Chapter 609: I Am Xu Xinzhu

The "aunt" Melody Summers mentioned was, of course, not the Cindy Hughes she had never met, but her real aunt—

Winnie Summers’s younger sister, her grandmother’s daughter, Maeve Summers, who had been out of contact for a very long time.

Because Maeve Summers had lost so much weight since they had last met, Melody Summers almost didn’t recognize her. But when she saw the Jade Pendant hanging around her neck, she was certain that the person before her was her aunt!

Maeve Summers reached out with a look of disbelief and touched Melody Summers’s face, as if afraid she was dreaming. Her eyes reddened with joyous surprise as she murmured, "Melody... Is it really you? Thank God, I’ve finally found you all..."

Melody Summers was still reeling from the shock of seeing Maeve Summers. She looked at Maeve, then at the Anesthetic Gun in her hand, and asked in utter confusion, "Aunt... What in the world is going on?! Why are you here?"

Then, as if remembering something, she glanced at the open bedroom door and asked, puzzled, "What about that Cindy Hughes? Isn’t she in the bedroom?"

To her surprise, Maeve Summers replied, "...I am Cindy Hughes!"

Melody Summers: "..."

Melody Summers: "Huh?!"

Melody Summers felt as if she’d been struck by lightning, a million questions exploding in her mind—she didn’t understand why Maeve Summers, who had been missing for years, would suddenly appear here; she didn’t understand why Maeve had become Cindy Hughes; and she especially didn’t understand why Maeve would shoot at her...

Melody Summers had a thousand questions she wanted to ask, but Maeve Summers grabbed her hand and whispered, "Dear child, this isn’t the place to talk... Come with me into the room!"

Maeve Summers pulled Melody Summers back into the room. After making sure no one was eavesdropping outside the door, Maeve finally told Melody the whole story...

Maeve Summers’s life over the past few years had been nothing short of tumultuous. After getting married, she and her husband illegally emigrated abroad, hoping to strike it rich. But because they were undocumented, things went very poorly. They endured many hardships overseas, and Maeve’s husband even lost his life as a result.

Just as Maeve Summers found herself with nowhere left to turn, she met Cindy Hughes.

Because she could cook authentic Chinese food and agreed to work just for room and board without a monthly salary, Cindy Hughes kept Maeve Summers on as a housekeeper.

Later, when the cataclysm struck, order collapsed overseas. Every day, desperate people banded together to rob the wealthy districts, and Cindy Hughes was unfortunately killed in the chaos.

Maeve Summers, on the other hand, used her slight resemblance to Cindy Hughes, took Cindy’s documents and assets, and assumed her identity. She managed to join a repatriation group organized by overseas Chinese and returned to the country with them.

As she said this, Maeve Summers’s face paled. She said in a low voice, "...I know I shouldn’t have assumed Cindy Hughes’s identity, but I truly had no other choice..."

"I was all alone back then. If I had stayed abroad, I would have died... I was undocumented, and those overseas Chinese... they kiss up to the powerful and kick down the weak. If I hadn’t pretended to be Cindy Hughes, they never would have brought me back with them..."

Listening to Maeve Summers’s incredible story, Melody Summers’s mind reeled. She couldn’t help but sigh once more—’This world really is just one giant, chaotic mess!’

Maeve Summers, who was Cindy Hughes’s housekeeper, had replaced the real Cindy Hughes, and somehow no one had discovered it or exposed her...

’This is just too ridiculous! Even more ridiculous than me and Sylvia Lancaster being switched at birth!’

Seeing Melody Summers’s dumbfounded expression, Maeve Summers explained further, "That Cindy Hughes was the illegitimate daughter of the Hughes family. Her mother passed away a long time ago. Later, her father also fell gravely ill. Fearing his legal wife would make things difficult for Cindy, he secretly arranged for someone to send her abroad before he died."

"For all these years, under threat from the legal wife, she lived alone abroad, leading a very secluded life. Almost no one in the country knew her, and she didn’t have many friends overseas either. That’s why I wasn’t exposed..."

Melody Summers nodded. She didn’t really care about Cindy Hughes’s story. Looking at Maeve Summers, who was so thin she was practically skin and bones, Melody’s heart ached as she said, "Aunt, how did you get so thin... And also, why are you with Hayden Jennings?!"

When Melody Summers mentioned Hayden Jennings, Maeve Summers’s body instinctively trembled. She gritted her teeth and said, "It’s a long story..."

"I flew back to the country with that group of Chinese nationals. The plane landed at Aeridor Airport. I was planning to come home and reunite with you all, but right after I left the airport, I was robbed by thugs. They took all my money and my phone..."

At that time, Maeve Summers was penniless. With nowhere to go because of the cataclysm, she could only seek refuge at a shelter organized by the Aeridor Government. And that’s where she met Hayden Jennings.

Hayden Jennings saw Maeve Summers’s ID and mistook her for Cindy Hughes. Because Cindy’s father, Mr. Hughes, had once helped advance Hayden’s career, Hayden took Maeve, who was pretending to be Cindy, back to his home.

Later, just like in all the cliché melodramas, Hayden Jennings found Maeve Summers’s gentle and obedient nature to be very much to his liking. That, combined with his debt to Mr. Hughes, led to him proposing to Maeve after they had been together for a while. He promised to take care of her for the rest of her life.

Maeve Summers had her own ulterior motives as well. The heatwave had been going on for over half a year, prices for goods were skyrocketing, she couldn’t get home, and she couldn’t afford food. With the goal of finding someone to support her, she accepted Hayden Jennings’s proposal.

But what Maeve Summers hadn’t expected was that after they were married, Hayden Jennings seemed to reveal his true colors. He was no longer gentle and considerate. Instead, like a monster, he subjected her to all sorts of physical and psychological abuse and torture...

At this, Maeve Summers sighed and said with self-mockery, "I deserve it. I shouldn’t have deceived him with a fake identity. Ending up like this... it’s all my karma..."

At first, Maeve Summers thought about running away, but she quickly realized that Hayden Jennings was a madman! If the truth ever came out and he found out he’d been deceived, he would do something extreme in his rage, and it might even endanger the rest of the Summers family.

So, Maeve Summers could only stay obediently by Hayden Jennings’s side, playing the part of a submissive wife while secretly trying to find out where her family was.

Later on, Maeve Summers found out that Mount Anworth had been bought by the Lancaster Group. She subtly asked the housekeeper about the Lancaster Family, hoping to find her own family through them. Unfortunately, she learned nothing and was even warned by Hayden Jennings for her trouble.

To punish her for her "disobedience," Hayden Jennings even placed Elaine Hughes’s ashes on her bedside table, forcing her to sleep beside them every night...

Hearing Maeve Summers’s story, Melody Summers sighed with sorrow.

Because Maeve Summers had a guilty conscience, she didn’t dare to socialize. She could only pretend to be sickly to avoid all social gatherings, lest she run into someone who knew the real Cindy Hughes and have her cover blown.

But because of this, even though she and the Summers Family were both living in The Metropolis Residences, she had no idea her family was right there...

However, Melody Summers pointed to the Anesthetic Gun in Maeve Summers’s hand and asked again, "Then what about this? Aunt, was it Hayden Jennings who made you shoot me with an Anesthetic Gun??"