As I opened my eyes, I saw the severe weather warning on my phone. A shiver ran down my spine. I spotted an open bag of chips that Tyler had left untouched. Grabbing it, I devoured it ravenously. After finishing the chips, I still felt hungry, so I started rummaging through the fridge. Jack, my husband, looked at me with disgust. “Are you some kind of starving ghost? Can’t you eat more politely? You’re embarrassing yourself!” I ignored him, not bothering to explain. The memory of hunger and cold from my previous life was still vivid. Seeing Jack’s nonchalant attitude towards the flood warning, I had no intention of alerting him. Instead, I grabbed the keys to our high-rise apartment in the city, planning to stock up on food. As I was about to leave, I saw Jack and Tyler chatting happily with Lily and her daughter Rose at our villa’s entrance. I approached them coldly. “What are you all talking about? You seem so happy.” Jack flinched, his tone unnatural. “Just some neighborly chat, you know, building relationships.” Tyler impatiently added, “Mom, they say neighbors are better than distant relatives. What’s wrong with Dad and I getting to know our neighbors?” Seeing how they blamed me, my heart ached. Usually at home, these two only called me to cook, barely talking to me otherwise. Now they had so much to say to our neighbors. I looked at Lily, the single mother next door, with hostility. “Don’t you know that single mothers often attract gossip? Aren’t you worried about my husband and son ruining your reputation?” Lily seemed unbothered, even a bit shy. “I don’t care what others say, as long as you don’t mind, Jack!” My husband puffed up proudly. “If anyone dares to gossip, I’ll teach them a lesson!” I felt like an outsider. Watching Tyler eagerly share his precious toys with Rose, I felt utterly disappointed. As I was about to leave for our apartment, Jack followed me, annoyed. “I’m just being friendly with the neighbors. Why are you so petty? What’s there to be angry about?” This sentence instantly brought back memories from my previous life. Back then, when I tried to make Lily and her daughter leave our home, Jack had said the same thing. After Jack and Tyler had lectured me, they had stayed in a bedroom with Lily and Rose. I had wondered if I was truly being selfish and considered apologizing to Jack and the others. But as I approached the bedroom door, I overheard Jack saying, “That old hag can’t compare to you. If she wasn’t still making money for me to spend, I would have divorced her long ago.” Tyler chimed in, “Aunt Lily, I wish you were my mom instead. I really want you to be my mom!” I gave Jack a cold look. “I’m not angry,” I said calmly. I headed out, planning to drive to our old apartment. Jack noticed the keys in my hand and asked curiously, “Honey, why are you taking those keys? We haven’t been back to that apartment since we moved to this villa. It’s probably unlivable now!” I hesitated, wondering if I should take Jack and Tyler with me this time. But remembering how they had forced me out to find food in my previous life, my heart turned cold. “I want to tidy it up. I’ll be working overtime at the company for a while, so I’ll stay there. It’s more convenient, and I won’t be able to take care of you and Tyler.” Hearing that I wouldn’t be home due to overtime, Jack frowned. I knew he wasn’t worried about me, but about who would cook for them. So I added thoughtfully, “I’ll transfer some money to your account later. You and Tyler can buy food for the next few days.” Jack’s frown disappeared, and he said cheerfully, “Alright then, go get the apartment ready. Don’t let it interfere with your overtime!” As I drove away, I didn’t head straight to the apartment. Instead, I went to the largest supermarket in the city. During the catastrophic flood, food shortage was one issue, but power outage was even more terrifying. At its worst, the flood had brought ice rain. Many people died from severe colds due to the extreme cold. The world had become a vast ocean, and if our apartment hadn’t been above the 38th floor, it would have been submerged too. The reason I had drowned in my previous life was because my hands, frozen stiff while paddling a raft, had slipped, causing me to fall into the water. At the supermarket, I first spent a fortune on several generators and a lot of coal. I also arranged for workers to install a coal stove in our apartment. After that, I rushed to stock up on food. Looking at my bank balance, I didn’t feel the least bit of regret. After all, the villa we currently lived in was bought entirely with my own money. Since marrying