Chapter 3

With Hayden's silent approval, I grew bolder.

But the prize money I had won from the lottery was already gone, and the card he had just raised the limit on had been maxed out again. The high-end renovation materials I needed cost tens of thousands.

That last renovation payment was weighing on my mind, and I couldn't rest easy.

Hayden had been so busy with company matters lately that he barely had time to rest, and I couldn't bring myself to ask him again. After all, everything I was doing was no different from going insane to him.

After thinking it over, I turned my attention to the safe.

Inside was an entire cabinet of car keys, along with dozens of paperwork for properties in other cities, all trophies from my travels around the world.

"Mom! That square key! Isn't that the yacht key Uncle X gave you? That yacht can be traded for a high-powered heating system and several truckloads of Wagyu beef. Hurry up and sell it!"

I made the decision immediately and listed all the cars and out-of-city properties online.

I had once treated these things as symbols of status, but now, they were all just something flashy and useless.

I posted them for sale on all my social media accounts.

To cash out as quickly as possible, I sold anything the moment someone made an offer to pay fully in cash, even at a loss.

Later on, just when I was at the broker's office to meet the buyer for the yacht, Tina showed up again. It just so happened that the yacht was the last expensive item I had to deal with.

She had come with a few of her friends from the circle to buy a vintage Camaro. When she saw me selling the yacht, her eyes lit up like searchlights.

"I knew it! Something huge must have happened to the Gomez family. Kirsten has fallen so far that she's selling off assets and properties now!"

Tina wanted the whole hall to hear that loud voice of hers.

I had no time to deal with her. Every minute was precious now.

After receiving the cash, I once again used the connections I had made while shopping in Edolas to get two high-capacity polyimide heaters, along with several hundred pounds of gunpowder from the black market.

The smell from the gunpowder was especially sharp. The neighbors next door lost it as soon as the trucks delivered them into the garage.

The HOA manager brought several security guards to my gate and insisted that I move the "whatever the powder was" away immediately, saying again and again that it was far too dangerous.

"No! I dare you to touch them!"

I guarded the barrels tightly as I threw a tantrum. How would we survive without the gunpowder? How would we blast through the ice in the extreme cold weather? Without ice, how could we get water?

"Kirsten, if you keep doing this, we'll have to call the police," the HOA manager said, looking upset.

Just then, a Cullinan stopped at the door.

Hayden was finally back.

He glanced at me as I was seething with anger, then at the property manager, who was covered in sweat. "What's going on here?"

The HOA manager looked at him like he had seen an angel. "Mr. Gomez, your wife has stockpiled a large amount of gunpowder in the garage. Forget code violations, this is illegal..."

Hayden rubbed his forehead and stepped forward, pulling me behind him.

"I have a use for this gunpowder. I'll arrange for a professional team to handle the blast containment. If anything happens, I'll take full responsibility."

The HOA manager was stunned. But since Hayden had already said his piece, he couldn't say anything else and could only leave with nothing more to say.

Looking at Hayden's broad figure from the back, my eyes suddenly turned red. He turned around and looked at my disheveled appearance before sighing. Then, he clapped his hands.

The driver drove over an all-black off-road vehicle. The car was over the top and looked even stronger than an armored truck. Its entire body was made of steel plates, and the glass was probably as thick as bricks.

"This is the...bulletproof car you wanted."

Hayden's tone was full of helplessness.

"Although I don't know who you're trying to protect yourself from, since you're making a fuss about this, you might as well go all the way."

I ran forward and hugged him, smearing tears and snot all over his custom suit.

"Honey! You're just too good to me! When the world turns into a glacier, I definitely won't let you freeze or starve! I'll make sure you live as freely and comfortably as you do now!"

Hayden's body stiffened, and he patted my back. "Alright, I'll thank you in advance."

There was only one week left before the world ended in ice, like my twins' had warned.