Chapter 444: Chapter 444: The Bottomless Pit
Jade Rowan looked utterly bewildered by Melody Summers’s words.
She couldn’t understand why her niece was constantly talking about cutting ties.
’How can family ties be broken so easily?’
’They’re family, flesh and blood. Blood is thicker than water, after all!’
Just when she was unsure how to respond, Clark Summers, still kneeling on the floor, suddenly spoke. "...The second one..."
The boy’s voice was hoarse from crying. He looked up at Melody Summers and said resolutely, "I choose the second option. Cousin, I know Dad has completely broken your hearts, but he’s my father. He gave me life and raised me. I can’t just cut ties with him."
"I’ll treat this hundred pounds of rice and a hundred pounds of coal as a loan from you. Cousin, you’re right. I’m already sixteen. It’s time I started taking responsibility for my family."
"I’ve already made up my mind. As soon as this snow disaster is over, I’m going to find a job. I’ll work hard, earn money, and pay you back for the rice and coal, with interest!"
Sincerity was written all over Clark Summers’s young face, and his clear eyes shone with determination.
It was as if the boy had grown up overnight, ready to shoulder his family’s heavy burden. He was no longer a child in need of protection, but a man capable of taking responsibility and looking after his family.
Melody Summers stared at Clark Summers’s face, her own expressionless, for a long moment. Then, with a cold laugh, she turned without a word and headed to the storage room.
A moment later, Melody Summers emerged from the storage room pulling a flatbed cart loaded with a hundred pounds of rice and a hundred pounds of coal.
Melody Summers pushed the cart in front of Clark Summers and Jade Rowan. "Take this and go," she said, her voice low and heavy. "Consider this hundred pounds of rice and coal the buyout for our relationship. Remember, you chose this path for yourselves. From now on, we’re strangers!"
Jade Rowan’s heart ached at Melody Summers’s words, and tears began to stream down her face once more.
Just as she was about to speak, Clark Summers rose to his feet.
Clark Summers took Jade Rowan’s hand and patted it reassuringly, signaling for her to remain quiet.
Then, Clark Summers turned back to Melody Summers and said with deep sincerity, "Cousin, even if you disown me, you’ll always be my big sister in my heart. When we were little and Mom and Dad weren’t around, it was always you and Ian who took care of me. I’ll never forget that."
"Sis, Aunt Grace, you can rest assured that I won’t mess up like this again. I swear I’ll never gamble again, not even if it kills me. With these supplies, my mother and I can last until the snow disaster is over. After that, I’ll find a job. I will work hard and pay back everything I owe you!"
With that, Clark Summers took the supplies and left, leading Jade Rowan away.
After the two had gone, Grace Sutton and Melody Summers were left looking at each other in silence.
After a long moment, Grace Sutton collapsed onto the sofa. She heaved a long sigh and murmured, "What a mess..."
She then looked up at Melody Summers and asked hesitantly, "Do you think... Cameron owes so much from his gambling... Will those creditors really let him go...?"
Melody Summers sighed as well. "Auntie, don’t dwell on it. This was a necessary lesson. From now on, let’s not worry about their family’s problems. It’s better to just act like we don’t have those relatives."
It wasn’t that Melody Summers disregarded family ties. If Jade Rowan and Clark Summers had chosen the first option—to cut ties with Cameron Summers—Melody wouldn’t have minded giving the mother and son a helping hand.
She would have given them apartment 1603 or 1604 and provided them with supplies from time to time—enough for them to live securely through the disaster.
But Jade Rowan and Clark Summers chose the second option.
’Since they can’t bring themselves to cut ties with that degenerate gambler, giving them anything more would be a complete waste!’
’They were determined to throw themselves into a bottomless pit, and they couldn’t be pulled back. I can’t let myself be dragged down with them. That being the case, the best option is to become strangers...’
******
After hauling the cart of supplies back to their apartment, Jade Rowan anxiously grabbed Clark Summers’s hand. "Son, we should have pleaded with your aunt and cousin some more! Why did you just pull me away like that? What are we going to do now? Your father is still locked up in 1105! How are we ever going to get him out?"
Jade Rowan was truly frantic. A whole day and night had passed, and she was terrified that Cameron Summers would freeze to death or suffer some other terrible fate.
Jade Rowan was a traditional woman. To her, Cameron Summers was the pillar of the family; nothing could be allowed to happen to him. If it did, their family would fall apart.
In contrast to Jade Rowan’s panicked expression, Clark Summers was much calmer.
He patted Jade Rowan’s hand reassuringly. "Mom, don’t worry, Dad will be fine. I’ll go check on him at 1105 in a little while. I’ll talk to those guys and convince them to let him go."
Jade Rowan was still apprehensive. "Will those gamblers even agree...?" she murmured.
Then, as if struck by an idea, she grabbed Clark Summers’s hand. "Son, if that doesn’t work, let’s go to the 23rd floor for help! I heard the people from the Emergency Management Office are on the 23rd floor!"
"Those gamblers are refusing to let your father go home. That’s false imprisonment, isn’t it? We can get the Emergency Management Office to help us and rescue him!"
But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Clark Summers immediately shot down the idea. "We can’t do that!"
As Jade Rowan stared in confusion, Clark Summers forcefully pulled her back into the room. "Mom, we can’t alert the Emergency Management Office!"
"Dad and I were gambling, which is also illegal. If the Emergency Management Office finds out, we could be blacklisted. Then we might not be able to find work..."
At his words, Jade Rowan stammered, "Then... then what do we do...?"
Clark Summers reassured her, "Mom, don’t worry. I’ll do my best to persuade them to at least let Dad go for now... Besides, you were up all last night. Why don’t you get some rest?"
Once Jade Rowan was asleep, Clark Summers slipped quietly into the living room.
He reloaded the hundred pounds of rice and coal onto the cart, pulled it to apartment 1105, and knocked lightly on the door.
A moment later, the door opened. When Saul Archer saw it was Clark Summers, he sneered. "Well, look who it is. You got the stuff, kid?"
When Clark Summers nodded, Saul Archer stepped aside to let him in.
Clark Summers dragged the cart into the living room, pointed at its contents, and said to Saul Archer, "Here’s a hundred pounds of rice and a hundred pounds of coal."
Saul Archer’s face fell the moment he saw it.
He sneered at Clark Summers. "You little punk, are you trying to mess with me? This isn’t nearly enough! Your dad owes us two hundred pounds of rice, ten cases of ham sausage, and five hundred pounds of coal! What the hell is this supposed to be?"
Clark Summers shook his head and said in a low voice, "I’m not here to pay my dad’s debt."
Meeting Saul Archer’s suspicious gaze, Clark Summers’s eyes glinted with a determined light. He declared, each word hitting with force, "This is my stake. We’re going to keep gambling! This time, I’m winning it all back!"
