Apocalypse System Activated

The zipper on the wedding dress was so tight that it bit into Adeline’s ribs every time she tried to take a normal breath, but the discomfort was the least of her problems today.

She stood in front of the wall mirror in her bedroom, staring at her reflection with tears in her eyes.

She was getting married today. And it wasn't to the love of her life.

Happily ever after wasn't a luxury everyone could afford now that cyborgs has taken over earth and everyone was fighting for their lives.

Of course, Adeline wasn't out there in the machine infested city fighting for scraps, but this was one of the prices she had to pay to keep her safe and protected life.

Marry the right man with enough money to save her family from doom.

Adeline reached back, trying to loosen the stiff fabric around her shoulder just as she heard

the door open.

She didn't have to check to know who it was. Only one person would dare enter the heiress' room without knocking.

Her mother.

"Why won't you just get your big ass into the dress," Victoria Gustavo ordered impatiently as she stomped into the room.

Her mother looked flawless, as she always did.

She wore a nice pencil gown that hugged her lovely figure and had expensive diamonds around her neck.

The stack of jewelry was enough to make Adeline wonder how she could walk around with the extra weight without tripping or even choking.

"I'm trying, mom," Adeline sighed. "It's just too right and..."

"Stop fussing with the fabric, Adeline," Victoria hissed and reached out to slap Adeline’s hand away from the bodice. "You are going to ruin the seams, and this dress cost more than an entire shipment of those stupid metal parts you and your father used to buy."

Adeline dropped her hands to her sides. "It hurts to breathe. The inner lining is digging into my skin."

"Then do not breathe so deeply," Victoria replied without missing a beat as she adjusted the veil. "Beauty requires sacrifice, Adeline. And today, you cannot afford a single mistake."

"Yes, mother."

"Need I remind you why you are wearing this gown in the first place?"

Adeline looked into the mirror, meeting her mother’s reflection. "You remind me every hour."

"Because you have your father's stubborn head," Victoria snapped, stepping closer. "Gustavo is gone, Adeline. He died in that laboratory fire, and he left behind a mountain of debt, a crumbling factory, and dozens of government inspectors waiting for an excuse to seize every machine he ever built."

"But we can't let them, we will pay the debt."

"Exactly," Victoria nodded, "and we both know that you don't have what it takes to run that lab alone."

The words stung, but Adeline did not let it show.

She remembered the long nights spent in the workshops with her father before he passed tragically.

Gustavo had trusted her with all his research work and had taught her everything about machine anatomy, codes and programming.

He'd been a genius.

But when he died three years ago, the city banks had frozen their credit overnight, and every rival he'd ever had moved in like wolves.

They knew Gustavo Xander Cage only had an heiress.

"I know the company better than anyone," Adeline said hopefully, despite knowing how many times her mother had shut her up for saying that.

"Knowing how to turn a screw does not make you a scientist," Victoria scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "This city only respects people with money and we know what that means."

"Yes, mom."

They want a man with financial backing. Joffrey’s family runs the largest pharmaceutical and chemical firm in the city. They have the funds and political allies, and most importantly, they have offered us help."

"Help that I don't think we need, mother," I sighed dejectedly. "If you just allow me, I could work in the lab and sell machines like daddy did, we'll be fine."

"Enough of that nonsense!" Victoria snapped. "This mansion needs money, or we'll be out there fighting cyborgs like the rest of the world!"

I swallowed, stepping back.

"If you do not marry Joffrey today, the debtors will dissolve your father’s name by tomorrow morning. We will lose the estate, the factories, and both will end up out on the street with nothing."

Adeline swallowed hard and nodded.

She didn't really know who Joffrey was. But she certainly didn't want to marry him.

He was just some money bag and she felt nothing for him.

Her father often told her how she'd met her mother, Victoria, and fell in love with her at first sight. She wanted that too.

Even in this screwed up earth, she wanted that one good thing.

But Victoria had made it painfully clear that this arrangement was the only thing protecting the family business from total foreclosure.

"I will do it," Adeline sighed with a frown. "I have always done what you want since father died. This won't be the first time. So what more do you want?"

"I want you to show some gratitude, girlie," Victoria said, leaning in until her face was inches away. "Joffrey could have chosen any synthesized, wealthy woman to marry, yet he agreed to take on our mess. So you better smile when you walk down that aisle and look at him like he is your savior, because without his family’s signature, you are nothing. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Adeline replied flatly, looking away.

Victoria gave a satisfied nod and stepped back. "Good. The guests have begun taking their seats in the hall. I am going down to make sure Joffrey’s father has arrived with the witnesses. Stand here and don't ruin your dress. I will be right back to escort you down the aisle."

Victoria was out of the room in a hurry.

Once she was alone, Adeline plopped down on her bed.

Her mind wandered back to her father. Gustavo had been a quiet, brilliant man, obsessed with his work.

Toward the end of his life, he had grown increasingly paranoid, locking himself inside the research lab for days at a time.

He had told her that the ongoing war between humanity and the machine rebels was not what it seemed, that powerful people were intentionally keeping the conflict alive to profit off the conflict.

He had promised her that he was close to creating a solution, a master key that would put an end to the fighting once and for all.

And then, just like that, the lab had exploded before he could come up with anything.

The local authorities had called it a freak accident and the case was closed in forty-eight hours.

She had barely even mourned him before she realized that their family was in debt and it was her job to fix it.

For two years, it had gotten worse and her mother kept breathing down her neck about not wanting to be homeless.

Finally, Adeline gave in. And now, here she was, marrying Joffrey. The renowned heir of a pharmaceutical company.

Sighing, she felt the pain pinching at her ribs again.

"I can't wear this for six hours," she groaned to herself.

Adeline decided to find her mother and ask for the scissors to quickly alter the inner lining before the ceremony began.

She was at the door to her mother's room when she heard voices.

"You're being reckless, Joffrey," Victoria whispered.

Adeline froze. Her fiance was in there?

"Nobody is coming up here," Joffrey replied softly. "The little idiot is probably still locked in her room."

Victoria laughed and added. "She thinks she's saving her father's legacy today."

Adeline’s blood ran cold.

"Just make her sign the surgery papers, baby," Victoria said. "I'm sick and tired of pretending to be her mother, such an insolent girl."

Baby? Pretending to be her mother?

Adeline felt like she was dreaming as she stepped closer to the door without making a sound and peered inside.

Victoria was pressed against her bedroom table, her dress pulled around her hips, her hands tangled in Joffrey's hair and his muscular arms wrapped around her waist.