Chapter 8: Red Rain

Her few small posts had yielded surprisingly good results.

Along the way, the system’s notification tone would ring from time to time.

[Detected that the Host’s current action will save one person in 15 days. Triggering "Selfless Savior" title. Reward: one bottle of Healing Potion.]

[Detected that the Host’s current action will save two people in 9 days. Triggering "Selfless Savior" title. Reward: two bottles of Healing Potion.]

...

The prompts kept appearing all the way until she was outside Daniel Hale’s mansion.

Nina Jacobs finally had the system temporarily mute the "Selfless Savior" notifications.

What kept bothering her was that even though she had told Vera Coleman and Daniel Hale to wait for her at home yesterday, she hadn’t received any system notifications about them.

Saving someone would trigger the "Selfless Savior" title.

In her past life, if Vera Coleman and Daniel Hale had died within these two days...

’Does that mean they aren’t out of danger yet?’

As Nina Jacobs walked and pondered, she happened to see Leo Hale up ahead, staring at her with a scornful look on his face.

"Oh, look who’s finally decided to come home?"

"Do you need something?"

Nina Jacobs wasn’t surprised to hear the sarcasm in Leo Hale’s voice.

The two of them had never gotten along very well.

She really hadn’t expected Leo Hale to be willing to help her the other night.

’Thinking back on it,’ she mused, ’he probably only did it for the sake of the pregnant Vera Coleman. He just didn’t want her to worry too much about me.’

After all, Leo Hale had always treated Vera Coleman like his own mother.

"What could I possibly need? I just heard that some people want to have their cake and eat it too,"

"and are pretty good at blackmail and extortion."

"Just don’t go getting your heart and your money stolen by some scumbag again."

He had actually been happy for Vera Coleman when he heard Nina Jacobs was willing to come home. But he hadn’t expected Nina to make such an outrageous demand, forcing Daniel Hale to go out late at night to buy a large amount of gold, all because she wanted it.

If he had been the one to ask for that gold, Daniel Hale would have definitely assumed he was involved in some illegal business.

He might have even had his legs broken.

But Nina Jacobs was an outsider who barely showed up once a year. What gave her the right?

"Looks like Uncle Hale is a man of action."

Nina Jacobs wasn’t the least bit angry at being spoken to like that.

Leo Hale was right. She did owe Daniel Hale a favor.

Putting aside the fact that Vera Coleman was her mother, Daniel Hale’s support had been indispensable for her college tuition and living expenses over the years.

That included the two million in that bank card.

Daniel Hale had considerable assets, but they would all turn to scrap once the disaster began. She would help him preserve as much as she could.

"I’m telling you, Nina Jacobs,"

"I don’t care what you need that stuff for, but if you use it to subsidize outsiders,"

"I definitely won’t let you get away with it."

Leo Hale warned loudly from behind Nina Jacobs.

But he didn’t expect Nina Jacobs to suddenly stop walking.

"You investigated Liam Grant?"

It was just a guess on her part.

She didn’t expect Leo Hale to immediately look guilty.

"So what if I investigated him? What’s it to you?"

"If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known what kind of people you’re associating with out there."

"That Grant guy has been borrowing from all his relatives and friends, saying he wants to open a supermarket."

"And then there’s that Wyatt Jacobs from your hometown. He even tried to borrow money from Mom."

"Asked for one million right off the bat. He’s definitely not up to any good."

"Did Mom lend it to Wyatt Jacobs?"

Nina Jacobs asked immediately.

"Not yet. At first, Mom thought it was a phone scam."

"But I checked it out privately. The person on the other end was Wyatt Jacobs."

"Aren’t you two supposed to be close? Don’t tell me you didn’t know."

Leo Hale was fuming.

Nina Jacobs had always acted so aloof and superior, but now she’d suddenly decided to come home and made an outrageous demand for so much gold.

’She’s probably planning to use it to support those two men.’

Nina Jacobs’s clenched fist relaxed.

’How dare Wyatt Jacobs?’

