The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 571

Chapter 571

Nicole pulled on a military-style coat and opened the gate. “What do you want, Irene?”

Irene looked at her, unable to hide the grief in her eyes. “Nicole, I… I visited you at the orphanage.”

Nicole’s expression didn’t change. “To make yourself feel less guilty?”

Irene swallowed a sob. “I’m sorry, darling. I…”

“Don’t,” Nicole cut her off coldly. “You don’t get to call me that.”

“I’m sorry. I really had no choice back then. If there had been any other way…”

“If you visited the orphanage, then you know how I grew up. What made you think I wanted anything to do with you?”

Nicole tore through every one of Irene’s excuses.

“You only went through with the pregnancy because your health was poor, and you were afraid an abortion might leave you unable to have children. You thought that would ruin your chances of marrying into money. 1

“And now your husband is dead, and you and your daughter can’t survive on your own, so you’ve come looking for someone else to support you.

“Do you have any idea how pathetic that is?

“I was abandoned as a baby, and I still found a way to survive. You’re a grown woman, but all you know how to do is depend on other people.

“What made you think I’d let you take advantage of me,

too?

“Blood means nothing to me. Whatever connection we might have had ended the day you abandoned me.

“I’ve never been grateful that you brought me into this world. If you’d ended the pregnancy back then, I might have respected you more.

“But now, all I have to say is this: stay away from me, and don’t ever come back.”

There had never been any love between them, so there was nothing to forgive.

If Nicole had cared about some meaningless blood tie, she wouldn’t have handed the crystal pendant to Edward without a second thought.

Every time she looked at it, she was reminded that she was abandoned.

After everything Nicole endured, there was no reason for her to cling to some fantasy about the family who left it behind.

Her parents shared one careless moment of bliss, and she was left to suffer the consequences for years.

Eventually, she had suffered so much that she became numb. Feeling neither love nor hatred toward them was already the best she could manage.

Seeing Irene only confirmed what Nicole had long suspected. The crystal pendant never belonged to Irene. It most likely belonged to Nicole’s biological father.

Nicole had survived two brutal apocalypses and seen humanity at its worst. Some people even traded away and ate

1/2

15 89

the children they had raised. Why would anyone expect her to feel affection for a woman who abandoned her at birth?

Irene’s story wasn’t even convincing. She simply assumed Nicole would be dumb enough to believe it.

Nicole’s words left Irene burning with shame. The older woman wished the ground would open beneath her.

Even so, Irene hadn’t forgotten why she had come. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, “Nicole, it’s not what you think. Please let me explain…”

“Sorry, but tears stopped working on me when I was three.”

With that, Nicole slammed the gate shut, leaving Irene outside in the bitter cold with no one listening to her excuses. Then she went upstairs, slipped into the hot spring, and hummed cheerfully to herself.

After finishing his patrol shift, Sven carried his sleeping son home.

Nicole had prepared hot soup. She quickly served Zeph and Cola a bowl each, then sent them to wash off the dirt and exhaustion from the night.

When Zeph returned, she set a steaming meal in front of him.

“How did the patrol go?” Nicole asked.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify