Reborn Before the Apocalypse,My Ex Will Regret Losing Me

The apocalypse came as a heatwave.

When temperatures soared past anything the world had ever seen, I stumbled into a stroke of impossible luck: a Frost System, bound to me and me alone. It could generate ice to beat the heat and keep food from spoiling.

I told my boyfriend the moment it happened. I thought he'd be relieved. Instead, Owen Gilbert demanded I use the system to save his childhood sweetheart and her entire family.

People show their true colors when the world falls apart. I knew the risks. I refused him on the spot.

Lesley Henson and her family of five couldn't survive the heat. One by one, their bodies broke down, blistered, and gave out.

Owen's family, meanwhile, lived. Because of me. Because of my system.

After the apocalypse ended, he proposed like nothing had happened. We got married.

And on the day I went into labor, he drove me into the desert and left me there.

He stood over me while the sun scorched the life out of my body, and he smiled. That vicious, satisfied smile.

"Wanda Winfield, if you hadn't been so selfish, Lesley's family would still be alive! They were roasted to death under the sun, just like this! You selfish bitch. Today, you can join them in the ground."

I grabbed his wrist. My voice was raw, shredded, barely human.

"Owen, I'm carrying your child..."

He brought his foot down on my swollen belly.

"Lesley was carrying my child too, when she died! Anything born from a woman like you would be rotten to the core. Die."

I died with hatred still burning in my chest.

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in my own house.

It was the day before the apocalypse. The day Owen tried to move Lesley's family into my home.

Through the open front door, I could see him outside, hauling Lesley's bags from the car with the eager attentiveness of a devoted servant.

A cold laugh echoed through my mind.

You love her that much? Fine. This time around, you can follow her straight to hell.

"What are you standing there for?! Get out here and help carry things!"

Owen's sharp bark snapped me back to the present.

I glanced at the television. A heat advisory scrolled across the screen in bold red letters, the warnings cycling on repeat.

Then I looked at Owen, arms full of Lesley Henson's belongings, already halfway through my front door.

It hit me like a freight train.

I had actually been reborn.

And I'd come back to the day before everything ended.

Judging by Owen's behavior, he already knew about the Frost System. In this timeline, I must have already told him.

In my previous life, this was the exact moment I'd refused his demand to take Lesley in.

The apocalypse had a way of stripping people bare, and Lesley Henson was the loudest mouth in any room she walked into. If I let her move in, the entire city would know about my Frost System within three days. Every activation drained my energy. If too many people found out and came begging, I'd be worked to death before the heatwave even broke.

And if I died, my family died with me.

So I'd put my foot down. Hard. I refused to let Owen bring Lesley into our home.

That decision kept Owen, his family, and mine alive through three brutal months of apocalypse.

Lesley wasn't so lucky.

Ten days in, she and her family ventured out to scavenge fresh food. The sun killed them where they stood.

Owen had seemed calm about it at the time. After the apocalypse ended, he arranged the funeral for Lesley's family himself. Then he proposed to me, married me, played the part of a loving husband.

Until the day I was due to give birth.

He told me he was taking me to a prenatal checkup. He drove me to the desert instead.

By the time he finally spoke, I'd been baking under the open sun for ten hours. My lips were cracked. My vision was fading. And he stood over me with that cruel, razor-edged smile.

"Wanda, you really are a selfish bitch! If you'd just let Lesley stay with us, she and her family never would have died! Go keep her company in the grave."

I clutched at his hand, begging, pleading with everything I had left.

"Owen, you can't do this. I'm carrying a baby. The baby is innocent..."

Something vicious flashed through Owen's eyes. He lifted his foot and brought it down, hard, on my belly.

"Lesley was pregnant with my child when she died! I've been waiting for this day! You and your brat can burn in hell together!"

I felt my baby kicking inside me as I was roasted alive in the desert. The searing pain of my skin blistering made me shudder.

"What's with that look on your face?!"

Maybe the memories from my past life had left my expression a little grim. Owen's tone sharpened with impatience. He grabbed the bag of Lesley's clothes and shoved it into my arms.

