Chapter 5

Students from Pennford Polytechnic often came over in groups to watch Hannah dance without her knowing.

Hayden was one of them.

That was why he was so shocked to see her in his parents’ agency.

The girl of his dreams walked through the door. How could he not be shocked?

Hannah thought little of his claim that he knew her.

She knew about the poll on the university forum.

She also knew she was voted the prettiest girl in the arts department.

She cared little about any of that in her previous life, and she cared even less now.

But the mention of Pennford University reminded Hannah that, despite her rebirth, she was still a sophomore.

Tomorrow was Monday. She could go and arrange a leave of absence.

"Can you sell my apartment?"

Hannah ignored his comment and returned to the reason she came.

"Yes, of course! Please have a seat. I’ll get you some water."

Hayden stood and started toward the water dispenser.

"No, thanks. I have something else to do later. Let’s get straight to it," Hannah said as she sat down.

"All right. Fill in the property details first, and I’ll put up the listing."

Hayden handed her a form.

Hannah quickly filled it in, then opened some photos of the apartment on her phone.

"Um, Hannah, can I add you on WhatsApp? You can send me the photos there. It’ll be faster."

He could have transferred the photos to his computer with a cable or used another method. But Hayden wanted an excuse to get Hannah’s contact details.

"Sure. I’ll scan your code."

Hannah opened WhatsApp and scanned it.

Hayden accepted her request, and she sent him the photos.

With the apartment listing arranged, Hannah left the agency.

Hayden posted the listing as soon as she was gone.

Hannah’s apartment was in Crownview Apartments.

There were preschools, elementary schools, and high schools nearby.

Homes in an area like that were easy to sell. He was sure someone would be interested soon.

Hannah had two conditions for the buyer: they had to pay the full $850,000 upfront, and she wanted to take some of the furniture with her.

The second condition was minor. Any buyer would agree to it.

The demand for full payment would be harder to meet.

It was after eight that evening when Hannah returned to her juice bar. She collected another batch of drinks, then went straight to her rented apartment.

After a shower, she opened her laptop and printed the notes she prepared over the past two days. They made a thick stack.

They covered the supplies she needed to stockpile and the preparations she had to make over the next six months, along with everything she remembered happening during the apocalypse.

As for the money to pay for it all, her parents’ accident insurance paid out $980,000 after their deaths on the mountain. They also left her an inheritance of more than $1 million.

The juice bar earned her tens of thousands of dollars over the past year.

If the apartment sold, she would receive another $850,000.

Altogether, she would have more than $2.8 million.

That was a lot of money!

But as Hannah looked at the thick stack of supply lists, she knew it was nowhere near enough.

She needed to find more money, and fast.

Hannah knew no other way to get it quickly, so she turned to the storage space she gained after her rebirth.

In her previous life, she died during the extreme cold of the apocalypse’s fourth year.

Fate sent her back to endure the apocalypse all over again, but it also gave her an advantage that could make life bearable.

A storage space—the classic gift for someone reborn!

Its origins were nothing unusual. Like in countless novels, a pendant unlocked it.

But Hannah’s pendant was not a family heirloom, nor was it a gift from a boyfriend.

She did not have one.

Someone forced the pendant into her hands during the apocalypse in her previous life.

When the extreme heat came, May and her family handed Hannah over to a man downstairs who lived off his mother. In return, they got only two stale loaves of bread and a small bottle of water.

The man nearly raped her.

Hannah suffered two knife wounds on her arm, but she injured him and his mother and escaped the apartment complex.

She fled through the scorching heat.

Just as she was about to collapse, she came across a rescue team!

The rescuers took her to an emergency shelter.

Soldiers guarded the shelter, but there were far too many people displaced by the disasters.

The soldiers could not watch everyone.

In truth, the shelter was another kind of hell.

Each person received one hard piece of bread and a sip of water a day. A sip really meant a single sip!

It was barely enough to wet her throat, but it could keep her alive.

Someone targeted Hannah on the day she arrived.

She knew she would receive only one piece of bread and one sip of water that day.

So, when she collected her share, she did not eat or drink it right away.

She hid both, hoping to save them until she could no longer bear the hunger.

But the moment she turned away, a tall, thin man appeared where the soldiers could not see them.

He kicked Hannah to the ground and tore the bread and water from her arms.

Her eyes reddened as she watched him take the food she needed to survive.

She sprang up, charged at him, and knocked him down.

But he lay there and quickly swallowed the bread and water.

"The bread’s gone. All I have left is my life. Take it if you want. I’d rather die than keep living like this!"

Hannah never forgot the smile on the man’s face as he forced down the last mouthful and said those words.

She wanted to kill him then and there!

But just as she was about to attack him, she spotted soldiers on patrol in the distance.

The man pulled a black pendant on a cord from his filthy pocket and tossed it into Hannah’s arms.

Then he added, "You agreed to trade with me. I ate your food, so it’s too late to change your mind."

He turned a blatant robbery into a trade that Hannah supposedly regretted.

Hannah meant to throw the pendant away, but in the end, she kept it.

She kept the pendant as a reminder. Food in her hands could be stolen; food in her stomach was hers.

Yet that pendant brought Hannah back to life before the apocalypse and unlocked her storage space.