Facing Yvonne York and Mason Lawson’s expectant gazes, Drake Lowell just let out a cold snort.

To everyone’s surprise, Drake Lowell shook his head and answered, "Tsk, don’t you two try that crap on me! Let me be straight with you. I’m not interested in little girls like your daughter! I only like older women, get it?!"

Drake Lowell wasn’t lying. He really didn’t like young girls like Joyce Lawson. He thought this new generation of girls were all spoiled rotten, with too much fight in them!

’They’re generally high-maintenance and have bad tempers! Not only do they refuse to cooperate, but they’re always threatening to kill themselves. If you run into a really stubborn one, they’ll risk everything in a heartbeat!’

’They’re really willing to try and take you down with them!’

’Risking my own life over something like that? No way. Not worth it!’

A few days ago, the three Lowell brothers had gone to 1602 and kidnapped a young girl named Maisie Lynch. The girl threatened to kill herself every day. Not only did she refuse to cooperate, she’d almost bitten a piece clean off of one of his brothers. Drake still felt a chill just thinking about it...

So, he still preferred Yvonne York. ’She’s older and has been married,’ he thought. ’She’ll be more open-minded about that sort of thing. After a few half-hearted struggles, she’ll probably just go along with it.’

Yvonne York never expected Drake Lowell to say that. She froze as if struck by lightning.

Her body trembled, and despair slowly colored her gaze.

Seeing this, Drake Lowell simply tossed Gregory Lawson from his shoulder onto the floor.

Gregory Lawson’s head hit the ground first with a dull THUD. He started wailing in pain again.

Drake Lowell paid no mind to whether Gregory was alive or dead. He walked up to Yvonne York, grabbed her chin, and said with a lecherous grin, "Why don’t you come back with us brothers? As long as you serve the three of us well, I’ll spare your family. How about it?"

Drake Lowell’s eyes were filled with lust and mockery, as if he was certain Yvonne would agree. He continued, "Alright, enough with the playing hard to get. Isn’t it tiring? We’ve got food and drinks over at our place. We won’t treat you poorly!"

Drake didn’t understand what there was to hesitate about. ’Given the current situation, as long as the snow doesn’t melt, Building 4 will be our kingdom. Following us three brothers and living the good life has to be better than staying here, right?’

He felt Yvonne’s indecision was completely unnecessary!

Meanwhile, Drake Lowell’s older brother, Titus Lowell, stood silently to the side, watching Drake deal with the Lawsons.

’He also felt that they really did need a woman at home to cook and clean.’

’The three of them were grown men, and their apartment was always a mess. A couple of days ago, Leopold Lowell had eaten something cold, gotten an upset stomach, and thrown up right on his quilt. The duvet cover still hadn’t been washed. It was just lying there, making the whole apartment stink.’

’That Maisie Lynch girl they’d kidnapped refused to do anything. All she did every day was cry and look for ways to fight back. It seemed she really didn’t care about her life anymore. Beating her was useless, so they just had to keep her tied up.’

’If they wanted to find a woman who knew how to serve men, this Yvonne York was without a doubt the most suitable candidate.’

’As for the younger Joyce Lawson, Titus had considered her at first.’

’But Titus was a good judge of character. He had noticed that when Joyce transferred the money to them earlier, she had been remarkably calm and composed, not screaming or panicking at all. A woman like that looked like she wouldn’t be easy to handle!’

’Taking Joyce back would probably be even worse than dealing with Maisie Lynch!’

’Besides...’ Titus narrowed his eyes as he sized up Yvonne. ’She’s in her early forties, has a decent figure, and even though her face is a bit slack... well, with the lights off, all women are the same...’

’If they could get Yvonne to willingly serve the three of them, they could live quite comfortably in this apocalypse.’

Staring at Drake Lowell’s ugly face and yellow teeth right in front of her, Yvonne felt a wave of nausea.

’If I’m taken away by the three of them, I’ll never make it back alive!’

She instinctively turned to look at her husband, Mason Lawson, her gaze pleading for help.