"Let me make this clear, Wanda. Don't pull that pathetic face on me. We're about to get married. This is my home too. Lesley is moving in today. And if you won't let her stay, then I'm leaving too!"

Using my feelings for him as leverage?

How laughable. I wasn't the same Wanda from my last life anymore.

A cold smile curled across my lips. I lifted Lesley's bag and hurled it straight into Owen's face.

"Then leave. I'd love nothing more. Get out of my house!"

I kicked every last piece of Lesley's luggage that Owen had dragged to the doorway out into the hall. Then I slammed the door shut so hard the frame rattled.

I deleted Owen's fingerprint from the lock immediately.

The door lock beeped several times: "Fingerprint not recognized. Fingerprint not recognized."

Then Lesley's sugary little voice drifted in from the other side.

"Owen, honey, don't be upset. When you told me about that whole 'Frost System' thing, I didn't believe it for a second. Wanda probably learned some cheap parlor trick to get your attention..."

"Besides, it's just a heat advisory. What's the big deal? We're in the south, and it's the middle of summer. Didn't we get one of those warnings last year too? It was over in three days. Life went on."

Owen gradually calmed down under Lesley's cooing, completely forgetting the grim prediction he'd made just last night.

Owen was a meteorology graduate student. He'd been poring over satellite cloud maps yesterday, his face drawn tight with worry.

"Wanda, this heat event is no joke. It could last a long time, and temperatures might blow past last year's hundred-and-thirteen-degree record..."

That brilliance was exactly what had drawn me to him in the first place. Who could have guessed he'd turn out to be so rotten and so stupid when it came to love?

A shrill ringtone cut through my thoughts.

Owen.

His voice oozed smugness from the other end.

"Wanda, if it weren't for Lesley talking some sense into me, you almost had me fooled! Go ahead and spend the rest of your life alone if you've got the guts! You and your little 'Frost System' deserve each other!"

He hung up before I could say a word.

Through the door, I heard his voice go soft and tender.

"Come on, Lesley. Let's go back to my place. Let that idiot sit here with her little freezer trick for the rest of her life."

I glanced at the clock and sank back onto the couch, a cold laugh escaping my lips.

Little freezer trick? Give it twenty-four hours. You'll all be on your knees begging me.

Of course, I had no intention of riding out the apocalypse alone with the Frost System.

Because in my past life, midway through the disaster, people had started noticing something was off about my home. The door was ice-cold to the touch. No one in the household had ever died. And there was always fresh trash outside the front door.

They didn't know why, but they knew we had a way to survive.

That led to dozens of incidents where mobs surrounded our house. If it hadn't been for a few men in the family, we never would have held them off.

The thought sent me digging through my memories, searching desperately until I finally recalled that phone number.

I grabbed my phone and dialed.

The call connected almost immediately. I rubbed the hem of my shirt between my fingers, nerves twisting in my stomach, and spoke softly.

"Hi, is this Clay Sanchez? I'm the owner of unit 1201, Building 8, Entrance 3..."

A low voice came through the other end.

"What is it?"

"Um... are you free this afternoon? I was wondering if you'd like to... marry me."

In my previous life, when the mob had surrounded our home, Owen had already fled to the basement like a coward. Inside the apartment, it was just my dad and Herbert fighting alongside us, desperately trying to hold them off. But outside, Clay had been the one keeping us alive.

At first, I'd assumed it was just neighborly goodwill.

But the day Owen abandoned me in the desertleft me to bake alive under that merciless sunClay went out alone. He searched for an entire day and night until he found my body. He buried me with his own hands.

I heard him weeping at my grave, and that was when I finally understood.

He'd been in love with me for years.

He'd never said a word because I'd been so wrapped up in Owen that there was never any room for anyone else. After I died, he took care of my parents as if they were his own. And in the end, he used every ounce of his influence in Capital City to drive Owen's company into bankruptcy.

That was when I learned the truthClay Sanchez was the head of the Capital City Syndicate. The only reason he'd ever lived in our modest little neighborhood was because he wanted to be close to me.

"Hello? Are you going to answer me or not?"

Silence on the other end. My cheeks burned.

"If you don't say something, I'm hanging up!"

What is wrong with this man...