me, Jack had always found excuses not to work. And I had foolishly spent all my money on him and Tyler. So this time, I was determined not only to survive the flood but also to improve my quality of life. I bought plenty of hotpot ingredients, vegetables, and meat. Instant noodles, quick-cook rice noodles, rice, and other necessities were all on my shopping list. I also stocked up on fruits and medicines. Many people in the previous flood had died not because their illnesses were severe, but because they lacked medication. Besides these, I bought many other miscellaneous items. After all this, I hired a renovation company to replace the door of our apartment with a vault-grade one and to improve the waterproofing of the entire place. When everything was settled, I looked at the apartment packed full of supplies and felt a sense of security wash over me. These supplies would easily last me through the month-long flood, maybe even for a year or more if needed. [Truncation point] Before the catastrophic flood hit, I decided to return to the villa one last time. It wasn’t out of kindness or a desire to warn Jack and Tyler. On the contrary, I wanted to make them believe the flood warning was just a hoax. When I got home, I realized I had worried unnecessarily. In my previous life, if I hadn’t prepared an inflatable raft after seeing the news on my phone, our family wouldn’t have been able to return to our apartment after the flood hit. This time, without my intervention, not only had Jack and Tyler not stocked up on food, they had even taken the fruits and vegetables I had bought earlier to share with our neighbors. Through the front door, I saw Jack hosting a lavish meal for Lily and Rose, while Tyler was thoughtfully peeling crayfish for Rose. My eyes grew colder at the sight. Just as I was about to enter, I heard Rose say in a sweet voice, “Big brother, I wish I could eat at your house every day. I really love playing here!” Tyler excitedly replied, “You can come whenever you want! As long as that old hag of my mom isn’t home, you can come every day!” Rose forced a smile, eating the crayfish Tyler had peeled for her. “Your mom is really annoying. I hope that old hag is never home.” Seeing the happy family of four inside, I pushed the door open. Jack was startled, stumbling as he stood up. “Honey, why are you back so suddenly? You didn’t even call to let me know!” I coldly looked at Lily and her daughter, saying bluntly, “Why should I tell you? So you can hide your mistress in advance?” Lily and Rose turned pale. Tyler stood up and said, “Mom, what are you talking about? Dad and I are just trying to be good neighbors. Don’t you know the saying ‘neighbors are better than distant relatives’?” I laughed coldly, not wanting to say a word. Jack awkwardly tried to pull me to sit down and eat with them. Sitting in the chair, I pointed at the feast before me and said, pinching my nose, “Honey, is this food spoiled? How could you serve rotten food to our neighbors?” Jack was surprised and immediately bent over the table to smell the food. “That’s not right, it’s not spoiled. I just ate some myself!” I smiled and said sarcastically, “Are you sure it’s not spoiled? I smell something fishy.” Lily was infuriated. She turned red and left with her daughter. Jack wanted to go after them, but seeing me sitting in the chair, he dejectedly walked back. I was about to speak when Jack interrupted me. He pointed at the news on his phone and said, “Honey, I think this catastrophic flood might actually be real. Living in this villa, if the flood really comes, we’ll have nowhere to hide. We’ll be submerged directly!” I glanced at him. In my previous life, Jack had no thoughts of prevention. Why had he changed this time? But his next words made me understand his intentions. “Honey, didn’t you clean up our apartment? That building is tall, above the 38th floor. Even if the flood comes and the whole city is submerged, it won’t reach our place. Why don’t you stay there for the next few days and stock up on some food for me and Tyler? When the flood comes, we’ll pack up and join you!” I see, so he’s eager for me to leave because he’s been having too much fun with the neighbors while I’ve been away. I pretended to hesitate and said, “Honey, why don’t you and Tyler come with me to the apartment now? We don’t know when the flood might hit. It’s better to be prepared.” Hearing that I wanted them to come with me to the apartment, Tyler immediately protested. He hurriedly said, “I’m not going! The villa is so comfortable, and I have friends to play with here. You can go by yourself!” Jack