How Do Materialists Impact Modern TV Show Plots?

Two days before her wedding, Serena Vale thinks she has everything. Love. Stability. A new job. A perfect future. That is until she finds out her fiancé has been cheating on her and is unapologetic about it. Broken-hearted, she leaves alone for what was supposed to be their honeymoon where she runs into two powerful billionaires. Rafael and Nikolai are supposed to be rivals, but little does the world know that they share a lot of interests, including the same woman. They both want her. They both claim her. And neither of them wants to let her go.

The world plunged into a new Ice Age. As the frozen apocalypse spread, 95% of humanity perished. In his first timeline, Cyrus Knovell's kindness cost him everything. The people he had helped betrayed him and left him for dead. Fate, however, granted him a second chance. He awakened one month before the world froze, gaining a dimensional ability that let him store anything without limit. Now he hoarded supplies by the billions and built a fortress no one could breach. While others shivered, starved, and traded their dignity for a morsel, Cyrus lived in comfort. The desperate came begging. The manipulative vixen: "Cyrus, let me into your shelter, and I'll be your girlfriend, okay?" The spoiled rich heir: "Cyrus, I'll give you all my money for just one meal!" The greedy neighbors: "Cyrus, you shouldn't be so selfish. You should share your supplies with us!" Cyrus remembered their betrayals. Lounging in his steel fortress and savoring his private paradise, he sneered, "Your survival has nothing to do with me. I'd rather feed the dogs than feed you."

To save my mother who's been bitten by a zombie, I exchange my own kidney for the only vial of serum that's available. I'm not given any anesthetic during the surgery. I bite down on a wooden rod until it snaps, but I still don't make a single sound. But when I rush back to the shelter to look for Mom, I catch her talking to someone on the phone. "You should drop the act soon, Mrs. Sawyer. Mr. Sawyer is going to collapse if this continues!" I recognize the voice. It belongs to Mom's assistant, Richard Peterson. "What's the rush?" Mom replies flippantly. "Although Terence is my son, he's never faced any hardship since he was a child. He doesn't know how hard it is to earn money. "I had to overcome many challenges before I became the richest person in the city. What if Terence is only treating me well for my money? He must pass this test to prove that his love for me is genuine." I clench my fists. The life-saving serum drops to the floor. It turns out that the apocalypse and the man-eating zombies aren't real. I have carried Mom on my back while darting through ruins for the last month. I eat rotten meat and even sacrifice my kidney without any hesitation for her, but everything is just part of a test that she designed. I look down at the bloody hole that wasn't stitched up properly on the side of my waist. Mom thinks that everything is just part of an act, but she has no idea that the doctor who wandered onto the set and performed the surgery on me is real.

The day the SAT results drop, I log a 1,500. The whole school goes wild. My boyfriend, Declan Dawson, lights up. "Sienna, that score locks in your spot at top universities! Let's celebrate with a trip abroad this break. Also, I've been eyeing a new laptop." I freeze. For some reason, Declan has spent all three years of high school convinced I'm a secret heiress who's just playing broke to test his loyalty. I clutch the last 10 bucks in my pocket, thoroughly mortified. "Declan, I really can't afford a vacation. Please don't be mad. Once I get my scholarship, I'll buy you those new sneakers you wanted, okay?" Declan's smile vanishes, and his gaze turns ice-cold. "Are you seriously still playing poor? You think you can brush me off with a cheap pair of shoes? Sienna Lawrence, drop the act. I know what you've been doing behind my back!" As I watch his angry figure leave, I feel a bitter ache in my heart. Maybe breaking up is for the best. My family background has never matched his anyway. Then comes the night of my celebration dinner. He shows up unexpectedly, arm in arm with the class beauty, and slaps a DNA test report right on the table in front of everyone. "Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence, Rosie is the real Lawrence heiress! Your actual biological daughter! The girl you raised is nothing but a fraud living a stolen life!" My parents freeze on stage. Rosie cues the tears right on time. "Sienna, you knew the truth all along. How could you steal my family and my life like this?" Declan pulls Rosie close and looks at me with pure, vengeful satisfaction. "It's time you give Rosie back everything you stole, Sienna!" They think I usurped Rosie's place in some luxury dynasty, but my family literally just makes a living collecting junk!

My family was supposed to be the richest of the land, yet I had to refund even a cheap delivery. Why? In my previous life, my housekeeper's daughter got her hands on a trading system. Every cent of money I spent would be hers. She started trying to guilt-trip me into donating to all the impoverished students in her school. It was charity anyway, so I signed a check worth 300 grand. The moment I did, that money became part of her savings, and the amount on my check was zero. Everyone called me names, called me a charlatan. Even the boy toy I spent good money on broke up with me. That girl used my money to donate to charities and became the kind and beautiful heiress. She told everyone I was the housekeeper's daughter instead. Furious, I grabbed my black card and started shopping like crazy. I wanted to prove I was the real heiress, but the balance in my account was cleared immediately. That girl then spent 1.2 million right away, like it was one dollar. She scoffed at me. "Don't try to act like you're rich when you're a broke loser. Your mother doesn't make enough as a housekeeper." The Internet decided to hunt me down. I could not handle the stress, and my mind broke. For some reason, my body withered away at a blistering rate. Before my father could save me, I drew my last breath. When I opened my eyes again, I returned to that fateful day. The day the housekeeper's daughter made me donate to the school.

A split second before I swipe my card at the Hermès boutique, I hear my unborn son's scream inside my head. "Mom, don't buy this useless designer bag! The zombie apocalypse is only a month away! This is inedible, and it can't be used as a weapon either. What's the point of buying it? Buy essential food! Sell that limited-edition sports car at home and trade it for a bulletproof armored vehicle!" My hand trembles, and the purchase order worth millions scatters across the floor. The sales associate looks at me with disdain and says, "Ms. Webb, if you don't have enough funds, you can always come back another day." I ignore her and immediately turn around to call the owner of the wholesale market. Without wasting any time, I order, "I need 10,000 pounds of potatoes and 5,000 pounds of beef. Make sure it's the kind with the fatty parts! I want it delivered immediately!" From this moment onwards, the socialite Phoebe Webb who only knows how to shop is gone. In her place stands a survivalist obsessed with preparing for the end of the world.