My thumb hovered over the end-call button when that low voice finally came through again.

"I'm already at your door. Don't wait until this afternoon. I want to go now."

We walked out of City Hall with our marriage certificate, and Clay was immediately called away by one of his mensomething urgent at the company. I watched him go, then checked the time.

Less than twelve hours until the end of the world.

I drove straight to the biggest supermarket in Capital City. Maybe because last year's heatwave had only lasted three days, everyone had let their guard down. The store was nearly empty.

I let out a breath of relief.

I grabbed compressed biscuits, instant noodles, pickled vegetables, cured meatanything that would keep and fill a stomach. Then I made a beeline for the water aisle.

Once the apocalypse actually hit, this water wouldn't just be for drinking. I could freeze it into ice blocks with my system to keep my family cool. Water was the single most important thing for survival, so I needed to take as much as I could carry.

I was loading case after case into my cart when I spotted them across the aisleOwen and Lesley, arm in arm, walking straight toward me.

I turned to leave.

Owen's hand slammed down on the case of water I'd just picked up.

"Wanda, how can you be this selfish? You're cleaning out the entire store. What about everyone else?"

I gestured at the deserted supermarket around us and stared at him.

"Which eye are you using to see me 'cleaning out' anything? Look around. Do you see a single other customer? Who exactly am I keeping from buying water?" I let the contempt drip from every word. "If your brain's broken, go see a doctor. Don't stand here making me sick."

I had zero interest in wasting time on Owen. I gripped my cart and steered toward the next aisle.

He stepped directly into my path.

"You're keeping me from buying. I just reserved every bottle of water in this store. Without my say-so, you're not walking out of here with a single one."

"Reserved? I don't have time for your jokes."

I shoved him aside, my voice dropping to ice.

"Block me one more time and I'm calling security."

There was almost no time left. I truly could not be bothered with him.

I grabbed my cart and tried to leave.

But Owen seized the handle and held on tight. He looked at me with a vicious smile, then pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Hello, is this the purchasing manager at Lucky Star Supermarket? I want to buy every last bottle of water in your store. The deposit has already been transferred to your company account. Don't sell another drop to anyone else."

It happened in the blink of an eye.

A middle-aged man's voice came through the other end, dripping with eagerness to please. "Of course, of course..."

A moment later, the supermarket's PA system crackled to life with a flat, mechanical announcement:

"Attention, shoppers. All water products in this store have been sold out. Please visit another location for your water needs..."

Owen let out a cold laugh, his eyes gleaming with triumph as he looked at me.

"How about that? I told youwithout my say-so, you're not walking out of here with a single bottle. Now put every last one of those back on the shelf where you found them. You hear me?!"

I glanced at the time. Less than five hours until the end of the world.

I still had a mountain of daily necessities to prepare. Rush hour was in full swing. Getting to the next supermarket would take forever. And worse, Owen's phone call had probably already sent shockwaves through the store's internal network. By the time I drove to another location, the shelves would be stripped bare.

Without water, my family wouldn't survive the three months of hell that were coming.

I'd been given a second chance at life, and instead of saving everyone, I'd dragged my family and Clay down with me.

The more I thought about it, the more panic clawed at my chest. Tears burned behind my eyes.

Owen was still running his mouth.

"Wanda, considering you waited on me hand and foot for seven years, I'll make you a deal. If you agree right now to let Lesley and her family move into your place, and then get on your knees and apologize to her, I'll let you take the water. Otherwise, I'm hauling every last bottle out of here myself."

Lesley planted her hands on her hips and sneered at me.

"Go on, sweetie. Kneel. Or we're taking all of it."

"You're not taking anything."

The words came from behind me before Lesley's smirk could settle. A low, familiar voice.

Clay was standing at my back. I had no idea when he'd arrived.

He pointed at Owen and Lesley, his tone ice-cold.

"Get out."

Irritation flashed across Owen's face. He jabbed a finger at Clay.

"Who the hell are you?! This is between me and my girlfriend. What's it got to do with you?!"

Clay grabbed Owen's outstretched finger and bent it backward. Hard.

Over the shrill, ugly sound of Owen's screaming, Clay spoke, his voice steady and low.

