With trembling hands, I wiped my face. The fury in my eyes must have been terrifying, because Janine let out a sharp scream.

“Didn’t you promise me,” I demanded hoarsely, “that if I helped the O'Connor family survive the apocalyptic heatwave, you’d make sure someone took care of my mom’s burial tree for the rest of your life? And this is how you ‘took care’ of it? By letting Mark turn it into sunscreen?”

My eyes were bloodshot as I roared at her. I wanted nothing more than to rush forward and punch Mark a few more times. However, Mark immediately buried himself in Janine’s arms and cried out in pain.

Janine narrowed her eyes. Then, she raised her hand and slapped me so hard my head snapped to the side. Her small face was cold as ice.

“Are you done making a scene?” she said flatly. “Your mom has been dead for so long now. This is an apocalyptic heatwave. That tree might not even survive. Why are you nitpicking with Mark over something so trivial? Besides, I don’t need you to survive the apocalypse anymore. Mark’s shelter plan is a thousand times better than yours. Naturally, there’s no need to honor any promise.”

She shoved me aside and personally tended to Mark’s wounds, her eyes filled with tenderness and admiration as she looked at him.

Watching how she treated him so gently and affectionately, any last hesitation in my heart vanished. If surviving a heatwave were really as easy as Mark claimed, would I have stayed in the lab running simulations without sleeping a wink? Would I have pushed myself so hard that I developed night blindness?

Ever since my mom passed away, I had never planned to live through the apocalypse alone. It was Janine who had once clung to me, crying, saying she didn’t want to die. From that day on, I built the shelter under the blazing heat until my heart nearly stopped from heatstroke. I drank with powerful figures in the construction industry to secure resources, drinking until I was rushed to emergency treatment three times in one night. In the end, all my effort was destroyed by a ridiculous theory of “natural selection” and a glorified refrigerated warehouse.

My vision blurred with blood, and the world in front of me doubled and warped. Finally, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Just before I passed out, I thought I saw Janine rushing toward me in panic.

I had no idea how long I was unconscious for, but a sharp pain jolted me awake. I lifted my head with difficulty, only to meet Janine’s furious face.

At some point, Mark’s refrigerated warehouse had collapsed, and I was being forced to kneel on the rubble by bodyguards. The stones tore into my knees. Blood soaked into the cracks between the rocks.

I looked up in confusion, about to speak when Janine slapped my cheek lightly, almost mockingly. Her voice was icy.

“Quit the act.”

A blood-stained red cloth was thrown onto my face.

“I was wondering why Mark’s finished refrigerated warehouse would collapse for no reason. He knelt in the ruins searching all night and found out that you tampered with the foundations! Mark’s refrigerated warehouse is the key to the O'Connor family’s rise in the apocalypse! If I lose my chance to become the leader of the new base because of this, I will never let you go!”

I tore the red cloth off my face and almost laughed.

Looking hurt, Mark accused me. “Just to win a bet, you’d really go this far? Do you know that dozens of O'Connor family members are depending on my refrigerated warehouse to survive? Luckily, I had them undergo heat-resistance training ahead of time, so they’ll be able to endure the high temperatures for a few more days.”

When I heard that, something suddenly crossed my mind. When Janine slapped my face earlier, her body temperature felt scalding. Her thermoregulation system was already on the verge of collapse.

The sky, which had been dark just moments ago, suddenly brightened. Heat waves rippled through the air. Even my insulated protective suit began to grow hot. My eyes widened as it hit me that tomorrow was the day the apocalyptic heat would fully erupt.

Suppressing the instinct to rush back to my underground shelter, I forced myself to stay calm and turned to Janine.

“There’s going to be an explosive temperature surge today,” I said steadily. “If you want to stay here, that’s your choice. But I’m going back.”

Janine lifted one brow slightly, a conniving smile curving her lips.

“Will,” she said, “you’ll say anything to avoid responsibility. An explosive temperature surge? If it were really rising, wouldn’t we feel it?”

Mark smiled knowingly.

“He’s never gone through heat-resistant training. Of course, he thinks the heat is unbearable.”

Then, his tone shifted.

“But the priority right now is dealing with the damage he did to my refrigerated warehouse. Grandpa is coming tomorrow to inspect the results. I can’t bear the thought of you actually marrying someone like him.”

Janine’s eyes filled with emotion. Then, she turned to me, her expression turning ice-cold.

“Will, don’t think your scheme worked! So what if Grandpa likes you? I’d rather walk away from the family with nothing, even if it means being scorched to death in this heat, than abandon Mark and marry you! If you don’t explain yourself, don’t even think about walking out of here in one piece!”

She dragged me down from the rubble.

After inspecting the ruins, Mark grabbed Janine’s hand in indignation.

“Janine, the foundation is completely ruined because of whatever trick Will used. Even if we rebuild on top of it, it’ll collapse again. And if we switch locations and lay a new foundation, there’s no way we’ll make tomorrow’s inspection.”

Janine clenched her teeth and glared at me, fury sparking in her eyes. “Is there really no other way?”

Mark hesitated. “There is… one way.”

He slowly lifted his hand and pointed at me.

“If we use Will as a human foundation pillar, we can reuse the existing base.”

I stared at him in disbelief. Rage finally broke through my restraint.

“How can you make up something like that? There’s no way I’ll let you use me as a foundation pillar!”

Even Janine froze, her brows knitting tightly. “Is there truly no other solution?”

Mark let out a hypocritical sigh. “I don’t want to do this either. But it’s the only way.”

“We don’t actually have to drive him into the ground like a real piling. All we need to do is just seal his lower body in cement for half a day. That’ll give me the other half of the day to finish rebuilding the refrigerated warehouse.”

I wouldn’t last two hours in this temperature. The memory of being scorched alive under the blazing sun in my previous life came back to me. The pain, the suffocation, and the smell of burning flesh crushed the last of my psychological defenses.

My face turned deathly pale. For the first time, I lowered my pride and begged.

“Janine, I’ll give up. I won’t compete anymore. I’ll never bother you again. Just let me go. In this kind of heat… I’ll really die.”

She had never seen me beg before. For a split second, her eyes wavered. However, just as she was about to speak, Mr. O’Connor’s butler suddenly appeared and leaned close to whisper in her ear.

Janine’s expression darkened instantly. Without hesitation, she kicked me straight into the foundation pit. Her voice carried suppressed fury.

“Will, you lied to me again! You colluded with Grandpa, didn’t you? No matter how well Mark performs, the winner of the wager will always be you! If that’s the case, I’d rather see you sealed in cement and burned to death under the sun!”

After saying that, she grabbed Mark’s hand and left without looking back.

The cement slowly rose around me. I struggled desperately, but the more I fought, the deeper I sank. I screamed until my throat tore raw, but she never turned around.

...

The next day, Janine rushed eagerly to find Mr. O'Connor for the inspection of Mark’s refrigerated warehouse. However, when she didn’t see me standing beside him, she couldn’t help asking, “Grandpa, where’s Will?”

Mr. O'Connor looked puzzled. “Didn’t he voluntarily withdraw from the wager agreement? Mark has won.”

“What?”

Janine’s mind went blank.

Suddenly, two streams of blood gushed from her nose. Her entire body lost strength, and she collapsed heavily to the ground.

At that very moment, the butler stumbled into the basement, panic written all over his face.

“This is bad! The apocalyptic heatwave has arrived! Two servants stepped outside for ten minutes, and they’re dead from the heat! The entire city is about to lose power. Mark’s refrigerated warehouse is useless now!”