Parker lifted the binoculars and quickly locked onto the woman below.

"Interesting. This girl’s got guts."

Chester was just about to agree when he noticed Vanessa beside him.

In his opinion, this woman had always been indifferent to everything around her. But now, her eyes were fixed intently downstairs, locked onto the direction of the speedboat.

Chester raised an intrigued eyebrow.

Was Vanessa finally feeling threatened? Worried that Parker might take an interest in the woman below and lose interest in her?

"Parker, can I borrow the binoculars too? I want to take a look," Vanessa said softly, deliberately ignoring Chester’s gaze as she spoke in a spoiled tone.

Parker lowered the binoculars and glanced at her. "You’re interested too?"

That said, he still handed them over.

Vanessa took the binoculars almost impatiently and looked toward the woman piloting the speedboat below.

The angle was perfect. At that exact moment, the woman happened to be facing directly toward their building.

Vanessa’s grip on the binoculars tightened. And tightened further. The veins on the back of her pale hand nearly bulged through the skin. Her entire body trembled faintly.

Both Chester and Parker noticed it immediately.

The two exchanged a look.

"Do you know her?" Parker asked.

Vanessa inhaled slowly before handing the binoculars back to him. By the time she looked up again, her usual gentle, obedient expression had already returned.

"Yes," she said softly.

Parker narrowed his eyes. "An old acquaintance?"

Vanessa shook her head. "No. An enemy, I’d say."

That face... She would never forget it for the rest of her life.

Wendy fucking Kale.

She had waited far too long for the day they would meet again.

The reason Vanessa had ended up here in the first place... was because of Wendy.

She had been searching for her for so long. And today, she had finally found her.

After ending that phone call with Suzy that day, Vanessa remained in the villa for a while longer, but eventually, the food ran out, forcing her to leave in search of supplies.

She had gone too late. The nearby resources had already been looted clean.

After searching for a long time without finding food, she instead encountered Parker and his group.

She was attractive, and more importantly, she knew how to survive. She took the initiative to approach Parker and naturally became his woman.

Vanessa understood very clearly that she could not survive the apocalypse alone. Especially not when she still intended to take revenge on Wendy.

Avenging Patrick and her parents would never be simple. After all, Wendy had managed to kill her parents, Patrick, and even the Kale family couple all by herself. That alone proved how dangerous she truly was.

Who knew what other deadly tricks she might still be hiding?

If Vanessa tried to confront Wendy alone, she might not survive. The smartest option was to find a powerful backer or an ally. And Parker was perfect for the role.

After all, no one could resist being tempted by Wendy’s miraculous storage space.

Vanessa had already formed this plan long ago. The only reason she never mentioned it was that she hadn’t found Wendy yet.

But now, seeing her again, all those carefully prepared schemes resurfaced instantly in her mind.

Her thoughts churned wildly.

"You never mentioned this before," Parker finally said after a long silence.

The revelation that Vanessa had an enemy genuinely surprised him.

"I never thought she was still alive," she said with a bitter smile.

For a moment, Vanessa thought Wendy might already be dead.

What a pity. Not only was she alive, but she was also thriving.

How infuriating.

"What exactly happened? Tell me properly. I’ll help you get revenge."

Parker still cared about his woman, after all. He pulled Vanessa into his arms and softened his tone, gently patting her back.

Vanessa’s eyes flickered, tears quickly gathering within them.

"My parents were friends with her parents. Before I met you, our family was temporarily staying at their house... She suddenly went crazy for some reason. Secretly took all the supplies from home and moved here alone. My parents came with hers to look for her, but..."

Her voice choked at the end. "They never came back."

Parker held her tighter, comforting her as he cursed angrily, "Don’t worry. I’ll absolutely avenge you and your family."

Once her breathing finally steadied, he continued furiously, "A woman who can even kill her own parents can’t be anything good. We’d practically be carrying out justice for heaven."

Buried against his chest, Vanessa’s eyes shifted slightly. A faint smile curled at the corners of her lips.

Interesting... Looks like Parker truly does care about me.

He was surprisingly easy to manipulate. She hadn’t even mentioned Wendy’s storage space yet, and he was already willing to stand up for her.

Good. Maybe she would even get a chance to seize that miraculous space for herself.

Vanessa quickly decided to keep the matter of the storage space hidden for now and continue observing the situation.

After composing herself, she lifted her pale, delicate face and leaned softly against Parker’s chest.

"You’re so good to me, darling."

He chuckled, his gaze drifting downstairs.

The black speedboat was already close to disappearing from sight.

Parker immediately turned toward Chester. "Hurry up and take some men to catch that woman. She probably hasn’t gone far yet."

If they moved now, they could most likely catch Wendy. After all, they had a lot of people on their side.

And Wendy was alone. They had an overwhelming advantage.

Chester felt vaguely uneasy, though he couldn’t quite explain why. After hesitating for two seconds, he still obeyed the order.

That woman was a fat fish; capturing her would benefit them greatly. That speedboat alone made the risk worthwhile.

Once Chester thought it through, he immediately got moving. He crossed into the room opposite theirs and called out to several men lounging on the floor playing cards.

"Time to work, boys."

The men instantly jumped to their feet, grabbing clothes and pulling them on at lightning speed.

"Oh? What are we doing?"

Chester kept it simple. "Bring weapons. Move fast. There’s a woman downstairs driving a speedboat. The boss wants us to bring her back."

"How many people?"

"One."

"One woman?"

"Yeah. Just her."

"That’s easy."

The men joked around casually, but their movements never slowed. In no time, the four of them reached the lower floor.

They retrieved the speedboat parked in the corner downstairs, stuffed weapons into their jackets, and set off toward Wendy’s direction.

Chester still remembered roughly where she had gone. After about five minutes, he heard the distant sound of Wendy’s speedboat engine.

"This way," he directed.

The moment they rounded a corner, Wendy’s speedboat came into view.

Someone whistled.

Wendy sat alone on the boat with her back facing them, her ponytail swaying lightly in the wind.

She didn’t seem to notice anyone following her and continued driving ahead at an unhurried pace.

"Faster! Faster!" one of the men beside Chester urged excitedly, smacking his metal pipe against the edge of the boat with loud clangs.

Chester frowned. Something still felt wrong. A young woman traveling alone in the apocalypse, openly driving a brand-new speedboat... It was too simple.

In times like these, behavior that blatant meant one of two things.

Either she was an idiot. Or she was confident she wouldn’t get harmed.

Just as Chester opened his mouth to warn the others to stay alert, the speedboat jolted violently, as though it had slammed into something underwater.

"Fuck!" the man steering cursed as he looked down. "Think we hit something under the water!"

Before he even finished speaking, the boat began to slow. The engine noise turned heavy and uneven, sputtering several times before dying completely.

"What happened?" Chester stood up and looked toward the rear of the boat.

The driver fiddled with it for a moment before his expression changed.

"The propeller’s tangled in something."