"I own this supermarket. So I'm going to need you to get out. Right now."

My mind went blank.

This supermarket was Clay's.

What had I been panicking for?

"And before you leave," Clay continued, "put back every single item you pulled off those shelves. Exactly where you found them."

I looked at Owen's cart, heaped with a chaotic mountain of goods, and couldn't hold back a laugh.

Sorting through that mess and returning everything to its proper place would take at least three hours.

I checked my watch. Four hours until the heat hit.

Owen wouldn't have time to prepare a thing.

"Fine! We'll put it back!"

Lesley planted her hands on her hips, craned her neck at Clay, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Owen scrambled behind her, yanking at her clothes, trying desperately to shut her up. It didn't work.

So Lesley's stupidity wasn't an act after all.

But Owen still had a shred of sense left. He shoved Lesley behind him, pointed at the cart full of goods, and ground out through clenched teeth

"Fine! I'll put all this stuff back! It's just a bunch of snacksbig deal!"

He pulled out a fistful of receipts and waved them in my face.

"I already bought a ton of fans and air conditioners from HomeStyle Plaza downstairs. With all that, we'll ride out the heatwave in total comfort!"

The second the words left Owen's mouth, Clay let out a cold laugh.

"HomeStyle Plaza is mine too."

I grabbed Clay's arm before he could say another word, shooting him a look.

"Drop it. Don't waste any more time on them. I'm starvinglet's just go home and make dinner."

Clay looked at me, confusion written all over his face.

"Wanda, those fans and ACsI bought them for us and both sets of parents. A buddy of mine said this heat advisory isn't going to blow over anytime soon. You're really just going to let him walk off with all of it?"

"Those things are useless. Trust me. Once the heat really hits, the power grid won't last three days. When that happens, all those appliances will just be dead weightone more thing for people to lose their minds over."

I took his hand and pulled him toward the exit.

Owen was too busy consoling Lesley, who was throwing a fit over losing her snacks, to catch a word of what I'd said.

I glanced at the stack of receipts in his hand and smiled to myself.

Owen's apartment was barely four hundred square feet, and he'd crammed Lesley's entire family of five in there with him. Once all those air conditioners and fans got hauled inside, there wouldn't be room to breathe, let alone stand. When the heat cranked up the tension, people trapped in a space that tight wouldn't die of heatstroke firstthey'd lose their minds. How perfect.

It wasn't until we stepped outside the supermarket that I realized Clay had already sent a fleet of trucks and a crew of his guys to wait in the parking lot. They'd originally come to haul refrigerators, fans, and ACs. Now every last truck got loaded with water instead.

I'd also stocked up on solar-powered battery packs.

Watching crate after crate of water and supplies get carried into the apartment, I finally felt safe.

Thank God I'd bought that oversized condo. I used to regret it every time I had to clean the place. Now it looked like the best decision I'd ever made.

I checked the time, then sent Clay to pick up both our parents. Meanwhile, I arranged for his crew to move into Clay's place.

Once everything was settled, I treated myself to a proper barbecue dinner.

While scrolling through my phone, I spotted a post Owen had just put up on social media.

Check it outthis is what real security looks like. No heatwave stands a chance against technology!

The video showed fans, refrigerators, and air conditioners crammed wall to wall inside Owen's tiny apartment.

I popped a slice of beef into my mouth and glanced at the clock.

Less than one minute until the heatwave hit.

In the blink of an eye, the skyalready dimming into eveningblazed white.

It had begun.

The indoor temperature shot to a hundred and four degrees.

Owen kept updating his feed nonstop.

Lesley and I are officially the smartest people alive. Thirteen ACs plus eighteen fans = a cool 72F. Life is GOOD.

He posted a temperature update practically every hour, and every single time he made sure to tag me.

Three hours later, the temperature inside had soared to a hundred and forty degrees.

Owen called me.

His voice dripped with smugness on the other end of the line.

"So, Wandahow much water have you gone through? Hope you haven't drowned yourself yet."

But before he could finish the sentence, a chain of sharp, crackling explosions erupted from the power lines outside.

In the blink of an eye, the cityevery light, every glow, every last flickerwent black.