Apocalypse Rebirth: Making Billions With My Fortune-Telling Skill

Emily rushed in carrying a shopping bag. She stopped dead in her tracks, looking at April’s flushed face and slightly swollen lips. "April, what happened? Xavier looked furious, and Nat looked like he was about to murder someone."

"Nothing," April deflected smoothly, taking the dress from her sister. "It’s fine."

Ten minutes later, dressed in a fresh, clean outfit, they finally headed down to the lower parking lot. The atmosphere was incredibly tense. Alexander was leaning against the transport vehicle, looking thoroughly bored.

He had tried going up to the judging panel earlier to look for them, only to find it completely empty.

"What took you guys so long?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow as they approached. "I almost thought you left without me with a different vehicle altogether."

"There was a bit of an accident," Emily explained softly, keeping it vague. She had already noticed April was acting slightly out of character and decided not to push it in front of the others.

Hours later, back at the quiet luxury of the estate, April sat alone on the edge of her bed. The room was dark, but sleep was completely out of the question.

She slowly raised her fingers, brushing them lightly against her lower lip.

A kiss.

Kisses were weird. Why hadn’t she pushed them away?

In her past life, she had beem a maid, no way to get into a relationship. And what came next was the apocalypse. She spent every waking second fighting for scraps, running from zombies, and struggling to survive.

Romance was the last thing on her mind, even when she had grouped up with others.

In simpe terms, she had never been in a relationship; never kissed a boy, never experienced sexual intimacy, and never had the luxury to even think about it.

Now, sitting in the quiet dark, she was forced to confront a terrifying realization: it actually felt good. She absolutely did not want the messy complications of a relationship, but she couldn’t deny her body’s natural, intense reaction.

Feeling completely restless, April threw off her covers and headed downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water to calm her nerves.

The kitchen was softly lit. Samuel was just finishing his final rounds, preparing to leave for the night when April stopped in the doorway.

She silently stared at him quietly for a while, her head running several calculations. She knew she should just let him go, but an overwhelming, completely out-of-character curiosity grabbed hold of her.

"Samuel," April called out softly. "Can I ask you a question?"

Samuel turned, bowing his head respectfully. "Of course, Miss April."

"It’s going to be a bit personal," she warned, stepping further into the kitchen. "It’s regarding Mei."

Samuel’s eyes went slightly bleak at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. "It’s regarding Mei?"

"Not about what happened to her or anything like that," April clarified quickly. "I just want to know about the time when you were in a relationship. I know it’s hard to speak about after everything happened, but I just really need to know. You’re the only one I know who’s actually been in a real relationship."

Samuel took a moment, releasing a quiet, steadying breath and then nodded. "Alright, Miss April. You can ask what you want."

"Really? It won’t weigh on you?"

"No, Miss April. I have put all of it behind me. If there is anything I can do to help you, I will certainly assist you."

April walked over to the opposite side of the kitchen island. Instead of standing normally, she placed her hands on the counter and leaned her body entirely forward over the marble, getting incredibly close. Samuel stiffened, taken completely aback as she leaned in so far their faces almost met.

"M-Miss April... what are you doing?" he asked, completely bewildered.

April suddenly shook her head, pulling back and crossing her arms tightly over her chest. She looked everywhere in the kitchen except at him. "Samuel, this is a very, very awkward question that I find it hard to speak about."

"Okay," Samuel replied, his confusion deepening. What kind of question required this much nervous buildup?

April took a deep breath. "So, the thing is, today, at the suite... Xavier kissed me." She paused for a fraction of a second, still refusing to meet his eyes. "And Nat also kissed me. Twice, actually."

Samuel froze. "Are you... asking for counsel on how to deal with their transgressions? Are you mad?"

"No, no. That’s not it. I’m actually not mad," April interrupted. She brought one hand up, awkwardly touching her lip for a second before placing it back down. "I just find myself thinking back to those kisses. It turns out... it’s not so bad."

She quickly shook her head, finally looking him in the eye. "What I wanted to ask you, Samuel, is... is a kiss meant to be something desirable? Something good? You’ve been in a relationship, so you should know. I have never kissed anyone in my life, so I wouldn’t know."

She stepped a little closer, her dark eyes filled with genuine, uncharacteristic frustration. "Is this a normal reaction? My heart is racing. My body just... I think there’s a lot of adrenaline in my veins. It doesn’t let me sleep. It doesn’t let me think. I wonder if this is how it normally is. It happened over three hours ago, and yet I still can’t get this out of my head."

Samuel just stood there, his usual unflappable composure completely shattered as he stared at his terrifying, pragmatic, apocalypse-preparing boss.

"What?" Samuel breathed.

Samuel found himself completely, utterly speechless.

His mind struggled to bridge the gap between the pragmatic woman who brought world leaders to their knees, and the deeply confused girl currently standing across the marble counter, flushed and asking for relationship advice like an embarrassed teenager.

April looked at the surprise in his gaze and felt lightly defeated. "So, this is strange even for you?"

"It’s not that, Miss April, I was just taken by surprise." Samuel began slowly, adjusting his glasses simply to buy himself a few seconds of composure. "If I am understanding you correctly... you are experiencing a physical adrenaline response to intimacy."

"I am asking if it’s normal," April corrected sharply, crossing her arms even tighter. The heat on her cheeks was burning so hot she was practically radiating warmth. "My heart rate escalated, my pulse hasn’t settled, and my mind keeps repeating the sensory data. In a survival situation, that kind of hyper-fixation is dangerous. It compromises focus."

Samuel couldn’t help the small, rare, and exceedingly faint twitch of amusement at the corner of his lips. Leave it to April to frame her first romantic encounters as a breach of tactical security.

"Miss April, you spent your entire life treating your body strictly as a vessel for survival because of the conditions you were exposed to," Samuel explained smoothly, his tone dropping into a warm, grounding cadence. "You have built walls made of steel and concrete around your mind to keep the world out. But a kiss—especially from men who harbor profound, intense feelings for you—is a direct bypass of those defenses."