Chapter 77
Vanessa’s pitiful expression nearly broke Tommy’s heart.
He shot Wendy a furious glare. "Wendy, how can you be so cruel?!"
Wendy stared at him in disbelief, pointing at herself. "I’m cruel?"
Tears began to fall from Vanessa’s eyes, one drop after another. She tugged gently at Tommy’s sleeve.
"Tommy... it’s my fault. Please don’t argue with your sister because of me."
Then she looked toward Wendy with watery eyes. "Wendy... I’ll just take the dress off right now."
Wendy’s chest heaved in anger. She felt as if a fly had flown straight into her mouth.
This was the first time someone had disgusted her so thoroughly.
"No need," Wendy said coldly.
Fiona quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Alright, alright. We’re all family here. No need to argue."
She hesitated for a moment before adding, "Vanessa... you can stay here with us from now on."
Wendy shot to her feet and stormed out of the living room. As she left, the rest of the Kale family gradually dispersed as well.
On the other side of the screen, Suzy and Leonard watched the entire scene with great interest.
Leonard clicked his tongue.
"That was quite a show. Wendy’s going to have a rough time from now on."
Suzy nodded in agreement but said nothing more. Instead, she tried to recall what she knew about Vanessa Sanders.
She remembered her. Vanessa had been Tommy’s first love.
But in Suzy’s dream, Vanessa had never moved into the Kale house. In fact, she hadn’t even appeared in that timeline.
Had Suzy’s actions changed things? In fact, her guess was pretty accurate.
Since Suzy had promised Tommy she’d increase the price for the car he wanted, he later went back to the dealership to look again.
There, he ran into Vanessa, who happened to be working part-time at the dealership.
One thing led to another, and the two got involved again.
Now, Vanessa had Tommy wrapped completely around her finger—and had even moved into the Ashford house.
On her very first day, she had already clashed with Wendy.
Suzy could already imagine the endless drama that would follow.
She was practically looking forward to the coming episodes.
A week passed like this.
Every day, Suzy and Leonard checked in on the Kale family’s "daily soap opera" through the surveillance cameras.
By now, the disaster had been ongoing for quite some time.
People were slowly beginning to adapt.
Nearly half the city had already lost water and electricity—though Suzy’s neighborhood had not yet been affected.
Besides water shortages, many households were beginning to face food shortages as well.
The government had finally stepped in.
Water trucks now distributed water at fixed times each day.
Every household was allowed only one bucket per day.
Food distribution worked similarly. The government had taken control of several large supermarkets nearby, and residents could purchase limited supplies using their ID cards.
"Uncle, the water truck should arrive soon. I’m heading downstairs."
Suzy grabbed a bucket and called out to Leonard.
Leonard was fiddling with the solar generator. When he heard her, he looked up.
"Your health isn’t great—stay home. I’ll go instead."
Suzy waved him off. "No need. Thomas is waiting for me downstairs."
Recently, Suzy had been drinking spiritual spring water every day to nourish her body. Her physical condition had improved significantly.
But the sickly look on her face had practically become permanent.
No matter how healthy she felt, she still appeared pale and frail.
There was nothing she could do about it—short of putting on makeup.
"Oh, Thomas is going with you? Then that’s fine."
The moment Leonard heard this, he stopped insisting. A strange smile even appeared on his face.
But when Suzy glanced at him, the smile disappeared instantly.
"I’m heading out then," she said, picking up the bucket.
It was nighttime.
Everyone’s schedules had completely flipped.
The daytime heat was so deadly that no one dared go outside under the blazing sun.
Suzy took the elevator down.
Starlight Towers truly lived up to its reputation as a luxury residential complex. Its backup power system was extremely strong.
So far, their neighborhood was still enjoying 24-hour electricity.
Other residential areas had either lost power completely or were limited to timed electricity.
But these comfortable days wouldn’t last long.
A few days earlier, Suzy had overheard the property management staff saying that the complex’s power supply wouldn’t last forever.
That was why she and Leonard had been setting up solar panels over the past two days.
The elevator doors slid open.
After a few steps, Suzy spotted Thomas.
During this period, he still came over to eat at Suzy’s place occasionally. But because the heat had grown more intense, the visits had become less frequent.
"Let’s go," he said, reaching out and taking the bucket from her hands.
Suzy blinked in surprise but let him carry it.
Soon, the two arrived at the water distribution point.
This was their first time collecting water.
Unfortunately, they had arrived late—the line stretched far ahead of them.
The water truck stood at the front while property staff and government workers distributed water together.
The property management handled registration, while workers filled the buckets.
Everyone waited quietly.
Suddenly, a loud argument broke out near the front of the line.
"Why won’t you let me get water?! Oh heavens! You’re bullying an old woman like me—do you want me to die of thirst?!"
Everyone’s attention immediately turned toward the commotion.
Suzy craned her neck to look.
An elderly woman was standing at the front of the line, throwing a tantrum.
"Mrs. Warren, we already told you," the property manager said patiently. "Each household can only collect one bucket of water per day. Your daughter-in-law already took one earlier. Come back tomorrow."
Every household that had collected water was clearly recorded in the property manager’s notebook.
There was no way the old woman could slip through unnoticed.
"What can one bucket even do?! Give me another one! I’ll leave right after!" Mrs. Warren refused to back down.
She rushed forward and tried to grab the worker’s hose.
The worker quickly dodged.
Seeing that plan fail, the old woman dropped to the ground and began wailing dramatically.
"Oh my goodness! You’re trying to kill an old lady like me! You want me to die of thirst here! Heartless people!"
The workers and property staff exchanged glances and simply ignored her.
"Next!" the property manager called.
The next person in line was a thin young woman.
Hearing her turn had come, she quickly stepped forward and placed her bucket out.
"Thank you for your hard work," she said politely.
The old woman’s tantrum was completely ignored.
Grinding her teeth, she climbed off the ground, unwilling to leave empty-handed.
If she walked away now, then all that time she’d spent waiting in line would have been wasted.
As the young woman’s bucket was filled to the brim, Mrs. Warren suddenly lunged forward and tried to snatch it.
"That water is mine!" she shouted, shoving the young woman while cursing loudly. "Give my water back!"
The young woman instinctively tightened her grip.
"This is mine!"
The two began struggling over the bucket.
In the chaos, more than half the water splashed onto the ground.
Seeing so much precious water wasted, the people nearby winced in pain.