Chapter 2: Cutting All Ties

POV: Avery

"Have you lost your mind?" my mother asked. Her face changed five times before it settled on shock.

"No," I said calmly. "I'm just done with my husband and this family."

I could see she was trying hard not to smile. She had wanted to get rid of me since Chloe was born, but she was afraid of what people would say.

The Hales had a good name in town. Throwing out their adopted daughter would look bad, but if I left on my own, it was perfect for her.

"If that is what you really want," she said slowly, "then we should do it properly." She looked at my father. "We can go to city hall today."

My father nodded. He looked uncomfortable, but he didn't argue. He never argued with her about anything.

Before we left, I went to my room and packed one bag. Chloe stood at my door with her hand on her belly, smiling like she had won a prize. "Where will you even go?" she asked. "You have no money, no job, nothing."

I zipped the bag and walked past her without a word. She was right that I had little money, but not for long.

An hour later, I was sitting in a small office at city hall, with my mother and father on both sides of me. The clerk was a middle-aged man with glasses. He kept looking from one face to another, trying to understand what was going on.

"So you are ending the adoption by yourself?" he asked me. "You know this is permanent?"

"Yes," I said.

He looked at my parents. "And both of you agree?" "Completely," my mother said quickly.

The clerk frowned. "This is unusual. The Hale family is well known here. Why do you want to leave?"

I looked him in the eyes. "My sister stole my husband, and my parents are fine with it. I can't stay in a family like that."

His face changed to pity. He said nothing else and went back to the forms.

When it was done, he held out the pen. "Take your time, young lady," he said. I thought of the locked door and the bucket of water, and I didn't need any time.

I signed my name on the last paper, and a heavy weight left my chest. I wasn't a part of Hale anymore, and I owed them nothing.

"I need one more form," I told the clerk. "I want to file for divorce." The clerk blinked at me, then looked at my parents.

My mother only shrugged like it had nothing to do with her. I filled the papers right there, and my hand didn't shake once.

Outside, in the parking lot, my mother stopped and turned to me with that fake worried face. "Avery, I feel bad about this," she said, opening her purse. "Let me give you some money."

"You have never had a job, and you're not that smart with life," she added. "I don't want to see you on the street."

I almost laughed. She thought I was useless. She thought I would be nothing without them.

"Keep your money, and remember to give Damien the divorce papers," I said and handed the files to her. Her face twisted into a sneer.

My father cleared his throat. "Take care of yourself, Avery," he said quietly. "Don't be too hard on your mother." I looked at him and said nothing, because he had watched me freeze, and now he wanted me to be soft.

My mother shook her head. "She's completely mad. Come, let's go." They got in their car and drove away without looking back.

I stood there for a moment with the wind on my face. It felt good to be free. Then I took out my phone and searched for the nearest shop that sells lottery tickets.

The Mega Millions draw was in twelve hours. In my last life, I saw the winning numbers on TV the day before the apocalypse started. I remembered every single digit.

Twenty minutes later, I was standing in a small shop, filling the ticket. My hands were shaking, but my memory didn't fail me. The woman at the counter looked bored when she scanned it. "Good luck," she said.

"Thanks," I said, smiling. I walked out with the ticket in my pocket.

By tomorrow morning, I would have hundreds of millions of dollars. That was more money than the Hales would see in their whole lives.

When the apocalypse came and people started dying in the cold, I wouldn't suffer.

I thought about the cabin. I thought about Chloe laughing, and my mother choosing her real daughter over me every single time.

And I thought about Damien's hands, the same hands that threw me into the snow. My jaw tightened.

In two weeks, the world would end, but this time I would be ready. I would have food, shelter and money. The Hales would have only each other, and I wondered how long that would last when the food finished and the cold became too much.

By evening, I had found a small studio apartment near the industrial area. I paid for one week with my last money aside the 5 dollars that was left in my savings.

I got inside the apartment and I put my bag on the floor and looked around. It was small, but it was comfortable.

That night I couldn't sleep. I kept taking the ticket out of my pocket to check it was still there. 

I would be telling a lie If I said doubt wasn't creeping into my mind. What if this doesn't go as it was in the previous life.

My phone buzzed, snapping me out of my thoughts. It was a text from Damien.

*I signed the divorce papers alread. I'm sorry it happened this way. But Chloe and I really care about each other.*

I stared at the message. Two years of marriage, and this was all he had to say. I didn't answer, because he didn't matter anymore.

The divorce was already filed, and he could keep every dollar he had. I had two weeks to prepare for the end of the world, and I wasn't going to waste a single second.