Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Although she and Keith Preston had their share of political maneuvering, at this critical moment, Keith made the most selfless decision.

She was the City Lord, but she wasn’t powerful enough, so Keith Preston had her stay behind in the city to take command.

In other words, he trusted her more than Leo Joyce, the former City Lord. He was entrusting his back to her!

Maisie Joyce immediately called upon the members of two squads and shouted, "Follow me! We’re going to rendezvous with The Guard!"

As she left, she met Claire Chapman’s gaze and nodded.

After Maisie left, Claire Chapman turned and whispered a few words to the subordinates at her side. They quickly followed her orders, catching up to Maisie Joyce to escort her.

Leo Joyce’s face turned livid when he saw this.

’It was one thing for Claire Chapman to protect Maisie Joyce, but Keith Preston... They had been comrades for so many years. Yet even after seeing him in person, Keith still deferred to Maisie as City Lord, completely erasing the bond they had forged fighting side-by-side to build Southreach!’

’And to think I actually had expectations for him!’

’Ungrateful bastard!’

These thoughts flashed through his mind, but the current situation didn’t allow him the luxury of dwelling on them.

When Victor Caldwell heard Leo Joyce say they should put everything else aside for now and focus on clearing out the zombies, the tension in his heart finally eased. He instinctively looked to Keith Preston, ready to follow his command.

The heads of the Kong and Zhang families also departed in a hurry, preparing to gather their own people to fight the zombies.

Under Keith Preston’s command, everyone present set out for the First Division’s camp.

Leo Joyce glanced at Claire Chapman, who was staring at him from the side, gritted his teeth, and said to Ivan Warren, "Let’s go. We’ll deal with those zombies first."

「Time ticked by.」

At the city gate, a few Hunting Parties had returned. The guards on duty immediately explained the situation and requested their help with the chaos inside the city.

Marcus Monroe and his men were among these returning Hunting Parties.

They had been searching a nearby base for any sign of Paige Summers, but when they saw the emergency signal flare launched from Southreach, they knew something was terribly wrong.

’A major settlement like Southreach would never launch a red flare—the signal for a dire emergency—unless it was the absolute last resort!’

They raced back immediately.

They entered the city with the other Hunting Parties and headed straight for The Guard’s position.

Coincidentally, they met the men guarding Maisie Joyce there.

After getting a quick report, Marcus didn’t have time to dwell on why he hadn’t reached Southreach sooner. Instead, he immediately led all his people toward the search area Claire Chapman had designated earlier!

Meanwhile, Paige Summers, who had been taken by Shawn Monroe to a relatively safe residential area, was not doing well at all.

She lay on the bed, her entire body soaked in a cold sweat.

Her abdomen cramped in waves.

The pain spread.

Shawn Monroe kept watch by her side. As composed as he normally was, he was now completely at a loss.

He kept wiping the sweat from Paige’s brow, turning to demand, "Hasn’t the doctor arrived yet?!"

"Not yet," one of his men answered, his voice trembling.

Anxious disappointment flashed in Shawn Monroe’s eyes. His gaze fell on Faye Webb in the corner—bound securely, mouth gagged, a pathetic mess of tears and snot. A wave of hatred crashed over him!

’He had miscalculated!’

’He hadn’t expected Faye Webb to be so bold as to attack Paige while he was out of the room!’

’If anything happened to Paige, he would make Faye suffer the death of a thousand cuts!’

"Ah..." A pained cry escaped Paige Summers’ lips.

Shawn’s heart clenched. He gripped her hand tightly. "You... you have to hold on! The doctor will be here any second!"

Paige didn’t even look at him, focusing all her energy on fighting the pain.

Finally, the wave of pain subsided, and she went limp, completely exhausted.

’A wave of sorrow washed over her.’

’My baby... will it be okay?’

’She knew Shawn thought Faye was responsible for this, but she wasn’t. Still, she didn’t bother to explain. She even deliberately misled him into believing it was Faye’s fault.’

