On a Typhoon Day, My Neighbor Wanted Rescue, I Refused

The first thing I did when I woke up in the past was reinforce the wall around my yard, and stud the top of it with broken glass.

Because in my last life, when the hurricane came, a family from the end of the village had their house torn apart by the wind. They ran to my door and begged me to take them in.

I couldn't bring myself to turn them away, so I did.

I never imagined that the same night, their son would slip into my room and strangle me while I fought him.

That family didn't just take the box of gold jewelry from my safe. After the hurricane passed, they set my house on fire and burned it to the ground.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day before the hurricane hit.

This time, there was no way I was letting them through my door.

I stood at the entrance of my family's house out in the countryside and called the construction crew to come do the work.

I had only one demand. Reinforce the wall around my property, and line the top of it with broken glass.

"Miss Dickerson, are you sure you want to start now?"

"The hurricane's almost here. If we start work at a time like this and something goes wrong"

The contractor's voice came through the line, uneasy.

I cut in fast. "Yes, now. I need it finished before the hurricane arrives."

"Don't worry, the moment it's done, the money goes straight into your account."

"And I'll pay extra on top of that."

I said it quickly into the phone.

The words were barely out before the contractor answered, "Don't worry, Miss Dickerson. We'll get it done right away."

There wasn't much work out in the country these days. Once the contractor heard I was willing to pay more, he didn't hesitate at all and took the job.

Only after I hung up did I finally let out a breath.

Then I turned and headed over to the mayor's house.

If I was going to have work done, I should at least tell him.

When he saw me coming, the mayor said, "Amanda Dickerson, you looking for me?"

"Mayor Abbott, I'm planning to reinforce my house. And I want to renovate the old family place too."

That surprised him. "Amanda, I know that's your family's old house. You're back from the city, and I'm all for you reinforcing it."

"But the hurricane's nearly here. Why not wait until it passes to do the work?"

I shook my head quickly. "It's because the hurricane's coming. You know I've spent all these years in the city. Now that I'm back, I want to be safe."

He listened, thought it over, and gave his consent.

"Amanda, the Henson family lives right behind you. Their house is in bad shape too. Let me go ask if they want to shore theirs up as well."

At that, a chill settled over my face.

In my last life, it was the Henson family's house that collapsed.

They came looking for me, crying out for help in the freezing wind.

My family's house was the best in the village, after all, and it could stand up to the storm.

Last time, I saw the pitiful state of them out in the rain, and I couldn't harden my heart. So I took them in.

I never expected that once they were inside, everything changed.

They didn't just dig through my refrigerator looking for food. They started ordering me around.

The moment I refused them, they turned on me, and strangled me alive.

After I died, my soul drifted in the air, watching them ransack my house.

They took my gold jewelry, then set the place on fire to destroy the evidence.

This life, how could I ever let him have his way?

The mayor went off to the Henson place to ask, and it was a long while before he came back. He told me, with a helpless shrug, that the Hensons had said it was nothing serious and there was no need for any reinforcing.

I listened to that and gave a small laugh.

The Hensons had never been popular in the village to begin with.

And Murray, on top of it, was the local idler, a known troublemaker nobody wanted anything to do with.

So of course he'd think it was nothing.

"Mayor, if they don't want to, that's their business."

I looked at the mayor and said it plainly.

Then I let the matter drop.

I had no interest in dealing with that family anymore.

Especially since I knew exactly how fierce this hurricane was going to be.

Once it hit, it would be a disaster.

The Hensons wouldn't be able to weather it at all.

After the mayor left, I didn't concern myself with anything else and let the contractor keep working.

I'd assumed that this time around, with the hurricane still days off, I'd have nothing to do with the Hensons at all.

But I never expected that on the very next day, the contractor would call me.

They told me Murray was blocking the work.

Hearing that, I walked out of the house and saw Murray standing right at my gate.

"Amanda, what's your problem?"

The moment he saw me, he jabbed a finger at my wall and shouted, "You reinforce the wall, and then you go and stud the whole top with broken glass. What's that supposed to be?"

I looked at Murray, a flicker of curiosity on my face, and asked, "Murray, I reinforce my own wall, and that concerns you how?"

At that, he pointed at my wall. "Amanda, this village was perfectly fine before you came!"

"You show up and start reinforcing walls and setting glass into them. That means you don't trust us!"

I gave a small laugh. "Murray, me reinforcing my wall and setting glass on it has nothing to do with your family."

"Besides, I'm keeping thieves out. Are you planning on doing some stealing?"

The words landed, and quite a few of the workers turned to look at Murray.

His expression shifted at that.

He said quickly, "Amanda, I just can't stand you acting like this!"

"You make some money out there, and then you're wary of your own neighbors!"

"Treating all of us like thieves!"

I looked at him and said nothing at first, then spoke evenly. "First of all, I'm not treating you like thieves."

"I simply think my wall is too low, and since I've moved back to live here, I'm reinforcing it."

"And since I'm reinforcing it, I'm putting glass on top. That's to keep thieves out."

"I'm a woman living here alone. There's nothing wrong with setting glass up there."

His face was ugly, and he still wanted to say something, but I just looked at him coldly. "Murray, if you have any problem, you can go take it up with the mayor."

"And my household affairs are none of your business to be told about."

He listened, a shadow settling over his face, and then, with a cold snort, he turned and walked off fast.

Watching him go, my eyes already held a trace of worry.

I understood very well that Murray coming to me at a time like this proved he'd had his eye on my home for a while.

Even if the hurricane never came, he'd probably still have found a way to make trouble for me.

I thought it over, then called the private security firm.

"I need a few bodyguards to keep me safe."

