secret Medicine" she had dug up by the lake from her dimensional space.

She took a white pill from the porcelain vial and discreetly slipped it into the woman’s mouth, pushing it to the back of her tongue.

The woman swallowed the pill reflexively.

As Melody Summers waited anxiously, the woman’s faint breathing gradually grew stronger. She stopped spitting up blood, and color returned to her pale cheeks.

Seeing the woman’s heartbeat and breathing stabilize, Melody Summers thought, ’My gamble paid off. The medicine worked.’

Finally, ten minutes later, they arrived at the private hospital.

The three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the doctors and nurses rush the young woman into the emergency room.

Melody Summers and Sophie Thorne were both filled with questions. Melody asked Officer Tate, "Officer Tate, what exactly happened? Why did they fall?"

Officer Tate sighed and told them to check the group chat.

Only then did Melody Summers realize she had over 99 unread messages in the group chat.

Frowning, she scrolled through the messages from beginning to end, managing to piece together the sequence of events.

The young woman in the emergency room was the resident of 6-702. She was the one in the group chat with the username "The Lover," and her real name was Brianna White.

She had recently developed a fever and infection from inhaling volcanic ash. Unable to buy any antipyretics and with her high fever refusing to break, she had no choice but to ask for help in the group chat, hoping to borrow a single pill.

"Stagchaser" from 6-801, who lived in the same building, reached out and gave her a dose of fever reducer.

Brianna White took the medicine, and her fever broke.

She thought that would be the end of it, but unexpectedly, "Stagchaser"—the man who gave her the medicine—began to aggressively pursue her.

Brianna White was completely baffled. She wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, so she politely turned down Stagchaser’s advances.

After being rejected, Stagchaser flew into a rage and demanded that Brianna White pay him back for the medicine. He asked for 150,000!