My college roommate, Scarlett, and my dad were dating. She brazenly moved into our house for the summer vacation. The very next day after she settled in, extreme weather hit: an arctic freeze accompanied by a relentless hailstorm. As temperatures plummeted, Scarlett claimed her room was too cold and promptly took over my master bedroom. “Anya, I naturally tend to feel cold. Your room is so much warmer. If you don’t want me to, I’ll manage, I guess.” “Scarlett, just take her room. You’re practically her stepmom now, why can’t you have the master bedroom!” My dad, worried I’d interrupt their quality time, coldly shoved me out the door to buy supplies. When I finally managed to finish my shopping, I found the yard gate locked. No matter how much I yelled, no one opened the door. Then, hailstones the size of eggs suddenly started falling. With nowhere to hide, I was beaten to death by the hail, right outside my own front door. This time, I’ll be sipping hot cocoa by a roaring fire, watching them get pummeled by the hail!
“Anya, I want to find a part-time job in the city this summer. Can I stay at your place?” “I can clean and cook for you. You know my family doesn’t have much money, so that’s all I can offer.” Seeing Scarlett, with her usual sweet-but-sly demeanor, I couldn’t help but shiver. That deep-seated terror, etched into my very bones, made me hug myself tightly, desperate to find shelter. Only when I stepped inside the academic building did my heart finally return to a normal rhythm. “Anya, if you didn’t want me to stay, fine, but why are you avoiding me?” “Yes, your house is huge, a standalone mansion with a garden. Not like me, who doesn’t even have a place to call my own in this city. But that’s no excuse to look down on me!” Scarlett’s voice wasn’t loud, but her tearful act made every passing student stop and stare. It was exactly like this in my previous life. She used the public opinion of our classmates to force me to take her home. She was pretty and always spoke with that sweet, manipulative tone. The guys in class absolutely fell for her act. Even though we were roommates, we weren’t really friends. I’m more introverted and usually kept to myself, rarely exchanging more than a few words with her. But she constantly ridiculed me behind my back, calling me a hick and saying my clothes were totally unfashionable, like something from the sticks. She even told our other two roommates, Chloe and Harper, not to talk to me, saying it would ‘drag them down.’ From then on, it was always the three of them, and me, alone. I didn’t care about any of that; I was used to being by myself. Until one time, when I was video chatting with my dad in our dorm, she saw my house and asked, dramatically, “OMG, Anya, your house is a mansion?” “Your dad’s so young and handsome! Is he, like, a CEO or something?” I tried to explain that it was just a modest, single-story house with a small yard, definitely not a mansion. And my dad was just a regular employee. I wasn’t lying. That small mansion was left to my mom by my grandma. After my mom passed away, it was just my dad and me living there. But she didn’t believe me. After that, she started calling me “Anya” affectionately. She even began talking to me more in the dorm, often sharing her snacks. Perhaps my personality was too cold, because soon enough, she reverted to her old self. But then I noticed she started having more money. She often wore new clothes, new jewelry, and even carried designer bags. I thought she’d found a good part-time job, but then I saw my mom’s bracelet on her wrist. That’s when I understood. “Give it back! That’s not yours!” I grabbed Scarlett’s arm, trying to yank the bracelet off, but she shoved me to the floor. “This is a gift from my boyfriend! Have some shame! You see something nice and claim it’s yours? Why don’t you claim this bag is yours too? Oh, wait, you’re a hick, you wouldn’t recognize it!” After Scarlett finished speaking, Chloe and Harper burst into laughter. “Yeah, hilarious!” “Scarlett’s bracelet, and you’re saying it’s yours!” Even a fool like me could figure out what was happening. My dad, that old pervert, must have given it to Scarlett. No wonder she’d suddenly gotten so rich. She was leeching off my dad! “Tell Scarlett to give me back that bracelet!” “Otherwise, I’ll expose you to your company! They’ll find out exactly what kind of man you are!” My dad didn’t care about my mom or me, but he cared about his reputation. Sure enough, Scarlett returned the bracelet soon after. She wanted to smash it, but she was probably afraid she couldn’t afford to replace it, so she gently placed it in front of me. “Hmph, I don’t care! Your dad will buy me an even bigger one!” I ignored her, carefully putting the bracelet away. My dad probably wouldn’t buy her a real one; he’d just get a cheap fake for a couple hundred bucks. After all the money he spent on her bags, he wouldn’t want to ‘invest’ too much more. Before today, we hadn’t spoken for a month. In my previous life, once she moved into my house, her true colors immediately showed, and her manipulative charm had my dad completely under her spell. Despite the atrocious weather outside, freezing everything, he ruthlessly sent me out for supplies, afraid I’d interrupt their time together. I still remember, when the hailstones started, I knelt at the front door, begging them to open up and let me in. But no one answered. I was simply beaten to death by the hail. As my last breath left my body, I saw my dad, arm around Scarlett, emerge from the house. Bundled in thick winter coats, they stared at my bloodied form, completely emotionless. Scarlett looked down at my corpse with disdain, her voice overly dramatic. “Oh, honey~ Why didn’t Anya knock when she got to the door?” “It’s all your fault for being so impatient, otherwise we could have come out to check on her sooner.” “It was her fate. Besides, with this awful weather, who knows how long it’ll last? One less mouth to feed.” Then, my dad stepped over my hail-pitted body, picked up some scattered food from the ground, and walked away. My entire body ached, a phantom pain. I shook my head hard, trying to clear the memory. Seeing that I hadn’t responded, Scarlett, once again, spouted her usual ‘innocent victim’ nonsense. “Anya, I’m beneath you. I don’t deserve to be your friend.”
