With the matter of Frank York settled, Melody Summers finally had nothing left to worry about. The next morning, she and her family tidied up their two apartments, shut off the utilities, and covered the furniture with dust cloths. Then, the whole family moved back to the villa.
A light drizzle was still falling outside. Melody Summers silently pulled her raincoat tighter, trying to keep the rain from touching her skin.
In the square, quite a few parents were running in the rain with their children. In the landscaped medians, a few older men and women were braving the downpour to dig in the soil, seemingly sowing vegetable seeds.
It was a scene of burgeoning life.
The Summers family chatted and laughed as they walked back to the villa complex. But as they reached their front door, they were surprised to find a figure waiting for them—
The person was squatting at the Summers’ doorstep, hugging her knees. Her head was buried deep between them, and her body was curled into a ball, like a small, wounded animal.
Seeing this, the members of the Summers family exchanged uncertain glances.
’What’s going on now?’
Melody Summers couldn’t help but frown. ’Don’t tell me this is someone trying to pull a scam,’ she thought.
While the family stood there, confused and unsure of what to do, the person huddled by the door seemed to hear their footsteps and looked up.
The moment their eyes met, Melody Summers’s own eyes widened in surprise—
It was Nina Summers!
Melody Summers took a few quick steps toward Nina Summers and asked in astonishment, "What are you doing here?"
The Nina Summers before her was soaked to the bone, looking as if she had been in the rain for a very long time. Her cheeks were sunken, her lips were pale, and her face was drained of all color. Yet, the corners of her mouth and her cheekbones were covered in dark bruises. She looked absolutely wretched.
Seeing the bruises on Nina’s face, Melody Summers gasped. "What happened to you?" she asked, shocked. "Did someone beat you up?"
Nina Summers steadied herself against the wall and staggered to her feet. "Cousin," she said weakly, "you’re finally back... I’ve been waiting here for two days..."
Nina Summers had been waiting since yesterday. She’d spent the entire night sitting at the villa’s entrance in the pouring rain. The moment she saw Melody, she could no longer contain her pent-up grief. Her lip trembled, and she burst into tears with a loud "WAAAH!"
As Nina’s tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, Melody said quickly, "Don’t cry, don’t cry! Just tell me what happened."
Just then, Grace Sutton, Grandma, and the others came over.
Seeing how utterly distraught Nina was, Grace Sutton’s heart went out to her. "Oh, you poor child," she said gently. "You’re completely soaked. Stop crying now. Let’s get you inside first. We can talk about everything in there."
With that, they all helped Nina into the villa.
The villa had been thoroughly cleaned just a few days prior. The living room was spotless, the windows gleaming, and a faint scent of air freshener lingered in the air.
Nina had run all the way from the city center, and after being caught in the rain all night, she was dripping wet and filthy. She clutched her backpack to her chest and sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa, looking incredibly uncomfortable, as if terrified she would get it dirty.
No one rushed to question her. Instead, they boiled some water and prepared a cup of instant noodles for Nina.
Grace Sutton placed the instant noodles in front of Nina. "You must be starving after waiting outside all night," she said with a comforting smile. "We don’t have much else right now, so eat this to fill your stomach a bit."



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