Free Web NovelChapter 471: Chapter 471: A Plan Takes Shape
Hearing this, Grace Sutton leaned over curiously. "An IOU? What IOU? Did someone give you an IOU?"
Melody Summers hesitated for a moment, then told Grace Sutton what had happened in the hallway earlier.
When she learned that the father-son duo, Cameron and Clark Summers, had gambled away thousands of pounds of supplies, Grace Sutton’s anger instantly flared.
She slapped her thigh and cursed, "Damn them! That good-for-nothing Cameron! That father and son duo racked up so much debt, then just took off and left us to deal with it! They even gave our address to their creditors... Th-they’re trying to ruin us! A pair of ungrateful bastards!"
Melody Summers saw that Grace Sutton was so angry her hands were shaking. She quickly went to her side, patting her back soothingly. "It’s okay, Grace. Try not to be so angry. I’ve already scared off those two debt collectors. I’m sure they won’t dare to come back. Just calm down."
Her chest ached with anger. Grace patted her chest to catch her breath and said, "Creditors are already showing up at our door. Who knows what other kinds of trouble we’ll run into? We should move back to the villa sooner rather than later! Places with too many people are always a mess. It’s much quieter at the villa!"
They had been putting off the move all this time because the power hadn’t been restored. Without a working elevator, no one could bear to make her grandmother and Miss Lowell walk down sixteen flights of stairs, so they’d delayed moving back.
But now the power was back on, and the elevator was working again. They could finally move.
Melody Summers nodded. "I went to the villa today to air out the bedding. We can move over whenever we’re ready."
Once Grace Sutton had calmed down a little, her hands still trembling, she reached for the IOUs Melody was holding. She wanted to see just how much Cameron Summers and his son really owed.
When she saw the massive quantities of supplies and the terrifyingly high interest rates on the IOUs, the anger Grace had just managed to swallow down came roaring back.
Her hands shaking, she flipped through the IOUs, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles cracked. She muttered incessantly, "This one is for 100 pounds of rice... This one for 200 of coal... This one is for 1,000 pounds! A full 1,000 pounds of coal! How could Clark do this?! He’s only sixteen!"
"...That Cameron is just evil. If I’d known, back when we first found out he was gambling, I never should have stopped your uncle! I should have just let him stone him to death!"
Melody Summers listened absently to Grace Sutton’s tirade. ’No need to worry,’ she thought. ’Degenerate gamblers always get what’s coming to them. It’s just a matter of time.’
However...
Melody frowned, looking at the IOU in her hand that bore Frank York’s name. A plan began to take shape in her mind...
******
As evening fell, Saul Archer sliced a sand vine cake with one hand and tossed half of it onto Jay Lowell. "Here. Eat up."
Jay Lowell held the half-piece of sand vine cake, staring at the glistening white insect eggs inside. He found it hard to swallow.
His face grim, he said glumly, "Boss, what are we going to do now? The cops confiscated all our money and hauled off all our supplies..."
Officer Tristan Tanner and his men had just been there. They’d busted Saul Archer and Jay Lowell for illegal gambling and confiscated all the supplies they had acquired. Now, all the two brothers had left were a few sand vine cakes.
They had made a killing from running their gambling ring, living comfortably in the post-apocalyptic world. They’d never had to suffer the misery of eating sand vine cakes before.
Looking at the sand vine cake in his hand, Jay Lowell felt like crying but had no tears. He desperately missed his thousands of pounds of pristine white rice. ’If only I’d known, I would’ve eaten a few extra bowls every day!’
Saul Archer snorted. "Once the rain stops, go out and see who’s hiring. Find a job to tide us over for a while."
’As for the gambling, they’d have to wait a while until the cops forgot about them.’
As the two of them were discussing where to find work, they suddenly heard a knock at the door.
Saul Archer frowned and got up. As he opened the door, he asked irritably, "Who is it?!"
When he saw Melody Summers standing outside, Saul Archer’s face went pale. "What are you doing here?!" he blurted out.
The memory of Melody Summers pressing a gun to his forehead made Saul Archer’s legs tremble.
Fighting the urge to slam the door in her face, Saul Archer asked through gritted teeth, "...Wh-what are you doing here? We already gave the IOUs back..."
’The IOUs had been scattered all over the hallway, and they hadn’t dared to pick up a single one! They had given up on collecting the debts, so why was Melody Summers here?!’
Melody Summers just smiled. Instead of answering Saul Archer, she stepped past him and walked right into the room.
As Saul Archer and Jay Lowell stared in confusion, Melody Summers silently reached into her pocket.
When Saul Archer and Jay Lowell saw her do this, they were so scared their hearts nearly stopped. They both blurted out at the same time:
"What are you doing?!"
"Don’t do anything rash!"
They thought Melody Summers was about to pull a gun and silence them for good. Saul Archer hastily covered his head and scrambled backward, while Jay Lowell dropped to the floor, rolling under the table for cover.
Melody Summers had to stop herself from laughing out loud at the sight.
A moment later, she pulled something from her pocket. It wasn’t a gun, but an IOU.
Melody Summers held up the IOU and gave it a little shake. "Relax," she said to Saul Archer. "It’s just a piece of paper. Come have a look. Do you remember this guy, Frank York? Did he gamble here too?"
The IOU stated that Frank York had borrowed twenty thousand yuan from Saul Archer and Jay Lowell. The debt had apparently been repaid, as the note was marked as void.
Saul Archer hesitated for a second before cautiously taking a few steps forward. He took the IOU from Melody’s hand and studied it with a frown.
After a moment, he answered, "Oh, this kid... I remember him. He’s the owner of apartment 1504. Some kind of influencer."
Just then, Jay Lowell crawled out from under the table. "Yeah, that’s the pretty-boy influencer from 1504!" he piped up. "He came here and played a couple of rounds, but he lost both times, so he never came back."
’That explains it,’ Melody thought. ’No wonder Frank York only signed one IOU. It’s because he never won.’
Anyone who’s ever gambled knows the most dangerous thing is to win. Winning is what gets you hooked. Losing, on the other hand, is a blessing in disguise. Frank York lost both rounds, so he never touched it again.
Saul Archer pointed to the ’void’ marking on the note. "He lost a total of twenty thousand to us, but the power and internet were down at the time. He didn’t have any cash on him and couldn’t do a transfer, so he wrote us this IOU."
"The power came back on a few days ago, and he paid us back right away. That’s why the IOU is void."
After he finished, Saul Archer gave Melody Summers a puzzled look and asked tentatively, "Why are you asking about him?"
Saul Archer sized up Melody Summers discreetly. ’Don’t tell me,’ he thought, ’she’s got a thing for that pretty-boy influencer?’
’Women these days have terrible taste!’
Melody Summers didn’t answer his question. Instead, she reached into her pocket again.
