The Day Love Betrayed Me and Never the Plan 127

Chapter 127 

Chiara tore open the pack of cookies. Inside were ten pieces, each about the size of an adult’s palm. 

Chiara carefully took one out and brought it to Linda’s lips. She said, “Mom, cat it now while no one’s around. If we get caught, we’ll be in real trouble.” 

People were so desperate from hunger, they’d even cat human flesh. Folks had been disappearing lately. 

If anyone saw they had cookies, not only would they lose them, but they’d also get marked by someone looking for trouble. 

Linda didn’t say a word. Her eyes landed on the blood–soaked cloth wrapped Chiara’s palm, and her own eyes 

instantly turned red with tears. 

Seeing Linda cry, Chiara sniffled, her nose all red. 

“Mom, I’m really not in pain, I promise,” Chiara said softly. 

She moved the cookie even closer, pressing it right up against Linda’s lips. 

But Linda just locked her jaw, stubbornly refusing to eat. 

Chiara grew anxious and pleaded softly, “Mom, please eat. If you fill your stomach, your illness will get better.” 

Linda just kept her teeth clenched, eyes red. She stubbornly shook her head and refused to open her mouth. 

Chiara couldn’t hold back her tears anymore, but even her crying was muffled. 

She choked out, “Mom, do you really want to starve and let others cook Filip and me for food? 

“If there’s no adult at home, Filip and I won’t make it.” 

Those words struck a chord in Linda’s heart. She slowly opened her mouth, took a bite of the cookie, and chewed slowly, savoring every bit before swallowing. 

Chiara caught the crumbs with her other hand and quickly put them in her own mouth. 

Her eyes crinkled with happiness. 

“Tastes good, right?” Chiara asked. 

In a hoarse voice, Linda managed to rasp out, “Chiara, you eat.” 

Chiara smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Mom, I already ate outside. This is for you.” 

But Linda clammed up again, lips pressed tight, refusing to take another bite. 

Chiara took a bite herself, and only then did Linda finally take another nibble. 

“Mom, are you thirsty?” Chiara asked. 

She pulled out a water bottle from inside her jacket, packed full of snow. 

“I was super careful when I filled it up. Nobody saw me. I already cleared out all the snow on top over there, so next time I’ll have to find another spot,” Chiara explained. 

She scooped out some snow, let it melt in her palm, and gently dripped the water onto Linda’s lips. 

13:04 Fri, Jan 2 G 

* 

Chapter 127 

Vouchers 

Seeing her mom drink the water, Chiara couldn’t be happier. 

She thought, ‘Maybe Mom will start to heal now! 

Linda took Chiara’s hand, her heart aching. She carefully unwrapped the cloth, exposing the nasty, bloody wound underneath. 

The gash on Chiara’s palm was so deep that one could almost see the bone, and the cold had turned it a dark, ugly purple. It looked absolutely brutal. 

“Mom, I’m really not in pain,” Chiara said softly. 

“Don’t go tomorrow,” Linda rasped, her voice rough and broken, thick with worry and motherly love.. 

Chiara remembered how Lucas told her not to come back tomorrow, and she hung her head, feeling down. 

Her voice came out dull and low as she mumbled, “Alright, I’ll look for something else tomorrow.” 

But honestly, she didn’t believe it herself. 

She’d pleaded with so many people just to get this job hauling bricks, and even had to use a few tricks to edge someone else out so she could get in. 

Now that she’d lost the job, she had no idea what she was going to do tomorrow. 

“Don’t worry, Mom. Filip should be back soon. When he gets here, we’ll have food,” Chiara said, trying to sound reassuring. 

But just hearing Filip’s name made worry creep back onto Linda’s face. 

Filip and the rest of the scavengers trailed behind the powered human squad, picking through the trash they didn’t want. 

But life was tough. They were just regular folks with no powers, so whenever zombies or trouble showed up, they were the ones thrown in front of the powered humans as cannon fodder. 

That’s exactly why the powered humans let the scavengers follow behind them. 

Free meat shields, and all they had to give up was trash they didn’t want. Why wouldn’t they go for it? 

Seeing the worry on Linda’s face, Chiara quietly lowered her head. 

What she didn’t dare say was that the group Filip had gone with had already come back today, but he wasn’t with them. 

Chiara bit down hard on her lower lip, forcing herself not to cry. 

Linda started hacking, her coughs echoing through the room. 

She coughed so hard that blood splattered from her lips. 

Chiara froze, horrified. 

“Don’t make a sound,” Linda rasped, clamping her hand over her mouth to stifle the noise. 

If people found out she was on her last legs, they’d swoop in to snatch them up. And Chiara wouldn’t stand a chance. 

There had already been thugs eyeing Linda and Chiara, thinking they’d be easy to snatch up and cook for meat. 

Fortunately, Linda had a knife hidden on her, and with her reckless, motherly ferocity, she managed to scare those thugs off. 

But these past few days, starving and freezing, she’d given all her clothes to Chiara and ended up sick from the cold. 

:04 Fri, Jan 2 

Chapter 127 

1410 Vesk here 

With no water, no food, no medicine, and nothing to keep her warm, her condition just kept getting worse. 

It triggered all kinds of complications: her fever wouldn’t break, and she was burning up and barely conscious. 

Linda hadn’t left the tent in days. If she didn’t get out soon, the thugs might start getting suspicious and target them. 

Linda wasn’t afraid of dying herself. What really scared her was what would happen to her kids if she were gone. 

Just thinking about her kids being tortured to death, butchered for meat, or wasting away from hunger, Linda’s heart twisted with pain. 

Linda wanted so badly to tell her kids that if she died, they should cook her and eat her. At least that way, they’d have a shot at surviving. 

But she knew her kids could never bring themselves to do it. 

So Linda could only struggle through each day, enduring as best she could. 

Outside, a bunch of footsteps stomped past. Linda stifled her cough, shaking her head at Chiara, warning her to stay quiet. 

This place was a total mess: dangerous types everywhere. Slip up even once, and someone would knife one without a second thought. 

Every day, Linda and Chiara were just trying to survive, scared out of their minds. 

Outside the tent, an ugly man was being cornered by a group of thugs, stumbling backwards in fear. 

The man begged, “Please, I’m begging you. Spare me! I swear, I don’t have any food.” 

One of the thugs, a sleazy–looking guy, flashed a nasty grin. He sneered, “No food? Then how about you give us an arm to chew on?” 

The ugly man recoiled, wailing, “You can’t! It’s freezing out here. If you take my arm, you’re basically sending me to my grave!” 

The thug spat on the ground and smirked. He said, “Isn’t that perfect? Once you’re dead, we can finally get some real meat.” 

With that, four or five of them burst out laughing, herding the guy straight into a corner. 

Suddenly, one of the skinny thugs caught a faint cough and pointed at one of the tents. 

“Hammer, there’s someone in there. Sounds like a woman,” he said to the lead. 

As soon as they heard it was a woman, the thugs exchanged glances, all grinning with that same nasty, knowing look. 

The ugly man’s eyes darted around, and he blurted out, “There’s a woman and a set of boy–girl twins in there.” 

He hurried over to Chiara’s tent, practically grovelling as he unzipped it for the thugs. 

He said, “That woman and the girl inside? Both are real lookers. I’m telling you, take them both. Have your fun together, it’ll be unforgettable.” 

That was exactly what the thugs wanted to hear. They started snickering and leering, their fa