Chapter 1: Divorcing his Ass!

“Edward, please! I’m begging you!” I pounded against the steel gates, my knees sinking into the dirt as I clutched my daughter’s unconscious body. “She’s your daughter! You can’t let her die like this!”

Behind the reinforced gates, Edward stood in a protective suit, his face hidden behind a transparent mask. The man I had loved for years looked at me as if I were nothing more than a stray dog begging for scraps.

“Get away from the gates, Elliot!” he barked. “Do you want to attract the mutants to our base?” I stared at him in disbelief.

The poisonous air had already infected my little girl as black veins spread beneath her skin, her breathing had become frighteningly shallow. I knew what would happen if she didn't receive the vaccine soon.

Edward had three doses. I had seen them with my own eyes when he returned from his last supply expedition. He had promised to keep them safe and I had foolishly believed he meant our family.

But I was wrong because One dose was for him while the other two were for Claire, his first love and his mother. Not one was meant for the daughter who shared his blood.

“Please,” I whispered pressing my daughter's face against my chest. “Take mine instead. Give her the vaccine. She's only five, Edward. She's too young to die.”My voice cracked.

I would have traded every piece of jewelry I owned, every building my family had left me, and every breath in my body for one more chance to save my child.

Edward merely glanced at the little girl in my arms.

“She got I infected because you were careless. Why should I waste a vaccine on someone who might not survive anyway? My heart stopped.

Someone? He was talking about his own daughter.

“Edward, please! I know you still have some love for her just look at her!” I lifted her toward the narrow gap between the gates as her little hand hung limply at her side. The pink bracelet I'd bought for her birthday was still wrapped around her wrist, a cruel reminder of the life she'd deserved.

“Mummy…” The whisper was so faint I almost imagined it.

I bent my head immediately. “Baby? Mommy is here. I'm right here.”

“I'm cold.” Her eyelids fluttered as tears blurred my vision.

“I know, sweetheart. Just hold on a little longer. Mommy will take you somewhere warm, okay? You'll be fine. I promise.”

It was the cruelest lie I'd ever told.Behind the gates, Edward stepped backward.

“I'm warning you, Elliot. Leave now or I'll have the guards drag you away.”

“She's your daughter!”

“And you're attracting the infected!” He turned his back on us. I screamed his name until my throat burned. I begged the guards. I begged the people watching from the safety of the walls. I begged the man who had once sworn before our families that he would protect me for the rest of my life.

No one opened the gates.

The poisonous air burned my lungs as

my body was already infected but I barely noticed the symptoms anymore. All I could feel was my daughter's weight growing heavier in my arms.

“Lilly ?” She didn't answer.

“No, no, no. Please, sweetheart. Open your eyes.”mI shook her gently, pressing my cheek against hers.

She was so still. The world seemed to fall silent around me.

My daughter was gone and the man responsible was standing behind a wall, protecting the woman he'd never stopped loving.

I looked up at the gates, hatred replacing the last fragments of love I had for Edward.

If there was a next life, I would never love him again. I would never give his family another penny and I would never let him take my daughter from me.

The darkness swallowed everything.

Then I heard laughter, A child's laughter.

“Mummy! Look what Auntie May gave me!” My eyes flew open.

I gasped so violently that my chest hurt, scrambling upright as I stared at the unfamiliar sight before me. A cream colored ceiling, Sunlight streaming through enormous windows.

The bedroom Edward and I shared. I stared at the expensive chandelier overhead, then at the neatly arranged furniture and the framed wedding photograph on the bedside table.

No. This wasn't possible.

I had died and I remembered the poisonous air filling my lungs. I remembered my daughter's lifeless body in my arms.

I remembered everything.

A burst of laughter drifted from the parlor.

I stumbled out of bed and ran toward the sound.

My daughter sat on the sofa in her little yellow dress, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright. Our maid, May was beside her helping her arrange a collection of colorful building blocks.

Alive and Healthy for several seconds, I couldn't move.

“Lily?” My daughter turned.

“Mummy!” She jumped off the sofa and rushed into my arms. I dropped to my knees and wrapped her against me, burying my face in her hair. She smelled of baby shampoo and strawberries not the bitter stench of decay that had haunted my final moments.

