Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 172

Samantha watched from the sidelines, indifferent. She had a good look at Katrina and felt that, even though she was a cute girl, it wasn’t enough for Samantha to feel threatened.

It didn’t matter to her whether they stayed or not, as long as they didn’t get in her way.

After a few more minutes of discussion, Mrs. Barclay allowed Katrina and Cal to stay with them.

Layla walked over to Katrina and invited her and Cal to spend time with her and Samantha. She would never turn down an opportunity to have more people fawn over her, and hearing Katrina’s words earlier, she was a big fan of hers.

The group moved to a round table and sat around it, pouring some tea. Layla looked over at Cal, eager to start the conversation.

Cal felt a little nervous, as he wasn’t used to pretending to be someone else. "So... umm... what does your family do?" he asked casually, feeling like this was an appropriate question.

Katrina quickly kicked him under the table. "What do you mean? Do you live under a rock? This is the CEO of REN Corp’s only sister!" she shouted, pretending to be angry.

Layla smiled. "It’s okay. City R is far away, so I don’t expect him to know everything." She still felt proud, enjoying the way Katrina had introduced her to Cal.

"Then what about you? Are you also a relative of Layla’s?" asked Cal, looking at Samantha.

Samantha blushed and hesitated to answer the question. Layla saw this and quickly answered for her.

"She’s my brother’s wife, so yes, she’s part of the family," she quickly stated.

Katrina smiled. "Oh, wow! Forgive me, I was unaware that the CEO of REN Corporation was married! I must be out of the loop." Her tone was apologetic, making her seem truly regretful for not knowing this information.

Samantha blushed and pretended to wipe away her tears.

Layla saw this and sighed. "Sorry, let’s not discuss my brother. Surely you’ve heard of his passing? It’s still very tough on Samantha."

Katrina looked at them with wide eyes. "Oh? But isn’t that old news?" she asked.

Layla looked at her. "What do you mean old news?" She was curious but also felt that Katrina was being rude. Her brother had obviously been murdered months ago!

"Well, when we were out... Never mind, forget I said anything," Katrina said quickly.

Her ambiguous words made both girls demand to hear what she had originally been going to say. Layla nearly stood up. "Tell me! What is it?" she demanded.

Katrina lowered her head, an evil smile forming on her lips that no one saw.

"Well... we actually heard a few different rumors that your brother is alive and well. I heard that he’s someone who has stocked up on endless supplies, and that the common people even call him a god!" she said, lying through her teeth.

While the rumors of Julian being alive were true, she added the extra details to spark a fire beneath the girls.

Back at the base, Jess had told them what she knew about Julian’s family, and one of the recurring themes was their insatiable hunger for goods and luxuries.

Her choice of words quickly worked, as Layla stood up in outrage. "He’s using our hard-earned items to give out to random people?!"

Cal looked over at Layla, thinking it was just as Jess had said. Julian’s family didn’t care about him at all—only about the wealth and status he brought to them. _{freeweɓnøvel.com}

Layla pointed at Katrina, who was standing in the corner. "She’s the one who told us! Ask her!"

Katrina walked over respectfully and repeated everything she had just told Layla and Samantha earlier.

Mrs. Barclay’s hands shook with anger. "We had to live in this dilapidated place for so long while he was prancing around outside?! Does this boy have no regard for his own parents?!"

"Mom! We need to find him! I can’t bear the thought of him giving away my things to someone else! And what about Samantha? She’s been crying her heart out ever since the news of him being killed. He owes it to her to finally marry her!"

Mrs. Barclay looked at the beautiful and pitiful-looking girl who was standing beside Layla with red eyes.

"Oh, come here, Samantha! I swear I’ll get that boy to finally commit! He won’t run away from me this time!" she said, patting Samantha on her back.

Samantha sniffled and nodded, happy to hear that she had the backing of Mrs. Barclay.

Layla stomped her foot on the ground with frustration. "Mom, what do we do? We need to find him before he gives everything away!"

Mrs. Barclay looked up with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Yes, we must find him!"

Katrina noticed that they were all fired up and took the opportunity to make the final push. "Although I’m not sure where he is, I heard the government opened a base not far from this city. Actually, I was planning on going there to see if my parents ended up there."

Mrs. Barclay thought for a moment. "Yes, let’s go there. Even if he’s not there, there must be someone there who knows where he is!"