’Without Faye, how could Shawn’s plan have succeeded so easily?’

’He might have planned the kidnapping and done his reconnaissance, but if Faye hadn’t sold her out, Shawn never would have been able to pull off the most critical part of his plan. She wouldn’t have been captured!’

’She didn’t need to imagine how heartbroken and guilt-ridden Marcus must be, returning to find her gone.’

’And she...’

Ever since that bumpy car ride, her stomach had been feeling awful.

She knew that ever since Shawn had taken her, even though she desperately told herself to endure it, to eat and drink plenty for the baby’s sake, logic was no match for instinct. The moment she saw Shawn, the moment she thought about her predicament, about Marcus, it felt like any food she managed to swallow got stuck in her throat.

’She was over seven months pregnant and still vomiting constantly. Her body couldn’t absorb any nutrients. How could the baby possibly be unharmed!’

Luckily, she was able to pull some raw vegetables from her spatial inventory and force herself to eat.

If not for that, things would have taken a turn for the worse long ago.

But after that violent, bumpy ride, the contractions had started!

’It was an indescribable agony.’

’Her belly felt so heavy, as if the baby was about to fall out at any moment!’

’She was terrified!’

’More scared than she had ever been in her life!’

’This baby was hers and Marcus’s. She had spent countless hours dreaming about what their child would look like.’

’Whose face would it have? Whose eyes? Whose nose? And whose mouth?’

’She had imagined, countless times, just how adorable their child would be!’

’Boy or girl, it didn’t matter. She knew she would cherish this baby more than anything in the world.’

’But now... would the baby even survive?’

’No, no, no!’

Paige Summers frantically shook her head.

’She couldn’t think that way. The baby had to survive! If she could just hold on, just hold on until the doctor arrived, everything would, it had to be okay!’

She bit down hard on her lip, soon tasting the coppery tang of blood.

The sharp taste helped her calm down, just a little.

"Don’t do that! Paige, stop, let go!" Shawn cried out, his voice soft but urgent.

Blood trickled from the corner of Paige’s mouth, staining the pillow, but she kept her lip clamped between her teeth.

At the sound of his voice, Paige finally, slowly, relaxed her jaw.

Shawn gently wiped the sweat from her forehead and brow, then carefully dabbed away the blood beneath her lip.

Paige stared at his handsome face, her expression dazed. "Why are you doing this?" she asked faintly. "I remember you trying to kill me on several occasions. The one you love is Nora Lowell. The one you should hate is Nora Lowell. What does any of this have to do with me? Or... are you planning to use me to threaten Marcus?"

The corner of Shawn’s eye twitched. After a long moment, he reached out to stroke Paige’s cheek.

The touch felt alien to her, and she couldn’t stop her brow from furrowing.

Seeing her reaction, Shawn closed his eyes briefly before pulling back his hand.

"I don’t know why either. I just... I feel like I have to do this, to make you stay by my side."

He truly didn’t know. As he arranged all of this, one part of him knew it was wrong, that he shouldn’t be doing it. But another part, an uncontrollable urge, compelled him forward.

Especially after those dreams, he felt as if he’d been plunged into a strange, inexplicable emotional state.

’It was as if his life wouldn’t be complete without her.’

"Absurd!" Paige said, forcing the word out. She gasped for a couple of breaths before continuing, "With Kiera Walsh as your patron, you have a promising future in Central City. I already told you, we won’t hoard Bloodfall. I even agreed to give you the cultivation methods to take back. You know what a massive achievement that would be for you! But what are you doing now? You’re destroying your own future! If word of this gets back to Central City, you’ll be finished! There’ll be nowhere left for you to go! Have you even thought about your future? You..."

A sharp pain cut her off. Paige’s face contorted in agony as a warm gush flowed from between her legs.

"My... baby..."

Shawn stared in horror. His eyes followed her hand down to the dark patch that had soaked through her pants and was now spreading across the bedding... "You... I... Quick! Somebody get in here! The doctor?! Where’s the doctor?!"