Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse novel Chapter 564

Chapter 564: Chapter 564

Not long after, her mother gave birth to her younger brother, Joel Lawson, and finally managed to marry Adam Lawson. But their relatives and neighbors still called her a bastard, the child of a mistress who couldn’t be shown in polite society, as if her very existence was an original sin.

Later, word of this reached her school. From then on, all her classmates began to ostracize her. While they never insulted her to her face or physically bullied her, they looked at her as if she were something filthy.

People in small towns love to gossip. Joelle Lawson would overhear them talking about how Adam Lawson’s ex-wife had leased a whole mountain, started her own company, and become a successful businesswoman. They’d say that his ex-wife’s daughter had gotten into a prestigious university, bringing glory to their family—she was even interviewed on TV.

Whenever that happened, she and her mother would be dragged into the conversation for comparison. It was as if everyone wanted to stomp on their faces and sneer that a homewrecker and a bastard could never measure up to the original wife...

’Why did I have to go through all this?’

...

In the last moment before her consciousness faded, Joelle Lawson stared in Melody Summers’s direction with unfocused eyes, as if waiting for an answer.

But even as her breathing stopped, Joelle Lawson never heard a reply from Melody Summers.

The air fell silent. After a moment, Nina Summers cautiously crouched down and reached out to feel for a pulse on Joelle Lawson’s neck.

Confirming that Joelle Lawson’s pulse was completely gone, Nina Summers looked up, at a loss. Her face was a mask of shock and confusion. "It’s over, it’s over... Sh-she seems to be dead... I was too rough. What are we going to do..."

"...She’s dead. So be it. Stop looking." Melody Summers leaned over and pulled Nina Summers to her feet. Then she casually yanked off Chloe Sharp’s jacket and draped it over Joelle Lawson’s face.

’This was the outcome Joelle Lawson chose for herself. I couldn’t save her, and I really don’t have the energy to interfere in other people’s lives anymore.’

Melody Summers sighed and said to Nina Summers, "Let’s get out of here first."

With that, she took a pistol from her pocket, placed it in Nina Summers’s hand, and said in a low voice, "I taught you how to use a pistol a few days ago. Do you remember?"

Nina Summers froze for a moment, then nodded. "I remember!"

"Good." Melody Summers pointed to the corner behind the door. "You’re going to hide there. Keep the door shut. If any thugs try to force their way in, you shoot to kill!"

Nina Summers’s eyes widened in surprise. "...Me?! ...And you?"

Melody Summers’s expression was grim as she replied in a low, serious voice, "I’m going to scout ahead. Once I’ve taken care of the guards outside, I’ll come back for you."

Chloe Sharp and her men had escorted Melody here. She had observed her surroundings carefully on the way. They were in the innermost room of a teahouse’s second basement level. To escape, she had to get through the corridor on this level and the parking garage on the first basement level.

Based on her observations, the stairwell on this level, the corner on the first basement level... both spots were heavily guarded.

’I need to go out and take care of these guards one by one. Bringing Nina Summers along would just be a liability. It’s better to have her stay here for now.’

Nina Summers’s expression changed, her face full of worry. "No way, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone! Let me come with you. We can watch each other’s backs."

Melody Summers shook her head, rejecting Nina’s suggestion.

’In this situation, it’s much easier for me to move alone. If I run into danger, I can hide in my space at any time. But with Nina, the risk would be much higher, and I can’t bring her into the space with me. It’s better to leave her here.’

Melody Summers said to Nina in a reassuring tone, "It’s easier for me to hide if I’m alone. It’ll be harder with you. Listen to me. Stay here and wait for me to come back for you."

After she spoke, Melody Summers secretly released Albus. She mentally instructed him to help look after Nina Summers. If it came down to it, he was to protect Nina, even if it meant revealing the existence of the space.

From an angle Nina couldn’t see, a wisp of white smoke drifted off Melody Summers and dispersed into the corners of the room.

The next second, with a soft CLICK, the door was pushed open.

Nina squeezed her eyes shut in despair. She pressed herself flat against the wall, trying to stay hidden behind the door. Her right index finger rested on the trigger, ready to take out the intruder at a moment’s notice.

To Nina’s surprise, the person outside didn’t enter immediately. Instead, a deep voice called into the room, "Everyone inside, come out!"

It was a cold, deep male voice. Hearing it, Nina froze, her heart leaping into her throat.

Everyone else in the room was either dead or unconscious. Nina was the only one left, and she certainly wasn’t going out.

And so, they remained at a standoff, separated by the door.

After a moment, seeing no movement from within, the man outside lost his patience and made the first move.

Then, as Nina watched tensely, a tall figure slowly stepped inside.

The moment the man’s back was fully in view, Nina’s breath hitched—

’Now!’

She quickly raised the gun, aimed at the man’s back, and prepared to pull the trigger.

But to her astonishment, the man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He spun around, and his hand shot out, clamping down on Nina’s wrist!

In a flash, Nina felt a sharp pain in her wrist. Her grip went slack, and before she could even process what was happening, the man had already snatched the pistol from her hand!