All Chapters of REBORN BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE: MY EX BEGS FOR MERCY: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

POV: ALEXI didn't need to ask if she was hiding something anymore. Now I needed to know exactly what.Sitting inside my tactical command truck, the hum of the engine was the only source of warmth left in the freezing cabin. I had pinned two large transparent overlays across the illuminated glass display panel on my dashboard.The bottom overlay was a detailed meteorological timeline of the abnormal arctic vortex currently roaring across the North Atlantic, a storm system breaking every known climate model in modern history. The top overlay was a chronological map of every single purchase Phina Hastings had authorized over the last eight weeks.I slid the top sheet over the bottom one.The correlation was terrifyingly clean.When the ocean surface temperatures had first dropped by a microscopic fraction in late September, Phina had authorized the purchase of six commercial fuel bladders. When the high-altitude jet stream had shown its first subtle wobble three weeks ago, her shell com

POV: PHINAMy greatest fear wasn’t being arrested, it was losing precious hours while the world moved closer to the edge.The air inside the federal regional offices in lower Manhattan smelled of stale coffee, damp wool, and metallic ozone. Emergency LED lights cast a sharp, sterile glare across the windowless interrogation room, doing little to cut through the freezing chill seeping up through the concrete foundation.I sat behind a heavy steel table, my coat buttoned tight to my chin, my hands folded calmly on the polished surface. Across from me sat two senior agents from the Department of Commerce, flanked by a federal prosecutor holding a thick, overstuffed binder."Miss Hastings," the prosecutor said, tapping his pen against my file. "We aren't holding you under formal criminal arrest yet. But under the state emergency oversight mandate, we have the legal authority to temporarily detain you for up to twenty-four hours while our teams verify the origin and intent of your medical

POV: PHINAThe world wasn’t ending yet, this was just the earth clearing its throat.I stood in the dust-filled corridor of the federal building, my boots planted firmly among the glass shards and cracked concrete. The sharp scent of gas and ozone burned my nose, but I barely registered it. Inside my chest, my heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped animal.This earthquake shouldn't have happened for another three weeks. In my past life, the seismic shifts came long after the ocean currents died, not during the initial deep freeze. The timeline was warping, accelerating, and tearing apart every precise calculation I had made in my notebook.I looked up at Alex. He was standing two feet away, covered in drywall dust and dried blood from the people he had just saved, his gray eyes searching my face with an intense, unyielding focus."Phina," he repeated, his deep voice cutting through the distant wail of sirens and screams outside. "Do you know what's happening?"I stopped pr

POV: PHINAI had spent my entire second life surrounded by people who either obeyed me because I paid them, or wanted something from me. Alex Hart did neither.We stood over the main tactical map in the subterranean command center, illuminated by the cold blue glow of four high-definition monitors. The air outside was howling at seventy miles an hour, but inside, the tension was concentrated entirely over the blueprint of our perimeter."Your Sector Four layout is a death trap, Phina," Alex said, leaning his broad hands flat on the edge of the glass table.I felt a sharp spike of annoyance tighten my jaw. "Sector Four is backed by twelve-inch reinforced concrete walls, automated thermal sensors, and two overlapping sniper nests.""And a single, narrow twelve-foot choke point leading to your secondary evacuation route," Alex countered, his voice completely calm, entirely devoid of anger or deference. "If a desperate crowd hits that outer wall and your guards fall back, that choke point

POV: PHINAI had the resources. He had the skills. But our first real argument proved that having the same goal didn't mean we shared the same heart."You want to do what?" I asked, my voice dangerously low as I set my coffee mug on the steel table.Alex stood across from me in the command hub. He didn't look angry, just resolute. "A forward medical triage post at the base of the mountain road. We set up two heated supply tents, two medics, and basic field trauma kits. We treat civilians coming up from the valley and send them back down with thermal blankets.""Absolutely not," I said flatly. "No tents. No forward posts. No supplies leave this estate.""Phina, listen to reason," Alex said, taking a step toward the table. "The city's main hospital lost its primary generator an hour ago. People are fleeing north on foot. If we establish a controlled boundary three miles down the road, we can treat frostbite, stabilize injuries, and keep desperate crowds from ever reaching our main secur