Chapter 5

Flora

I sprinted out of the store, leaving the transport van and workers behind as I threw myself into the driver's seat of my SUV. I slammed my foot on the accelerator, tearing through the city streets toward the ridge.

When I burst through the front doors of the estate, the nanny was pacing back and forth in the grand foyer, wringing her hands and sobbing violently.

"Where is she?" I screamed, my voice echoing off the high ceilings as panic choked my throat. "How could you let her out of your sight for a single second?"

"I am so sorry, ma'am!" the nanny cried, backing away in terror. "I was helping the drivers carry the boxes of warm clothes into the storage vault! She was right behind me, and then—"

My phone buzzed relentlessly in my hand, vibrating with a barrage of missed calls and urgent text messages. I glanced at the screen. Holland. Dozens of frantic calls and angry messages over the past few weeks that I had completely ignored while focusing on my preparations. I shoved the phone back into my pocket, refusing to waste a second on him.

"Did you check the grounds?" I yelled, pulling out my phone to dial the local emergency line. "Did you check the gate cameras?"

Before I could press call, the heavy oak front doors swung open.

I froze.

Harvey stood in the doorway, drenched in sweat, holding Annabel in his arms. The little girl had a giant pink teddy bear tucked under her elbow and a sticky red lollipop in her hand.

"Mummy!" Annabel squeaked, wriggling out of Harvey's grip the second her feet touched the floor.

I dropped my phone, fell to my knees, and pulled her into a tight, trembling embrace. Tears poured down my face as I kissed her cheeks, her hair, her hands, holding her so tightly she gasped. I did not even care how he had found her or where they had come from; all that mattered was that her warm, living body was back in my arms.

"Mummy, Uncle Harvey is so cool!" Annabel babbled happily, pointing a sticky finger at him. "A bad man with a big metal gun tried to pull me into a black car, but Uncle Harvey fought him off! Then he took me to the big toy store and bought me Mr. Fluff!"

My heart plummeted into my stomach. A gunman.

I stood up, pushing Annabel behind my legs as I looked at the nanny. "Take Annabel upstairs to her room right now," I ordered, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "Lock the door and stay with her."

The nanny nodded frantically, grabbing Annabel's hand and ushering the confused little girl up the grand staircase.

Once the sound of their footsteps faded down the hall, I turned to Harvey. My chest heaved as I fought back the lingering anger, resentment, and disgust that had been simmering inside me since our conversation in the hospital.

"Explain," I said, my voice cold as ice.

Harvey leaned back against the closed front door, catching his breath. "Holland found out about the proxy scheme, Flora. He realized the money was gone, and he tracked your private jet flight to this city. He hired a team of local enforcers to kidnap Annabel so he could use her as leverage to force you to transfer every cent back to his account."

I stared at him, stunned. "How do you know about my plans? How do you even know about Holland or where we were?"

"I have been keeping a close eye on you ever since the day you went on the news," Harvey said quietly, looking me dead in the eye. "I knew Holland would come after you the moment he realized he was ruined. I needed to make sure you and our child were safe."

I flinched at the phrase our child, a fresh wave of bitterness washing over me, but I swallowed it down. I glanced past him through the open side windows. The sky outside had turned a bruised, dark purple, and heavy drops of rain began to pelt against the glass.

Harvey looked around the massive foyer, taking in the stacked crates of canned goods, barrels of clean water, and boxes of medical supplies lining the hallways. "Why are you stockpiling all this food, Flora? What are you preparing for?"

I turned my back on him. "That is none of your business."

Outside, the skies opened up, unleashing a blinding downpour and heavy thunder that shook the mountain ridge. The access road back to the city center was already flooding, making it impossible for anyone to drive down the slope safely.

"You cannot drive back in this storm," I said reluctantly, refusing to meet his eyes. "You can stay in the guest room on the ground floor for the night. But tomorrow morning, you leave."

Early the next morning, a harsh, relentless ringing shattered the silence of my bedroom.

I opened my eyes, reaching for my phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up with Holland's caller ID, flashing alongside a wall of unread text messages filled with vile threats, screaming rants, and promises to destroy me for duping him out of his family fortune.

I let out a low hiss of annoyance, muted the phone, and tossed it face down on the mattress.

Suddenly, a bright blue light flashed in front of my eyes. The system interface expanded into the air:

[Countdown to Outbreak: 00 Hours, 05 Minutes, 12 Seconds]

[Target 3 Completed: Fortress Established and Supplies Stockpiled!]

[Final Target Unlocked: Form a Strong Survival Team with Harvey Spencer!]

I stared at the screen in silence, a heavy breath escaping my lips.

I threw off the covers, slipped into a warm sweater, and walked down the stairs to the main living area.

Harvey was standing in the middle of the room, holding his phone in a white knuckled grip. His face was completely devoid of color, his dark eyes wide with shock as he scrolled through news feeds and social media video clips.

"Flora," he breathed, his voice cracking as he looked up at me. "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what?" I asked smoothly.

"The news feeds out of New York and the East Coast," Harvey stammered, pointing a shaking finger at his screen. "The emergency rooms are overflowing. There is some kind of strange virus spreading through the hospitals. The infected... they are biting people. They are tearing each other apart like wild animals."

He looked around the room at the mountains of food, fuel, and medical crates, his mind struggling to connect the dots. Driven by pure impulse, he looked back at me, his voice barely a whisper. "What the hell is this?"

"A zombie apocalypse," I replied calmly, stepping toward him. "It is here."

Harvey blinked, staring at me as if I had lost my mind. "A... a what? How could you possibly know that?"

"Because I knew this day was coming," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "I have known for weeks, and I have been preparing every single detail to ensure my daughter survives it. If you want to stay alive, Harvey, you have to stay here with me."

Harvey stood frozen, his eyes slowly sweeping across the fortified steel window shutters, the reinforced concrete walls, and the endless stockpiles of food. The realization finally hit him like a physical blow. The proxy deal, the sudden move across the country, the massive shipments of non perishable goods, it t was all for this.

"Holland..." Harvey muttered, a dark, breathless laugh escaping his throat. "Holland has no idea this is happening. He liquidated every asset he owned to hunt you down. He is completely broke." Harvey looked at me, his jaw tightening. "He is going to be a fresh meal for those monsters the second the city falls."

I looked out the reinforced glass window toward the distant city skyline, watching as black smoke began to billow over the horizon.

"Yes," I said, a cold, slow smile spreading across my lips. "But I am not going to make his death that easy."