Chapter 406: Chapter 406: The Father’s Child

Under Melody Summers’ pressing gaze, Joanne White recounted everything she had been through recently.

Joanne said that after her parents passed away, she had sought refuge with "Mr. Caelus," a master her mother had always worshipped.

The title made Melody Summers frown instinctively. She asked, "Mr. Caelus? What sect is he a master of? Why did your mother trust him so much?"

Joanne shook her head silently at the question. "I only know that their sect used to be called ’The Advent Sect,’ I think. They seemed to have changed the name later, but I don’t remember for sure... I was only there for a couple of days before they arranged for me to come to the Sutton Family..."

Melody’s pupils contracted sharply. *The Advent Sect?!*

*Isn’t that the cult that carried out the terrorist attack at The Metropolis Residences?!*

*They haven’t been completely wiped out yet?!*

*And Joanne actually came into contact with the leader of this cult?!*

Joanne was oblivious to the tempest raging in Melody’s mind. She lowered her eyes and continued, "Mrs. Sutton, Margaret Adler, has always been a believer in Mr. Caelus. He wants the rest of the Sutton family’s fortune, so he came up with a plan..."

"He lied to Margaret Adler, telling her that I had a ’New God’s Gifted Fetus’ constitution, that I could conceive through a miraculous connection... Margaret believed I could give her son, Ethan Sutton, a child, so she brought me back. Mr. Caelus told me to find a way to gain the Suttons’ trust and get my hands on their fortune..."

Melody’s brow grew tighter and tighter as she listened to Joanne’s story.

A miraculous conception?

What was all this nonsense??

And why did Ethan Sutton’s mother trust a cult so deeply?

As far as she knew, Margaret Adler had always been an extremely shrewd woman.

Recalling the schemes Ethan Sutton’s mother had used to drive a wedge between her and Sylvia Lancaster in her past life, Melody found it impossible to believe she could be so easily fooled and so superstitious.

Melody frowned, asking thoughtfully, "Margaret Adler is, after all, the wife of a magnate and a member of a listed company’s management. Why would she trust this cult so much? And your mother, why did she place so much faith in this Mr. Caelus? Do you know the reason?"

Joanne thought for a moment before answering, "Because he correctly predicted many things."

Melody was taken aback. "Predicted?" she asked, confused.

Joanne nodded. "Yes. He accurately predicted the start and end dates of every natural disaster. He even predicted, months in advance and with pinpoint accuracy, which days it would snow and which it wouldn’t during this blizzard."

Upon hearing this, Melody’s mind suddenly went blank. She was completely stunned.

She had previously seen discussions in the residence’s group chat about The Advent Sect, where people also claimed its leader could predict the timing of the volcanic eruption.

At the time, she had suspected the cult leader might also be a regressor, which would explain how he could predict these events.

But she later dismissed the idea as too absurd. It was more plausible, she had thought, that the organization had someone from the national meteorological research institute who could provide inside information. After all, volcanic eruptions have many observable precursors, and the national meteorological and seismological bureaus had also predicted the eruption time. Predicting such things wasn’t that difficult.

But...

If this Mr. Caelus could even predict which specific days it would snow so far in advance, then these predictions couldn’t possibly be a coincidence!

This Mr. Caelus was very likely a regressor!

The thought gave Melody a headache...

She was a regressor, Sylvia Lancaster was a regressor, and now Mr. Caelus was one too... Were they handing out regressions wholesale this time?

Just how many other regressors were there?!

Though her mind was racing, her expression remained unchanged. She looked at Joanne and continued her questions, "A few days ago, I heard a loud argument coming from your place. What were you fighting about?"

Joanne flinched, her gaze turning shifty.

Seeing her silence, Melody urged impatiently, "Hurry up and tell me!"

Cornered, Joanne gritted her teeth and answered, "Because... because they found out I was pregnant..."

Melody sucked in a sharp breath.

"You’re pregnant?!"

Even Joyce Lawson, who had been standing silently to the side, widened her eyes. How was this possible?!

A completely inappropriate thought even crossed her mind: *My God, did she really conceive through a spiritual connection? Can I publish a medical paper on this?*

Melody glanced from Joanne White to Ethan Sutton, who was still on the floor, and asked in astonishment, "You... you don’t actually have that... that special ’Fetus God’ power, do you?!"

Joanne knew what Melody was thinking. Her face turned pale, her gaze evasive and her expression awkward.

Seeing this, Melody pressed on, "What’s going on? Be clear. How could you possibly be pregnant with Ethan Sutton’s child?!"

*Could it be that Mr. Caelus has a "System" too?* Melody wondered. *Did he use its power to make Joanne pregnant?*

If that were the case, things were about to get complicated... A cult leader with a System would not be an easy opponent.

Joanne saw that Melody wouldn’t let it go and knew she couldn’t fudge the issue. She bit her lip and answered in a small voice, "...The baby isn’t Ethan Sutton’s... It’s Sean Sutton’s..."

Melody: "...Huh?"

The answer was completely outside anything Melody could have imagined. She had run through countless possibilities in her mind, but this was the one thing she never expected to hear.

Joanne was pregnant with Ethan Sutton’s father’s child?!

What on earth was going on?!

Joanne’s face was a ghastly white. "I’m just an ordinary person," she said, sounding as if she were throwing all caution to the wind. "Of course I don’t have a ’New God’s Gifted Fetus’ constitution. That was just a lie Mr. Caelus made up to trick people!"

"According to Mr. Caelus’s original plan, I was supposed to use a fake pregnancy test he gave me at the right moment, claim I was pregnant with Ethan Sutton’s child, and win the Suttons’ trust so I could figure out how to get their fortune..."

"But I’ve been observing them. In the Sutton family, only Margaret Adler is a superstitious follower of Mr. Caelus! Neither Sean Sutton nor Ethan Sutton believes in any of this stuff. A lie like that would never fool them."

At this, Joanne wearily rubbed her face.

She stared at the floor and continued, "I know Mr. Caelus’s group is just a cult. They’re bound to come to a bad end, and I don’t want to get mixed up with them. I... I want to stay with the Sutton family..."

"Ethan Sutton, the Suttons, they wouldn’t let me stay, so... I seduced Sean Sutton..."

"Margaret Adler found out when Sean Sutton and I were in bed together... She’s been causing a scene every now and then ever since..."

Upon discovering her husband’s affair with Joanne, Margaret had a complete breakdown. For days, she had been screaming and fighting to throw Joanne out, but Sean Sutton had always stopped her, allowing Joanne to remain.

"A few days ago, I realized my period was late. I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant. Margaret threw another fit. The argument you heard was probably the sound of her smashing things..."