Sue looked at her older brother. His familiar bad temper, his familiar way of saying one thing and meaning another... Her eyes suddenly stung. Three years of accumulated grievances, resentment, and longing all surged up at once, and she choked out, "Brother…"
"None of that now. What are you crying for?" Elliot Lawrence turned his face away, shoved a box into her arms, and said in the same brusque tone, "This is for the kid. Don't let him think the Lawrence Family treated him poorly." After speaking, he loosened his tie, strode over to the sofa, and took the sobering soup Jenny Norris quickly brought him. He downed it in one gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing as he suppressed the agitation in his heart.
He glanced around the empty living room, his brow furrowing. "Where's Nanny Ward and the others? Why isn't there a single servant in the house?"
"I sent them all away."
"I have something to tell you. You might find it unbelievable, but in one month, the apocalypse will come."
The apocalypse?
Everyone paused. Elliot stared at Sue in shock. "Did you join a cult?"
"..."
Sue's mouth twitched. "No."
"Then you're coming with me to the police station for a drug test."
"......"
"I'm not on drugs, either."
The room fell even quieter.
"Everything I'm saying is true. The company I founded… Tiana Lynch is trying to sell it now to hoard supplies for the apocalypse. Dad…"
Vincent Lawrence was taken aback. "The company you have a 25% stake in?"
Vivian Young exclaimed in surprise, "Honey, didn't you also invest money for Sue's sake? I think you have a 30% stake, right?"
Jenny Norris also nodded. "Elliot invested money, too. He has a 25% stake."
'Huh?'
'So her family had been secretly investing behind her back. No wonder her company had been able to grow so smoothly and successfully.'
"So, you're saying it wasn't Tiana Lynch who worked so hard to secure investments? It was you guys, investing for my sake?"
Sue laughed in anger.
Back then, Tiana Lynch had claimed she'd run herself ragged for a long time before finally managing to secure 55% in investments. It was because of that 55% investment that the company was able to survive its initial difficulties and grow, to the point that everyone, including Jason Sterling, saw Tiana as the company's savior.
'But it turns out, all that money was secretly invested by my father and brother, for me?!'
Just as she was feeling moved, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Mia Keller.
[Mia Keller]: Seriously, Tiana Lynch is way too fast. She's already found a buyer and says she's selling the company. Sue, you're one of the original founding shareholders, remember to come get your share of the money tomorrow!
'It seems those people planned this all along.'
'Take advantage of me? In their dreams. In this life, I'll make every single one of them cough up everything they took from me!'
Vivian Young couldn't help but shed tears. "You know what your father's temper is like, but you just had to be stubborn with him. The family knows your every move. We knew you started a company. Your dad and your brother have been supporting you. Did you really think you did it all by yourself?"
Sue's eyes reddened as well. 'In the end, the only ones who will wholeheartedly be there for you are your family.'
She looked down at the treasure in her arms, and Leo looked up at her sensibly. She said openly, "From now on, our family will always be together."
The whole family, including Leo.
Everyone looked at Leo again. The little boy's eyes held a trace of fear; he was clearly a bit scared. But from Vincent Lawrence down to Elliot, they all expressed their acceptance with silence. Elliot had even specifically bought him toys.
Sue didn't want to waste any more time. "We need to start hoarding supplies on a massive scale. Food, water, and medicine are top priorities. We also need to build a Safe House. The apocalypse will begin with extreme cold, followed by extreme heat, which will cause floods and acid rain. And finally… zombies."
The room fell utterly silent. Everyone was a little shocked, but seeing Sue's reaction, it didn't seem like she was lying.
After a long moment, Vivian Young stammered, "A Safe House? Our family owns an abandoned mine…"
The Lawrence Family had made their fortune in mining in the early days. After the mine was abandoned, they shifted to real estate and physical industries, which is how they grew to their current size.
"Then let's use the mine as the Safe House. Of course, the deeper we dig, the better. The whole thing will need to be renovated…" She continued giving instructions, "Sister-in-law, you should take the whole family to the hospital for a check-up. Before the apocalypse arrives, I want everyone to be in the best possible health."
'Especially my sister-in-law. She's pregnant, probably about a month along now, though she doesn't feel it yet. But I have to let her know ahead of time.'
Vivian Young nodded happily. "Yes, let's do that!"
After a moment of silence, Elliot said, "I'll go scout for information. If you were able to find this out, maybe there's other news out there. Even if not, there should at least be some strange rumors floating around. Also, I'll handle the company's asset liquidation."
"Okay. I'll stay here and hoard supplies. Dad, about that abandoned mine, do you think you can get it dug even deeper?"
The study light stayed on for most of the night as the group discussed how to renovate the mine. After a short rest, they each went their separate ways at dawn to handle their tasks.
The first thing Sue did was get ahold of cold-weather gear.
In the apocalypse, the lowest temperature of the extreme cold had broken past -100 degrees Celsius. Ordinary cold-proof clothing couldn't withstand such low temperatures at all. An astronaut's extravehicular spacesuit could resist such super-low temperatures, but something that high-tech was impossible to buy.
That left the civilian market.
She remembered from her past life seeing people wear several types of cryogenic protective suits, like liquid nitrogen suits that could withstand temperatures from -250°C to -360°C. There was also a certain brand's polar extreme-cold series, specialized clothing for polar scientific expeditions, but that gear could only resist temperatures down to -60 degrees Celsius at most.
But the extreme cold didn't drop below -100°C in an instant; it was a gradual decrease. At first, it was just like a normal northern winter. When the temperature fell below zero and the heavy snow began, people didn't think much of it. But the year's lowest temperatures kept breaking new records, from -10°C to -30°C, then to -50°C, and finally past -60°C. Soon, it was approaching -80°C, until eventually, her thermometer could no longer measure how low the temperature had actually dropped.
The cryogenic temperatures caused the heating systems in the northern cities to fail. Heating pipes froze and burst, and the systems stopped functioning. Once the heat was gone, the entire north would instantly become a massive ice cavern. Even the thickest walls would be coated in a layer of frost, and entire rooms would feel like freezers, with frost everywhere and a chilling mist in the air.
The government tried to save the populace. At the time, their chosen shelters from the cold were various deep air-raid shelters and mine shafts. It turned out that the deeper the mine, the better it could withstand the severe cold.
So she ordered three thousand liquid nitrogen protective suits in one go, plus another three thousand sets from the polar extreme-cold series. Their family's abandoned mine was quite large anyway, so there was enough space to store them.
She contacted the manufacturers, but they couldn't produce so many items at once. Sue could only wait. She had just put down the phone when it rang again.
She glanced at the screen. It was Jason Sterling. She immediately hit the decline button.
'Just because he calls doesn't mean I have to answer. I already made it clear that we're done.'
But he was persistent and sent a text message.
[Jason Sterling]: The company sold for eight million. As a founder, you still have some shares. Come get your cut. Don't say we bullied you.
'No, not "some." My personal stake alone is 25%, and with my dad's and brother's shares, it's a full 80%!!'
"Leo, wait for me at home!"
After telling Leo, she called the legal department of the Lawrence Group.
"This is Sue Lawrence. Send me your best lawyer."