Chapter 1

During the extreme heatwave, I delivered a substantial amount of precious supplies to my beloved fiancé.

He claimed that his mom thought I was stingy and cheap.

Both of them even had the audacity to come to my house and take over.

Later, I discovered that my fiancé was the mastermind behind all the deceit.

He not only sold the water and food his mom had given me at exorbitant prices but also handed my supplies to the other woman.

He even locked his mom and me out, hoping the sun would bake us.

But he forgot, neither his mom nor I are easily defeated.

If he likes the other woman so much, they might as well bake together on the streets, clinging to each other, never to part.

“Declan, did you get the supplies?”

I sat in the shade of my house, sipping the precious water.

The TV was showing news of heat-related deaths.

I sighed, turned off the TV, and continued, “I spent quite a bit of money and resources to have them delivered...”

Before I could finish, Declan interrupted impatiently.

“My mom says you’re too stingy!”

“How is this little bit of water enough for anyone?”

This little bit of water?

Does his mom realize how scarce water is now?

I suppressed my irritation, screwed the cap back on, and carefully placed it in a cool spot.

“Do you know how tight water is right now? If your mom doesn’t want it, she shouldn’t drink it!”

“If they don’t want it, give it back, I’ll drink it myself!”

At this point, Declan seemed to change his tune and quickly explained.

“Babe, my mom might dislike you, but I don’t. You did stock up a lot of supplies before... How about sending a bit more over?”

I looked at the storage room filled with water and food.

I wasn’t short on supplies, but giving them to Declan was okay, giving them to his mom was not.

I always thought his mom was a two-faced deceiver.

Before the temperatures rose, his mom promised me five gifts and a $10,000 dowry.

But what I got were three gifts, and the dowry never appeared.

Yet, in front of me, she acted all polite.

Whenever I went to their house, she prepared a table full of food and praised me for being a pretty girl.

Even at the beginning of this ordeal, she kept thinking of me, telling me to take care of myself.

She sure put on a good act, but now her true colors are showing.

“Finish what you have first, then we’ll talk.”

I hung up and walked to the window.

Carefully, I pulled the curtain to peek outside.

There wasn’t a soul on the street, just some bodies dried by the sun.

Anyone going out at noon would either be dehydrated to fainting or be peeled like an onion by the sun.

I quickly shut the curtain and lay back on my bed.

My mother-in-law messaged me on SnapChat.

“Rosalie, how have you been lately?”

“Do you have enough to eat and drink? If not, I’ll have someone bring some over tonight?”

I assumed she was being sarcastic, so I replied, “Sure, I’m about to die of thirst at home.”

“Unlike you, who still have water to drink!”

She immediately called, sounding genuinely worried.

“Rosalie, are you okay? If you need anything, I can bring some supplies tonight.”

“Sure.” I casually picked at my nails.

She’s just saying that.

Everyone knows she’s just pretending.

But I didn’t expect that night she actually came with a bunch of stuff.

Declan followed her, wearing his usual sour face.

“I told you not to come. Do you want people to sleep or not?”