Chapter 6

For the next few hours, Irene put all her furniture into Celestial Gardens like a migrating ant. She would have to stay in this home for at least two years in the near future, so she did not mind being a little more generous to herself. Irene was quite happy seeing her little home being filled up little by little, but she had a vague feeling that she was forgetting something. She could not figure out what it was, so she did not dwell on it. After fully furnishing her home, she decided to pack up her things and move into her new home. When she moved in here with Edric and Lina in her previous life, the world was already in chaos, and the building was under Dan’s control. In this life, there was no chance she would let Dan have a comfortable life. She did not tell anyone about her move. She spent the past few days cleaning her home and going to the gym to box, so she had no idea that Edric and Lina had been waiting for her to appear outside of her old place. After tidying up her room, Irene went up to the rooftop. Upon seeing the empty rooftop, it hit her. She had made a mistake while she was in a hurry, and she finally remembered what she was missing—solar panels! She stocked up on a lot of solar panels in the space, yet she forgot to make use of this wonderful rooftop. She still had a few million dollars on her card, so, without any hesitation, Irene went to the mall to order two more solar panels to be installed on the roof. The two installers arrived in the afternoon. After greeting Irene, they got to work on the rooftop. Irene gave them two bottles of ice water while they were working. One of them wiped off his sweat before unscrewing the bottle cap and gulping down the water. After finishing the water, he complained, “The weather this year has been abnormal. It’s only June, but the temperature is over 40 degrees during the day.” “You can say that again. I remember that it started heating up this time last year too. The weather is trying to kill us,” the other installer agreed. Irene started ruminating after listening to their discussion. It was already the end of June, and there was less than a week left until the volcanic eruption in the Danver Islands. Knock, knock, knock… Someone was at the door. Irene pulled herself together and went downstairs. After the door was opened, Dan forcefully grabbed onto the door frame and stuck his head inside before his eyes landed on Irene’s chest. He reeked of cigarette smoke, and his bad breath was absolutely disgusting. “Ma’am, do you really need to install three doors? Celestial Gardens is a high-end apartment, so there won’t be any bad guys breaking in.” Dan had set his eyes on her the moment she moved into the apartment. Dan was so petty that he had been looking for a chance to get his revenge on the slim and tall single woman who slapped him. “Really? So am I looking at an animal right now?” Irene sneered. Dan’s face turned sullen. “B*tch, how dare you say that? Do you think I won’t dare to hit you?” He forcefully pushed the door open and was about to hit Irene, but she did not even flinch. She ducked to avoid his hand and gave his knee a mighty kick. Thump! Dan lost his balance and fell to the ground. Dan had been defeated by Irene before, and now she defeated him again. He started to lose his temper, so he reached to grab Irene’s pant leg. “You b*tch!” Irene lifted her foot and violently kicked Dan in the face without a second thought. “F*ck off!” That kick made Dan dizzy, and when he finally came back to his senses, he was bleeding from his nose. Only then did he realize that Irene was unlike the weak and delicate girls he had met before. She was a woman who resorted to violence instead of using words. Dan came here to survey the place with malicious intentions, so even though he got beaten up by Irene, he had no intention of calling the police. He put up a strong front by cursing at Irene before running away across the hall and cursing her again after closing the door. Irene was left without a scratch, so she did not dwell on the matter. The apocalypse was coming soon anyway, so enduring a few days of Dan’s aggressiveness was not a big deal to her. The installers heard the shouting from downstairs, but they finished their work at lightning speed without saying a word. After Irene’s inspection, she happily made the final payment. Once the installers left, Irene went to take a shower and had a change of clothes. Then, she unhurriedly left the place in her inconspicuous beetle car. Paulette landed in Sherwood in the afternoon, and she only invited Irene out for dinner after she was done settling down. When she got to the place they agreed to meet at, Paulette waved at Irene. “Here.” Irene strode over with open arms and gave Paulette a big hug. From Paulette’s point of view, the last time they saw each other was two months ago, but Irene knew that the last time they met was actually a whole lifetime ago. Paulette was fair, petite, and looked very bookish. Irene’s warm embrace made her blush, so she tugged at Irene’s arm. “Nene.” It was the first time the introverted Irene expressed her feelings so openly, so Paulette was not used to it. Did Daryl do something again? That Jerk! Paulette got furious. Irene coughed as she unknowingly gave Daryl a bad name by hugging Paulette, but she did not try to explain herself either. She did not know if Daryl had actually cheated on her in her previous life, but he was selfish. The thought of him kicking her legs made her feel a dull pain in her calves. According to her memory, Daryl was still crossing glaciers in Tibed right now, so he would not have the time to argue with her anyway. She beckoned, “Waiter, serve the dishes, please.” After dinner, Irene and Paulette went to the parking lot to get their cars, and she saw someone unexpected. The man was wearing a camouflage uniform and hiking boots. He dashingly opened the door to a Hummer and got inside the car with his long legs before quickly driving off. After he left, Irene started to question. If she was not mistaken, that must have been Sam. Why was he here? Irene was lost in her thoughts until Paulette grabbed her arm, which made her snap back to reality. She looked at Irene in surprise. “What are you looking at?” When she came back to her senses, Irene shook her head and changed the topic. “Polly, your company isn’t far from where you live, right?” “Yes, it takes 20 minutes by car, and I can now live at home instead of renting a place.” Polly happily nodded. The chances of her facing danger would be greatly reduced if she stayed at home. Irene was relieved. She also told Paulette the same thing she told James about stocking up on supplies. Paulette was a cautious person, so after listening to Irene, she solemnly nodded. “Alright, I’ll ask my mom to stock up on supplies for the next couple of days.” After parting, Paulette took her phone out to call her mom. Irene smiled as she watched Paulette leave and hoped that this time, she and Polly would survive this crisis.