Chapter 482: Chapter 482: He Won’t Last Long

Melody Marsh saw what was happening and quickly agreed. "Okay, Dad. I get it."

She went to Amanda Lynn’s side. "Mom, let me take you back to the room to rest."

"Melody, have you already forgotten what I just told you?" Susan Roth said, displeased. "It’s still early. The night’s just getting started. Why go back to your room?"

Amanda Lynn’s cheeks grew redder. The alcohol was getting to her head, and she slurred her words. "R-Right! It’s still early! Not g-going back to the room."

Melody Marsh looked helplessly at Jenson Marsh. "Dad, Mom doesn’t want to go back yet."

"Amanda." Jenson Marsh’s brow furrowed, his tone grave. "Listen to me. Go back to the room with Melody."

"Jevin, can’t you for once not be such a buzzkill of a husband and father?" Susan Roth said with disdain. "What time is it even? And you already want them to go to bed? That’s a bit much, you know."

"J-Jevin, let’s just... just stay a little longer," Amanda Lynn said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

A profound sense of powerlessness suddenly washed over Jenson Marsh.

He felt his consciousness growing hazier. He had to keep biting his tongue and pinching his thigh, desperately using the pain to keep himself lucid.

"Amanda." Jenson Marsh gripped his wife’s hand, his expression serious. "I can listen to you any other time, but this time, you have to listen to me."

When Susan Roth heard this, her expression changed slightly, and her heart skipped a beat.

’What does Jenson Marsh mean by that? Why does she *have* to listen to him this time?’

’Could it be... he knows something?’

Melody Marsh had rarely seen her father take this kind of tone with her mother, and besides, he was acting really strange.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she climbed out of the hot spring and asked in a low voice, "Dad, what’s wrong?"

Jenson Marsh’s forehead was covered in beads of sweat. He turned his head to his daughter, took a difficult, deep breath, and said, "Melody, look at the first text message on my phone."

He took his phone out of his pocket.

Confused, Melody Marsh took the phone and deftly entered the passcode.

The moment she finished reading the text, her expression changed instantly, her eyes filling with shock and fear.

She glanced at Susan Roth from the corner of her eye and asked in a trembling voice, "Dad, is... is this real?"

Jenson Marsh lowered his eyes slightly. "I think... it must be."

Susan Roth, who had been staring intently at the father-daughter pair, let out a laugh. "What’s with the secret exchange? What’s all this about ’real or not’?"

Hearing her voice, a chill immediately ran down Melody Marsh’s spine.

She pressed her lips together tightly and couldn’t help but shiver.

"M-Melody, are you c-cold?" Even drunk, Amanda Lynn still remembered to worry about her daughter.

Melody Marsh nodded quickly. "Mom, I’m cold. Really cold. Will you come back to the room with me to change?"

Hearing that her daughter was cold, Amanda Lynn also nodded. "Okay, let’s g-go back to the room."

Seeing she was about to get out of the hot spring, Susan Roth reached out to stop her. "Mandy, Melody is a big girl now. Does she still need you to go with her to change clothes? You just stay here and have a drink with me."

She then looked at Melody Marsh. "There are no strangers here. Don’t be scared. Just go upstairs and change by yourself."

"I want Mom to come with me," Melody Marsh answered.

Susan Roth frowned, annoyed. "How old are you? Do you still think you’re a little kid? Your mom can’t be with you forever. You need to learn to be independent."

Amanda Lynn doted on her daughter. She reached out and covered Susan Roth’s mouth. "Shh! S-Sian, Melody is... is our precious treasure. You can’t be m-mean to her."

"Mmph..." Susan Roth pulled her hand away and said irritably, "I’m not being mean to her. I’m trying to reason with her."

"Th-that’s not okay either." After saying that, Amanda Lynn grabbed the handrail of the steps and pulled herself up.

Seeing her get out, Melody Marsh and Jenson Marsh breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mom, let’s go back to the room and change." Melody Marsh and Jenson Marsh flanked Amanda Lynn, each supporting one of her arms.

The family of three headed up to the second floor of the villa, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind them.

Susan Roth stared at their retreating backs, her brow furrowed tightly. She waved Jasper Yates over. "Old Man Yates, come here."

Jasper Yates, a cigarette dangling from his lips, came to the edge of the hot spring. "What is it?"

Susan Roth lowered her voice. "Jenson Marsh is acting very strange. I don’t know what he showed Melody just now."

"Oh yeah?" Jasper Yates squinted in their direction. "It’s fine."

"What do you mean, ’it’s fine’?" Susan Roth shot him a glare. "They’ve all gone back to their room. How are we supposed to carry out our plan now?"

"How much did you make Amanda Lynn drink?"

"The mother and daughter drank almost that entire bottle."

"Then Amanda Lynn is definitely drunk. This is in the bag."

"But Jenson Marsh doesn’t look drunk to me. His face is as white as a sheet."

Jasper Yates took a drag from his cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and chuckled. "Don’t worry. He won’t last much longer."

"What do you mean?" Susan Roth asked.

Jasper Yates leaned in and whispered in her ear, "The wine glass he was drinking from... I coated it with..."

"Old Man Yates, you never cease to amaze me." Susan Roth gave him a thumbs-up. "You’re the real deal. So reliable!"

Jasper Yates’s face was full of smug satisfaction. "But of course."

In the room on the second floor, Amanda Lynn collapsed onto the bed the moment she entered and fell into a deep sleep.

Jenson Marsh locked the door and looked dazedly at his daughter. "Melody," he instructed, "I’ll help your mother change. You go put on some dry clothes."

"Okay." Melody Marsh nodded firmly, grabbing a T-shirt and jeans before heading into the bathroom.

Jenson Marsh forced himself to help Amanda Lynn out of her soaking wet swimsuit, then collapsed powerlessly onto the sofa, his fingers digging hard into his inner thigh.

When Melody Marsh came out after changing, she saw this and asked worriedly, "Dad, what’s wrong?"

"Melody." It was an effort for Jenson Marsh to even speak. He knew he couldn’t hold on much longer. "I think... Jasper Yates must have drugged me."

The color instantly drained from Melody Marsh’s face.

"Take my phone," Jenson Marsh instructed. "Contact Renee Jennings. She’s coming to find us."

"Okay." Melody Marsh nodded hard, trying her best to stay calm.

’Her dad and mom were both down. Not only did she have to protect herself, but she had to protect them too.’

Jenson Marsh wanted to say more, but he didn’t have the strength. No longer able to support himself, he collapsed onto the sofa.

Melody Marsh looked at her unconscious father, then turned her head to her drunk mother, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

She lowered her gaze to her father’s phone and was just about to make a call when someone suddenly started pounding on the door.

Melody Marsh jumped in fear, her whole body trembling as her eyes shot to the door.

"Mandy, Melody, are you done changing yet?" Susan Roth’s voice came from outside the door.

Melody Marsh pressed her lips together and didn’t make a sound.

Susan Roth pounded on the door again, her voice rising. "Amanda Lynn! Melody Marsh! Get out here once you’re changed! Old Man Yates ordered some barbecue! Come out and have some!"

After she was done, she even jiggled the doorknob, but unfortunately, the door wouldn’t open.

Melody Marsh sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the phone, her heart hammering in her chest.

After about a minute, it finally fell silent outside. Melody thought Susan Roth had given up. Just as she was about to call Renee Jennings, a sudden loud CRASH echoed through the room, followed by another furious bout of pounding on the door.

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