Chapter 557: Extra Chapter 6: New Era Year One

With the disappearance of inescapethe Zombie Virus, the land and rivers gradually grew clean again. The apocalypse, which had lasted for half a century, was finally over!

The New Era had arrived!

On Paige Summers’s fiftieth birthday, her son, Anton Monroe, and daughter, Michelle Monroe, wanted to give her a surprise. They planned it with their father, Marcus Monroe, behind her back, inviting all their family and friends to throw a proper celebration for her.

The family had long since moved into a standalone villa with a large garden, big enough to host several hundred people without a problem.

Early that morning, after breakfast, Marcus Monroe and Paige Summers left the house.

Marcus Monroe still served as the City Lord. With Astoria’s political and economic center shifting increasingly southward, he was supposed to be extremely busy. However, as Concordia’s government agencies became more established and robust, his workload was actually much lighter than in previous years. Still, he insisted on driving Paige Summers to and from work every day. He couldn’t be bothered to go home in between, so he just spent the day at his office, which inadvertently created the image of a highly diligent leader.

This was something he hadn’t expected.

He felt he fell far short of Paige Summers.

Paige Summers was the real workaholic.

Ever since Concordia’s weapons Research Institute was established, she spent more and more time there. If Marcus Monroe didn’t insist on taking her home every day, she, as the Director, probably wouldn’t have minded just sleeping at the Institute.

This led to a period when Anton and Michelle were fifteen or sixteen—right in the middle of their rebellious phase—and held a major grudge against her. It even culminated in a family-wide “intervention” targeting her, which finally served as a wake-up call for Paige, leaving her feeling deeply apologetic. She was much better after that. While still engrossed in her weapons research, she set clear boundaries for her time, understanding that the hours outside of work belonged to her family.

Of course, as the children grew older and developed their own ambitions, they came to better understand their mother’s passion. Family life grew increasingly harmonious.

The usually stern Marcus Monroe, conversely, took on the role of the family’s peacemaker.

He would coax and discipline his son and daughter on one side, and counsel Paige on the other.

Occasionally, he couldn’t help but complain to Sean Raines, “I’m really raising three children!”

But Sean Raines paid him no mind.

‘He complains, yet he’s staring without blinking at a photo of a laughing Paige Summers. Such a hypocrite! He’s just showing off that he robbed the cradle!’

Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the poison she was once afflicted with, Paige Summers aged far more slowly than everyone else.

Although Superpower Users naturally aged slower than ordinary people, Marcus Monroe, now in his fifties, looked to be at least forty. Paige Summers, on the other hand… looked thirty at most. In fact, the added life experience and the grace of time’s passage only made her more captivating, becoming the object of countless people’s envy and jealousy.

Even Maisie Joyce, who had mellowed out considerably over the years, couldn’t resist asking Paige for her beauty secrets every time they met, hoping to learn a trick or two to wow Claire Chapman.

Paige, for her part, was always too embarrassed to say that her life revolved around weapons research, her husband, and her children. She was more than busy with just that; she honestly hadn’t known the first thing about beauty routines in two lifetimes.

So she had no choice but to direct everyone to her mother, Ms. Wendy Lowell, for consultation.

Wendy Lowell was already in her seventies, but she had few wrinkles, was in excellent health, and her hair was still more black than gray. Though she was an elderly woman, anyone could see she was still strikingly beautiful and elegant.

Truth be told, she’d never really suffered much in her life.

Her two husbands, be it Dylan Summers or Owen Reid, whatever their other faults, had both doted on and pampered her. After arriving at Bloodfall Base, she lived with her daughter. Paige was a straightforward person, and once she truly accepted her mother, she always honored her by giving her the best of everything. As a result, Wendy’s life was largely carefree. The second half of her life revolved around her grandson and granddaughter, but the two children were mature for their age and very independent, so they weren’t much trouble. Once they were a little older, they even began to look after the grandmother who had watched them grow up, and were in many ways closer to her than they were to their own mother.

What more could Wendy Lowell ask for? She was all smiles, all day long.

When a woman is happy and content, her spirits are high. It’s hard to age quickly when you feel that good!

She had known all along that Anton and Michelle were planning to celebrate their mother’s birthday. Seeing the children bustling about, she wanted to help, but they insisted she relax and let them handle everything themselves.