CHAPTER 2

Clara walked out of her room, closing the door behind her as she tried to organize everything happening in her head.

She had only three weeks before the apocalypse began.

There was no time to waste.

She needed money, food, medicine, weapons, and somewhere safe to stay. More importantly, she needed to make sure none of the people who had betrayed her in her previous life could benefit from her preparations.

She had barely taken a few steps down the hallway when she heard a familiar voice.

“Clara!”

Clara stopped.

Gamella, her mother-in-law, was sitting comfortably in the living room, her legs crossed as she flipped through her phone.

The moment she saw Clara, she immediately frowned.

“Where are you going?”

Clara stared at her for a moment. “I’m going out, is there a problem?”

Her mother-in-law scoffed. “You can't go out right now, we have something very important to discuss.”

Clara already knew she wasn't going to like where this was going. In her last life, it had been the same countless things over again.

And in her last life, she had been pressured to give them exactly what they wanted, but this time she wouldn't make it so easy.

“What is it?” Clara said, maintaining a calm expression, even with a smile on her face.

Her mother-in-law rolled her eyes. “You already know what I want to talk about. I don't understand why you are being so difficult about this, especially after I allowed my son to marry someone like you.”

Clara said nothing.

“There is a perfectly good house sitting there doing nothing, and you continue refusing to sell it.”

Clara's eyes narrowed slightly.

The house she was referring to was one Clara had been given to by her dead grandparents before they passed.

It was an inheritance and a valuable property, as they had committed it into her hands.

This happened before she married Nicholas.

And apparently, her mother-in-law had already decided what should happen to it.

“My younger son is getting married,” the woman continued proudly. “You know how expensive weddings are these days. We need money for the venue, decorations, clothes, catering, and all the other arrangements.”

She waved her hand dismissively.

“So, since you don't even need the house, you should sell it and give the money to the family.”

Clara almost laughed. “Give the money to the family?”

“Yes.” Her mother-in-law looked at her as though Clara had asked the most ridiculous question in the world. “Or what else are you going to do with it? You already have this house to live in. That other house is just sitting there.”

Clara slowly folded her arms. “That house belongs to me.”

“I know it belongs to you.” Her mother-in-law's voice became impatient. “But you're part of this family now through Nicholas. What is yours now is Nicholas and is supposed to help the family.”

Clara stared at her. That sentence.

She had heard it so many times in her previous life.

Whenever they wanted something, they would use her marriage to Nicholas as an anchor.

Guilt-tripping her to do their bidding, even at her own detriment.

When she worked herself to exhaustion to make sure everyone had food during the apocalypse, nobody remembered that she was family.

Yet here they were again.

Still expecting her to sacrifice herself.

“Besides,” her mother-in-law continued, “your brother-in-law needs the money for his wedding. You are his sister-in-law. It would be embarrassing if people found out that you refused to help him when you clearly had the means.”

Clara slowly nodded. “I see.”

Her mother-in-law smiled smugly. “Good. At least you understand.”

“I’m not selling the house.” Clara answered, and she turned, walking towards the door.

Her mother-in-law immediately stood up. “Clara!”

“What?” She looked back, annoyance crossing her face in that instant.

“How can you be so selfish?” Gamella frowned, clenching her fists. Even her didn't know why this girl was acting in such a way.

Clara almost smiled.

In her previous life, she had given these people almost everything she had, and they still called her useless when she no longer had anything to offer.

Now she refused to give them one house, and suddenly she was selfish.

“The house was given to me by my grandparents,” Clara said calmly. “I paid for its maintenance by myself without asking for any help from Nicholas or any one of you. I will decide whether it gets sold.”

Her mother-in-law's face darkened. “But Nicholas is your husband!”

“And?” Clara slightly laughed, her lips coming up in a smirk.

Gamella stared at her in disbelief. “And you are his wife! You should be thinking about his family instead of acting like some stranger.”

Clara gave a small laugh. “I've been thinking about this family for years.”

She stepped closer. “I paid bills. I bought groceries. I helped with emergencies. I gave Nicholas money whenever he asked. I even put my own needs aside for people who had no problem taking advantage of me.”

Her mother-in-law scoffed. “Don't exaggerate things. This is what a wife is expected to do.”

Clara's expression hardened. “If your son needs money for his wedding so badly, perhaps he should find a way to pay for his own wedding, or you know what? Let his future wife pay for it herself.”

Gamella’s face turned red. “You're becoming very disrespectful!”

Clara picked up her handbag from the table, not saying a word in response.

But Gamella followed, an angry expression on her face. When has this girl grown such audacity and how?

“You will regret speaking to me this way. All I need to do is to speak to Nicholas and he will end this marriage.”

Clara stopped at the door. In her previous life, those words would have frightened her.

She would have apologized, or tried to make peace.

Not anymore.

“Maybe.”

She turned around with a faint smile.

“But I don't think I'll regret keeping my own property.”

With that, Clara walked out.

Behind her, her mother-in-law continued shouting, but Clara didn't bother turning around.

She stepped outside and took a deep breath.

The moment she entered her car, her expression changed.

She had no intention of wasting another minute arguing with people who would be dead within weeks if the apocalypse followed the same timeline.

She started the engine and pulled away from the house.

Her first destination was the bank.