Teaming Up with My Enemy to Rule the Apocalypse

The group returned to the housing management office, and the staff member asked them to wait a moment while he went to prepare the contract.

Sierra Sullivan and the others waited quietly.

They had thought he would be back soon, but they ended up waiting for quite a while, and he still hadn’t returned.

This was a bit strange.

"Why is he taking so long?" Yvonne Shelby frowned. "Under the current circumstances, does preparing a contract really require such a complicated process?"

Before the apocalypse, with all the various procedures and clauses, it would have been understandable if preparing a contract took a bit longer.

But for it to take this long now, there was clearly a problem.

"Mom, don’t worry," Jayce said, standing up. "I’ll go see what’s going on."

Yvonne Shelby was still worried. She urged Jayce, "Go have a look, but don’t lose your temper. Don’t argue with anyone. Just talk things through calmly. If we can’t rent it, that’s fine too. It’s not like I absolutely have to start this business."

She just didn’t want to be idle at home, but she didn’t want to cause any trouble over it either.

Jayce gave Yvonne Shelby a helpless look. "Mom, am I that impulsive of a person?"

"No, no!" Yvonne Shelby shook her head repeatedly. "Of course you’re not."

Hearing Yvonne Shelby say that only made Jayce feel more helpless.

Even though Yvonne Shelby was saying "no," her expression conveyed the exact opposite.

Seeing this, Jayce couldn’t be bothered to argue with Yvonne Shelby anymore.

"I’m going to go see," Jayce said to Sierra Sullivan.

Sierra Sullivan nodded. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the long-absent staff member walking back toward them.

He was back, but his face was a picture of conflict and awkwardness.

"Um... I’m terribly sorry, but the property you wanted to rent... it’s just been rented by someone else. How about... would you like to see some others? Actually, the first and third ones we looked at were quite similar. If you don’t like those, I can help you find something else..."

Jayce raised an eyebrow. "We were just about to rent it, and someone else snatched it up? What a coincidence. Who was it that rented it?"

"Well..."

The staff member looked troubled, clearly unwilling to answer.

Yvonne Shelby immediately tried to smooth things over.

"Jayce, why don’t we just look at the other properties? The first and third ones we saw were genuinely nice."

Hearing this, the staff member let out a sigh of relief and began nodding frantically. "Yes, yes! The ma’am is right! The first and third properties are indeed quite nice..."

"Mom!" Jayce said, exasperated. "This isn’t about how good the properties are. This is about someone deliberately giving us a hard time."

Jayce refused to believe that such a thing could be a coincidence.

How could the property be rented away the very moment they were about to sign for it?

He wouldn’t believe any explanation other than that it was deliberate.

Since this person was doing it intentionally, if they could snatch one property, they could snatch a second and a third.

Even if they switched to another property now, they would very likely be unable to rent that one either.

The only way to resolve this was to find out who was behind it and deal with the problem at its source.

Yvonne Shelby opened her mouth but ultimately swallowed her words.

She had navigated the cutthroat world of business before; how could she not see that someone was intentionally picking a fight?

She was just thinking that given their precarious situation, it was better to avoid trouble, which was why she had tried to talk Jayce down.

But since Jayce was unwilling, she would let it go.

Seeing that Yvonne Shelby had fallen silent, the staff member could only turn a pleading gaze toward Sierra Sullivan.

In the staff member’s eyes, Sierra Sullivan was a woman, so she ought to be more reasonable.

But he was mistaken.

Sierra Sullivan’s personality, while not identical to Jayce’s, wasn’t all that different.

"We’re not trying to make things hard on you," Sierra Sullivan said to the staff member with a smile. "The person who snatched the property from us probably wants you to tell us who they are, don’t they? Just tell us. It’ll save you trouble later."

When the staff member heard this, his eyes welled up.

’He really hadn’t been mistaken!’

’Sierra Sullivan was as kind as she was beautiful!’

’Even at a time like this, she was still concerned about him!’

"I—"

The staff member had only managed to get one word out when a group of people approached from behind him.

At the very front were none other than Claire Vance and Simon Hughes.

A large group followed behind them, composed of their usual lackeys as well as professional bodyguards.

Claire Vance and Simon Hughes wore identical, mocking smiles.

"Oh my!" Claire Vance said, deliberately covering her mouth. "Isn’t it Sierra Sullivan and Jayce? Fancy meeting you here! Are you guys also here to rent a property? What a coincidence! We’re here to rent, too!"

Simon Hughes jutted out his chin. "Which property did you have your eye on? You can tell me. If I’m in a good mood, I might even leave it for you. Otherwise, I’m afraid you won’t be renting anything today!"

The words sounded pleasant, as if they were spoken with the best intentions.

But in reality, it was a blatant threat.

"Telling just him won’t do you any good. I’m renting quite a few properties today myself. You’ll have to run it by me, too, if you want to get a place!"

Sierra Sullivan never had a mild temper to begin with, and being threatened like this made her own fiery temper flare instantly.

"So, from the sound of it, you’re planning to rent every single property?"

Simon Hughes and Claire Vance exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

"We won’t go so far as to rent them all, but we are renting a lot, which makes us premium clients. We get first pick. And it just so happens that the one you like might be the very one I want."

"That’s right! If the one you’ve chosen is the one we want, then I guess we’re just sorry!"

"Fine!" Sierra Sullivan nodded. "Since you’ve put it that way, I suppose I should let you have your way. But don’t just be all talk. It would be embarrassing if you snatched the property I wanted, only to not cough up the Contribution Points in the end."

Claire Vance was easily provoked. Her smile vanished at once, and she glared coldly at Sierra Sullivan. "It’s just a few Contribution Points. They mean nothing to me. I just want to see if you can manage to rent the property you want today."

Sierra Sullivan remained noncommittal, simply turning to the staff member. "What are you standing there stunned for? Get the contract. I want the first property we saw earlier."

"Huh?" The staff member was a bit slow to react, but his professional training kicked in, and he quickly agreed, scrambling to fetch the contract.

For reasons unknown, he not only grabbed the contract for the first property, but for the third one as well.

"Miss Sullivan, here’s the contract you wanted. Should we sign it now?"

There was a hint of urgency in the staff member’s voice.

He truly hoped that someone as kind and beautiful as Sierra Sullivan, who had even been considerate of him, would be able to rent her desired property.

"Okay—"

"Wait!"

Claire Vance cut Sierra Sullivan off.

"I’ve decided I like this property too. Give me the contract. I’ll sign it!"

"This..." The staff member looked at Claire Vance, then back at Sierra Sullivan, momentarily at a loss.

The corner of Sierra Sullivan’s mouth curled into a smirk. "Since Miss Vance wants it, give it to her. Go on, sign it!"