Chapter 4

Hannah remembered that May’s family rarely visited when she was little.

They usually saw each other only on holidays.

After her parents died, May called several times and offered to come care for her.

To prove she meant it, May even sold her own home.

She left herself no place to return to and moved her entire family into Hannah’s apartment.

Hannah had just lost her parents and was terribly vulnerable. She was foolish enough to feel deeply grateful.

She had not even graduated from high school. Her parents sheltered her so much that she knew little about the schemes adults could devise.

More than anything, May and her family truly did take good care of her at first.

May prepared every meal, checked on her constantly, and never even made her wash her own clothes.

Hannah gave May a substantial amount from her parents’ inheritance to cover the food.

Still, she rarely had to do any chores. May handled them all.

May also packed away everything that reminded Hannah of her parents, including their photographs.

She replaced them with her own family’s belongings.

She said the reminders would only make Hannah miss her parents and feel worse.

With her aunt’s family there to keep her company, Hannah emerged from her grief much sooner than she otherwise might have.

She did not begin to suspect May’s family until after she finished her high school exams.

They kept urging her to apply to a university in a major city, saying her grades were good enough.

They especially wanted her to study in the capital, where they said she would have more opportunities after graduation.

But Hannah promised her parents she would attend a university in their home region so she could come home easily whenever she had no classes.

Her parents were gone, but she still wanted to keep that promise.

In the end, she applied to a local university.

May’s attitude changed the moment Hannah received her acceptance letter.

Hannah got into the arts program at Pennford University, barely twelve miles from home.

May scolded her for being shortsighted.

She said Hannah gave up the chance to study in a major city just to attend university in a small town.

But Pennford was no small town.

It was prosperous and full of high-rise buildings.

Otherwise, Hannah’s roughly 1,400-square-foot apartment in Crownview Apartments would not have been worth more than $800,000.

Pennford University was a good school too.

It was a respected public university.

More than a hundred students across three dance classes trained alongside Hannah.

She was the only one accepted into its arts program, and plenty of them envied her.

May’s scolding left Hannah stunned.

That was when she first began to question why May’s family sold their home and moved into hers.

Did they really come to care for her?

Or did they want to take over her apartment?

Their old place was a run-down apartment where the water and power often went out!

But the next day, May became the loving aunt Hannah knew again.

She treated Hannah even better than before, as though Hannah only imagined the woman who glared at her and scolded her the day before!

That summer, May often reminded Hannah to pack carefully so she would not forget anything and have to make another trip once classes began.

When she took Hannah to the university, she even gave her advice on getting along with her roommates.

She encouraged Hannah to spend weekends and school breaks with her classmates and see more of the world.

Hannah appreciated it all at the time.

Other students had their parents beside them when they started college.

Hannah had lost hers, but she still had her aunt.

All of that happiness vanished when the apocalypse came!

Only then did Hannah learn from Sherry and Miles what their family wanted all along.

May’s family treated her well because they wanted to take over her apartment.

May packed away her parents’ belongings so the place would feel like their family’s home instead of Hannah’s.

They urged her to attend a university far away so she would not keep coming home and interrupting their lives.

May helped her pack because she could not wait for Hannah to leave.

She encouraged Hannah to spend her breaks with classmates for the same reason: to keep her away from home.

Hannah finally realized that May’s entire family took her for a fool.

And in her previous life, she really was one!

Otherwise, she wouldn't have answered May’s call when the apocalypse hit, let alone spent a fortune having supplies delivered to them.

Later, when the apartment at Crownview flooded and May’s family came to her place near the university for shelter, Hannah let them in.

From then on, they exploited her, and her life during the apocalypse became a nightmare.

She saw what they were truly like.

Now that she was reborn, Hannah would make May’s family suffer until the day they died!

For the past few days, Hannah was busy figuring out her storage space, planning what supplies to stockpile, and writing down everything she remembered about the apocalypse.

She had no time to deal with May’s family or the apartment.

Since May invited her to dinner today, Hannah decided to handle both while she was there.

She drove out of the complex, found a real estate agency that was still open, and went inside.

Hayden Yale was a sophomore. He planned to go hiking and camping with his classmates that weekend.

Everything was arranged, but then two of them backed out to spend time with their girlfriends.

That took the fun out of the trip for everyone else.

Hayden did not want to sit around at home, so he came to help at his parents’ real estate agency.

It was already dinnertime. The agency usually closed by now.

But his parents wanted him to gain some experience, so they told him to keep it open after dinner.

They also promised he could keep the commission from any deals he made that evening.

"Hello! Are you looking to rent or buy?"

Evenings were usually quiet, and Hayden was bored.

He was about to start a game on his phone when someone walked through the door.

Before he even saw her face, he leaned across the desk and gave his usual greeting.

"I want to sell an apartment!"

Hannah got straight to the point.

"Sell? Is it a house or a commer—Ahem..."

Hayden looked up when he heard her voice.

He was so startled that he nearly choked. "H-Hannah?"

"You know me?"

Hannah was certain she never met him in either life. She frowned in confusion.

"I go to the polytechnic next to your university. I’m Hayden Yale. I’ve seen you before. You’re in the arts program at Pennford University."

College students had plenty of free time.

And the guys in his dorm often spent it talking about women.

They talked about the prettiest girls in their classes, their departments, and the whole university.

Hannah from the arts program and Lena Shaw from the literature department were both well known at Pennford University.

For one simple reason: they were both beautiful!

Students voted for the prettiest girl on campus through the university forum.

Lena edged out Hannah by a few dozen votes, though Hannah remained the arts department’s favorite.

But Hayden and his dormmates all thought Hannah was prettier.

They believed Lena won because she dressed well, knew how to do her makeup, and was good at persuading people to vote for her.