Chapter 4 :THE FAMILY DINNER TRAP

Siera woke up the morning of Day 27 to receive a text message from an unsaved contact

Richard Blackwood: Family dinner tonight at the estate. 7 PM. Do not embarrass this family again.

She blinked at the text. Richard Blackwood. Her father in this world. In The Last Empress, Richard was a wimp who let his new wife Victoria bleed his late wife's estate dry to spoil her own daughter, Sophie. He was a weenie who didn't hit you, but watched while others hit your backside and blamed your bruising on yourself

In the novel, Siera Blackwood had been invited to the dinner. She had cried her eyes out, pleaded with her father to understand that her sister Sophie was playing tricks with her head and endured the poison words of her stepmother, Victoria. The dinner at which it was announced that Siera was to be engaged to Marcus, effectively tying her wealth to a man who was already sleeping with her stepsister.

Siera smiled and replied: I'll be there.

She had an improved script this time. Plus, she would bring the props.

She spent the morning finishing up in her garden. The seeds she had bought the previous day had been planted and the wheat was shooting up with the chickens laying. The automatic feed system was ridiculous. She rounded up a few more rabbits and a spare goat for her animal pen.

[Ding! Animal pen upgraded: 4 square meters.]

She didn't pay attention to the rest of the prompt. She checked her stockpile. Weapons, medicine, water, food. It was all beginning to come together.

At 6:30 PM, she took a shower and got dressed. Not in the pretty designer gowns that Victoria wanted her to wear, but in dark clothes. She wore her jade pendant on the outside of her shirt and then took her new, heavy-duty pick up to the Blackwood Estate.

The mansion was a garish show of new money, the taste of Victoria. Siera didn't pay any attention to the panicked look on the valet's face as she pulled her pick-up to the circular drive in front of the mansion. She strode inside without knocking.

The dining-room was a masterpiece of tension. Richard sat at the head of the table, stern as ever. Victoria sat besides him, adorned in diamonds. Sophie looked like a porcelain doll in a white dress, dabbing her eyes with a napkin. Beside Sophie sat Marcus, looking very uncomfortable.

"Siera," Richard said crossly. "You're late. And you've parked a commercial vehicle in our driveway."

"I'm not late. I'm on time." Siera pulled out the chair opposite to Marcus and sat down. She took a piece of bread, took a bite of it and said. "That truck is my new car. It can stomp over a zombie and not feel a thing."

There was stunned silence in the dining room.

"Don't be morbid, Siera." Victoria snapped. "You have been very unstable lately. Look at your clothes. Your attitude. Sophie is devastated that you have been trying to spread rumors about her and Marcus."

Siera took another bite of her bread roll and looked at Sophie. "Devastated? Her eyes are perfectly dry, haven't she been practicing that little sniffle in the mirror since she was twelve?"

Sophie gasped dramatically. "Sister, how could you?"

"I'm an only child," Siera said flatly.

"Enough!" Richard slammed a hand onto the table. "Siera, this ends now. We have decided to move up the wedding. You and Marcus will tie the knot next week. It will keep the media away from asking questions about your recent erratic behavior."

Marcus finally piped up. "Siera, it's for the best. I can take care of you."

Siera laughed. It was a genuine laugh, full of amusement. She pulled out a folded sheet of paper from her pocket and tossed it on the table. It slid to a stop on the table beside Marcus.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Divorce papers," Siera replied.

Marcus turned pale. "We aren't married yet."

"Then it's a broken engagement contract," Siera said smoothly. "Consider it a pre-emptive strike. I have also taken the liberty of drafting a transfer of assets. You will return the 1.5 million dollars that I loaned you for your failing tech-startup."

Marcus' eyes were wide. "I don't have that money!"

"Then liquidate your company," Siera said coldly. "I know you used the funds to buy Sophie that watch that you have on your wrist, and the sports car she drove last week. If you don't sign that paper by tomorrow morning, I will hand over the evidence of your embezzlement to the authorities."

"You're lying," Victoria screamed, though she looked a bit shaken. "You have no proof!"

"Victoria," Siera said, turning her gaze to Victoria. "Did you know that Sophie has been forging your signature on the household accounts? She's been funneling money into an offshore account for the last year. I have the account numbers. shall I text them to Richard right now?"

Sophie's face turned the color of ash. "That's a lie! Mom, she's lying!"

Richard looked at his wife and his stepdaughter, his brows furrowed. "Victoria, is this true?"

"I... of course not!" Victoria sputtered.

Siera stood up. She hadn't eaten any of her dinner, but she had drained all the enjoyment out of the dinner. "I don't care what you believe," She said. "I'm leaving. But I'll give you some advice. When the world ends and it will end very soon don't come looking for me. I won't have a single noodle to spare for any of you."

She turned around and walked out of the dining room, giving no heed toRichard's booming rants and Victoria's shrieking.

As she stepped out into the cool night, her mobile phone gave a series of vibrations.

[Warning: The plot has deviated significantly. A 'Fixer' event has been triggered.]

Siera paused. A Fixer event. It meant that in the novel, The Last Empress, whenever a character veered too much from their role, the world would throw a lethal obstacle up to eliminate them or force them to revert back to their scripted role.

She glanced at the timer.

[Fixer Event: A car will attempt to run you over in 3... 2...]

Siera didn't wait for the '1'. She sprinted to her truck.

Behind her, a black sedan roared to life behind the bushes and peeled out, targeting her.

Siera pressed the unlock button on her pick-up. She wrenched the door open and climbed in, throwing a glance at the road. Her vehicle's rear bumper had barely been dented when the black sedan rammed into her. The heavy-duty truck didn't budge an inch. The sedan's hood crumpled.

Siera started up the engine and backed up. She stomped on the gas and crushed the front of the sedan with her truck's grill guard. She spun her wheel and rammed down the driveway. She looked at the driver of the sedan in her rear-view mirror.

Smiling, her heart racing, she whispered to the night

"Nice try, but I'm the one driving now."