Natalie and Cassian exchanged glances. She put down her dumbbells. "Wanna go see what's up?" He raised an eyebrow. "Thinking of moving into the official base?" Natalie shook her head. "The base is just starting. Management isn't solid, and it's already packed with survivors from Northlorn and other northern cities. Living conditions are probably awful." Cassian nodded. "Yeah, nothing beats the hillside villas for living conditions." She agreed, but there was another reason. If history repeated itself, once the base was done, the heavy fog would show up again. And more people meant more chaos. In her previous life, a lot of people died at the official base. She only survived because she couldn't afford to move in. Lucky for her, she made it through until the Frostfall. Now that they were settled at the villas, she had no intention of rushing over. Natalie looked at Cassian. "Let's stay put for now. But we can definitely check out the base to see what it's like." She paused for a bit, then added, "If there are any cheap houses for sale nearby, I want to grab one. Just in case something goes wrong here. At least we'd have a backup." Cassian agreed. "It doesn't hurt to have more than one place." Before leaving, Natalie swung by next door to let Harold and Olivia know. They were thinking the same thing—staying at the hillside villas and not moving to the official base. Plus, they didn't have enough supplies to waste on buying a house there.Harold looked uninterested. "I haven't even finished my gadgets yet. I'll skip the crowd." Olivia chimed in, "If Harold isn't going, I'm not tagging along and being a third wheel either. You two go ahead. I'll stay home and study my medical books." Natalie nodded. "Alright, if anything interesting comes up, I'll let you know." Ghania reminded her, "Be careful out there." Natalie stepped out of their yard. Cassian had already parked the Hummer at the curb and was waiting for her inside. She was about to get in when a sharp, angry voice shouted. "Natalie! Where are you going? Don't you dare leave!" Natalie turned and saw an old woman limping over as fast as she could. She recognized her and frowned. "Maisie?" Cassian could tell from Maisie's tone that she wasn't there for a friendly chat, so he got out of the car. But he didn't recognize her. "Nattie, do you know her?" Natalie nodded. "That's Jacob's mom." He blinked. So that was Natalie's grandmother. Judging by Natalie's expression and the way she called Maisie by name, it was obvious that Maisie wasn't the sweet grandmother type. He instinctively shielded Natalie. Maisie hadn't even reached them yet, but she was already shouting, "You brat! Where do you think you're going? Trying to move my supplies?!" She stormed toward the Hummer, grabbing for the door handle. Cassian, who held the keys, pressed the lock button. She yanked hard, but the door didn't move. Natalie stood next to the car, watching. "Go ahead. If you break it, you'll pay with your life." Hearing that, Maisie put her hands on her hips, cursing loudly. "You disrespectful, worthless brat! Is this how your dead mother taught you to talk to elders?" She tried to push past Cassian to strike Natalie. Natalie wasn't going to let Maisie go either when she insulted Scarlett. She shoved Cassian aside, stepped up, and slapped Maisie hard. "Watch your filthy mouth!" Then, she slapped Maisie three more times, each harder than the last. Finally, she kicked Maisie in the stomach, sending her flying ten feet. Maisie hit the ground, curling up in pain. Her face swelled. Natalie walked over and stepped on Maisie's body. "If you say one more word about my mom, you'll see what happens." Maisie didn't dare. Natalie was truly going all out. Her lips trembled as she muttered, "You stole my supplies first ... " Natalie snorted. "Your supplies? What supplies? Everything you've eaten, drunk, or used these past two years came from my mom's money. And you call it yours?" Still lying on the ground, Maisie tried to sound tough. "I'm your grandma! Without me, you wouldn't even exist! You should be giving me all your stuff!" "Grandma?" Natalie pressed down harder with her foot. "Did you forget? We cut ties a long time ago." Maisie cried out, looking guilty for once. "That was ages ago. Why keep bringing it up?"Natalie shot back, "Back then, Mom let you off because of Jacob. And now you show up here acting all high and mighty? Since you won't change, I'm paying you back for everything you did to me back then!"