I offered a slight smile. “What are you talking about, Scarlett? I never said you couldn’t stay!” “Why are you always slandering me? I haven’t done anything to you!” Scarlett’s brows furrowed as she heard the murmurs around us. “But you just ran off…” Ha, already losing your composure, are we? “It was just too sunny outside, so I figured I’d come in and talk. But I hadn’t even said anything yet, and you started showering me with complaints and accusations.” “Anyone who didn’t know better would think you did this on purpose, just to get people to trash-talk me!” Hmph, who doesn’t know how to play the innocent victim? Having died once already, if I’m still kind, then I deserve everything that’s coming. “No, Anya, you’re the best. Don’t be mad. I misunderstood you.” Before I could say anything, Brendon, Scarlett’s pathetic simp, spoke up, clearly annoyed. “Anya, enough already! Scarlett apologized, what more do you want?” “You’re the one who ran off without saying a word, so it’s really your fault.” “Besides, you didn’t lose a limb, did you?” In my previous life, I was too soft-hearted, and this ugly simp’s few words were enough to make me agree to Scarlett staying at my house. “What stray dog is yapping? Did anyone ask you to chime in?” “When you’re simping for someone, can you at least not spray your slobber all over me? It’s disgusting!” Brendon tried to say something else, but Scarlett stopped him. She whispered something in his ear, and he immediately calmed down. “Anyway, aren’t you dating my dad? Why are you asking me?” “Couldn’t you just tell him directly?” This time, I finally understood why she hadn’t just gone to my dad. This house was mine, and he didn’t actually own it or have the final say. He must have somehow twisted the truth to Scarlett. “He’s totally fine with it, of course! But we both respect you and wanted to hear your opinion.” Seeing Scarlett’s desperate eagerness, I almost burst out laughing. Even the simp who’d just defended her stared at her, confused by her sudden change in story. He muttered “gold-digger” and walked away. “Dad, my roommate wants to stay at our house this summer, is that okay?” I texted my dad right in front of Scarlett, and sure enough, I got an affirmative reply. Scarlett, seeing the message, affectionately linked her arm with mine, ready to go home together. “Can we go tomorrow? I need to go home and pack today.” Perhaps she figured one day wouldn’t make a difference, because Scarlett didn’t press the issue. But for me, one extra day meant more time to prepare what I needed.
I actually had another house, left to me by my grandmother: a small, two-story mansion in the suburbs, which my dad didn’t know about. After school, I immediately rushed to a hardware store and picked out a tough-looking boss. “Mr. Jenkins, I need the best steel plates you’ve got. I’m reinforcing my roof.” “And I need top-grade bulletproof glass to replace all the windows in the mansion.” “Also, get me as much waterproof, fireproof, and moisture-proof material as you can find!” The hardware store owner thought I was messing with him, remaining motionless in his chair. “Look, kid, if you’re joking, go to another shop. Otherwise, I’ll kick you out!” Exactly! This is the kind of boss I need. That way, I won’t have to worry about him if we’re working at night. “Sir, here’s a $10,000 deposit. I’ll pay the rest when it’s done.” After Mr. Jenkins left with the materials, I went and bought two truckloads of high-quality charcoal, several thick blankets, and over a dozen extreme-weather coats. Last time, the news said the extreme weather would only last a month, but I never lived to find out if it was true. By the time I finished all that, it was almost evening. I went to the grocery store and pre-ordered two whole pigs, various other meats, and a truckload of vegetables. Storage wouldn’t be an issue; with the freezing temperatures, it wouldn’t spoil. After buying bottled water, I made a quick stop at the supermarket to stock up on a year’s supply of feminine hygiene products. Essentials like these had to be stockpiled. Finally, I bought over a dozen power banks. Power outages were a certainty in extreme weather. I thought about buying candles, but then I realized the light would make me too visible. In desperate times, people show their true, ugly colors. There was still so much more to buy, but my mom’s inheritance was almost gone, so I’d have to make do and pray I could last the month. “Wow, Anya, your house is huge! Your dad is so amazing!” Scarlett gushed the moment she walked in, shamelessly batting her eyelashes at my dad, who was completely besotted, practically drooling. “Oh, this old house? It’s nothing, Scarlett. Feel free to stay as long as you like, don’t be shy with me.” My eyes practically rolled into the back of my head. How dare that old pervert? This house wasn’t even his! “Dad, your AC is so good! The living room is wonderfully cool.” That old pervert was still basking in his self-congratulation, nodding lecherously at everything Scarlett said. Only I knew it was the ominous calm before the storm, the prelude to the extreme cold. “Dad, let’s have hot pot! Didn’t we buy a lot of meat and seafood yesterday? Let Scarlett try some.” My intention was not to leave them with too much food, so they wouldn’t last too long. But my dad surprised me. “Get it all out! Let Scarlett try a little of everything!” I feigned hesitation and looked at my dad. “But Dad, that’s enough for us for two weeks or more. Isn’t it too much to take out all at once?”
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