lody Sumrs stared at Joanne White in surprise. Why had Joanne just called Zane Simmons "husband"? ’Could it an what I think it ans?’
It was a lot to take in, and the scorching heat only made lody Sumrs feel more dazed.
The mont Joanne White saw lody Sumrs, her face turned deathly pale. From inside the car, she hadn’t gotten a clear look at lody’s face and had assud she was so little vixen. She was just about to get out and assert her claim, but she never expected it to be lody Sumrs.
When Zane Simmons saw Joanne White approach, he said dismissively, "Oh, she’s a high school classmate of mine. We’re just going to chat for a bit. You can head back first."
Joanne White’s mind was a complete ss, and she didn’t dare stay. She managed a flustered "Okay" before turning and stumbling away.
Zane Simmons didn’t notice Joanne’s panic. His attention was entirely on lody Sumrs. He scratched his head and said with a helpless sigh, "This damn weather is too hot. Let’s get in the car and talk. One more second out here and I’m going to get heatstroke!"
lody Sumrs was feeling the heat too, so she got into the car with Zane. The AC was blasting, and lody finally recovered from her earlier shock. She asked hesitantly, "That girl just now... is she your girlfriend?"
Zane Simmons paused for a mont, then a knowing smile spread across his face. "Yep," he replied with a grin, "A girlfriend. One of them."
’So, a mistress.’
Zane continued with a smile, "She’s pregnant with my child. Said she wants to keep it, so I just brought her along."
lody was shocked all over again. She repeated his words chanically, "She’s pregnant with your child?"
"Haha, surprising, right? I was surprised too. I’m actually going to be a dad this soon," Zane said, still grinning.
In truth, Zane had almost forgotten a person like Joanne White existed. He had many girlfriends, and the arrangents were always mutually beneficial. It wasn’t until he returned to the country a few days ago and got a call from her that he learned she was pregnant.
lody tried to hold her tongue but couldn’t help asking, her expression complicated, "How are you so sure it’s your child?"
Zane shrugged. "Amniocentesis and a DNA test, of course. I’m not about to raise soone else’s kid."
To be cautious, he had the test done at three different hospitals. Only after it was completely confird to be his child did he bring Joanne White over.
lody felt her entire worldview being shaken to its core.
’Isn’t Joanne White’s baby Austin Hale’s? Weren’t they just about to get married after buying a ho in a good school district? The lives of the rich are just too ssy!’
But Zane didn’t want to talk about Joanne White anymore. He changed the subject. "What about you? When did you move here? I rember your family used to live in the mountains."
"I just moved here a few months ago. I’m living with my family," lody Sumrs replied.
"Looks like you’ve done well for yourself over the years, moving from the mountains to a villa," Zane remarked. "Speaking of which, my family actually had a stake in this developnt when it was first being built. Who would’ve thought we’d end up losing a fortune on it."
After he spoke, Zane looked at lody again, a hint of lancholy in his voice. "It’s been what, six or seven years since we last saw each other? Ti really flies. Thinking back to high school... those were the most carefree days of my life."
lody couldn’t help but smile at that. ’When has this young master’s life ever *not* been carefree?’ she thought. ’Everyone else is struggling in this heat, and he’s still driving around in a luxury car.’
But lody didn’t say anything out loud, only replying, "Are you saying you want to be seventeen forever? That’s a bit of a fantasy."
Zane laughed at her response. He then took out his phone to add her as a contact. "I’ll be staying around here for a while. Let’s exchange numbers so we can get together when we have ti!"
lody thought for a mont, then nodded and they exchanged phone numbers.
*
Joanne White walked back to Zane Simmons’s villa in a daze. Her heart was in turmoil, so much so that she didn’t even notice the housekeeper greeting her.
She was terrified of what lody Sumrs might say to Zane.
Joanne had hooked up with Zane at an art exhibition. Both of them had clear goals—one was after money, the other after looks. It was a simple, mutually beneficial arrangent.
Joanne White wasn’t stupid. She knew she couldn’t easily marry into a family like Zane’s. If she stuck with him, she would inevitably be cast aside and kicked out once he grew tired of her. That’s why she was fully aware that her relationship with Zane was just a fling. The man she intended to marry was Austin Hale.
