Chapter 305: Every Man for Himself

The moment Officer Sean Pierce finished speaking, Mrs. Sutton’s head snapped up.

’Expelled from the community?’

’Absolutely not!’

Waving her hands frantically, she said anxiously, "Leave the community? No, no, Officer, we can’t leave! That punishment is too severe!"

Mr. Sutton quickly added, "Officer, we know we were wrong! Since this is our first offense, please, we beg you to be lenient!"

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had lost all of their former upper-class arrogance. Melody Summers watched their flustered state with a cool gaze. ’It seems,’ she thought, ’that even people who once held high positions can’t stay stubborn when facing a conviction and sentencing. They can only bow their heads and beg for mercy.’

Unmoved by Mr. and Mrs. Sutton’s pleas, Officer Pierce said in a deep voice, "Begging me is useless. I’m not the victim of your misdeeds. As I just said, your only way out now is to obtain the victim’s forgiveness!"

His words snapped Mr. and Mrs. Sutton back to their senses. They turned to look at Melody Summers, who was standing to the side.

They couldn’t leave The Metropolis Residences, no matter what! All their previous reluctance vanished. They began to swallow their pride and apologize to Melody Summers.

Mrs. Sutton bit her lip and spoke to Melody Summers in a fawning tone, "We really know we were wrong this time. We promise we’ll never do anything like this again. Please, just forgive us!"

Mr. Sutton, who had always held his head high with pride, now lowered it. He said to Melody Summers with some embarrassment, "Rest assured, we will compensate you for the fright you’ve endured... You can ask for whatever compensation you want. As long as we can provide it, we’ll do our best to satisfy you."

Watching Mr. and Mrs. Sutton bow their heads to Melody Summers, Ivan Warren viciously pinched the soft flesh on Maisie Lynch’s body, signaling for her to go forward and apologize.

But this time, Maisie Lynch uncharacteristically ignored Ivan Warren. Her face was ashen as she kept her head down, remaining silent.

Ivan Warren was about to lose his mind. If the police weren’t there, he would have slapped Maisie Lynch hard across the face! ’That bitch! Is this really the time to be throwing a tantrum?!’

Seeing how the situation was unfolding, Melody Summers knew that Officer Pierce was helping her.

In the end, all Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had done was hire Maisie Lynch to put on a show in an attempt to frame Melody Summers, but they hadn’t succeeded.

Although their methods were despicable, they hadn’t actually harmed Melody Summers’ interests, nor had they endangered the lives or property of anyone else. It wasn’t enough to warrant expulsion from the community.

Officer Pierce was deliberately making the situation sound severe to force them to bow to Melody Summers and let her set the terms.

’Sure enough, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton’s apology is far more sincere now than it was before!’

After savoring the subservient expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Sutton’s faces, Melody Summers spoke slowly under their anxious gazes. "When you were plotting to frame me, you said you wanted me to pay six figures in compensation, right?"

"In that case, you can compensate me with seven figures... I want five million!"

Upon hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton nearly coughed up blood!

Five million!

’Isn’t this highway robbery?!’

Before they could speak, they heard Melody Summers continue, "However, I don’t want the money. I want you to convert it into supplies of an equivalent value and donate them to the community’s property management center. They can then distribute the supplies to the residents according to their needs!"

Melody Summers didn’t actually want the five million. First of all, to the current her, that amount was a drop in the bucket. A mere five million? She could get that just by mining, farming, and harvesting honeycombs in her space.

Secondly, Melody Summers felt that the four people in front of her were rotten to the core. If one of them couldn’t keep their mouth shut and spread the word that resident 1606 had received a huge five-million-dollar compensation, she might attract unwanted attention from opportunistic people, which would be a hassle.

So, Melody Summers chose to have Mr. and Mrs. Sutton donate supplies. This way, she could benefit the community, make them pay a price, and teach them a lesson not to provoke her again.

Melody Summers looked at the ugly expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Sutton’s faces, which made them look as if they’d swallowed a fly. She smiled and continued, "If you agree, I’ll forgive you. Agree or don’t agree—the choice is yours."

At that moment, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton’s faces were a kaleidoscope of colors, shifting between pale and ashen.

Before the cataclysm, five million was just the cost of a formal gown for the Sutton Family. But now, five million was a veritable fortune to them.

Melody Summers was practically demanding a pound of their flesh!

But Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had no other choice. They really couldn’t move out of The Metropolis Residences.

After all, Mr. Caelus had specifically instructed them that they must live here in The Metropolis Residences to avoid disaster.

So, Mr. Sutton gritted his teeth and said, "We agree... We agree!"

Melody Summers nodded in satisfaction.

Then she turned to Officer Pierce and said with a smile, "Officer Pierce, I’ll have to trouble your department to supervise their compliance!"

Officer Pierce nodded. He looked at Melody Summers with a kindly expression and marveled inwardly once again: ’Comrade Summers really has great character! Always thinking of others!’

The thought that someone would try to frame such a fine comrade made Officer Pierce’s gaze on Mr. and Mrs. Sutton grow even colder.

He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Sutton and said with a stern expression, "You two have three days to coordinate with the property management center and confirm the list of supplies. You have fourteen days to deliver five million worth of supplies to the center. Otherwise, we will continue to pursue criminal charges for your actions!"

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton nodded silently, looking like defeated roosters, their faces crestfallen and filled with despair.

Nearby, Ivan Warren’s legs went weak when he heard this.

’Mr. and Mrs. Sutton can come up with five million, but what about him and Maisie Lynch? They might not even be able to scrape together five hundred thousand!’

’What am I going to do?!’

’Will Melody Summers make me sell my apartment to pay up?!’

At this thought, Ivan Warren panicked and gave Maisie Lynch a vicious shove, pushing her forward!

Caught completely off guard, Maisie Lynch stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Officer Tanner frowned, strode forward, and grabbed Ivan Warren’s arm. "What do you think you’re doing!" he snapped. "Are you going to assault someone right in front of the police? Believe me, I can have you thrown out of The Metropolis Residences right now!"

Assaulting someone and endangering their physical safety was far more serious than staging a false accusation. This crime was grounds for immediate expulsion from the community!

Officer Tanner had long since taken a dislike to Ivan Warren. If he weren’t a police officer who had to act fairly and impartially, he would have loved to throw this abuser out himself!

With his arm held by Officer Tanner, Ivan Warren quickly begged for mercy, "Officer, you’ve misunderstood! I wasn’t trying to hit her! I was... I was righteously turning on my own family for the sake of justice!"

He then pointed at Maisie Lynch with his other hand and declared, "This woman, she did something wrong and refuses to admit it! It’s outrageous! You should expel her from the community!"

Ivan Warren was now desperate to distance himself from Maisie Lynch and didn’t care about anything else. The words came tumbling out like spilled beans: "Actually, we’re just boyfriend and girlfriend! We’re not legally registered, so we’re not a married couple!"

"The apartment is mine alone! I was kind enough to let her live with me, but I never expected she would do something like this to a neighbor!"

"Officer, I had no idea she was this kind of woman! I’m innocent! I can’t come up with five million! If you’re going to punish someone, punish her! Let me go!"