Chapter 222: Thank You for Taking the Hit

Lily Adler forced a smile. "Miss Lancaster, I know you feel wronged. If there’s any compensation you want, please, just ask. Money is no object. I just hope you can let go of your hard feelings and not hate Sylvia."

But Melody Summers shook her head. "That won’t be necessary. I don’t feel wronged at all. Thanks to you, I met my current family. You might not believe it, but I’m actually doing very well."

Then, Melody’s smile took on a taunting edge. Staring into Lily Adler’s eyes, she continued, "Actually, I should thank you. If you hadn’t swapped your daughter with me, I might have been the one forced to marry Ethan Sutton and tormented until I miscarried."

Hearing this, the smile on Lily Adler’s face finally vanished. In a rare display, her expression turned cold, and she stared at Melody Summers in silence.

The hellish year Sylvia Lancaster had just endured was a constant thorn in Lily Adler’s side. The thought of her own daughter being tormented to the point of a miscarriage and massive blood loss was heart-wrenching.

Seeing Lily Adler’s face turn cold, Melody Summers continued cheerfully, "Lily Adler, I have to thank you for using your daughter to suffer in my stead. I’m not the one who was pushed into an arranged marriage. I’m not the one who was tormented to the point of a miscarriage and massive blood loss. I’m not the one who was kicked out by both her birth family and her in-laws. So you tell me, what do I have to feel wronged about?"

Lily Adler was speechless. Her face ashen, she could only stare at Melody Summers. It’s one thing to kill the body, but another to crush the spirit. Melody’s words were like sharp blades, riddling Lily’s heart with a thousand wounds in an instant.

Lily Adler could only clench her fists to restrain her emotions, oblivious to her nails digging deep into her palms.

Melody Summers watched Lily Adler’s expression and twisted the knife. "Lily Adler, you see, fate has a way of balancing the scales. What you stole for your daughter, she eventually had to pay back in full. Everything she went through later—isn’t that just heaven’s retribution for you and your daughter?"

"But I’m sure it’s not over yet. The real karma for you two is still to come."

Lily Adler’s face twitched. She secretly ground her molars, a sudden wave of regret washing over her. ’I should have strangled her to death before I abandoned her.’

Just then, Sylvia Lancaster suddenly spoke up. "Melody Summers! That’s enough!"

Melody Summers heard her and looked up at Sylvia Lancaster, utterly exasperated.

Sylvia Lancaster glared at Melody Summers, mortified and furious. Melody’s words had been like a series of loud slaps across her face. "Melody Summers," she fumed, "all that stuff from the past... do you have to keep harping on it?! You’re doing so well now, and my life is a mess. Why do you still care about the swap?!"

Sylvia Lancaster’s tone became frantic. "Are you still mad that I stole your family? I have my own mom and dad now! The Lancasters—I’ll give them all back to you! Is that good enough for you?!"

Looking at the rims of Sylvia Lancaster’s eyes, slightly red from shame and anger, Melody Summers suddenly felt a wave of boredom wash over her.

’This Sylvia Lancaster isn’t the same one from my past life, after all.’ Melody suddenly felt that the current Sylvia wasn’t even worth her time.

The Hayes Family was on the brink of ruin. When the nest is overturned, can any eggs remain intact? What kind of good life could Sylvia Lancaster possibly have then?

At this thought, Melody Summers smiled and said, "I don’t take in trash. Besides, I never wanted the Lancasters in the first place. Sylvia Lancaster, Lily Adler, you two usurped what wasn’t yours. You deserve the retribution you’re getting."

Melody Summers took a few more steps forward. As Sylvia Lancaster watched with a hint of panic in her eyes, Melody whispered to the mother-daughter duo, "I’m sure there’s more retribution coming for you two. So don’t waste your time on me. Hurry up and enjoy what you have now."

"You!" Enraged, Sylvia Lancaster raised her hand to strike Melody Summers.

