When he saw the rash on my face, Dad's expression turned a bit awkward.

I told him it was Emma who deliberately embarrassed me.

He said, "Emma is still young and immature. You're the sister. Don't hold it against her. I'll give you money to buy medicine."

"Still young?

Haha, she's only a year younger than me."

Thankfully, I had long given up on them. I felt no emotions. I only wanted to stock up on supplies.

Taking advantage of his guilt, I asked him for thirty thousand dollars.

"You don't need that much. The medicine only costs a hundred dollars or so."

"The weather forecast states there will be continuous high temperatures next month. It's not suitable to go out. I need money to stock up."

"Not that much," he said. His slight guilt disappeared.

I reminded him, "You just got a bonus of one hundred thousand dollars, and you have over a million dollars in savings."

He frowned. "That money is for Emma. It's not easy for her to enter a wealthy family. How can she not be looked down upon without money to present herself? You know everything is expensive. Even a dress costs two or three hundred thousand dollars!"

I laughed coldly.

In my past life, the second day I went to the wealthy family, he called me asking for money.

He said, "Emma needs money for a graduation trip. She doesn't have enough. Get fifty thousand dollars from the Smith family quickly."

He didn't consider my awkward situation in the Smith family at all.

At that time, I thought he was ignorant and careless.

Now I deeply understood it wasn't about being careless. He just didn't love me.

I turned on the TV to show him that people had already started stocking up.

He took out his phone and transferred one thousand dollars to me. He showed displeasure.

"If you want money, just ask. Stop making excuses. Here's a thousand dollars. Don't ask again. I don't have that much money for you."

I stared at him and told him the truth.

"The heatwave will get worse. People without supplies will die of hunger before they die of heat. The Smith family has already received the news. They're preparing for the disaster.

"He chose a daughter to replace his child in competing for resources in high society. They will set up games for each family to send representatives to compete. If they win, the resources go to the Smith family. If they lose, the casualties aren't his children. If Emma doesn't obey, he will torment her."

I tried to be concise, but Dad seemed not to understand. His frown deepened.

He pointed at me, then held his forehead and sighed.

"I know you're jealous of Emma being chosen, but you don't need to make such a clumsy excuse to deceive me. Do you think saying this will make me bring Emma back?"

I was speechless.

In my past life, he was the first among the four of us to die.

Although he wasn't from a wealthy family, he was a senior engineer who bought a house in the city with his own ability.

With his conditions, he could have survived the heatwave.

The reason he ended up dead in the wilderness was that he handed over control of the finances to Emma, who squandered it recklessly.

In the end, the family fortune was squandered. There was no money left for supplies.

Now there was only a week left before the extreme heatwave hit. If I didn't stock up, even with money, it would be taken.

I remembered, shortly after the heatwave started, many unprepared people resorted to looting.

Targeted families saw the weak either being driven out of their homes or losing their lives.

So now, besides stocking up, I had to strengthen the defenses.

I hated that I was only eighteen, with no savings and no time to work.

Since Dad wouldn't budge, I decided to act first and report later.

Luckily, I knew his bank card password.

After taking allergy medicine and feeling better, I immediately went to Dad's room to find his bank card.

This couldn't be delayed.

He had gone to work, so I easily got the bank card.

I rushed to the supermarket and bought a large amount of basic food supplies and water.

I spent two hours and filled ten shopping carts.

At checkout, the cashier told me there were insufficient funds.

The bill was only over eight thousand dollars. How could it be insufficient?

I remembered Dad telling Emma there was 1.08 million dollars in the card!

"Confused, aren't you?"

Emma's voice came from behind.

She wore a pink spaghetti strap dress, looking very elegant.

She had two bodyguards behind her, looking every bit the wealthy heiress.

She pointed to two large trucks outside the supermarket.

Arrogantly, she said, "See those two trucks? They're all my orders. Not just these, I've ordered from other supermarkets and markets too, using Dad's money."

She showed me her phone with the transaction records.

Just an hour ago, Dad transferred all the money to her.

I angrily asked, "You want him to starve?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "You're the one making him starve. I need to invest in my position in the Smith family. Then, I'll bring Dad to live with me. As for you... I've never regarded you as my sister!"

She smugly added, "By the way, I had Dad sell the house. Get ready to starve again in the heat."

Calmly, I asked, "Are you so sure you can become the favorite of the Smith family?"

She covered her mouth and sneered. "Do you think I'm like you? Mr. Smith signed me up for many classes, including dance and piano. He sees me as a daughter. I can't believe you were stupid enough to get kicked out of your past life."

Of course, she didn't understand.

How could she know what I went through in my past life?

Even Mom didn't know.

Mom only knew that Leo kicked us both out together.

Back then, I also learned many things and participated in competitions the Smith family enrolled me in.

I won. I won many times and won tons of food.

Eventually, the organizers saw me as a threat and banned me from competing.

So, the Smith family discarded me as a pawn.

Dance was one of the most dangerous events.

Competitors had to perform on a platform suspended in mid-air.

I remembered several competitors died from falling.

"Good luck," I said with a smile.

She thought I was flattering her and sneered back.

"Don't think a few nice words will make me pity you. Dream on."

I didn't respond.

Leaving the supermarket, I borrowed money from everyone I could, even resorting to online loans.

It took three days to borrow as much as I could, finally gathering a hundred thousand dollars.

I rented a house and an RV, preparing for both options.

After reinforcing the house's security system, I stocked it with supplies.

In a high-temperature environment, electricity was crucial. So, I bought a solar generator.

It was essential for cooling and preservation.

The day before the extreme heatwave, I bought everything I could. It included food, medicine, and daily necessities. It was enough to stock a small supermarket.

Seeing the room filled with supplies, I sighed in relief.

This food would last me for years.

I only had two thousand dollars left.

I didn't let it sit idle. I used it to upgrade the RV.

While test-driving the RV, I suddenly got a call from Dad.

"Charlotte, I heard you stocked up on supplies. Emma urgently needs them, so I gave them to her. I'll make it up to you when I get paid next month."