After Joanne White found out she was pregnant again, her anxiety grew day by day.

Seeing her in this state, Zane Simmons, perhaps out of pity or as compensation for separating her from their first child, finally agreed a few days ago to let Joanne White’s mother move in to keep her company.

Mrs. White quickly hugged Joanne White, gently comforting her. "Oh, honey, you’re pregnant," she murmured. "Crying like this is bad for you. Please, stop crying. Rest assured, no matter what happens, Mom is right here by your side..."

Seeing Joanne White in this state broke Mrs. White’s heart.

Especially after learning about Zara Walsh.

Mr. and Mrs. White had only one daughter, Joanne White, whom they had doted on since childhood. She was an art major, which was incredibly expensive, but they had gritted their teeth and put her through one of the country’s top universities.

However, after the disaster struck, Mr. and Mrs. White had turned a blind eye to Joanne White becoming someone’s mistress in order to ensure the family’s security.

But Zane Simmons and Joanne White were around the same age, and he was single. So, they could fool themselves into believing their daughter was simply dating him and that they would eventually get married.

But if Zane Simmons really married that Miss Walsh, once he had a wife, the very nature of the situation would be completely different...

Mr. and Mrs. White would no longer be able to lie to themselves.

Thinking of the hardships her daughter had endured, Mrs. White gritted her teeth and said, "...Joanne, if it really comes to it, you should just get an abortion. Pregnancy is too dangerous for you in your current condition. Even if... even if you and Mr. Simmons break up, your father and I have saved some money. It’s enough for us to live on for a while."

Joanne White’s heart was torn by her mother’s words, but after a moment’s thought, she shook her head.

Joanne White struggled to speak. "Mom, we don’t know when this disaster will end... Prices will only get higher, and medical resources will become even scarcer..."

If she left Zane Simmons, Joanne White had no idea what she would do if her father’s heart condition were to relapse!

At this thought, Joanne White gritted her teeth and continued, "Mom, as long as Zane Simmons doesn’t marry Miss Walsh, I still have a chance..."

Joanne White hadn’t wanted to tell her parents about Zara Walsh.

She had never dared to mention these things, not wanting to worry them.

As the saying goes, you don’t appreciate your parents until you become one yourself. Ever since having her own child, Joanne White had increasingly understood the hardships her parents faced and was even more reluctant to worry them.

But now Zara Walsh had shown up several times, growing more aggressive with each visit, and Joanne White just couldn’t handle it anymore.

Mrs. White sighed. She patted Joanne White’s back soothingly, then leaned in and whispered mysteriously, "Don’t be afraid, my dear. I’ll go find Mr. Caelus and get a peace charm for you. Everyone says his charms are very powerful. It’s sure to protect you and guarantee a safe delivery!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Joanne White frowned. ’A charm?’

’Surely my mother hasn’t been tricked by The Cult?’

Just as Joanne White was about to ask for more details, the door was suddenly pushed open.

The maid who entered said to them, "Miss White, Mrs. White, staff from the community’s emergency office are conducting a household survey. They’re already downstairs. Could you both please come down?"

Mrs. White was taken aback. "A household survey? Why, all of a sudden?"

The maid suppressed her impatience and replied quickly, "I’m not sure. You two should just get ready and come downstairs as soon as you can."

With that, she turned and left.

Feeling they had no choice, Mrs. White and Joanne White quickly straightened their clothes and went downstairs.

In the villa’s main hall, the servants and bodyguards were gathered together while four members of the emergency office staff verified their identities one by one.

While checking his list, one of the officials asked, "Is all the hired staff in the villa present? The numbers don’t match our database... you’re short two people... Can you tell me where they are?"

A bodyguard immediately answered, "The two missing people are a married couple. They worked here as a driver and a maid, but they quit two days ago and have already left the community."

The official frowned. "They left the community? Why wasn’t their departure registered?"

The bodyguard scratched his head. "They only left two days ago. We haven’t had time to file the paperwork yet."

