Chapter 2

Daisy waited for a while. Since I didn't respond, she asked tentatively in a low voice, "Clarissa, are you listening?"

I curled my lips into a cold smirk. "I'm listening."

"Then can you let your brother stay at your new place for a few days to lie low?" she asked.

The cold smirk on my lips grew even wider.

I asked, "Mom, did Jackson really get into debt?"

Daisy paused for a moment, then said, "He really does, Clarissa.

"You know very well your brother is too trusting. He got tricked by his business partner this time.

"Clarissa, you're his sister. You can't just turn your back on your brother."

I opened my mouth, but didn't say anything yet.

Then Paul started yelling curses at me over the phone.

He shouted, "Clarissa, if you dare to turn your back on your brother, I'll come make a scene at your company again.

"Let everyone see what kind of sister you really are. You don't even care about your brother.

"I really should have drowned you in a bucket of piss back then..."

Paul's words shattered any last shred of affection I had for them.

At that moment, the Clarissa Harris, who once longed for a family and yearned for their love, was gone for good.

I heard myself say, "Mom, Dad, Jackson is Jackson. How could I possibly just ignore him?

"I'll send you the address in a bit.

"Why don't you bring Irene and Lucas and all come over?

"It's been so many years since I last saw you. I really do miss you all."

Daisy clearly didn't expect me to play along. She sounded genuinely delighted. "I knew you still had us in your heart, Clarissa.

"Alright, then the whole family will come over tomorrow. You better not look down on us when the time comes."

I forced down the searing hatred burning in my eyes.

"Of course not," I replied.

I thought, 'My dear mother, how could I ever look down on you?

'I can't wait for all of you to come over and walk right into your own doom.'

I told Daisy the new place was still a mess and not ready yet.

So I asked them to wait three days before coming over.

I took those three days to rent a spacious villa with a basement in the nearby neighborhood.

When the weather got scorching hot, running out of food wasn't even the scariest thing.

The truly terrifying thing was when the power went out.

Back in my previous life, tons of people living in high-rises died at home from heatstroke.

It was because the power went out and their air conditioning stopped working.

So, since I had the opportunity to time travel to the past, I'd make sure I was prepared for whatever came my way.

All the houses in this neighborhood came with their own basements.

I toured this place back when I was house hunting.

Even in the height of summer, walking into one of those basements was so chilly I almost wanted to grab a jacket.

So, if I wanted to escape the heat, there was no better place than this.

Next, I hit up the market and stocked up on dozens of boxes of macaroni, spaghetti, and other food.

With the scorching heat, it was tough to store fresh fruits and veggies.

So, I picked up a bunch of vacuum-sealed vegetables, as well as snacks.

The basement had plenty of room, so I bought three big fridges.

I filled them up with all my favorite foods, including steaks, fish, shrimp, pork ribs, lamb.

To beat the heat, I even got a separate fridge just for ice cream and popsicles.

On top of all that, I stocked up on plenty of snacks like chips.

I also stocked up on a bunch of medications.

On my way past a knife shop, I went in and picked up a few good knives and other weapons for self-defense.

I also bought several large water storage barrels with water filters, just in case the water or power went out.

I even went online for information, so I could set up a solar panel in the yard just for backup.

I was afraid someone would start eyeing my stash.

Whether I was stocking up on supplies or buying materials for the solar panels, I always pretended to be from a renovation company.

I hid everything among a pile of construction materials and hauled it all in by myself.

Luckily, the villas here had tall walls, and there was plenty of space between each house.

I used a truck to move things in for two days straight, and nobody found it the least bit suspicious.

In my previous life, experts said the heatwave would be over in a month. I ended up dying on the seventh day after the heat broke.

Once I finished stocking up, I looked around at all the supplies filling the house.

'With this much stuff, surviving a whole year would be a breeze, let alone just a month,' I thought.