Chapter 2

As it turned out, in her eyes, the shelter I had bankrupted myself to build for her was proof that I was trying to climb the social ladder and latch onto the O’Connor family’s power. As for the way I had humbled myself, pleading with her to stay inside and escape the heat? She saw that as humiliation and imprisonment.

Little did she know that she couldn’t even feel how hot it was outside because repeated heatstroke had already damaged her ability to sense temperature, and this was only the beginning of an apocalyptic heatwave.

Before I could say a word, Mark suddenly turned pale. He clutched his chest and collapsed into Janine’s arms.

Janine screamed and caught him, then shot me a furious glare.

“Mark has claustrophobia! Are you trying to kill him by locking him in here? If anything happens to him, I will never forgive you!”

Before I could stop her, she called the bodyguards. Within minutes, they forced the shelter door open.

Mark pretended to gasp for air twice before looking weakly at Janine.

“Janine, Will knows I have claustrophobia, so why did he design a shelter without a single window? He took so much money from the O’Connor family. Is this how he does things?”

Janine’s eyes darkened as they met mine. Then, she gave the order. “Smash this place.”

My body stiffened, but this time, I didn’t stop them. I watched with my own eyes as she destroyed the only true refuge that would have survived the coming apocalyptic heatwave.

Janine brushed the dust off her clothes, her face expressionless.

“Let’s see how you’re going to stop me from going out with Mark now.”

Instead of arguing, I calmly replied, “I won’t stop you anymore. Sunbathing is great. You two should do it more often.”

A flash of surprise crossed her eyes. When she realized I truly had no intention of holding her back, she stomped her foot in anger and stormed off with Mark.

The moment she left, I took out my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart.

“I have a construction plan designed to combat a heatwave. Are you interested?”

With the shelter destroyed, I had no choice but to temporarily move into the basement of the O’Connor family’s old estate to avoid the rising temperatures. I had just set down my luggage when Mark suddenly appeared. He grabbed my hand tightly, his voice trembling.

“Will, I shouldn’t have taken Janine out to sunbathe. Please don’t say anything to Mr. O’Connor. I’m willing to share all my research about the apocalyptic heatwave. I just ask that you treat Janine well.”

His grip tightened. Suddenly, his nails dug into my arm, carving out a bloody scratch. I hissed in pain and shoved him away instinctively.

The next second, a high heel slammed viciously into my lower abdomen. Pain exploded through me. I doubled over, barely able to breathe, as Janine’s furious voice rang in my ears.

“Have you had enough? It was just your stupid shack, and you had to instigate Grandpa to steal the survival plan Mark worked so hard on? This isn’t the first time you’ve gone against him! You’d better explain yourself to me!”

I forced myself to stand, biting down on the pain.

“What’s there to explain?”

This wasn’t the first time Mark had slandered me. However, when had she ever truly listened to my explanation?

“You–”

She clearly hadn’t expected me to talk back. Her face turned livid, and she raised her hand.

“Enough!”

Mr. O'Connor strode into the room, fury written all over his face. He pointed at Janine in disappointment.

“Will has devoted himself to researching survival methods for our family in this apocalypse. How could you hit him?”

Janine let out a cold snort. “He’s greedy and insatiable. A slap is merciful. Grandpa, you messed up! You handed Mark’s plan over to Will to implement. That’s not fair to him!”

Mr. O'Connor’s expression hardened. “What do you know? Will has been researching the heatwave for years. Only by having him verify the plan can I feel at ease. This is an apocalyptic heatwave. Central City is already building a base, and our family must secure a viable survival plan. The position of base leader cannot fall into someone else’s hands.”

He sighed and then looked directly at Janine. “And don’t forget, you were the one who knelt in front of me back then, begging me to agree to your marriage to Will. And now you hit and curse him? What kind of behavior is that?”