Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 171: When Loyalty Shatters

The stitched wound had split open. Pain hit him so hard his vision went dark.

Through the haze, Harvey thought he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Harvey, don't run yet. We still have unfinished business."

He thought it was just the pain messing with his head. Mariella's voice? No way.

But a second later, he knew it was real.

He turned around and there she was.

Mariella stood in full camo gear, armed from head to toe. She held an AK in one hand and dragged Jennifer with the other. Beside her stood Chandler, just as heavily armed, his own rifle ready.

Behind them, two people lay on the ground, tightly bound. Their mouths were taped shut, muffled cries leaking out.

Harvey squinted. Those two were Connor and Fannie.

Something felt very wrong. Before he could react, Chandler fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Three shots. Fast and clean. Harvey's two closest bodyguards and Damian dropped one after another.

Each shot hit the center of the forehead. No misses. No chance to fight back. Not even time to dodge.

They fell flat on their backs.

Harvey's heart sank. When did these two get in? How had no one noticed?

Mariella tossed Jennifer to the ground. Then she looked at him, a faint smile on her lips. "So, your conscience finally woke up? You realized you wronged me?" she said. "Then you should pay me back properly. A weak little apology won't cut it. That's not sincerity."

Harvey's heart jumped. He reached for his gun.

"Bang!" Mariella fired first. His hand dropped at once.

His shoulder was already injured. Now his wrist was shot through. The pain made him scream. He could barely stand.

Up in the helicopter, Viola panicked. She shoved Roxanna hard. "Go down there! Help Harvey!"

Roxanna screamed and shook her head, refusing to move. Instead, she yelled at the pilot, "What are you waiting for? Take off now!"

The pilot looked terrified and spread his hands helplessly. "I can't. Without Mr. Graham, we're not allowed to land at the official base."

Harvey had planned ahead. He didn't trust the pilot, so he made sure the man couldn't leave without him.

Mariella let out a short laugh and looked back at Harvey with cold mockery. "So this is your ‘true love,' huh? Funny how it works. When trouble comes, everyone runs for their own life.

"She clearly wants to leave you behind," she added. "Too bad she can't fly the helicopter. I bet she's wishing she could right now. If she could, she'd be gone already—and you'd be left to die.

"And your grandmother? She looks worried, but she didn't come down either." Mariella clicked her tongue. "Harvey, that's just sad."

Harvey's shoulder was injured, and a bullet had gone straight through his wrist. He had no strength left to fight.

Mariella's cold, cutting words hit him one after another. He couldn't take it anymore. His knees gave in. Harvey collapsed on the ground.

Thud! Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. His voice shook. "Mariella... I'm sorry..."

She paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "So you have come back from the past too."

Harvey had always been selfish and cold. For him to suddenly change like this, something big must have happened—something tied to life and death.

He must have died once before. Only then would he realize he had thrown away someone so useful.

A guilty conscience? No. He just regretted not using her better.

Rebirth only comes after death. Looks like after she died, he didn't last long either.

"So it wasn't a dream." Harvey's eyes widened, like he'd just been struck by lightning.

He had remembered pieces of a past life, but he wasn't sure if they were real.

Now he knew. Everything had happened exactly as he saw in those dreams. He had thrown away something priceless and treated something worthless like treasure.

"I regretted it after you left," he said, choking on his words. "I kept dreaming about you. Bits and pieces... over and over..."

Mariella thought of something. "You remember everything?" she asked.

If he remembered her storage space and told others, that would be a serious problem.

"I saw our past life," he said. "We fought side by side. You were always the one charging in first..." He looked ashamed and deeply moved.

She tested him. "So I was just a weapon to you? Didn't use me in any other way?"

Harvey shook his head quickly. "Mariella, I regret it! I should've treated you better!"

Mariella studied him carefully and confirmed. He wasn't truly reborn. He only remembered fragments of the past. And he hadn't remembered her storage space. That made her relax—just a little.