So, when she discovered she was pregnant, Joanne had decisively taken Austin to buy a house and prepare for their wedding.
Austin didn’t have much money, but he could offer Joanne a proper marriage. Moreover, he was a graduate of a prestigious university and had landed a job at a major company. His future looked very promising.
That was Joanne’s plan before the disaster.
But after the disaster, everything changed.
Austin Hale lost his job. The résumés he sent out vanished without a trace. He just stayed at ho every day, completely demoralized.
At the Hale family’s ho, Joanne lived a miserable life with no end in sight:
Mrs. Hale wouldn’t let her turn on the AC, saying electricity was too expensive. She wouldn’t let her take a shower, saying water was too expensive. Every day, she was only allowed to eat plain noodles or pickled vegetables with rice, because groceries were too expensive.
Joanne White was absolutely sick of this kind of life.
It was right around then that she heard Zane Simmons had returned to the country. With the mindset of soone making a desperate gamble, she decided to risk it all.
After the DNA test, Joanne knew her gamble had paid off.
Joanne White was perfectly aware that by staying with Zane, she could only ever be his mistress.
But Zane could give her a villa to live in!
Now, she could take a comfortable bath in a bathtub every day. She could enjoy the cool air conditioning while eating all kinds of fresh fruit. The housekeeper prepared delicious als suitable for her pregnancy three tis a day, with plenty of fresh vegetables, at, eggs, and dairy.
Zane had other girlfriends, but they were all sensible and had a tacit understanding not to interfere with one another.
Joanne really didn’t want to lose the life she had now.
But she could tell that Zane’s relationship with lody Sumrs was anything but simple. She was terrified lody would say sothing to Zane that would put her at a disadvantage. At this thought, Joanne caressed her slightly showing belly, her heart wracked with anxiety...
*
In reality, Joanne White was worrying for nothing. lody Sumrs had no intention of saying anything. After her rebirth, she had developed a profound respect for letting others’ destinies play out and had no desire to get involved in the drama of the wealthy. Besides, in her eyes, those two were a pretty good match for each other.
lody’s mind wasn’t on those two. She had been constantly monitoring the news online. Incidents of ho invasions were cropping up endlessly, along with news of supermarkets being looted.
Today, several high-end shopping malls downtown were smashed and looted in broad daylight. The security guards were completely unable to control the situation, and in the end, the malls all announced they were closing down.
Fortunately, Crystal Mart was protected by the property’s security guards. Plus, there weren’t many people in The tropolis Residences area, so it had remained relatively safe so far.
lody was just about to go into her space to harvest so fruit to eat when she received a ssage:
"Hello, Miss Sumrs. Due to the recent mall closures, our brand has launched an online shopping service. If you’re interested, you can place orders online, and the company will arrange for delivery to your door."
The ssage was from the young sales associate at the luxury store lody and Sophie Thorne had visited the other day.
lody clicked the link she sent and found it led to an online sales platform.
The platform seed to be newly established, featuring many brands and companies. Unlike the usual delivery apps, the goods here were unbelievably expensive. They sold everything from fruits, vegetables, at, eggs, and dairy to luxury goods, and even state-controlled resources like gasoline and diesel. The prices were just ridiculously high, far beyond what an ordinary person could afford.
lody casually clicked on a shop selling gasoline and diesel and saw that it even had custor reviews.
"User xxx: Not bad. Energy resources are so tightly controlled on the market right now that you can’t buy them anywhere. I can’t believe I can still buy them here."
"User xxx: The company’s team is very professional. The security is top-notch, with a full escort during delivery, and the shipping was very tily."
It seed to be an app for the super-rich, involving so gray market dealings.
lody then clicked on a shop selling fresh fruits, vegetables, and at. It was likely run by a company specializing in indoor farming. They had all sorts of fresh produce: a bag of chili peppers for 4,000, a bag of celtuce for 3,000, a bag of oranges for 5,000, a whole chicken for 6,000...
lody shot up in bed.
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