As this realization settled in, Sylvia Lancaster’s sorrow slowly began to subside.
Sylvia Lancaster knew she couldn’t just sit idly by. She had to do sothing to win back the hearts of the Lancaster family.
Once she had made up her mind, she headed to the kitchen.
She rummaged around the kitchen and found that there wasn’t much food left in the house.
Apparently, to save on electricity, both the refrigerator and the freezer had been unplugged. Sylvia Lancaster opened them and, just as she expected, found them completely empty.
The cupboards held only so rice and seasonings, along with a few small potatoes, a couple of sweet potatoes, and so onions.
There were, however, two large jugs of oil, but they were close to their expiration date.
Sylvia Lancaster thought for a mont, then pulled out her phone to check her account balance.
Her account still had so of the allowance money Lily Adler had given her.
Sylvia Lancaster checked her transaction history with Lily Adler. Lily had been very generous, frequently transferring her money—hundreds of thousands at a ti. All told, the transfers added up to nearly ten million.
But Sylvia Lancaster’s account didn’t hold anywhere near that much now.
Looking through her statents, she discovered a large charge from an online luxury boutique made a few days prior. She must have bought a set of jewelry.
As for the jewelry, it had been seized by the police, along with the Hayes Family’s villa.
Staring at the balance of a few hundred thousand in her account, Sylvia Lancaster sighed. ’With the exorbitant price of supplies after the cataclysm, this money won’t buy much.’
She logged into an online shopping platform she had used frequently in her past life. After carefully picking and choosing, she placed an order for so of the more cost-effective ingredients available, planning to cook a al for the Lancasters.
Sylvia Lancaster bought so pasta, dehydrated vegetables, chicken, and eggs.
When she saw the succulent-looking snow pears on the promotional page, she gritted her teeth and bought five of them as well. After clicking "pay," she settled in to wait for the delivery.
Staring at the order confirmation page, Sylvia Lancaster felt a wave of self-pity.
’When in my past life did I ever have to cook to curry favor with my family?’ she thought. ’That’s what lody Sumrs did!’
In her past life, lody Sumrs had taken on all the cooking and chores to fit in with the Lancaster Family and win their favor.
Now the tables had turned, and it was her turn to do it. She felt incredibly sorry for herself...
While Sylvia Lancaster was zoning out in the kitchen, Silas Lancaster silently approached.
Sylvia Lancaster’s heart leaped when she saw him, and she quickly called out, "Silas!"
But to her surprise, Silas Lancaster—who had always adored his older sister—just stared at her coldly. "Don’t call that," he said with disgust. "You don’t have the right... You make sick!"
The color drained from Sylvia Lancaster’s face. "Silas... How can you talk to like that...?"
Sylvia Lancaster stared at Silas in disbelief. ’They had always been so close!’
’He used to say she was the best sister in the world!’
’Why had things beco like this?!’
Seeing Sylvia’s eyes well up with tears of indignation, Silas remained completely unmoved.
He just couldn’t understand it. ’Why would his own sister hook up with their older brother?!’
’Right now, he just found them both utterly repulsive!’
’Sylvia Lancaster wasn’t the pure, perfect, flawless sister he’d imagined. She was just a slut who seduced her own brother!’
Under Sylvia Lancaster’s heartbroken gaze, Silas snorted, turned, and went upstairs.
Leaving Sylvia Lancaster standing there, stunned...
******
It was unclear how Simon Lancaster managed to persuade Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes, but in the end, they finally relented, agreeing to let Sylvia Lancaster remain with the family.
Elaine Hughes sat in the living room, her face a cold mask. She looked at Sylvia Lancaster, who stood before her anxiously. "You can stay," she said, "but from now on, all the household chores—the laundry, the cooking—that’s all your job. And you’d better do it well!"
Though bitterness filled her heart, Sylvia Lancaster put on an obedient expression and nodded. "Okay, Mom, Dad. You don’t have to worry."
With that, Sylvia Lancaster hurried to the kitchen and brought out the al she had prepared.
She addressed everyone in the living room in a placating tone, "Mom, Dad, Big Brother, Silas, this is what I just cooked. Please, try it and see if you like it."
Seeing the four dishes and a soup that Sylvia Lancaster had painstakingly prepared, the expressions on Robert Lancaster, Elaine Hughes, and Silas Lancaster’s faces finally softened a little.
After all, it had been a long ti since they had eaten a decent al.
Especially one that included pan-seared chicken breast.
So, they stopped giving Sylvia a hard ti and sat down at the dining table to eat.
Seeing this, Sylvia Lancaster breathed an inward sigh of relief.
Simon Lancaster also relaxed at the sight. He patted Sylvia Lancaster’s hand reassuringly. "Sylvia, you’ve worked hard."
