"Ms. Townsend, you're awake! Mr. Graham said that once you wake up, you should return to work immediately."
When Mariella Townsend jolted awake, she found herself lying in a hospital bed. A nurse stood beside her, urging her to go back to work.
A cold glint flashed in her eyes as she yanked the IV needle out of her hand, ready to throw herself into battle.
After four years in the apocalypse, she had survived countless life-and-death fights. She was no longer the weak, easily bullied girl she once was.
They wanted her kidney? She would fight them to the death—no mercy, no surrender!
The person the nurse mentioned was Harvey Graham, the CEO of Graham Group, and also Mariella's fiancé.
At the thought of his hypocrisy and cruelty, Mariella's eyes reddened. She wished she could tear him to pieces.
During those four years of the apocalypse, she had stayed by Harvey's side through everything. To protect their supplies, she had fought again and again, drenched in blood.
She had used her storage space to store resources and food for him, keeping them safe from looters.
But once everything in her storage space was used up, he had turned on her without hesitation.
She became a mobile blood bank for his beloved woman, Roxanna Shepherd. And in the end, she died in battle after refusing to donate her kidney.
Wait, wasn't she dead? Then why had she opened her eyes again? Why was a nurse urging her to go back to work?
It'd been four years since the apocalypse. What "work" was even left?
The nurse stared at Mariella, shocked by the murderous aura radiating from her the moment she woke up. Thinking her mind had been affected, the nurse hurried out to call for help.
Moments later, Harvey's assistant, Jennifer Smith, walked in.
"Mariella, you're finally awake. Mr. Graham has asked about you several times. Since you're up, please return to work immediately." Jennifer's face showed undisguised contempt and impatience.
Mariella's pupils shrank. Jennifer had died in the first year of the apocalypse. So why was she standing here again?
The scene in front of Mariella felt strangely familiar.
Then it hit her.
One month before the apocalypse, she had worked herself to exhaustion and fainted at the office.
Harvey hadn't shown the slightest concern. Instead, he complained that her illness had delayed work progress.
The moment she woke up, he sent Jennifer to drag her back to work.
Could it be that she had been reborn?
Without hesitation, Mariella grabbed the needle she had just pulled out and stabbed it into the back of Jennifer's hand.
This woman had always looked down on her and constantly made things difficult for her.
"Ah!" Jennifer shrieked, clutching her bleeding hand. Her tears streamed from the pain.
"Mariella, what the hell is wrong with you?! Mr. Graham doesn't like you, so you're taking it out on me? Have you lost your mind?!"
Furious, panicked, and hurting, she looked ready to lunge at Mariella and fight her.
Mariella exhaled slowly, finally certain it wasn't a dream. She really had been reborn!
The heavens had given her a second chance. This time, she would never repeat the same mistakes. Anyone who betrayed her would pay in blood!
Calming herself, she looked at Jennifer's fearful and furious expression and gave a cold smile.
"Work? Sure. I'll go right now!"
...
Mariella returned to the Graham Group. As she walked in, a few employees greeted her.
They were all used to her workaholic nature.
Mariella sneered inwardly, hating her past self's foolishness.
Having grown up in an orphanage after getting lost as a child, she had always longed desperately for love.
At 15, her father, Connor Shepherd, finally found her, but her mother had already passed away.
Her father favored his stepdaughter, Roxanna. With a manipulative stepmother stirring trouble and a half-brother who bullied her, Mariella had never found warmth or family in that house.
So when Harvey showed her even a shred of kindness, she mistook it for the only light in her life and chased after it like a moth to a flame.
Mariella had no idea Roxanna was his true love, so she believed him. She never imagined he could be even more ruthless and cold toward her than the so-called family.
But now, given a second chance, Mariella would never be that naive again.
She locked her office door, unlocked her desk drawer, and took out an emerald bracelet.
It was her mother's keepsake. The quality was poor, worth very little. That was the only reason it had remained in her possession.
