“Shen Xingdu, how long are you going to keep making a scene? Today is Wan’er’s birthday banquet, and it’s also the day our Shen family officially announces your identity to the public. Standing there dressed like some poor bumpkin—are you deliberately trying to embarrass us?”
A sharp, cutting female voice drilled into her ears, thick with undisguised disdain.
Shen Xingdu suddenly opened her eyes.
What greeted her was a massive crystal chandelier, its glare making her dizzy.
Around her was a lavish banquet hall filled with clinking glasses, the air saturated with the scent of expensive perfume and red wine.
Instinctively, she reached for her waist—empty.
The mountain-cleaving blade that had accompanied her through three years of slaughter in the apocalypse was gone. So was the stench of rotting corpses. All that remained was the comfortable 24-degree constant-temperature air conditioning.
This was… the Shen family mansion?
She had been reborn.
Reborn to one month before the apocalypse descended—back to the first formal banquet after the exposure of the real and fake heiress.
In her previous life, on this very day, she had returned as the newly found true daughter, naively believing she would regain familial affection. Instead, her biological parents despised her for having grown up in an orphanage, calling her crude and uncultured.
At this banquet, not only did they force her to wear ill-fitting street-stall clothes to humiliate her, they also publicly announced that the fake heiress, Lin Wan’er, would remain the Shen family’s cherished jewel—while Shen Xingdu was nothing more than a tool to be married off in exchange for利益.
“I’m talking to you! Are you deaf?!”
The elegant noblewoman in front of her frowned even more deeply when she saw Shen Xingdu spacing out.
This was her biological mother—Zhao Yalan.
Clinging to Zhao Yalan’s arm was the woman who had stolen twenty years of her life: the fake heiress, Lin Wan’er.
Lin Wan’er wore a custom-made white haute couture gown, a priceless pink diamond necklace glittering around her neck. She looked like a proud white swan.
She tugged Zhao Yalan’s arm with feigned concern. “Mom, my sister just came back—she probably isn’t used to occasions like this yet. Don’t blame her. I picked this dress especially for her. She has a good figure, so she looks nice in anything.”
With just a few words, she both stepped on Shen Xingdu’s “rustic” background and painted herself as magnanimous.
The surrounding guests began whispering, their gazes filled with contempt.
“So this is the real daughter from the countryside? She looks so dull.”
“I heard she didn’t even finish middle school. How could she compare to Wan’er, a top student from a prestigious university?”
“The Shen family must have terrible karma to bring back such an embarrassment.”
Listening to these familiar taunts, Shen Xingdu didn’t feel humiliated or furious like she had in her past life.
Instead, she wanted to laugh.
Laugh at these idiots—standing on the brink of death without realizing it.
In just thirty days, torrential rains, catastrophic floods, and extreme cold would take turns ravaging the world.
Order would collapse. Civilization would fracture.
These people, who were now mocking her in designer gowns, would be kneeling like dogs a month later, begging her for half a moldy bun.
“What are you laughing at? Absolutely shameless!” Shen Hongwei strode over, his face stern.
“Since you’ve come back, behave yourself. The Gu family has already been settled. Next month, you’ll marry into them. Although Young Master Gu has some… special preferences, that’s the Gu family. A blessing you’ve cultivated over several lifetimes!”
Shen Xingdu’s gaze turned icy.
Those so-called “special preferences” were nothing but sadistic abuse.
In her past life, she had endured it for the sake of所谓的亲情—only to be tortured half to death. When the apocalypse arrived, the Shen and Gu families jointly shoved her out to be fed to zombies.
“I won’t marry.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it was cold as ice, instantly quieting the noisy banquet hall.
Shen Hongwei froze, then flew into a rage. “What did you say? Do you think you have a say here? I’m your father!”
“Precisely because you’re my biological father, I’m still standing here speaking politely.” Shen Xingdu casually adjusted her cuffs, her eyes sharp as blades.
“I’ll marry that pervert if you want—but I have one condition.”