Mason Lawson was still curled up on the floor, his eyes looking somewhat vacant.

Titus’s kicks had beaten the fight out of him. He had no intention of resisting now.

When he saw his wife looking at him, Mason hurriedly averted his gaze, instinctively avoiding her eyes.

’Of course, he didn’t want these two robbers to take his wife. He had his pride! He didn’t want to be a cuckold!’

’But he also knew he couldn’t fight them. It would be like an egg smashing against a rock—a pointless sacrifice.’

’Right now, he had no other choice but to let Yvonne suffer.’

Seeing this, Yvonne cursed Mason in her heart. ’What a useless piece of trash! He can’t even protect his own wife!’

She turned to Titus Lowell and said through gritted teeth, "Impossible! I won’t agree! Y-you can just forget it!"

’If I’m taken away by these two vicious thugs, God knows what will happen to me!’

’Once their food runs out in a few days, maybe they’ll just eat me as emergency rations!’

’Better to die here now than be dismembered and eaten later! At least I’ll leave a whole corpse!’

Seeing her defiance, Drake Lowell didn’t get angry. He stood up, walked over to Gregory Lawson, and, copying what Titus had done earlier, kicked him hard in the stomach.

Gregory first went rigid for a moment, then he began to writhe on the floor like an electrocuted maggot, clutching his stomach.

The searing pain from his abdomen nearly suffocated him. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and even the rag in his mouth couldn’t muffle his agonized cries.

Hearing her son’s screams, Yvonne’s eyes widened in fury and grief. She couldn’t take it anymore and let out a loud "WAH!" of anguish.

Yvonne’s crying was too loud. Fearing she would alert the neighbors, Titus Lowell immediately frowned and stepped forward.

He raised his hand and gave her two sharp slaps across the face. SLAP! SLAP! "Bitch! Shut up!" he yelled.

The two slaps cut off Yvonne’s cries. She was seeing stars from the impact, staring blankly at Titus as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth...

Mason Lawson didn’t dare to cry. Watching his son’s body curled up in pain, his heart ached, and in his desperation, he started banging his head on the floor, making a THUD, THUD sound.

He pleaded softly with Titus, "Please, let my son go... Gregory is my only son... I’m begging you..."

Joyce Lawson quietly watched the farce unfold. She saw her parents crying anxiously for her brother and felt her grandmother’s panicked, frantic struggles behind her, but for some reason, she felt nothing at all.

In fact, she even felt a little like laughing.

Thinking about how her parents and grandmother had been ready to sell her out just moments ago, she couldn’t help but mutter, "Serves them right... It’s all karma..."

Hearing Joyce say this, the grandmother behind her trembled slightly.

A surge of anger rose in her heart. ’That damn girl Joyce! Her brother is hurt, and she dares to make sarcastic remarks!’

So, Joyce’s grandmother began to viciously pinch the soft flesh of Joyce’s waist with her bound hands.

The two of them were tied together back-to-back, and the grandmother’s hands could just reach the small of Joyce’s back.

Joyce’s grandmother was already furious and anxious about her precious grandson getting hurt. At this moment, she couldn’t care about anything else and just wanted to vent all her anger on Joyce.

Whenever she got a hold of Joyce’s flesh, she would pinch it hard, cursing inwardly as she did so: ’You damn girl! This is all your fault! You useless waste of money! If you weren’t so worthless that the kidnappers didn’t even want you, would your brother be suffering like this?! I’ll pinch you to death!’

Joyce’s grandmother had been a farm laborer for many years. Despite her age, she was quite strong. Now, using every ounce of her strength, she pinched so hard that Joyce felt like the flesh was being ripped from her body.

Feeling the waves of sharp pain in her waist, Joyce couldn’t take it anymore. Using the hand the kidnappers had untied, she reached back and grabbed her grandmother’s hand that was pinching her relentlessly.

Before Joyce’s grandmother could react, Joyce seized her thumb and viciously bent it backward.