CHAPTER 3

Evelyn was still putting away the supplies when her phone rang again.

Adrian.

She stared at his name until the call ended. A moment later, a message appeared.

Baby, are you there? I need to ask you something.

In her first life, she would have called him back right away. She would have wanted to sound warm, even if she was tired or busy. She had spent years making sure Adrian never had to wait long for her.

Now she looked at the bags beside the wall and remembered the day he left her behind.

She pressed the phone against her chest for a moment, then set it on the table. She couldn’t let a memory dictate her choices. Adrian hadn’t abandoned her yet in this life. He was still the man she had planned to marry. If she wanted to change her future, she had to judge his actions now, not just what he had done in the life she remembered.

Still, she wouldn’t send him money without knowing why he needed it.

She called him back.

He answered before the first ring finished. “There you are. I was wondering where you went.”

“I was busy.”

“Doing what?”

“Sorting out some things at home.”

“Okay.” His voice shifted to the easy tone he used when he was about to ask for a favor. “I need a little help today. Can you send me some money?”

Evelyn closed her eyes. The question felt so familiar that for a moment, she felt as if she had never died at all.

“How much do you need?” she asked.

“Not too much. I have something to pay for, and I’m short right now.”

“What is it for?”

There was a short silence.

“Why are you asking me all these questions?” Adrian said. “I thought you trusted me.”

The words stung because she remembered how often they had worked. She would feel guilty, apologize, and send the money. If she asked what it was for, he would act like her question proved she didn’t love him.

She had called that peace. It had been fear of an argument.

“I do trust you,” she said. “But I need to know what I’m paying for before I agree.”

“Since when?”

“Since I started looking at my expenses properly.”

“Evelyn, it’s just money. You’ve helped me before.”

“I know I have.”

“So what’s the problem now?”

She glanced at her notebook. Her list was still open on the desk. Food, water, medicine, tools, shelter. Every item mattered. She couldn’t keep giving away money just because someone expected her to.

“I have things I need to pay for myself,” she said. “I need to check my budget before I promise anything.”

Adrian let out a small laugh, but it lacked warmth. “You make it sound like I’m asking you to buy me a house.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You’re acting like I’m a stranger.”

Evelyn took a slow breath. She wanted to tell him that one day he would take her supplies and leave her to die. She wanted to ask how he could look at her and still expect her to give him everything.

But he wouldn’t understand. He would think she had lost her mind, or he would twist her words to start another argument. She couldn’t explain the truth, so she had to be careful with what she said.

“I’m not calling you a stranger, Adrian. I’m saying I can’t answer before I check my money.”

“You never used to need time to think about helping me.”

“That doesn’t mean I was always making the right choice.”

The line went quiet.

Finally, Adrian said, “Fine. If you don’t want to help, just say so.”

“I haven’t said that. I said I need to check first.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.”

She heard him breathe out sharply. In the past, she would have rushed to fix the mood. She would have said she was sorry, promised to send the money, and asked him not to be upset with her.

Her fingers tightened around the phone. The old habit lingered. It felt like a hand pulling her back toward a door she had already walked through.

She let the silence hang.

Finally, Adrian said, “I have to go. We will talk later.”

“All right.”

“Love you.”

The words came out so quickly that they sounded routine. Evelyn used to cling to them, especially after a disagreement. She saw them as proof that everything was fine.

“I heard you,” she said.

He paused. “What does that mean?”

“It means I heard you.”

“Are you angry with me?”

“No. I need to go too.”

She ended the call before he could pull her into another round of questions.

Her heart raced. She was used to hiding her needs so others wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. Now she had made Adrian uncomfortable, and the world hadn’t ended.

She put the phone down and returned to her notebook. She wrote down the amount she had spent that day, then added the cost of the items she still needed. She had to be honest about her limits. If she wanted to survive, she couldn’t plan as if money would appear whenever she needed it.

Her phone buzzed again.

Adrian had sent a message.

I don't understand why you are behaving this way. I only asked for help.

She read it twice. She wanted him to understand that she wasn’t trying to hurt him, but she didn’t owe him a full explanation for every decision.

She typed, I understand that you need help. I am checking my budget before I make a promise. I will let you know if I can help.

She read the message before sending it. It was calm and clear. It didn’t insult him, and it didn’t make a promise she might regret.

She sent it.

Adrian did not reply.

Evelyn set the phone face down and went to the kitchen. She filled a glass with water and drank slowly. The room looked the same as it had that morning, but she no longer felt she had to follow the same rules as before.

She could care about Adrian and still protect her money. She could love her sister and still refuse a request. She could listen to people without letting them decide for her.

Those things shouldn’t have been hard to understand. Yet in her old life, she had acted as if love meant giving until there was nothing left.

Back at the desk, she opened her notebook to a clean page and wrote: Money I will not spend. She listed rent, food, transport, medicine, and emergency supplies. Then she added: No loans or gifts until I know what I can afford.

She couldn’t control Adrian's response or Chloe's next request. She could control what she gave away. She would face those talks later, when she had a plan and could stand her ground.

She looked at the calendar beside her desk. Forty-four days remained.

She had spent a day buying supplies and learning how difficult it was to say no. She still needed a safer place, more water, medical supplies, and a plan for when shops no longer opened.

Evelyn picked up her pen and added one final sentence beneath her list.

I will not lie to myself just to make someone else comfortable.

She read it once, then closed the notebook.

She wasn’t ready to confront Adrian, tell Chloe what she remembered, or trust Lucian with the truth. But she had made her first decision without asking permission.

That mattered.

The phone stayed silent. Evelyn put away the last supplies, grouped the canned food, stored the medicine in a cool, dry cupboard, and left the water containers where she could reach them.

She had thought the hardest part of being reborn would be facing the coming disaster. Now she understood that the first hard part was changing the choices that had made her feel helpless.

She could not undo her old life. She could only stop repeating it.

When Adrian called again, she would answer only if she wanted to, not out of fear of what might happen if she didn’t.