A flicker of jealousy flashed through Lin Wan’er’s eyes before she spoke softly, “Sister, Mom and Dad are only thinking of what’s best for you. The Gu family is powerful and wealthy—”
“Shut up.” Shen Xingdu shot her a cold glance. “This isn’t your place to speak, counterfeit.”
Lin Wan’er’s face went pale, tears instantly welling in her eyes.
Zhao Yalan’s heart ached as she pointed at Shen Xingdu and cursed, “You ungrateful wretch! We never should have brought you back!”
“Perfect.” Shen Xingdu cut her off. She grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen from a passing waiter, scribbled a few lines, then slapped it onto the table with a sharp pa.
“Sign it.”
Shen Hongwei frowned and picked it up. When he read the contents, his eyes nearly popped out.
“Termination of Parent-Child Relationship Agreement?! Are you insane?!”
“I’m not insane. I’ve never been clearer.” Shen Xingdu scanned the room and raised her voice.
“Since you think I’m an embarrassment, I find your Shen family disgusting as well. Give me five hundred million in cash, plus that top-floor luxury apartment downtown. I’ll sign and leave immediately. From then on, whether I, Shen Xingdu, live or die will have nothing to do with your Shen family. As for the Gu marriage—whoever wants it can take it.”
The entire hall erupted.
Five hundred million?!
That was outrageous!
“You’re dreaming!” Zhao Yalan shrieked. “Your blood flows from me! Your life belongs to me—why should we give you money?!”
Shen Xingdu let out a cold laugh and picked up a glass of red wine, swirling it lazily.
“If you don’t pay, then I won’t leave. I’ll ruin the Gu family marriage even if it costs me my life. And…” Her lips curved slightly.
“I’ll camp outside Shen Group every day with banners, telling the whole world how Shen Group sells its daughter for profit, how it pampers a mistress’s child and treats a fake as treasure. Barefoot people fear nothing—can your Shen family’s stock price handle that kind of trouble?”
Shen Hongwei’s face turned ashen.
Shen Group was preparing for an IPO. Negative news was absolutely unacceptable.
Five hundred million was a lot, but for the Shen family, it was merely a large chunk of liquid assets—painful, but not fatal.
More importantly, he saw the determination in Shen Xingdu’s eyes.
She was serious. If he didn’t pay, she really would latch onto the Shen family like a mad dog.
At that moment, Lin Wan’er sobbed softly. “Dad, Mom… since sister hates us so much, maybe… maybe we should fulfill her wish. As long as the family stays harmonious, I can bear some grievances.”
Her算盘 was clear: once Shen Xingdu was gone, everything in the Shen family would be hers. What was five hundred million? The entire Shen Group would belong to her eventually.
After weighing the pros and cons, Shen Hongwei clenched his teeth and stared at Shen Xingdu with a sinister gaze.
“Fine! Five hundred million to buy out all ties between us! From today on, don’t ever think about stepping into the Shen family again!”
“Decisive.” Shen Xingdu wrote down a bank account number.
“Transfer it now. Immediately. The moment the money arrives, I disappear.”
Ten minutes later.
Her phone vibrated. A notification chimed:
【Your account ending in 8888 has received RMB 500,000,000.00.】
Looking at that long string of zeros, Shen Xingdu finally smiled.
This wasn’t money.
This was food stores, an arsenal—and her life in the apocalypse.
Shen Hongwei flung the signed agreement at her. “Get lost!”
Shen Xingdu picked it up, dusted it off, and smiled brilliantly.
“Don’t worry, President Shen. I wish your family of three a lifelong bond—never separate.”
She turned and strode out without looking back. As she passed Lin Wan’er, she paused slightly and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“Enjoy your last days as a princess. After all… there aren’t many left.”
Stepping out of the Shen family villa, the night breeze was cool.
Shen Xingdu looked up at the pitch-black sky.
There were 29 days and 23 hours left until the apocalypse descended.