At the end of the day, what Braxton cared about most was his pride. His polished looks and academic background had wrapped him in a false air of "refinement." He carried himself as if he were destined to be above others. Even when he pursued Natalie, he had never truly respected her, and he saw her as nothing more than a stepping stone on his way to success. For someone so vain and arrogant, being stripped bare of all pretense, and having his weakness and helplessness exposed for everyone to see, it was like having the flesh carved straight from his chest. Nothing could have been more painful for him. Natalie thought back on the look of utter collapse on his face, and her mood lifted. She uncorked a bottle of red wine for herself.From her storage space, she brought out a ribeye steak, baked escargot, tomato pasta, and a black truffle ham salad. Humming a tune, she dug in with relish. Lucky tilted her head at Natalie, as if to say, "Natalie's in such a great mood today! Is it because she met that handsome guy?" In her little doggy brain, Cassian's face flashed again, and Lucky stomped her paws in excitement. Lucky wished that since Natalie was so happy, she would just bring the handsome man home to live with them. Meanwhile, Braxton had been sobbing into his hands. After a while, something dark crossed his mind. He lifted his swollen eyes and spat out a name through gritted teeth. "Tiffany!" His fists clenched tightly. Tiffany, simple-minded as ever, had been running wild through the hallways before finally wandering back home.The moment she stepped inside, she found Braxton staring at her with bloodshot eyes. Sensing danger, she instinctively backed up two steps, forcing out a nervous giggle, but his expression only grew darker with rage. With a furious roar, Braxton lunged at her. Eyes red, he yanked her by the hair and dragged her struggling into the apartment. Tiffany cried out in pain, bursting into loud sobs. Braxton ignored her cries. His fists came down like heavy rain, merciless and unrelenting. "I told you not to open the door! Didn't I tell you not to run off? This is all your fault! You worthless bitch!" Every blow landed without hesitation, as though three months' worth of bottled-up frustration had finally found its outlet. Natalie turning on him without warning. The senseless apocalypse. Supplies that never seemed enough to fill his stomach. That freak Edric. And those beastly men. Each punch was more than just at Tiffany, he was lashing out at the entire cursed world. The beating went on for nearly half an hour, until his strength gave out completely. Only then did he finally stop, gasping for air. By that time, Tiffany was curled into a trembling ball on the floor, barely clinging to life. Braxton gave her one last vicious kick before collapsing onto the couch, spent. His face was expressionless, eyes hollow as they stared at the bloodied figure on the ground. It was as if the broken girl lying there wasn't the same cousin he had once doted on. Once upon a time, the bond between them had been strong. Tiffany had always admired her smart, handsome cousin, treating him like an idol—feeding Braxton's vanity and pride. Because of that, the two of them had always been close. When they grew up, they even became neighbors, scheming together about how to use Natalie as their ticket into high society. The apocalypse had shattered those plans, but for the last few months, they had survived by relying on each other and splitting every crust of bread in half just to make it through. Yet today, Braxton had suddenly turned on her with his fists and his rage. Not only that, Braxton seemed to have discovered a whole new outlet for himself. From then on, whenever something set him off, he would beat Tiffany bloody, treating her completely as a punching bag for his frustrations. After all, she was already broken. What did it matter? A fool couldn't feel pain, right? From that point on, terrifying sounds of abuse echoed daily from Building Six. Tiffany's agonized screams carried through the halls like clockwork. Everyone in the compound knew by then—801's pretty-boy had gone mad. Every day he was either dragging men into his apartment to whore himself out, or beating the life out of his simple-minded sister. Just listening to the noise was enough to chill the bone. At first it was just fists, but later, judging from the sounds, it seemed like he had started burning her with something. The worse it got, the more twisted he became. Neighbors whispered among themselves, "Poor girl! Once so young and beautiful, now tortured into something unrecognizable by her own brother…" Natalie heard the rumors too, but she had no sympathy for Tiffany. For Tiffany and Braxton, whatever ending came their way, they both deserved it. At this point, Natalie couldn't even be bothered to spare them a drop of schadenfreude. Her focus now was solely on preparing for what was coming next—the Great Heat. Day by day, the floodwaters receded, until they had already dropped to the fifth floor. The community cheered and celebrated, as though normal life was just around the corner, but only Natalie knew that the real nightmare hadn't even started yet. Once the waters were completely gone, the Great Heat would arrive. Temperatures soaring up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit would smother the city in a death grip. Unlike the flood, where adapting to the waterlogged "canal city" life gave you a fighting chance, the Great Heat would allow no such mercy.