Chapter 4

Declan was pounding on the door, trying to dodge the man’s attacks.

I was about to open it, but my mother-in-law shook her head, signaling me not to get involved.

But the noise outside grew louder, and even Declan went silent.

Terrified, I finally opened the door.

My mother-in-law and I peeked outside to see what was happening.

"Damn! None of you are worth a damn!"

The man was huge and yanked me out the door with one pull.

A wave of heat hit me, making me feel like I might faint.

My mother-in-law quickly followed.

"Boom!"

We all turned to look at the door.

Only to see Declan, who had been lying on the ground, back inside.

With a "click," he locked the door.

The man was dizzy but sneered, "Is that what you call a man?"

My mother-in-law wiped her sweat and banged forcefully on the door.

"Declan, are you crazy? Open the door and let us in!"

"Declan! Declan!"

Despite the heat, my heart felt cold.

"I don't hit women," the man said dismissively.

He let go of me, picked up the two bottles of water from the ground, and went upstairs.

The unbearable heat, combined with the exertion, made the burly man collapse.

But he still held onto those precious bottles of life-saving water.

"Declan, open the door! Do you want us to die here?"

Sweat dripped from my mother-in-law onto the ground.

Her breathing was already unsteady.

I held her, telling her to stop banging on the door.

"He won't open it."

I felt strangely calm.

"I see it now; he's just a money-loving scumbag."

"So we need to conserve our energy. If we don't, we'll surely die from the heat in less than two hours."

My mother-in-law nodded, sitting down to catch her breath.

My eyes stung, but I couldn't cry.

The man on the stairs lay motionless; he was probably dead.

And as the sun moved west, more sunlight filled our hallway.

Heat radiated from my body, my lips cracked, and I had no strength to stand.

Thirsty... so thirsty...

My mother-in-law had closed her eyes.

I patted her, telling her not to sleep.

I crawled over to the man to avoid the sunlight.

He was dead, lying in a pool of water.

I felt like crying, but my hand kept moving to grab the water.

"I'm sorry..."

I clutched the two bottles of water tightly and hurried back to my mother-in-law, letting her drink.

We each had a bottle, gulping down the water like addicts.

We drank every drop, yet the scorching weather still left us parched and dry.

My eyelids grew heavier, and I was about to drift off when the door opened.

"Come in!"