The security firm told me the bodyguards would arrive the next day.

I told them to come quietly. No need to alert anyone.

After that, I replaced my front door with a higher-security one.

Only once all of that was done did I finally breathe easier.

In my last life, I took pity on Murray Henson and his family and took them in. And then they turned around and killed me.

This time, I would wait for the typhoon to hit, and see just what they thought they could do.

Early the next morning, the security firm sent over two bodyguards.

I put them on the ground floor. That way, even if Murray tried to slip inside, I would see him plainly.

At the same time, the firm mounted surveillance cameras along my perimeter wall, so that even from inside my room I could watch everything happening beyond it.

With all of it in place, I glanced up at the sky outside.

It had already turned a dull, heavy gray.

I knew that in my last life, the typhoon had come tonight.

The contractor told me the work on my side was all finished, and I settled the balance I owed him at once.

Now all I had to do was wait for the storm.

What I hadn't expected was that, that very afternoon, Mayor Coleman came running to my house.

"Amanda, Murray's house is unsafe. We're trying to arrange somewhere for him to move to."

"The village school would've been the best place, but he won't hear of it. He insists on going to your house."

I frowned slightly, looking at him. "Mayor, why on earth should he come to my house?"

There was no way I would agree to something so unreasonable.

"Amanda, you know the situation his family's in."

"And from where your house sits, you can see straight over toward his place. He says that's why he doesn't feel easy leaving his own home behind."

At that, the mayor went on, "We're all from the same village, after all"

Before he could finish, I waved a hand and cut him off.

I looked at him, and there was already a trace of coldness in my voice as I said, "Mayor, I'm sorry."

"There's no way I'm letting Murray move into my house."

"And besides, his whole family showing up at my place wouldn't be right either."

Hearing that, the mayor said nothing more. He nodded, turned, and left.

But my expression was grim.

Over the past few years, plenty of people had moved away from the village. The ones who stayed were few to begin with.

I had only come back because the mayor wanted me to invest here, to bring the young people home.

And yet, barely back, I was already being circled by the village's local troublemaker.

The mayor knew exactly what kind of man Murray was, and he still came to plead with me anyway.

The way things stood, I knew there was no point investing in this village at all.

After a moment's thought, I called my secretary.

"Shelve the plan to invest in my hometown for now. The moment the typhoon passes, I'm coming back."

The secretary said she understood at once.

What I hadn't expected was that no sooner had I hung up than Murray's voice, edged with anger, came from my gate.

"Amanda, what's that supposed to mean?"

"All I want is to shelter from the typhoon at your place, and you won't even allow that?"

His furious voice carried in from outside, and as I listened, my face went colder.

I stepped out of the house and simply stood there, looking at Murray where he was stopped on the far side of the iron fence.

"Murray, this is my house. What gives you the right to come in?"

Murray looked at me and said, "Amanda, we're all from the same village!"

"Besides, the storm's almost here. I just want to be closer to my own place!"

"That's all I'm asking. You can't even give me that?"

He kept his eyes on me as he spoke.

I only looked back at him, cold, and said flatly, "First of all, this is my house."

"I don't make a habit of letting strange men into it."

"And the mayor should have already told you. You can go somewhere else to ride out the storm. Not here."

As I said it, I stared at him, and something like disgust crept into my eyes.

Murray spoke up fast. "Amanda, your place is the closest to mine!"

"I just want to keep an eye on my own house!"

I gave him one cold glance. "Sorry. I have no reason to let you in."

With that, I turned and walked inside.

In my last life, Murray was the one who got me killed. So why would I lift a finger for him now?

More than that, I knew exactly how this went. Once the storm made landfall, his house would be torn apart by the wind.

And out in that storm, there was no way he would come through it in one piece.

Last life, I looked at that whole family in their sorry state and couldn't bring myself to turn them away, so I took them in.

I never imagined it would drag so much trouble down on me.

This time, Murray knew perfectly well I was reinforcing my wall, and he still wanted to move into my house. That was when I saw it clearly.

He'd planned this from the start. He'd had his eye on my place all along.

If that was his game, there was no chance I'd let it work.

Back inside, I turned to look at the men in the living room.

The two bodyguards the private security firm had sent me were still there. With them here, nothing could happen to me.

Seeing them, I let out a breath.

I knew now that nothing was going to go wrong.

"Miss Dickerson, what would you like us to do?"

The two bodyguards looked at me and asked.

I waved a hand. "All you need to do is stay here and keep me safe."

"And from now on, if anyone forces their way into my house, I expect you to protect me."

Both of them answered at once.

"Don't worry, Miss Dickerson. We're professionals."

I nodded at that.

Then I looked outside.

Wind and rain had already picked up out there, harder by the minute. I knew the storm was about to make landfall.

Just as I was about to close the door, Mayor Coleman came hurrying up to my gate, a strained look on his face.

"Amanda, I've already talked to the Hensons!"

"You know how it is. It's not just Murray, there's his parents too, and none of them will leave!"

"And it's true, yours really is the only house next to theirs!"

"I was thinking, could you take them in?"

I listened, then gave him a small smile. "Mayor, I'm sorry. My house isn't going to have anyone else living in it."

"Besides, the village has an evacuation shelter. If they won't move, that's not for me to fix. It goes against the rules."

The mayor's expression shifted. He looked at me. "Amanda, we're all from the same village. People should help each other out."

"If something happened to that family, you'd never forgive yourself!"

I looked at him and smiled again. "First of all, that family has no right to live in my house."

"And as mayor, you can evacuate people. If they won't move, that still doesn't mean they get to stay here."

"One more thing. You'd better clear people out fast. The storm is almost here!"