Sylvia Lancaster shook her head and replied softly, "Big Brother, as long as you, Mom, Dad, and my little brother like it, it’s no trouble at all."
Once everyone had eaten their fill, Sylvia Lancaster ntally reviewed the tiline from her past life.
Thinking about the coming snowfall and torrential rain, she spoke to the Lancasters with a serious expression. "Mom, Dad, Big Brother, Silas, listen to . We can’t stay here."
At her words, Elaine Hughes slamd her chopsticks down with a CLACK. She glared at Sylvia Lancaster, annoyed. "What nonsense are you spouting? If we don’t live here, where else would we go?"
Facing the family’s confused stares, Sylvia Lancaster explained, "Mom, Dad, please listen. Experts are saying there’s going to be heavy snow soon. The villa could be completely buried. It would be best for us to move to a high-rise apartnt."
’The snow wasn’t even the biggest problem,’ she thought. ’The real danger was the torrential rain and floods that would follow. In her past life, this very villa had been mostly destroyed by the floodwaters, leaving behind a worthless, debris-strewn wreck.’
Sylvia Lancaster continued, "Mom, Dad, I rember we have a high-rise apartnt over at The tropolis Residences. We should move into that apartnt as soon as possible!"
’In her past life, the Lancasters had been living at The tropolis Residences during the flood. Sylvia knew that a post-disaster reconstruction zone would be set up there. The residents would get priority for job opportunities and would be first in line for governnt supply distributions.’
After another mont of thought, Sylvia Lancaster added, "Mom, Dad, and as for this villa... we need to sell it as soon as possible! Turn it into cash!"
’In her past life, Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes had often complained after the flood. If only they’d known it was coming, they could have sold the villa beforehand and recouped so of their losses.’
But who could have known that upon hearing Sylvia’s words, Robert Lancaster would fly into a violent rage?
He grabbed the empty bowl beside him and hurled it at Sylvia, roaring, "You damn girl, how dare you get ideas about this villa! You must have a death wish!"
"Ah!" The empty bowl struck Sylvia on the forehead. She cried out in pain as a large lump quickly swelled on the spot.
Seeing this, Simon looked at Sylvia with pity in his eyes. He tried to soothe her, "Sylvia, don’t you rember? Our high-rise at The tropolis Residences was foreclosed on last year. This villa is all the family has left."
Sylvia Lancaster was completely stunned—
’The high-rise at The tropolis Residences was foreclosed on?!’
’But that’s not what happened in my past life!’
’Then what was the family supposed to do after the flood ca?!’
Sylvia Lancaster’s mind went blank.
She touched her swelling forehead. ’No matter what,’ she thought, ’I have to find a way to buy that apartnt back!’
******
「anwhile」
With Ian Sumrs and Grace Sutton back ho, the Sumrs family sat down together for a wonderful reunion dinner.
It was a lavish spread of ten dishes, including chicken, duck, beef, lamb, fish, shrimp, and crab. Everyone ate until they were stuffed.
After dinner, with the whole family gathered, lody Sumrs told them she had bought two high-rise apartnts. "It’s going to snow in a couple of days," she explained. "The lower floors will be buried, so we’ll have to move out of here."
Ian Sumrs nodded thoughtfully. "I think I heard so of the guys in my unit saying sothing about that. The higher-ups are predicting this snowfall will be massive. There could be snow-related disasters all over."
lody Sumrs nodded. "That’s right. The snow will be several ters deep. We won’t be able to stay in this villa."
Colin Sumrs seed hesitant. "Do we really have to move? I can go out and shovel every day to keep it clear. It should be fine."
But lody shook her head. "No, it’s too dangerous, Uncle. If the blizzard is too strong, we won’t be able to get out the door. The snow will pile up and bury the villa. If we’re trapped inside, we could suffocate."
Hearing lody’s explanation, everyone nodded in agreent, convinced that they really had to move.
Grace Sutton gave Colin Sumrs a light smack. "What are you going on about?" she said, exasperated. "When it cos to the big decisions in this family, we just listen to lody! Since the heatwave last year, has she ever been wrong?"
Colin Sumrs grinned good-naturedly and nodded. "You’re right. We’ll listen to my niece! How are we moving? I’ll do the heavy lifting!"
Ian Sumrs, who was sitting nearby, also spoke up. "I happen to be ho. Whatever needs moving, I can start tonight."
Winnie Sumrs waved her hand. "Ian, you finally managed to get leave and co ho. You should be resting. Let us handle the move."
But Ian insisted, "I’m fine, Auntie. After that ho-cooked al, I’m full of energy. I’m not tired at all."
In the end, lody made the final call. "There’s no need to rush. Everyone get a good night’s sleep tonight. We’ll start moving tomorrow!"
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