Two days ago, she had taken it off for convenience while working and left it in the drawer. After she collapsed, she never wore it again.
In her previous life, she had no idea this bracelet held a secret.
It wasn't until the apocalypse began that she was injured and accidentally bled onto it, activating the storage space within.
The first thing Mariella did after being reborn was to retrieve the emerald bracelet. With no one around, she had to claim the storage space immediately.
She pulled open a drawer and took out a straight pin, pricking her finger.
A drop of blood fell onto the bracelet, and it was instantly absorbed. It instantly seemed a little clearer.
Mariella closed her eyes and focused her mind, quickly and skilfully entering the bracelet's storage space.
Just like in her previous life, the virtual display showed a two-bedroom apartment measuring about 860 square feet.
The apartment was fully equipped. Though unfurnished, the gas, water, and electricity were all up and running.
Calendars and clocks hung on the walls, perfectly synchronized with the real world.
Outside the balcony was a vast, white, frozen space. The virtual display indicated it had a volume of about 5,300 cubic feet. Not only was time frozen there, but the status of all stored supplies was frozen as well.
Whatever condition the items were in when placed inside, that was how they remained until taken out. She could move supplies with her mind, though larger items required more mental energy to manipulate.
Mariella had personally verified all those functions in her previous life.
From the moment she entered, a timer appeared overhead.
She knew it counted down the daily limit for entering the storage space.
She could only spend an hour inside each day. Once the time was up, she would be kicked out. But retrieving items with her mind wasn't restricted by time. She could take anything at any moment.
Seeing that the storage space was exactly as she remembered, Mariella finally relaxed.
She left the storage space, returned to her office, and opened her work computer.
Over the past two years, she had diligently worked for Harvey, enduring hardships without complaint, completely loyal and uncalculating. Because of that, she had earned his trust and responsibility in the company.
Mariella copied a dozen or so critical business secrets.
Harvey treated her like a workhorse, exploiting her to the limit in her previous life and ultimately causing her death.
Now, she intended to claim a little interest first, then make him pay the rest in double.
...
Jennifer held up her bandaged hand and viciously complained about Mariella in front of her boss.
"... That's exactly what happened! She just woke up and went crazy, suddenly pricking me with a needle!"
Harvey frowned, concerned about only one thing. "Has she returned to work?"
Mariella had been handling the current project. Her sudden illness had seriously affected business progress.
He was a businessman. Every detail of profit mattered.
Seeing that her boss only cared about work and not her injured hand, Jennifer looked a little awkward. "Uh, she's back at the office..."
Before she could finish, the secretary rushed in.
"Mr. Graham, Ms. Townsend was only at the office briefly and has already left again."
Harvey's eyes twitched in disbelief. "Left... again? Did she say anything?"
"Ms. Townsend didn't say a word."
He rubbed his forehead, picked up the desk phone, and called Mariella. "What are you—"
The call ended abruptly.
He froze for a moment and dialed again, only to get a busy signal.
Unable to believe Mariella would hang up on him, he tried his cell phone.
"Sorry, the number you dialed can't be reached."
Shock filled his eyes.
She had actually blocked his number?!
...
Mariella left the office building and hailed a rideshare.
She sent a message to Harvey's business rival, Kieran Hancock, "I have what you want."
Then she sent him an address for the meeting. It was a coffee shop not far from the Hancock Group.
She was certain he wouldn't be able to resist once he saw the message.
Kieran had tried more than once to buy her with money and seduction, hoping to use her to pry open the Graham Group's fortified walls.
In her previous life, Mariella had been entirely immune.
Now, she still didn't care about Kieran's looks, but she did care about his money.
In the real apocalypse, the last remaining safe havens were disaster shelters.
When the order collapsed, heroes and power players from all over the world flocked to those shelters. Survival meant strength, and every day was a brutal fight.
In such a world, going alone meant certain death.
When the apocalypse hit, she not only had to hoard supplies like crazy, but also assemble a team to band together and fend off outside threats.
All of that required a lot of money.
