Chapter 339: The Last Straw

In other words, the message Melody Summers sent yesterday was what allowed Paige Walsh to catch her husband cheating.

Reading this, Melody Summers stared at her phone, dumbfounded.

’Oh my God,’ she thought. ’Could it be... I’m the real reason Joanne White had a miscarriage?!...’

Then, Melody Summers shook her head, pushing the thought from her mind...

’What does it have to do with me? Joanne White brought this all on herself...’

Paige Walsh was an incredibly intelligent woman. The moment she saw Bernard Simmons and Elaine Hughes tangled up on her bed, she immediately realized her allergic reaction had been no accident!

Her husband had deliberately fed her something she was allergic to just so he could have a tryst with his mistress in her room.

What an utter humiliation!

This showed that, deep down, Bernard Simmons had never seen her as an equal.

Paige Walsh could tolerate Bernard Simmons having affairs and just maintain the facade of a marriage, but she could not tolerate him refusing to see her as an equal.

The straw that broke the camel’s back wasn’t the lack of love, but the lack of respect.

Previously, Paige Walsh had managed to preserve her marriage to Bernard Simmons—which existed in name only—for the sake of their son and mutual interests.

But now, she couldn’t keep it up any longer.

After sending everyone away, Paige Walsh stood alone in that nauseating room, thinking and hesitating for a long time.

She wasn’t hesitating over whether or not to get a divorce.

She was hesitating over whether to get a divorce or become a widow.

In her lab, Paige Walsh had several new toxins whose existence was unknown to the outside world. These toxins could kill a person silently and were completely undetectable by current autopsy methods. The death would simply be ruled as a sudden heart attack.

Paige Walsh thought for a long time, debating whether to use these toxins to dispatch Bernard Simmons and personally put an end to his filthy life.

’But,’ she thought, ’I was just awarded a national medal. I have a great life ahead of me. I can’t throw away the rest of my life over an animal like Bernard Simmons.’

After all, when the police investigated a case, if a husband or wife died, the surviving spouse was always the prime suspect.

Paige Walsh didn’t dare take that gamble.

So, she decided to divorce Bernard Simmons.

In her message, Paige Walsh said that Melody Summers’s text had indirectly helped her, allowing her to make up her mind and end this nauseating marriage.

Many more messages followed. It was as if Paige Walsh had no one else to confide in; she treated her chat window with Melody Summers like a confessional, sending one message after another.

Each one detailed her emotional journey through this failed marriage.

Paige Walsh didn’t mention the issues that ordinary couples struggled with—money problems, in-law relationships, not spending enough time together, petty conflicts, or cheating...

Instead, she spoke continuously about the lack of equal respect she received in her marriage.

To carry on an affair by adding an allergen to his wife’s food—Bernard Simmons’s actions were utterly absurd and laughable.

Bernard Simmons would never dare treat his superiors this way, or even his peers in the business world.

But he dared to treat his own wife like this, even though Paige Walsh’s current social standing was no lower than his.

Paige Walsh said it seemed that no matter how much she achieved, as soon as she entered into a marriage, she suddenly became an inferior in her husband’s eyes, unable to receive equal respect.

Beyond that, Paige Walsh sent so many other messages, you could probably publish a paper if you organized them all.

After patiently reading through all of Paige Walsh’s messages, Melody Summers felt very conflicted.

’The moment he cheated, any so-called equal respect was already gone,’ she thought. ’What’s the point of saying so much about it now?...’

Melody Summers truly had no idea how to respond to the sixty-plus messages. After wracking her brain, she could only reply: Congrats on the divorce... Happy divorce!

After putting down her phone, Melody Summers sighed.

’Marriage is such a terrifying thing,’ she thought. ’My mother, Winnie Summers, had an unhappy marriage, too... Thankfully, ever since she got divorced, life has gotten better and better for both of us.’

’I hope things get better and better for Paige Walsh in the future, too...’

Just then, a knock suddenly came from the door. Melody Summers quickly got up from the sofa and ran to check.

The figure of Mrs. Vance was clearly visible through the peephole.

Melody Summers opened the door and asked, "Mrs. Vance, what can I do for you?"

Mrs. Vance was holding two down jackets and a wool coat. Seeing Melody Summers open the door, she said with a cheerful smile, "Miss Summers, do you have any clothes or blankets that need washing? It just so happens to be snowing outside, so I can take them out and wash them for you!"

Hearing this, Melody Summers asked, "Take them out to wash? But it’s snowing right now. Mrs. Vance, are you going to wash the clothes with snow?"

Mrs. Vance nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, that’s right! Wash them with snow! Sigh, we’ve had this water shortage for over a year now. My clothes and blankets haven’t been washed in ages. It’s finally snowing!"

"Miss Summers, don’t you worry. You can wash clothes with dry snow. Before there were dry cleaners, this is how we used to dry clean things. I have experience! Just give me anything that needs washing, and I guarantee I’ll get it spotless for you!"

Mrs. Vance was now singularly focused on repaying Melody Summers’s kindness. She couldn’t help with other things, but she could certainly manage washing some clothes and blankets.

Melody Summers shook her head in response. "That’s not necessary, Mrs. Vance. We don’t have anything that needs washing right now. It’s too cold outside, you shouldn’t go out! It wouldn’t be worth it to get frostbite just for some laundry."

What Melody Summers couldn’t say out loud was that after this blizzard, there would be continuous rain and floods. If things went as expected, there would be no more water shortages... It was completely unnecessary to wash clothes now. It would be better to hold out for a few more months. When the floods came, they could wash whatever they wanted, however they wanted.

The temperature outside was simply too low right now; a person could get frostbite after just a few minutes.

But Mrs. Vance brushed off her concern. "It’s fine, Miss Summers, don’t worry. As the old saying goes, it’s not the snowing that’s cold, but the melting! Today is the first day of snow, so it’s the warmest it’s going to be!"

Mrs. Vance knew as well that from today on, it would only get colder. So she had to take advantage of the day to wash everything she could and haul as much snow as possible back home to melt for water.

At this rate, if the temperature dropped again in a few days, the pipes might freeze and burst, and the water supply would become a huge problem. Melted snow might be dirty, but it was better than nothing!

Seeing that she couldn’t stop her, Melody Summers let Mrs. Vance go on her way.

As she watched Mrs. Vance leave, Melody Summers was just about to go back inside when, unexpectedly, the door to apartment 1602 opened and Maisie Lynch walked out.

In her left hand, Maisie Lynch held two stacked buckets; in her right, she clutched a basin to her chest, a blanket resting inside it.

It looked like she was also heading out to clean her blanket and collect snow.

Just then, Maisie Lynch saw Melody Summers as well.

The moment their eyes met, Maisie Lynch froze for a second.

Melody Summers, for her part, frowned slightly—she could see a distinct purplish bruise around Maisie Lynch’s eye and another at the corner of her mouth. She looked as if she had been beaten up.

’Could it be...’ Melody Summers thought. ’Did Ivan Warren fly into a rage over what happened at The Nimbus Hotel yesterday and take it all out on Maisie Lynch when he got home?’

’That Ivan Warren is a real animal!’

Seeing Melody Summers staring at her, Maisie Lynch was reminded of her own appearance.

She quickly turned to leave, not wanting Melody Summers to see her bruised face.

But after taking just two steps, she felt a surge of indignation.

So she spun around, faced Melody Summers, and demanded through clenched teeth, "Wh-what are you looking at?! I’m warning you, don’t you dare gloat!"

Melody Summers: "?"