Chapter 41

Suzy forced herself not to explode.

George truly did not care whether she lived or died. What kind of father could say something like that?

For a fleeting moment, she even wondered whether she was really his biological daughter.

In George’s eyes, her illness clearly mattered far less than that enormous inheritance.

She drew in a steady breath and said, "Dad, Dr. Lee is someone I finally managed to book after a long wait, I—"

George cut her off impatiently. "Lee? A foreign doctor? Those overseas doctors are unreliable. Come back to A City. I’ll arrange the best specialist from a top-tier hospital for you."

A surge of anger rose in Suzy’s chest.

Even though she had fabricated the surgery story, George’s reaction genuinely infuriated her.

A sharp, twisting pain suddenly gripped her heart. She discreetly reached into her spatial storage, retrieved her medication, and swallowed two pills. Only then did the stabbing sensation gradually subside.

On the other end, George continued when she didn’t respond.

"Suzy, be a good girl. I’ll book your ticket right now—"

She interrupted him coldly. "Am I really your daughter?"

George froze.

Before he could reply, she hung up. Then, she blocked his number.

She had initially planned to continue playing along with him for a while longer.

Now she realized there was no need.

If she kept dealing with George, she felt her lifespan would shorten from sheer rage.

Without hesitation, she blocked Wendy, Tommy, and every member of the Kale family.

Then she drove home.

***

When George heard the call disconnect, his temper flared instantly.

But when he remembered the inheritance, he forced himself to remain patient and tried calling again.

Only to discover he had been blocked.

He exploded at home, raging uncontrollably.

***

At seven sharp, Suzy arrived home. Almost at the same time, Leonard returned, too.

She pulled him to sit down and immediately asked about the payment for the medicine.

It wasn’t him.

"It was probably Adam who paid in advance," Leonard said. "I’ll ask him later. Don’t worry about it."

Suzy’s emotions became complicated. She hadn’t expected Adam to be so generous—covering the entire cost upfront.

It wasn’t a small sum.

"Uncle, thank you. I’ll transfer the money to you later," she said.

Leonard frowned immediately. "What money? Why are you being so distant with me? Do you think I’m short of that amount?"

That only made her feel more awkward. But Leonard’s tone shifted.

"Still... what exactly are you planning with all that medicine?"

Suzy’s heart skipped a beat. The moment had arrived.

Over the past few days, she had been carefully observing Leonard, making sure his "love-brain" tendencies were truly gone.

Monica had continued showing up shamelessly—crying, causing scenes, playing the victim—but Leonard had remained unmoved.

His stance had been firm. He was done with her.

At some point, Leonard had done something behind the scenes, because Monica stopped appearing altogether.

All signs pointed to one thing: he had finally come to his senses.

There was no need to keep the truth from him any longer. Thus, Suzy cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

"Uncle, I need to tell you something very important."

Leonard saw her expression and grew solemn as well. "Alright. Go ahead."

She met his gaze directly. "Uncle... do you believe in the apocalypse?"

He didn’t answer right away. He studied her quietly, thoughtfully.

Then he asked, "You mean... the apocalypse is coming?"

She nodded.

"And the reason you’re stockpiling medicine," he continued calmly, "is because you’re preparing for it?"

Suzy nodded again.

Leonard exhaled slowly, the breath heavy in his chest. "Give me a moment," he said quietly.

"Okay." She answered softly and sat still beside him, no longer speaking.

But his reaction gave her a sliver of comfort. He hadn’t laughed at her. He hadn’t dismissed her words as childish nonsense. He was listening.

They sat in silence for a full five minutes.

At last, Leonard looked at her again. "How do you know the apocalypse is coming?"

Suzy lowered her voice. "I had a dream. It was... incredibly real. And some events from that dream... they’ve already come true."

"It was just a dream, Suzy," Leonard said carefully. "Aren’t you overreacting a little?"

From his perspective, spending such an enormous amount of money—stockpiling medicine, buying supplies—just because of a dream sounded irrational.

The medicine alone was worth millions.

And then there was the matter of her trying to transfer her inheritance. It was all too extreme.

"But... everything in the dream came true, I just told you."

She met his eyes steadily. "Uncle, do you know what happened in that dream? I signed the property transfer agreement. I handed all the money to George. When the apocalypse broke out, they abandoned me. I almost died out there."

Leonard’s brows knitted tightly, his fingers curling against his thigh. "Why didn’t you come to me?"

Her throat tightened instantly. A sting burned at the tip of her nose. "Uncle... in the dream..." She forced the words out. "You died in a car accident."

She paused, jaw clenched. "On your birthday."

Leonard’s face drained of color. He shot to his feet, his hands gripped her slender shoulders.

"So you already knew what would happen that day?!"

She nodded stiffly. "In the dream, I couldn’t save you. I only found out the next day... that you were gone."

For a moment, he looked lost.

Disoriented.

Because he knew that that day, she had indeed taken his place. If not for her, he would have been the one in that car.

And he would not have survived.

Slowly, he released her and sat back down beside her. "What else happened in the dream?" he asked quietly. "What exactly is this apocalypse?"

By now, he believed her—seven or eight parts out of ten.

Suzy wasn’t someone who lied lightly. She certainly wouldn’t burn through this much money for a joke.

And the strange weather lately... That lingering doubt inside him faded further.

"Uncle... do you believe me?" she asked softly.

He looked right into her eyes. "You wouldn’t lie to me. Right?"

She nodded firmly. Then, she began explaining everything—the order of disasters as she had seen them in her dream.

She left out the matter of her spatial storage, but she told him the rest.

"In two and a half months," she said steadily, "the first disaster begins. The heatwave."

Leonard’s expression shifted slightly. The weather had indeed been abnormal. It should have been early winter by now. Instead, the air still carried oppressive heat.

Suzy described the chain of events one by one—the scorching temperatures, the breakdown of order, the escalating catastrophes.

When she finished, silence fell once more.

After a long while, Leonard asked quietly, "So... all this time... you’ve been stockpiling supplies?"