Chapter 2

When I returned to the estate in Bayside and looked at the antique collection worth tens of millions, my heart bled. These things couldn't be eaten later, and neither could they not keep out the cold.

"Sylvester, take all of this to auction," I said to the butler.

Sylvester, who was holding a piece of velvet cloth, trembled so hard he almost dropped the hundred-thousand-dollar vase in his hands.

"These were all bought by Master Hayden at high prices from all over the country..."

"Sell them," I said before I lay down on the sofa.

I raised my voice.

"Who decides what happens in this house, you or me? These antiques carry too much negative energy. They affect my babies' development. Understood?"

Sylvester looked at me like I had lost my mind, but he still ordered the servants over to pack everything.

Watching those expensive antiques being carried away one by one, I had only one thought.

Turn them into canned food.

Not only were they going to be filling, but they were less likely to spoil in extreme cold.

The two little ones in my womb started giving orders again.

'Mom! The house's old-fashioned interior looks so fragile! The insulation and impact resistance are terrible. Once the cold wave hits at minus seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit, everything will crack. How is that any different from throwing the doors open and letting the blizzard in to tear us apart?'

I looked up at the house, which was decorated entirely in solid wood. I used to think mahogany looked classy, but now, it seemed pretty and useless.

I mumbled, "Let's change them, then. Replace everything with reinforced aluminum security shutters. We don't need windows or anything like that!"

I immediately contacted the best security company in Harbor City's Central Business District.

When the person on the other end heard my requirements, he thought I wanted to turn the manor into a vault.

"Madam, renovations at this level are usually used to protect national museum collections..."

"I feel unsafe, and I'm afraid of the cold. Is there something wrong with that? Money isn't a problem, but I have one requirement. I need it to be finished within three days," I said.

Once they heard that money wasn't a problem, they immediately fell silent and brought in the construction crew overnight.

Tina brought a few friends from the circle who usually followed her around to my front gate to laugh at me. They stood outside and watched as the mahogany all over the house was torn out piece by piece, laughing so hard they almost cried.

"Oh my god, Kirsten! Have you lost your mind? You're tearing out thousands worth of mahogany and replacing it with these scraps?"

"Did Hayden find someone new and stop giving you money, so you had to tear out the mahogany and sell it for cash?"

"How is this a mansion? It's practically a junkyard!"

I was sorting through my useless dresses when I heard what they were saying.

I tossed the clothes in my hands aside, and a pair of underwear just so happened to land right on Tina's head.

"Ah! What is this filthy thing?" Tina shrieked and yanked it off, but the sudden pair of underwear still left her speechless.

"This is my home! Get out!"

I got up, grabbed Tina by the collar, and threw her out.

Tina's face turned dark with anger, and she growled, "Kirsten, just you wait! When Hayden comes back and sees what you've done to the house, he'll definitely send you to a psychiatric hospital!"

That night, when Hayden came home, he was startled once he saw what was happening.

I had removed the original door and replaced it with a reinforced shutter.

I had also torn the manor apart. The living room was piled with instant soup and the canned food I had panic-bought from the supermarket. There wasn't even an empty place to step on.

He stood in front of the rug suppressed under boxes of cans, his expression a little dark.

"Kirsten, what's wrong with you? Why did you turn our home into something like this?"

I dragged Hayden into the study on the second floor and slammed the door shut.

Then, I locked it and lowered my voice as I said, "Honey, I'm preparing before the disaster hits us. The ice age is coming."

Hayden scanned me over from head to toe, then turned me around once.

"You're my wife, alright. You haven't been swapped with a doppelganger. What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Your son and daughter told me," I said as I poked my slightly rounded belly.

He rubbed his temples and took my hand in his. "Kirsten, aren't your pregnancy symptoms a little too severe? Are you hallucinating because you haven't got enough sleep? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

He didn't believe me.

Of course he didn't.

A month ago, I had still been bidding against someone over a dress at a foreign fashion show, but now I was stocking up on cotton coats.

A voice said to me, 'I told you. Dad's a skeptic who doesn't believe in the divine and supernatural. He won't believe this mystical stuff. Forget it, Mom! As long as he doesn't stop us from stocking up, it's fine!'

I tiptoed and kissed his chin.

"Just think of it as your wife's prenatal anxiety acting up. Messing with all this gives me a sense of security. Think of it as maintaining your good husband image, okay?"

He glanced at the mountains of canned food filling the hallway and then at my silk nightgown stained with oil. He finally sighed in resignation.

"Fine. As long as you don't dig a hole through the ground to the other side of the Earth, do whatever makes you happy."

He then went to the terrace to call a psychologist. I heard his urgent, anxious voice as he spoke.

"Hello, Dr. Smith? My wife is under a lot of stress from carrying twins, and she's already hallucinating... She's even saying the ice age is coming... What should I do in this situation? Don't agitate her? Are you sure? Alright, I understand."