Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 243

Chapter 243 Pay Back Time

Finished

A concussive pop of folded space signaled Joanna’s arrival. She materialized directly behind Theresa, casually crossing her arms as she looked up at the inferno.

“You know, a little less wood and a little more ventilation, and you’d have a pretty decent bonfire here,” Joanna said.

Theresa and Gwen both whipped around, their expressions freezing into masks of absolute shock as they stared at the woman who had appeared out of thin air. Theresa’s eyes darted over Joanna, completely failing to recognize the face of the lab rat she had once ordered to be dissected. Beside her, Gwen looked like she had seen a ghost.

“Who the hell are you?” Theresa hissed, her knuckles turning white

Joanna’s lips curled into a cold, mocking smile. “I’m the one you were hunting for. You were so scared that I and my crew would settle here.”

Theresa stood frozen in shock for a fraction of a second before her instincts kicked in. She snapped her pearl-handled revolver up, aiming it dead at Joanna’s chest.

“Are you responsible for destroying my food reserves?” Theresa snarled, her voice trembling with rage.

Theresa’s grip on the revolver tightened, her eyes narrowing as she processed the words. “You’re the one they call the Demoness? You think you can command a few soldiers and come into my turf?”

Before Joanna could answer, Gwen shrieked, her voice cracking with terror. “She can’t be the Demoness! She is lying! That’s my eldest daughter, Joanna!”

Theresa stiffened, her gaze darting violently between Gwen’s panicked face and Joanna’s icy, unbothered expression. The name Joanna finally triggered a connection in Theresa’s mind, seeing the resemblance between the two.

Joanna turned her freezing stare directly to Gwen. “Hello, mom.”

Theresa lowered her gun slightly, the tension leaving her shoulders as a cruel, dismissing chuckle escaped her lips. “So it wasn’t the Demoness. Just a daughter.”

Theresa loved young women like this. In her experience, they were easy to break, easy to use, and perfect for controlling the desperate men under her control. She turned away from Joanna, completely dismissing her as a threat, and looked at Gwen.

“Put her in the car,” Theresa barked, waving a hand dismissively. “I don’t have time for this family nonsense while my warehouse is burning.”

Gwen hesitated, her eyes darting between the burning inferno, Theresa’s demands, and the terrifyingly calm expression on Joanna’s face.

Theresa stepped away, entirely dismissing Joanna as she began to yell at her men to secure the perimeter.

With Theresa’s back turned, Gwen lunged forward and angrily grabbed Joanna’s arm, jerking her with a frantic, furious strength.

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10:46 am M WMM.

Chapter 248 Pay Back Time.

Finished

“Where have you been?!” Gwen hissed, her voice trembling with absolute venom. “You are worthless! Do you have any idea how miserable my life has been these past six months?”

Joanna didn’t pull away. She just stared at her mother, her expression completely flat and frozen like

winter ice.

“Your sister dumped Drew and was able to secure Jax’s interest through Elliot-no thanks to you!” Gwen shrieked, tightening her grip on Joanna’s coat. “And don’t think I don’t know about your tricks! Those shares you gave us were fakes! We wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for you!”

Joanna looked down at the hand clutching her sleeve, her expression utterly detached. Her voice dropped to a quiet, freezing register that cut right through the crackle of the warehouse fire.

“Why did you never love me, mom?” Joanna asked calmly. “Why only Alice?”

Gwen let out a harsh, bitter laugh, her fingers tightening on Joanna’s arm as her face twisted with years of deep-seated resentment.

“Because Alice was perfect!” Gwen spat, her eyes flashing with malice. “She did everything I asked. She dated who she was supposed to date, she moved in the circles we belonged in, and she actually cared about this family’s status! But you? You were always broken, Joanna. Always stubborn, always doing things your own way, completely useless to me. Every time you tried to cook, or clean, or bring home straight A’s just to grovel for my attention, it sickened me. Your pathetic, desperate attempts to please me just proved how weak you were. You were a parasite draining our resources, begging for scraps of affection you never deserved.”

Gwen continued, a sickening, calculating smile cutting through her anger. “But now that you are back, you owe me! I have a few powerful men back at the base am going to introduce you to-you’re going to help us get back into Elliot’s good graces.”

Gwen tightened her grip on Joanna’s arm and tried to drag her toward the idling sedan.

Joanna didn’t move an inch. Instead, her arm whipped forward in a blur.

CRACK.

The open-handed slap echoed over the roar of the warehouse fire. The sheer force of the blow tore Gwen’s grip away, spinning her around and sending her crashing heavily onto the ash-covered asphalt. Gwen sprawled onto the ground, clutching her bleeding lip in sheer, unadulterated shock as she stared up at her daughter.

Before Gwen could even process the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, Joanna moved.

With a terrifying burst of speed, Joanna lunged forward, her hand clamping around Gwen’s neck as she forced her back against the asphalt. The sheer strength in Joanna’s grip made it clear that the power balance had shifted completely. Gwen could only stare up in shock, her breath hitching as she met Joanna’s cold, unblinking gaze.

The roaring warehouse fire cast dancing, hellish shadows across the scene. Joanna leaned in close, her voice a chilling whisper that carried effortlessly over the chaos.

“The girl who begged for your love died in the dark, Gwen,” Joanna said, her eyes burning with a ruthless

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