"What? You want to mortgage the house?"

When I made the suggestion, Stanley and Daisy reacted even more strongly than I had expected.

Daisy's eyes widened like bells, her voice jumping an octave. "This is outrageous! Amelia, do you even know what you're saying?"

She looked as if she might faint at any second. "This house is something your father and I worked our entire lives for! And Denise is supposed to inherit it when she gets married someday! No—absolutely not!"

Denise panicked as well, tears pooling in her eyes. "That's right. If the house is gone, where are we supposed to live in the future?"

I looked at them and spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "I know a major player in finance. She's willing to bring me into an investment—returns of at least double. But she has requirements. We need sufficient cash flow."

"Double?" Stanley's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Yes." I raised the stakes. "And she's also agreed to build us a doomsday shelter and invest an equivalent amount in gold bars."

The picture I painted was far too tempting. The resistance on their faces began to waver.

Daisy asked in a low voice, "Then… what if the apocalypse never comes?"

"If it doesn't," I replied calmly, "we'll still have the gold."

That sentence shattered their final line of defense.

I pressed on while the iron was hot. "Dad, this is our only chance. Either we cling to a house that will be worth nothing in the apocalypse and wait to die together—

"Or we take a gamble and come out ahead no matter what. You're the head of the family. The decision is yours."

I tossed the ball back into his court.

After a long moment, Stanley slammed his palm onto the table.

"Fine! We'll do it. Mortgage the house!"

Over the next few days, I handled all the paperwork with astonishing efficiency. When Stanley and Daisy signed their names on the property deed, their hands were still shaking.

The 450-thousand-dollar loan was transferred into my account soon after.

Staring at the long string of numbers in my mobile banking app, the smile at the corner of my lips deepened.

That afternoon, I came home carrying a case of gold.

Right in front of them, I stacked the gold bars neatly into the safe.

"Amelia… this—this much gold… will just sit there?" Stanley's voice was dry as he couldn't help reaching out to touch it.

I closed the safe, neatly avoiding his hand.

"Yes. The password is Denise's birthday, plus Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary," I said softly. "Now you can all rest easy, right?"

The three of them exchanged glances, their expressions visibly relaxing.

I curved my lips into a silent smile.

Day by day, time slipped past, and the moment of the apocalypse drew closer.

The oppressive heat in the air grew more pronounced. By afternoon, the sunlight carried a searing sting against the skin.

A few days later, the central air conditioner at home broke down, its cooling power drastically reduced. After checking it, the repairman said the compressor had aged and needed replacing—it would cost over three hundred.

"Replace it! It has to be replaced!" Daisy fanned herself irritably in the living room. "It's hot as hell already. How are we supposed to live without air-conditioning?"

Stanley was drenched in sweat as well. "It does need to be replaced. Amelia, the money…"

"Dad, I already said it before," I replied evenly. "Not a single cent from the fund should be touched."

Seeing Stanley's temper about to flare, I shifted gears. "But since everyone's having such a hard time, I do have a compromise."

"What is it?" they asked at once.

"One of my coworkers has a rental house in the suburbs, with a basement. His whole family is emigrating soon and he's planning to rent it out.

"The environment's decent, and more importantly, it's cool. We can stay there for a while. Once our bunker is finished, we'll move in."

All three of them lit up. Daisy asked eagerly, "Really? How much will it cost? Amelia, you're close with him—have him let us stay for free!"

I smiled faintly. "It's free. Don't worry, just stay there. We're family, after all."

Daisy immediately beamed, then looked at me with a troubled expression. "Amelia, building the bunker is such a big project. Someone has to keep an eye on the construction every day, right? Your father and I are getting old, and Denise doesn't understand these things…"

I sneered inwardly, but put on a puzzled look. "Mom, what do you mean?"

Daisy slapped her thigh. "The three of us will go live in the rental place. You stay here. It'll be convenient for you to watch the construction site every day and supervise the progress."

Stanley cleared his throat, putting on the air of the head of the household. "Your mother's right."

"All right…" I said, my face filled with reluctance and grievance.

The very next day, Stanley called me.

"Amelia! Where the hell are you?!"

The moment I picked up, his hysterical roar exploded through the phone. In the background were Denise and Daisy's shrill cries.

"What kind of garbage place did you rent for us? There's an abandoned pig farm right next door! And there's no air-conditioning! Is the bunker finished yet? Hurry and take us there! We're about to be roasted alive!"

He screamed into the phone, his voice wild with agitation and impatience.

"Oh, the bunker?" I drawled. "I'm already inside."

On the other end of the line, there was a deathly silence—about three seconds long.

Then came an even more furious scream, this time Daisy's.

"Amelia, you ungrateful wretch! You're enjoying the bunker alone?! You're leaving us out here to die? Have you no conscience? We're your parents!"

"That's right, Amelia!" Denise's sobbing voice cut in. "How can you be so selfish? The bunker was built with money we all put in! What right do you have to take it all for yourself? Come out and get us! Now!"

I let out a soft laugh. "Why the rush? The safe's key and the address of the bunker are both inside. And the password—you already know it, don't you?"

From the other end came frantic rummaging sounds, mixed with barely restrained delight.

"Found it! We found it!"

Leisurely, I leaned back on the sofa and switched to the surveillance feed of the safe.

I watched as the three of them crowded around the safe, entering the password.

Their faces bloomed with the wild joy of survivors spared from disaster.

Then… the smiles froze.

The safe was completely empty.

"Where's the gold?! Where did our gold go?!"