’Thank goodness Vera Coleman didn’t lend him the money.’

"Don’t worry. I have nothing to do with them anymore."

It was already late afternoon, approaching evening, when Nina Jacobs arrived.

Leo Hale relaxed a little after hearing her say that.

But the sky...

Leo Hale looked up at the sky.

He had only been standing here waiting for a little over ten minutes, but the sky had already darkened so much.

The sky was blanketed with thick, dense clouds, and if you looked closely, you could see a strange red glow within them.

"It’s about to rain. Let’s go."

Leo Hale heard Nina Jacobs say from ahead of him.

The air seemed to be filled with a sour, foul smell. Leo Hale looked around, puzzled, but didn’t dwell on it and followed her.

Nina Jacobs observed her surroundings as she walked.

Daniel Hale lived in City D’s most expensive villa district. The area was on higher ground, a quiet retreat in the bustling city, with an excellent environment.

Nina Jacobs remembered from her past life that several low-lying areas in City D had been completely submerged by acid rain. Vera Coleman’s place, however, wouldn’t have that problem.

"Nina, you’re finally here!"

"Nanny Sullivan, please make a cup of tea, quickly."

Vera Coleman was wearing a rather form-fitting dress today, and her bulging belly seemed even more pronounced.

Not long after, Daniel Sullivan also returned.

His eyes lit up when he saw Nina Jacobs. "Come see what a great thing Uncle Hale brought for you."

Daniel Sullivan was carrying two small suitcases. With a mysterious look on his face, he opened them in front of everyone, revealing stacks of neatly arranged Gold Bars.

Given their weight, you could almost call them gold bricks.

Nina Jacobs heard Nanny Sullivan gasp behind her.

"Dad, how did you get so many of these?"

Leo Hale asked, his heart aching at the sight.

"Don’t you even think about touching these things, you little punk."

"These are all for Nina."

"So, Nina, how about it? Want to come work at our family company starting tomorrow?"

After scolding his son, Daniel Hale turned to Nina Jacobs with a cheerful laugh.

It wasn’t that he was playing favorites; he just really couldn’t trust his own son with the company.

Nina Jacobs had majored in Economics and Trade Management. During her summer internships in her sophomore and junior years alone, she had secured several sizable orders for other companies.

He had seen her capabilities with his own eyes. With a little grooming, she could definitely become an excellent manager.

In the long run, these Gold Bars were nothing.

They say wealth doesn’t last past three generations. Rather than let Leo Hale run the company into the ground, it was better to have Nina Jacobs help manage it.

"Okay."

Nina Jacobs smiled.

There’s a saying that’s true: you never know whether disaster or tomorrow will come first.

If she could, she would also love to just go to work, come home, and continue living an ordinary life.

"Hahaha, great, great."

"I’m in a great mood today. We must have a drink tonight."

"Let me tell you, when a girl gets out into the world, she has to learn to hold her liquor a little."

"But you can’t drink too much either..."

Daniel Hale was ecstatic and couldn’t help but have a few extra drinks at the dinner table.

But soon, a clap of thunder from outside shocked him mostly sober.

"What was that sound?"

Vera Coleman jumped in fright as well. In her entire life, she had never heard thunder so loud.

It sounded like it could shatter everything in existence.

"Is it raining red?"

Leo Hale, who had been sulking, went to the window, a look of confusion in his eyes.

"How is that possible..."

The whole family was drawn to the thunder and rain outside, all except for Nina Jacobs, who was staring intently at the time on her phone.

The red rain was the acid rain.

The acid rain had arrived thirty minutes earlier than in her previous life.

Nina Jacobs was certain she hadn’t misremembered the time.

She had heard of the butterfly effect.

A butterfly flaps its wings and can cause a tornado thousands of miles away.

’Could it be because of their rebirth?’

"Damn it, my sports car isn’t in the garage yet."

Leo Hale opened an umbrella and was about to go out the door, but someone grabbed him from behind.

"Don’t go out."