Soon after, people in the comments section started dropping bombshells about Walsh Hospital. That, in turn, led to a slew of other messy scandals involving other wealthy families.

Melody Summers, munching on potato chips while scrolling through the comments, felt like she was in a gossip-fueled feeding frenzy.

The stories were a mix of fact and fiction, truth and lies.

It was impossible to tell what was real, but every single story was juicy.

Some people followed the gossip trail from Walsh Hospital to Kylie Walsh, and from Kylie Walsh, they moved on to Roman Rhodes.

When Melody saw a comment revealing that Kylie Walsh had been secretly in love with Roman Rhodes for years, but that Roman already had someone he loved, she laughed so hard that the potato chip in her hand fell.

’Officer Rhodes has "celibate" written all over his face,’ Melody thought. ’How could he possibly have a sweetheart? These people can really spin a yarn.’

After scrolling through the comments, Melody took another look at the official notice.

The notice included photos of the personnel who had been dismissed from their positions, and Zara Walsh’s picture was among them.

Looking at Zara’s photo, Melody was filled with complex emotions.

The arrogant young lady of the Walsh Family, the high-society heiress who had proclaimed herself a member of the upper class and sneered that complaints and reports were useless against her, was now in a prison uniform. Her most humiliating moment was captured on camera and displayed for all to see as a cautionary tale.

In the photo, Zara looked disheveled and haggard. The once defiant sparkle in her beautiful eyes was replaced by a vacant stare.

Fueled by public opinion, the public’s impression of the Walsh Family had hit rock bottom. As for Zara herself, people were practically calling for her head.

Even the fact that Zara liked to collect jewelry had become, in the public’s eyes, another piece of evidence for why she deserved to die.

Melody wondered how Zara would react if she saw all the online comments screaming for her death.

At that thought, Melody "tsk"-ed and murmured, "What did I say? She really did turn into Queen Marie..."

According to the results in the notice, Zara’s position was revoked, and she was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.

For someone as proud as Zara, this was likely a fate worse than death.

Melody didn’t know what modern prisons were like, but she wondered if a spoiled, pampered young lady like Zara could ever get used to it.

Melody tossed a potato chip into her mouth, thought for a moment, and sent a message to Sophie Thorne:

[Do you think Zara will really stay in prison for the full two years and four months?]

Not long after she sent the message, Sophie Thorne’s call came through.

Melody had just hit "accept" when Sophie’s voice came from the other end of the line. "Zara will probably only be in prison for about half a year. The Walsh Family will likely arrange for her to get out on bail... These days, aside from violent crimes, the conditions for bail are pretty lenient. After all, the prisons don’t have the food to feed idle people."

Hearing this, Melody felt a pang of disappointment. She let out an "Oh," and replied, "Well, she’s really getting off easy then..."

’But it’s fine,’ Melody added silently in her head. ’Once Zara gets out, I’ll just find other ways to cause trouble for her!’

Sophie sighed on the other end of the line and said grimly, "I know you’re the one who reported Zara. I called to remind you to be extremely careful. Don’t go around telling people."

"If the Walsh Family finds out, I’m afraid they’ll get desperate and do something to hurt you!"

Melody wasn’t having any of that.

She retorted, "Are you kidding me? How could the Walsh Family have the nerve to retaliate against me? Zara was the one who withheld our community’s supplies! If anyone should be retaliating, it’s us against her. The official notice even said she was abusing her power for personal gain and showing a callous disregard for human life!"

Melody tossed another chip into her mouth and continued, "Besides, the punishment doesn’t even seem that severe. There are no fines or anything, just two years and four months of imprisonment. After she gets out, she can still go right back to being the great young lady of a wealthy family."

Sophie chuckled lightly on the other end. "It’s not that simple. After what you did, her reputation is completely ruined... If nothing else, her marriage alliance with the Simmons Family is completely off the table..."

These days, even ordinary people don’t want to marry someone with a criminal record, let alone a wealthy family.

"Having a bad reputation" and "having a criminal record" are on two completely different levels. If a wealthy family were to marry in a daughter-in-law with a record, their competitors would use it as ammunition against them every day, and they’d be crucified by public opinion.

Ever since Zara returned to the country, she had been pushing hard to arrange her marriage to Zane Simmons. She even paid off marketing accounts and the media to constantly release press releases to pressure him into marrying her, which just shows how desperate she was for this union.

Thanks to what Melody did, her dream of marrying into the family was completely shattered.

Not only that, but with today’s announcement, she had become a pariah everyone loved to hate. Even the Walsh Family was implicated, and their reputation was in a nosedive.

Hearing this, Melody said in surprise, "The marriage alliance is off? Shouldn’t she be thanking me then? Is marrying Zane Simmons really such a good thing?"

Zane Simmons is entangled with a bunch of women and even has an illegitimate son with Joanne White. How could he possibly be a good match?

The messages Paige Walsh had sent her before were still fresh in Melody’s mind. If Zara really married Zane Simmons, she’d most likely end up going down the same road as Paige.

In that case, she was better off not marrying him at all. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Melody felt that, for this reason alone, Zara owed her a big thank you on her knees!

Hearing this, Sophie chuckled on the other end of the line. "You might think that, but others don’t... My dearest girl, no matter what, you should still be careful!"

Melody scoffed. "No need to panic. The snow outside is getting heavier and heavier. In another two days, the whole city will be buried. What are the Walshs going to do, fly over here to beat me up?"

Hearing this, Sophie said with a hint of resignation, "Alright, you have a point. In any case, just be careful and don’t tell anyone you were the one who reported her."

Melody hummed in agreement. "Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing... By the way, I just saw this news story about someone setting off fireworks and burning down half a mountain. Is that real?"

Sophie shouted from the other end of the line, "Of course it’s fake! It’s all fake news spread by marketing accounts. Besides, we’ve known each other since we were kids and got together naturally. There was no so-called ’confession of love’! I’m begging you, please stop reading so much gossip!"

Melody couldn’t stop laughing. "Haha, okay, okay. The gossip in the comments really is ridiculous... Someone even said Officer Roman Rhodes has a secret love, hahaha... Officer Rhodes’s face screams ’ascetic.’ I can’t believe they could even make up a rumor like that. It’s killing me!"

Sophie: "..."

Hearing the silence from the other end, Melody asked, a little confused, "Why’d you go quiet? Was it not funny?"

Sophie stammered a bit, "N-No, it’s not that. Something just came up here... Um, I have to go now. Anyway, you be careful, and call me if you need anything..."

Hearing this, Melody just said "Oh," and replied nonchalantly, "It’s fine, go handle your stuff!"

After hanging up, Melody went back to scrolling through the community group chat, where the homeowners were also buzzing about the news.

And along with the news came a massive delivery of supplies—a full two months’ worth!

"6-702 The Lover: Did you guys see the news? It’s terrifying. So people were really reselling the government’s disaster relief supplies. Isn’t that just a blatant disregard for human life?"

"2-1908 Coco: I saw. It looks like our community was shorted a batch of coal... a good thing the rest of our supplies came through fine."