Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse novel Chapter 90

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Uninvited Guests

Melody Summers lowered her gaze slightly. ’How could Silas Lancaster possibly know about this?’

But her expression remained impassive. She feigned confusion and asked, "Hugh Hayes? Who’s Hugh Hayes? If someone’s missing, you should be reporting it to the police. What good is asking me?"

Silas Lancaster stared intently at Melody Summers, searching her face for any crack in her composure, but he found nothing.

Melody’s expression was calm. Her eyes were clear, without a trace of panic in their depths.

Colin Summers and the others watched Silas Lancaster warily, afraid he might suddenly lunge forward and hurt Melody.

But Silas simply stood there watching Melody in silence for a moment before turning and leaving.

After the two of them left, the Summers Family and the Dunn mother-daughter duo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Grace Sutton said with some disgust, "We came out to enjoy an art exhibition, and we had to run into those two. What rotten luck!"

Colin Summers nodded in agreement. "That mother and son are both so creepy. Did you see the look in that kid’s eyes? You could tell he was up to no good!"

Miss Dunn was starting to put things together. Although she didn’t know the Lancasters personally, she’d heard some high-society gossip. She asked curiously, "Were those people from the Lancaster Family? The family that had their baby switched at birth? So you’re the family whose daughter was swapped with the Lancasters?"

"No, no, that girl of theirs, Sylvia Lancaster, isn’t our child," Grace Sutton quickly explained. "Melody was found on the roadside by my older sister. As for the adopted daughter they have now, who knows where she came from!"

Hearing this, the elder Mrs. Dunn, who was standing nearby, looked puzzled. "A wealthy family like the Lancasters? They give birth in private hospitals with dedicated medical staff and nannies. How could they possibly mix up their own daughter?"

Miss Dunn thought for a moment and added, "And even if it was an accidental switch, anyone who can afford to give birth in a private hospital like that must be well-off. Why would they abandon the baby on the roadside?"

Miss Lowell had wondered about this before too, but too much time had passed. It all happened twenty years ago, and there was no way to verify anything now.

Besides, it wasn’t their place to investigate. The Lancasters themselves couldn’t be bothered to look into it, so what more could anyone else say?

Miss Dunn, her mind racing, whispered to the others, "I’ve heard stories about these rich families. You know, where the chauffeur or a servant secretly swaps their own baby with the lady of the house’s child. Then, not wanting to raise another kid, they abandon the real heiress. Do you think maybe..."

Melody Summers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that. She replied, "Miss Dunn, I didn’t realize you were such a fan of TV dramas."

The group chatted and laughed, their spirits lifted, and they resumed their tour of the art exhibition.

Melody’s eyes were also drawn to the ancient painting that Elaine Hughes had been admiring for so long. She looked up at it for a few moments, surprised.

She recognized it as one of the heirloom paintings from Elaine’s family. The Hughes Family was a scholarly one, and these ancient paintings were practically their lifeblood. She never thought Elaine would take it out and sell it.

Melody could only sigh. ’Like mother, like daughter.’ Sylvia Lancaster and Elaine Hughes were truly a pair. One sold her maternal grandmother’s heirloom jewelry, the other sold her paternal grandfather’s heirloom calligraphy and paintings.

Melody couldn’t wait to see the look on the Lancaster Family’s faces when their day of reckoning came early next year.

*

The next morning, Melody Summers picked up her phone to check the group chat messages, wondering if the wildfire had been extinguished.

As soon as she opened the chat, she saw a series of videos, all filmed by residents on the upper floors of the complex.

Melody tapped on a video. The screen was pitch black; it must have been filmed last night.

There were no lights anywhere, just darkness, except for the wildfire in the distance, which blazed with an unnatural brightness, illuminating the night sky like a fiery dragon.

The flames devoured everything in their path, a nightmare from hell bringing danger and disaster to the world.

Another video was from this morning. The distant sky was filled with billowing black smoke. The smoke coiled into the air like a black dragon, nearly swallowing the blue sky whole.

Melody’s heart sank. The fire had been burning for a full day and night and still wasn’t out.

"4-1209 Slacking Off: How is it not out yet? Is it because of the water shortage? I’m getting really scared."

"2-1908 Coco: It’s not about the water. Wildfires are just hard to extinguish, especially with so many trees. Once they start, they’re uncontrollable."

"4-2009 Nina: Yeah, I heard it’s because the high temperatures and drought have been going on for over half a year. A lot of the trees are dried out, so they catch fire really easily. It’s impossible to put out."

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