Chapter 579: The Whole Story

Melody Summers’s expression was grave, her posture conveying a clear threat: ’If you dare to lie, I’ll shoot you dead right now.’

At this, the innocent look on Howard Fletcher’s face slowly faded. He fell silent for a moment, as if he had come to a decision, and then said slowly, "...That night, that woman kept crying and wailing. She said her husband was dead, that she and her son couldn’t go on living..."

The "woman" he spoke of was, of course, his maternal aunt, Zoe Kane.

"...Since she was saying all that, I figured I might as well grant her wish and let their family of three be reunited in the afterlife..."

"So, after they fell asleep, I got a knife from the kitchen and cut their throats."

"This way, their family could be reunited in the afterlife, and I could be placed with a better foster family. Wasn’t it the best of both worlds?"

Howard Fletcher’s tone was completely flat, as if he weren’t talking about murder, but recalling what he had eaten yesterday.

The somewhat childish voice, paired with the content of his words, sent an involuntary shiver down Melody Summers’s spine.

’So we weren’t wrong... Zoe Kane and Chester Summers really were murdered by Howard Fletcher!’

Melody Summers closed her eyes for a moment, then asked again, "Then what about your mother, grandmother, and sister... and your mother’s boyfriend? How did they die?"

Howard Fletcher suddenly looked up at her words, his dark eyes fixed on Melody Summers. After a moment of silence, he actually began to chuckle softly.

His smile made Melody Summers uneasy. Just as she was debating whether to just shoot him on the spot, she heard him say softly, "...We were running out of food. I was never full. I wanted to eat my sister’s share, but Mom wouldn’t let me..."

"But I was so hungry. So while my sister was sleeping, I smothered her with a pillow... I figured if my sister was dead, I could eat her share of the food!"

"When Mom woke up and saw my sister was dead, she just screamed and screamed. So I told her it was Forrest Archer... Then Mom and Forrest Archer started fighting."

"They stabbed each other. Grandma tried to break up the fight and got stabbed too. And after that... well, all three of them died..."

"I just wanted an extra share of food. I just wanted to survive. I didn’t do anything wrong..."

Reaching this point in his story, Howard Fletcher blinked at Melody Summers and said with a look of pure innocence, "They always said they loved me, so shouldn’t they have died for me? ...Did I do something wrong?"

Melody Summers’s expression turned grim. She stared at Howard Fletcher, her face dark, and didn’t say a word.

Seeing her reaction, Howard Fletcher blinked at Melody Summers again and pleaded, "Please, I’ve told you everything you wanted to know. Just let me go!"

"I promise, I’ll never do anything like this again. I’ll be a good kid, I’ll live a good life..."

But before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud BANG—

The next second, Howard Fletcher collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Melody Summers raised a hand to wipe the warm blood from her face, then turned to look at Clark Summers at her side.

Clark Summers was still reeling from the shock of Melody Summers’s invisibility. When he saw her look his way, he was so terrified his knees went weak, and the long blade in his hand dropped to the ground with a CLANG.

He stared at Melody Summers in terror, staggering backward as he stammered, "You... Stay back... What are you, human or ghost... Don’t tell me..."

’Is Melody Summers a ghost?!’

’How else could she turn invisible!’

Melody Summers said nothing. She took two steps forward and sent Clark Summers sprawling with a vicious kick.

Clark Summers rolled across the ground, clutching his head as he begged, "Don’t—don’t kill me! I’m not the one who wronged you! It wasn’t me! Please, spare me!"

’Whether the Melody Summers in front of me is human or ghost, she’s already killed four people!’

Looking at Howard Fletcher’s corpse, its eyes wide open in death, Clark Summers was petrified. ’She isn’t going to spare me!’

Melody Summers glanced at Clark Summers, then pointed to the bodies of Jason Fletcher and the man in black by the door. "Who are these two?" she asked coldly. "How did you get mixed up with them? You’d better tell me everything, start to finish. Or else..."

Seeing Melody Summers raise her hand and point the gun at him, Clark Summers hurriedly said, "Don’t! Don’t shoot! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!"

From Clark Summers’s halting confession, Melody Summers pieced together the whole story—

After being driven away by Officer Tristan Tanner in front of their building, Cameron Summers and Clark Summers found themselves at a dead end. Unwilling to go to the government shelter, they fell back on their old ways. Taking what supplies and valuables they had, they went to find Saul Archer and Jay Lowell.

They originally planned to use what little they had left to gamble a few more rounds. If their luck held and Lady Luck was on their side, they could turn their small stake into a big win. They could not only pay off their debts but also earn enough for food and rent.

But to their surprise, Saul Archer and Jay Lowell weren’t there anymore. The man who opened the door was Jason Fletcher, along with his accomplice.

Jason Fletcher told Cameron Summers and Clark Summers that, like Saul Archer and Jay Lowell, he worked for the same "Boss." Gambling with him would be no different.

Reassured, Cameron Summers and Clark Summers played a few rounds of cards with Jason Fletcher.

At first, Lady Luck truly seemed to smile on them. The father and son won a fair amount of money, and it felt like they could see a light at the end of the tunnel.

But a gambler’s fate is always sealed. Just as it had happened so many times before, they quickly lost all their winnings and found themselves deep in debt once more.

To repay their debt, through a combination of Jason Fletcher’s threats and promises, they became his lackeys, working for his "Boss" alongside him.

Cameron and Clark Summers knew their "Boss" was involved in deadly business. They initially planned to agree to Jason Fletcher’s terms and then find a chance to run for it.

But to their surprise, the "Boss’s" mission came down so quickly that they never even got a chance to escape!

Hearing this, Melody Summers frowned and asked, "Mission? What mission?"

Clark Summers’s face went pale. His voice trembled as he answered, "They... they seem to be some kind of rebel group, in league with the insurgents in the east side of the city..."

"They want to raid the supply depot on the mountain. They told us to cause disturbances around the neighborhood to draw the police’s fire..."

Hearing this, questions that had long puzzled Melody Summers suddenly seemed to have an answer.

’No wonder Saul Archer and Jay Lowell skipped town,’ she thought.

’If they’d stayed and followed the "Boss’s" plan, it would’ve been no different from a suicide mission!’

’That so-called "Boss" was just using his men as cannon fodder!’

And the reason she hadn’t known any of this in her past life—thinking it was just a few gamblers who had robbed the mountain depot—was likely because the government controlled the narrative and kept the public from learning the truth. Just like that neighborhood group chat that got shut down.