The abrupt change of subject caught Suzy completely off guard. For a moment, she simply stared at Thomas, letting the silence settle between them.

When she failed to respond immediately, Thomas seemed to think she had not heard him.

"When is your junior coming?" he repeated.

Suzy blinked. The comfortable way she had been leaning against him suddenly became stiff and awkward.

For a moment, she could not tell what he meant by the question.

Was he testing her? Or was it something else entirely?

"Which one are you talking about?" she asked, unable to hide her unease.

"The one with the surname Martin," Thomas replied evenly.

Suzy fell silent.

"...I’m not sure yet. Why are you suddenly asking?"

They had not settled on an exact date.

Suzy intended to have Derek come over only after the apartment upgrade was complete. Most likely, it would happen within the next few days.

The truth was, she still had not figured out how to bring the subject up with Thomas.

Yet somehow, Thomas had beaten her to it. The entire conversation felt strangely surreal.

"When the time comes, I’ll go with you to pick him up," Thomas said.

Suzy was even more stunned. She pulled herself out of his embrace and stared at him.

Had she heard that correctly? Thomas wanted to accompany her to pick up Derek?

She would never have dared suggest something like that herself. Yet he had volunteered. The thought alone felt bizarre.

"No... that won’t be necessary," she stammered.

The truth was, she had not even prepared herself mentally for that situation.

"You don’t want me to go?" Thomas asked, his gaze fixed on her.

Suzy immediately shook her head. "That’s not what I mean."

Thomas lowered his eyes and let out a quiet sigh. In the dim light, his sharp features seemed softened by a trace of melancholy. At least, that was how Suzy saw it.

"I’m worried about you going alone," he said seriously.

"Let’s not talk about this right now," Suzy said quickly as she stood up. "Weren’t we supposed to eat dinner?"

She desperately wanted to end the conversation.

Truthfully, she still had no idea how she was supposed to handle Derek’s arrival. She had always been the type to deal with problems one step at a time.

The extreme cold was coming. There was no way she could leave Derek outside to fend for himself. But if she brought him here... Thomas would be here too. And Suzy genuinely had no idea what would happen then.

The whole situation felt like a disaster waiting to erupt.

Instinctively, she wanted to avoid thinking about it. She needed time. Now was not the moment to answer.

She turned to leave, but before she could take more than a step, Thomas’s arm hooked around her waist.

With effortless strength, he pulled her back.

The next instant, she stumbled straight into his arms.

His warm breath brushed the sensitive skin at the back of her neck, sending an involuntary shiver through her body.

A faint tingling sensation spread across her skin. Suzy instinctively tried to pull away and create some distance. But Thomas seemed to sense exactly what she intended.

His arms tightened, holding her securely against his chest.

"What are you hiding from?" he murmured near her ear.

"I’m not..." Suzy tried to defend herself.

Thomas sighed softly. Resting his chin lightly against her shoulder, he spoke in a low voice.

"I don’t have any ulterior motive in saying these things."

"I... know."

"If you know that," he asked quietly, "then why are you avoiding me?"

Suzy found herself completely unable to answer.

A faint laugh escaped him. Then he pressed a gentle kiss against the side of her neck.

"Don’t worry," he said. "I already told you. I won’t make things difficult for you."

Before Suzy could respond, he continued.

"I’ll get along with him. You don’t need to worry so much."

"..."

Suzy turned to look at him, astonishment written all over her face.

Their eyes met.

And she realized he meant every word.

There was no teasing. No sarcasm. Only sincerity.

For a moment, Suzy could not describe what she was feeling.

Her lips parted slightly.

Countless thoughts crowded her mind. Yet in the end, they all condensed into a single, quiet sentence.

"...Thank you."

"That’s not what I wanted to hear."

A slight frown appeared between Thomas’s brows.

His rough fingers gently tilted Suzy’s chin upward, and his lips brushed softly against the corner of her mouth.

Suzy blinked.

The next second, Thomas released her.

"That’s enough."

A wave of warmth and tenderness flooded her chest.

She turned around suddenly and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a fierce embrace before pressing another kiss against his lips.

"Not enough..."

How could that possibly be enough?

They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms until a knock sounded at the bedroom door. Only then did they reluctantly separate.

Thomas laced his fingers through Suzy’s and led her outside.

Leonard stood waiting in the doorway. His gaze swept over the pair of them from head to toe.

Without a word, he turned around and walked away.

"Dinner."

Tonight’s meal had been prepared by Leonard. His cooking skills were surprisingly good. Lately, with little else to do at home, he had developed a fondness for experimenting in the kitchen.

After dinner, the three of them spent some time playing games together.

During a break, Suzy brought up the extreme cold that would soon arrive.

As long as they stayed indoors and avoided unnecessary risks, there should not be any major problems.

The safe house had already been upgraded and reinforced. Surviving the coming freeze would not be difficult.

Every supply they could possibly need had been prepared long ago.

All they had to do was stay inside and wait for the disaster to pass.

"Oh, right." Leonard bit into a chunk of pineapple. "What about the apartment across the hall?"

"No need to worry." Suzy sounded completely confident. "It should be ready in a couple of days."

Seeing how certain she appeared, neither man pressed the matter further.

Over the next two days, none of them left the apartment.

There was no need. The house lacked nothing, and Suzy had already gathered all the upgrade materials she needed.

The only unexpected development was that the upgrade process took longer than anticipated. It should have finished after twenty-four hours. Instead, another twenty-four hours had been added. There was nothing Suzy could do except wait patiently.

Their routine became simple: eat, rest. Occasionally observe what was happening outside.

Since the weather had returned to normal, the floodwaters had receded somewhat, though not by much.

More and more survivors had begun venturing out in search of supplies.

Whenever Suzy pulled back the curtains, she could occasionally spot figures moving through the distance below.

Fortunately, nobody seemed to have noticed their apartment.

The safe house’s concealment measures were doing their job remarkably well.

Suzy found herself counting down the remaining upgrade time.

Ever since Thomas had spoken so openly with her, the lingering burden in her heart had gradually eased.

With his promise, the chances of her little harem descending into chaos seemed significantly lower...

As for Derek, Suzy had already contacted him in advance.

Communication signals were growing weaker every day, and it had taken considerable effort for them to get through to each other.

Derek insisted she did not need to pick him up. He claimed he would find his own way there. But Suzy could not bring herself to trust that. She had already decided she would make the trip herself.

Then, one afternoon, while sitting on the sofa watching Thomas and Leonard play a game, a familiar notification suddenly appeared in her mind. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

[Host, house upgrade complete.]

Suzy shot to her feet immediately. Both Leonard and Thomas looked up at the same time.

"What happened?" Leonard asked.

"I’m heading across the hall for a minute," Suzy replied hurriedly as she headed for the front door. "I’ll be right back."

The moment she left, Leonard exchanged a meaningful look with Thomas. Thomas immediately moved to stand. Before he could take a step, Leonard reacted even faster and grabbed his arm.

"Don’t go."

Thomas frowned. "Why?"

Leonard pointed at the television. "The game isn’t over yet."

Thomas looked as though he wanted to abandon the match entirely and follow Suzy anyway.

But by then, she had already disappeared through the door.

With little choice, he sat back down.

Leonard glanced toward the entrance before speaking in a knowing tone.

"Haven’t you noticed?"

"What?"

"Suzy doesn’t want us going over there."