But the moment she raised her hand, Melody Summers caught it.

Holding Sylvia Lancaster’s wrist with one hand, Melody Summers raised her other hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"Ah!" Sylvia Lancaster cried out, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Melody Summers. "You dare hit me? I’m the second young miss of the Hayes Family!"

Lily Adler also rushed forward anxiously. "How could you hit someone! I’m calling security!"

Melody Summers sneered, flung Sylvia Lancaster’s arm away, and then reached out to grab Lily Adler by the hair.

As Lily Adler stared in panic, Melody Summers leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Lily Adler, control your daughter and wait obediently for your karma. That way, you might live a few more days. If you bother me again, I’ll personally send you to hell ahead of schedule."

With that, Melody Summers ignored them both and turned to leave.

Watching Melody Summers’s retreating figure, Sylvia Lancaster clutched her stinging cheek, her face pale. "Mom... what do we do? Does she still want to hurt me?"

With a dark expression, Lily Adler straightened her hair, her gaze fixed on the direction Melody Summers had gone.

Then, she gently patted Sylvia Lancaster’s hand and comforted her, "Sweetheart, don’t be afraid. Don’t worry, Mommy will take care of her..."

******

Ignoring the venomous glares from the mother and daughter behind her, Melody Summers walked over to Nina Summers and led her back into the ballroom.

As soon as Nina Summers stepped into the ballroom, she nervously clung to Melody Summers’s arm.

After making such a fool of herself in the ballroom earlier, Nina Summers was terrified of the strange looks she might get from the other guests.

Melody Summers sighed helplessly at this but let Nina cling to her as she led her back to their table.

Sophie Thorne breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Melody Summers return. "You’re finally back! Who was that guy earlier? Do you know him?"

Then she noticed Nina Summers behind Melody and paused, looking at Melody with a questioning gaze. "And this is?"

Zane Simmons also noticed that Melody Summers had brought back a little "tail." His eyes lit up, and he asked with great interest, "Well now, you brought back another beauty. And who might this lovely lady be?"

Melody Summers gave a simple introduction. "This is my cousin... my uncle’s daughter."

Zane Simmons nodded in understanding. Then he asked with a grin, "Ah, a cousin! And what’s our little cousin’s name?"

Nina Summers looked up uncomfortably and answered Zane Simmons in a small voice, "My name is Nina Summers."

Melody Summers froze when she heard the name. ’Nina Summers?’

’Caleb Summers actually changed her surname...’

Melody Summers frowned. ’Caleb Summers’s methods are just too shameless.’

’Caleb Summers is a man who married into the family to get ahead, and the first thing he does after his wife dies is fight for the right to give his daughter his own surname. What an ungrateful bastard.’

Melody Summers sighed internally, then turned to Sophie Thorne and whispered a few words about what had just happened.

After speaking, Nina Summers silently lowered her head and said no more, shrinking into her seat like a little quail.

Zane Simmons found it interesting that although Nina Summers and Melody Summers were cousins, their personalities were complete opposites. He was intrigued and wanted to tease her a bit more.

Seeing this, Joanne White, who was sitting nearby, pursed her lips in displeasure, trying to think of a way to draw Zane Simmons’s attention away from Nina Summers.

But just then, a few people walked up to her side—

Zara Walsh pulled out the chair next to Joanne White and sat down gracefully.

Zara Walsh was wearing a dark red formal dress today, her long, wavy hair draped over her shoulders like a fiery, blooming red rose. She gave Joanne White and Lucy White a scrutinizing glance, the corner of her mouth curling into a disdainful sneer.

Then, she looked up and flashed a dazzling, flirtatious smile at Zane Simmons. "Hi, Zane Simmons. It’s been a while!"

Zane Simmons stiffened at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t expected to run into Zara Walsh even while hiding in a corner. He could only turn his head slowly, nod at her, and reply, "Miss Walsh, long time no see."