Tale of Coming Ice Age

Before my Porsche even got off the highway from the airport, the soft little voice in my womb burst out again.

"Mom, this blizzard is supposed to last two years! We can't just renovate the manor. We need to stock up, too! Not just food, but we need blankets, winter gear, things like that. Firewood would be even better, and hunting rifles too."

My legs almost went weak, and I almost hit the gas instead of the brake.

Was the boy trying to scare me?

I pulled onto the emergency lane, then took a deep breath and rubbed my belly.

"Son, did your memories get scrambled during your reincarnation? We live in the twenty-first century now. We have heated floors at home, and we didn't need hunting rifles for food a long time ago."

'Who said his memory's scrambled? Just do what he said! In our last life, when the extreme cold hit, the whole world was thrown into another ice age. The people who froze to death turned into zombies! My brother and I died when the zombies bit into our necks!'

The image was just too vivid, and goosebumps rose all over my body.

To make sure these two little ones were not simply imagining things, I tested them.

"Then tell me the lottery numbers being drawn today."

If they were really regressors, they would know it.

Because I loved buying lottery tickets.

'Please! In your last life, you watched the lottery drawing whenever you had nothing better to do. I remember the numbers, too. It was your birthday and the last six digits of the driver's license number, plus one. You missed the jackpot by that one number.'

I drove straight to a convenience store, bought a lottery ticket, then stood outside and waited for the results.

An hour later, the winning numbers came out.

I won.

I froze.

This was real.

In a little over a month, the ice age would arrive.

I claimed the prize at once. Then, I started preparing for the end of the world.

I called an industrial battery supplier I had met while shopping in Edolas.

"I need one hundred thousand units of advanced portable batteries. Immediately. Yes, the power lines will freeze and snap during the Ice Age. I need those batteries."

After hanging up, I stepped on the gas and drove straight to the biggest meat wholesale market in Harbor City.

The place was damp and reeked of raw meat. Plastic bags and bloody water littered all over the floor.

I stood in the pork butchering section in a limited-edition Hermes outfit and four-inch heels, as if I had wandered in from another world. The butchers in the section looked at me like I was a walking wallet.

"I want half of the premium-quality pork over there," I said. "And all the premium-quality beef over there. Pack it up."

The butcher froze, electric saw still in hand. "Ma'am, are you opening a restaurant?"

"No restaurant. I'm preparing for winter," I said with a slight nod.

I had no time to waste on him, so I swiped my card and paid the deposit.

"I want all the premium-quality frozen meat in this market. Deliver it to my warehouse in temperature-controlled trucks. I'll tear your shop down if I'm missing even one pound."

Just as I was directing the workers to move an entire container of Southland steaks, a camera flash went off nearby.

I turned and saw Tina Anderson holding up her phone, looking like she was enjoying some show.

She was my fake friend from the Harbor City socialite circle.

She also happened to be the wife of my husband's cousin.

Tina had always thought the daughter of a family who had recently climbed up the ladder like me wasn't worthy of a man from an old-money family like Hayden Gomez.

"Well, well, Kirsten. What happened? Don't tell me that Hayden can't afford a housekeeper anymore? To the point you have to come to a place like this and buy this stinking meat yourself?"

As soon as she said that, she covered her nose with a face full of disgust.

I ignored her, picked up a box of Floraland foie gras no one had moved, and threw it into the trunk of the Porsche.

"If you're only here to make snide comments, get lost."

Tina was startled by my forcefulness, then sneered.

"Go on! Keep making a fool of yourself. I'm recording this and sending it to the group chat right now. I'll let all of Harbor City see how embarrassing Hayden's wife has become!"

My daughter snorted inside my womb. 'That stupid woman... When the blizzard comes, all the silicone pads in her will be the first to freeze and crack. I bet they'll feel nice and crunchy.'

I almost couldn't stop myself from laughing.

The owner of the wholesale market handed my card back and asked me to use another one. It turned out my card with a seven-figure limit had been maxed out.

Then my phone rang, and Hayden's confused voice came through. "Kirsten, did you hire people to renovate the house and buy out an entire wholesale market of frozen meat?"

His voice held both indulgence and helplessness.

"That's right. Can't I spend money in a different way?" I asked righteously.

The other end of the call went silent for a few seconds before saying, "Sure, you can. You can do whatever you want. I'll raise your card limit, so spend as much as you like."

After hanging up, warmth spread through my heart.

No matter how the world changed, this man had always treated me the same way.