quickly glared at Tyler, and Tyler realized he had said too much, so he shut up. But Tyler was still afraid that if I really forced him to go back, he wouldn’t be able to play with Rose next door. So he stubbornly said, “I’m not going back to the apartment no matter what. I can’t get used to living there!” Jack looked at the news on his phone, his expression becoming hesitant. He seemed to be genuinely considering whether to come with me to the apartment. Just as I was cursing myself for speaking up, we heard a door closing next door. Followed by a cat’s meow. But to my ears, this meow was clearly imitated by a person. Jack’s hesitant expression immediately turned joyful. After a moment of silence, he awkwardly said to me, “Honey, let’s discuss this later. I’m going to take Tyler out for a walk first!” Seeing the barely concealed smile on Tyler’s face, I immediately understood what was going on. I nodded understandingly and said, “Alright, you two go out for a walk. I won’t join you. I’ll clean up the house a bit!” The two of them excitedly left. I didn’t clean up. Instead, I watched from behind the window. I saw Lily and Rose walking in front, with Jack and Tyler happily following behind, looking every bit like a family. When I followed them out, I saw the four of them enter a convenience store. Tyler generously said, “Aunt Lily, you and Rose can have whatever drinks you want. It’s my treat today!” Jack laughed and scolded, “Since when can you afford to act generous, you little rascal? Lily, take whatever you want. It’s on me!” Knowing that both Tyler and Jack’s money came from me, and now they were using my money to buy things for Lily and Rose, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I burst into the store, shouting, “What are you doing? Who are you buying things for?” My voice was so loud it nearly made Jack fall over. The other customers in the store all turned to look. Seeing my fury, Lily quickly pulled her daughter to hide behind Jack. Jack laughed awkwardly and said in a low voice, “Honey, weren’t you cleaning at home? Why are you here?” I looked at him angrily and said, “If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have seen you buying drinks for your mistress!” Hearing me say this, the surrounding customers’ eyes filled with a strange look. Lily, seeing the situation, started crying pitifully. “Sister Emily, it’s not what you think. It’s just so hot today, and Jack was kind enough to buy us a drink.” I didn’t go easy on her at all, directly scolding, “Don’t you have your own money? Why do you need my husband to buy you drinks?” Lily looked even more pitiful, wiping her few tears. “Sister Emily, how can you say that about me?” Before I could speak, Jack, seeing Lily cry, stepped in front of me. He shouted loudly, “Emily, what nonsense are you talking about? What’s wrong with neighbors buying each other things and deepening our friendship?” I laughed coldly. “What’s wrong? Inviting a single mother and her daughter to our house for meals, eagerly buying them drinks… If I hadn’t been home today, I bet this ‘friendship’ would have deepened all the way to the bedroom!” Jack’s face turned red, unable to say a word in response. The surrounding customers, seeing Jack’s expression, seemed to understand what was going on. They started whispering and pointing at Jack and Lily. At this moment, Tyler, who had been silent, suddenly said viciously to me, “You’re a bad mom! You’re deliberately slandering Aunt Lily. You’re a terrible person!” Seeing my son side with outsiders, my anger grew even more. After all the hard work I had put into raising him, buying him toys, paying for tutoring classes, buying him nice clothes, and now he calls me a bad mom. I angrily slapped him across the face. Tyler immediately started wailing, covering his face and shouting that I was a bad mom. Seeing that I was hitting harder and harder, Jack stepped in front of Tyler. “Emily, have you lost your mind? Why are you hitting our son?” At this point, the manipulative Lily suddenly spoke up: “Sister Emily, you can’t hit your son just because he’s telling the truth. This only proves that you’re feeling guilty!” I took a deep breath, not to admit my mistake, but suddenly realizing my approach was wrong. That’s right, hitting my son would only make others think I was guilty. So, hitting Lily, this manipulative woman, should be okay, right? With that thought, my eyes darted towards the mop handle in the convenience store. Without much thought, I grabbed the mop and shoved its dirty, grimy end right into Jack’s mouth.
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