The officials nodded thoughtfully. They followed the bodyguard to view the surveillance footage of the couple leaving with their luggage. After returning, they registered Joanne White and Mrs. White, who had just come downstairs.

After completing the registration, they looked around and asked, "Is that everyone?"

Mrs. White looked around but didn’t see her niece. She turned to the officials, a little embarrassed. "Please wait just a moment. My niece hasn’t come down yet... I’ll go get her right now!"

With that, Mrs. White hurried up the stairs. A few of the maids in the room exchanged glances, their lips curling into subtle, mocking smiles.

Joanne White saw their expressions, and her own face grew awkward.

A few minutes later, Mrs. White returned with a girl who looked to be seventeen or eighteen. "This is my niece," she explained to the officials. "She came here with me two days ago."

An official looked at the slender girl beside Mrs. White and asked, "What’s your name? Where did you live before this?"

The girl kept her gaze lowered, answering in a small voice, "My name is Lucy White. I used to live at..."

The officials asked several more questions, and Lucy White answered each one.

Once her information was registered, the officials gave a few parting instructions—including a warning that it was getting colder and that they should stock up on winter supplies—before getting up to leave.

As soon as the officials left, the bodyguards and maids dispersed, each returning to their duties.

As they left, a few of the maids shot Lucy White a speculative glance.

Mrs. White sighed at the sight. She poked Lucy White on the head and said irritably, "You’re as quiet as a mouse. Couldn’t you hear the commotion and come down to see what was happening? Did you have to make me come all the way up to get you? If I’d known you’d be like this, I wouldn’t have brought you!"

Lucy White kept her head down, saying nothing.

Mrs. White had told her to stay in her room on the second floor and not to come out no matter what she heard. That was why she hadn’t dared to move.

But she didn’t dare contradict her mother now. She knew it was only thanks to Joanne White and Mrs. White that she had a place to stay. As someone living under another’s roof, she knew she couldn’t afford to talk back.

Seeing her like this only made Mrs. White angrier. She jabbed Lucy White’s head with her fingernail and muttered, "Look at you, so timid and withdrawn! If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have brought you here just to be gossiped about by the maids... Ugh, you’re just a little burden!..."

After Lucy White was rescued from The Crestview Hotel not long ago, the police had contacted her paternal uncle—Joanne White’s father—and asked him to take her in.

It was now the second year of the disaster, and everyone was struggling just to get by. Mr. and Mrs. White hadn’t wanted to take on the burden of a relative.

But Mr. White was his niece’s father’s only brother. With Lucy’s parents both dead, she was all alone. If he abandoned his brother’s orphaned daughter, he was afraid the relatives back home would curse his name.

So, Mr. and Mrs. White had gritted their teeth and taken Lucy White in.

That was until two days ago, when Zane Simmons agreed to let Mrs. White move in to keep the pregnant Joanne White company.

While Mrs. White was happy about the move, she was also worried about what to do with Lucy White.

’As the saying goes, a grown daughter should keep her distance from her father,’ Mrs. White thought. ’Lucy is a young, beautiful girl. For her to be living alone with my husband under the same roof... what would people say?!’

After turning it over and over in her mind, Mrs. White just couldn’t rest easy leaving Lucy White alone with her husband. So, she gritted her teeth and brought Lucy White along with her to the Simmons residence.

When the maids in the villa saw this, they assumed the mother-daughter duo had brought Lucy White along in a scheme to win over Zane Simmons’s heart—a sordid ploy of having two sisters from the same family serve one man. As a result, the maids held the White women in contempt.

They wouldn’t dare openly antagonize Joanne White or her mother, but they had no such fear of Lucy White, so they would give her dirty looks from time to time.

Mrs. White hadn’t considered this possibility. She simply thought the maids were targeting Lucy because her timid, submissive demeanor made her an easy target to look down on.

Seeing Lucy White standing there with her head bowed in silence, Mrs. White frowned, ready to scold her further, but just then, Zane Simmons unexpectedly walked in.

Looking at the three women of the White family standing in the living room, Zane Simmons raised an eyebrow. "Well, now. What’s all this? Why is everyone standing around?"