#005 Turning deaf ears.

~ Evelyn.

The deafening roar of demolition drills echoed across the manicured lawns of the Mallory estate, but it was entirely drowned out by the sound of furious howling at the front entrance.

I stood by the second floor window, watching as Arthur and Max rattled the heavy iron perimeter gates with both hands. They had caught wind of my new property through neighborhood gossip, and their predatory instincts had immediately kicked into overdrive.

Instead of waiting on the balcony, I walked down the grand staircase, my heels clicking sharply against the marble floor, and marched straight toward the front gates. The construction workers paused, watching in bewilderment as I approached the barrier where my former family was losing their minds.

"Open these gates right now, you ungrateful thief!" Arthur shrieked, his face flushed a dark, bloated red as spittle flew through the bars. "You think you can sneak around buying multi million dollar villas while my family suffers? That money belongs to us! You stole Derek's savings!"

Max shoved his face right against the iron bars, his eyes wide and bloodshot with panic. "My wedding is in two months, Evelyn! Give us our share of the cash right this second, or we will call the police and tell them you robbed us blind!"

I stopped just inches from the gate, looking at them as if they were two stray dogs barking behind a fence. I did not flinch, nor did I raise my voice.

"Call the police, Max," I said smoothly, my tone cutting through their hysterics like a blade. "Go ahead. Dial their number right now and tell them your former wife legally bought a house with money she earned independently. Let the officers inspect my bank statements and your family financial records. I am sure the authorities would love to investigate where all of Derek's supposed savings actually came from."

Arthur choked on his own breath, his eyes bulging as the color drained from his face. He knew as well as I did that every cent they had ever lived on came from my sweat and tears, not a single penny of which was left in their hands.

"You... you cunning bitch," Arthur sputtered, grabbing the iron bars so hard his knuckles turned white. "You think you can walk away from us? We made you! We let you into our home!"

"You treated me like a slave and tried to bleed me dry," I replied, my voice dropping into a chilling register. "And if you shake these gates one more time, I will not call the police. I will have you arrested for trespassing, harassment, and disturbing the peace. Now get off my property before I lose my patience."

Max stepped back, tugging frantically on his father's sleeve as the construction workers began walking slowly toward the fence with heavy iron pipes in their hands. Realizing they had zero leverage and zero power, Arthur glared at me with venomous hatred, spitting onto the concrete before turning away in defeat.

I watched them shuffle down the street, defeated and desperate, knowing their petty tantrums could not touch me. In the original web novel I had read back in my real world before my cheating fiancé poisoned me, the original Evelyn would have cowered and wept at these gates. But I was no longer that pathetic character trapped in a scripted tragedy. I had rewritten my fate, and I had supplies to secure.

***

A fortified villa was only half the battle. When the global deep freeze arrived in seventy nine days, a beautiful mansion with reinforced steel shutters would become nothing more than a cold, polished tomb without endless supplies of food, water, and medicine.

That evening, I drove my rental car down to the industrial docks on the edge of the city, pulling up outside a massive, dimly lit commercial warehouse I had rented under a shell corporation.

My phone buzzed against the dashboard. It was a text message from a wholesale food distributor confirming the arrival of my first major shipment.

Using my lottery winnings and hiding behind the guise of a wealthy hospitality director outfitting a remote mountain resort, I had spent the entire afternoon placing massive bulk orders. White rice, wheat flour, dried beans, canned meats, cooking oil, and thousands of gallons of purified water were currently being loaded onto heavy freight trucks heading straight for my location.

Within twenty minutes, a massive semi truck rumbled into the loading bay. The driver hopped out, wiping sweat from his forehead as he unlatched the back doors, revealing towering pallets stacked high with sacks of grain and canned goods.

"Where do you want all this, ma'am?" the driver asked, eyeing the empty concrete floors of the warehouse with visible confusion. "There ain't no forklifts in here."

"Just leave it right by the entrance," I instructed, handing him a thick envelope stuffed with cash bonuses. "You and your crew can take off. I prefer to handle the inventory sorting alone."

The driver stared at the cash, grinned widely, and quickly whistled for his helpers. Within half an hour, the pallets were unloaded, the paperwork was signed, and the truck sped away into the night, leaving me completely alone in the massive concrete structure.

I locked the heavy metal rolling doors from the inside, plunging the loading bay into quiet isolation.

I walked over to the towering stacks of food and medical supplies, brushing my fingers across the cardboard boxes. I closed my eyes and focused on the familiar, pulsing warmth deep within my soul, a tangible reminder of the supernatural system gifted to my transmigrated soul when I crossed over from my past life.

With a single mental command, the infinite spatial storage dimension opened inside my mind.

A silent wave of energy swept across the floor. In a single blink, the entire mountain of pallets, weighing tons, vanished into thin air. Not a single grain of rice or drop of water remained. Everything was sucked instantly into the warm, static inventory space of my mental dimension, where food would stay piping hot and water would never freeze, preserved for eternity.

I let out a long, steady breath, feeling the phantom burn of the poisoned wine from my past life finally fade from my throat.

Let the Gantt family starve in their cramped apartment. Let the rest of the world remain blissfully ignorant of the frozen hell approaching them. My fortress was rising, my spatial inventory was filling, and my survival was secure… or so I thought.