I held her so tightly she wriggled in protest.

“Mummy, you're squeezing me!” I loosened my grip immediately, cupping her face between my palms.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Do you feel sick?”

She giggled. “No! I'm hungry.”

She was alive, My little girl was alive.

I kissed her forehead unable to stop the tears sliding down my face.

In my previous life, I had wasted precious years trying to make Edward love me. I had endured his family's insults, surrendered my inheritance and convinced myself that if I were a better wife, he would eventually become a better husband.

I had been wrong about everything but this time, I had been given something more precious than revenge.

Time.

I glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall.

Fourteenth of October.

The apocalypse would begin on the twenty eighth of October exactly fourteen days from today. Fourteen days before the poisonous plants began releasing toxins into the atmosphere and abandoned streets filled with infected creatures.

“May,” I said carefully wiping my tears, “please take her to the kitchen and get her something to eat.”

The maid looked at me strangely. “Madam, are you feeling unwell?”

“I'm fine.” For the first time in years, I meant it. I watched her lead my daughter away before turning toward the dining table.

A thick folder lay beside a half empty cup of coffee as my stomach tightened.

Yesterday, Edward had placed those documents in front of me, claiming they were routine financial arrangements needed to protect our marriage. In my previous life, I had signed them without reading every clause.

I had trusted my husband. The documents transferred control of my family's company accounts and several properties into Edward's name. They gave him access to assets my parents had spent their lives building, assets his family had been desperate to acquire since the day they forced me into marrying him.

Once he gained control, Edward used my money to fund his mother's extravagant lifestyle and shower Claire, his mistress with gifts.

I picked up the folder as my fingers tightened around its edges.

Not this time. I would withdraw every joint asset I had the legal right to withdraw. I would freeze every account I could protect, reclaim every property that belonged to my family and make certain Edward's relatives could no longer spend my money as if they owned me.

The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted my thoughts.

Edward entered the parlor, adjusting his wrist watch, his expression already irritated.

He barely glanced at me before pulling out a chair.

“Look who's finally awake.” I said nothing.

He poured himself coffee, then looked at me with open displeasure.

“Do you know what time it is? You sleep until noon every day yet you still complain about being exhausted. What exactly do you do around this house?” I watched him in silence.

This was the man whose approval I had chased until there was nothing left of me.

Now, all I could remember was the way he had turned away while our daughter died.

Edward set his cup down.

“Did you sign the documents I gave you yesterday?” I glanced at the folder in my hand.

“No.” His expression darkened.

“What did you say?”

“I said I didn't sign them.” He stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor.

“Elliot, don't start this nonsense. My family has been patient enough with you. Those documents need to be signed today.”

“Why?” His eyes narrowed.

“Because I said so.” A bitter laugh escaped me.

Of course.

Edward had never needed a reason. He had always assumed that my money, my obedience and my life belonged to him.

When I hesitated, he reminded me that our marriage had been arranged for the benefit of both families. When I questioned his mother's spending, he accused me of disrespect and whenever I threatened to stand up for myself, he made sure I remembered exactly how little power he believed I possessed.

In my previous life, I would already have been apologizing. I would have picked up the pen, signed the documents, and begged him not to be angry.

Not anymore.

“I'm not signing anything,” I said as his face twisted with rage.

“You ungrateful ” He raised his hand.

The movement was so familiar that my body remembered it before my mind did but this time, I didn't flinch as I caught his wrist before he could strike me.

Edward froze and for the first time since I'd known him, genuine shock crossed his face.

I tightened my grip and pushed his hand away. Then I rose slowly to my feet, meeting his furious gaze without fear.

“What do you take me for, huh?” He stared at me as if I had suddenly become a stranger.

Perhaps I had.

The woman who had loved him was dead in a wasteland, buried beneath the ashes of a world that no longer existed.

The woman standing before him remembered every betrayal.

Every insult,Every stolen asset and every second he had left our daughter to die.

I released his wrist and placed the folder on the table between us.

“It's time we turned the tables my way, shall we, Edward?” His jaw tightened.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” I smiled, though there was no warmth in it.

“Let's start with this marriage.” I pushed the documents toward him.

“And all my family's assets.” His eyes flickered toward the folder.

“I want a divorce.”