All Chapters of REBORN 30 DAYS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

By noon the next day, Ethan had made good on his threat.I was sitting at the kitchen island, drinking black coffee while checking the battery levels of my solar storage system, when my laptop started filling up with notifications.I opened the university's student forum through the dummy account I'd created to keep track of campus discussions. I hadn't expected Ethan to waste much time, but he'd moved faster than I thought.At 10:15 a.m., he'd posted a long message in the senior class forum."I never thought I'd have to write something like this, but my heart is breaking for someone I care about deeply," the post began. "As many of you know, Mira has completely disappeared over the past two weeks. She withdrew from her classes without telling anyone, emptied her bank accounts, and cut off all contact. Yesterday, Clara and I drove out to check on her, terrified that something terrible had happened. What we found was heartbreaking. Mira has isolated herself at an abandoned rural proper

By Tuesday morning, Ethan and Clara had settled comfortably into their roles as the heartbroken victims of my supposed breakdown.Every time I checked the student portal, there was another post about them. Someone had shared a picture of Ethan sitting alone on the library steps with his head in his hands. Another showed Clara surrounded by girls from our major, wiping away tears while they comforted her.They were doing a good job of making themselves look like the two people who had tried everything to help me, only to be pushed away for no reason.Meanwhile, my silence had become proof that I was the heartless one. As far as the other students were concerned, I had abandoned two people who cared about me and disappeared into the woods because I had lost my mind.Around eleven that morning, my personal phone started vibrating on the workbench. I had kept it on silent, hoping to get through my work without distractions, but the messages kept coming.This time, they weren't all from s

At 8:55 on Friday morning, I pushed open the double doors and walked inside.I hadn't planned on attending the hearing. My original intention was to let Ethan and Clara sit in that room without me. But after thinking it over, I realized that allowing them to build an official case against me without defending myself could cause problems later. If they convinced the board that I was a danger to myself, the university might involve municipal welfare authorities. The last thing I needed was someone showing up at my estate before the apocalypse.I wasn't there to beg them to believe me. I was there to make sure Ethan and Clara couldn't use the university against me.I wore a black blazer, dark trousers, and combat boots. My hair was pulled into a neat bun, and I carried a leather portfolio under my arm.Seven people turned to look at me as I entered.Dean Vance sat at the center of the table, flanked by two senior members of the Academic Standing Board and an administrator from Student He

By mid-afternoon, the wind had picked up, sweeping through the pine trees around the estate.I was in the secondary staging garage, adjusting the steel latches on the reinforced transport vehicle, when the perimeter alert sounded against my hip.I pulled out the handheld monitor. Camera 1 showed a black SUV parked near the iron gates. Ethan stepped out and headed straight for the entrance.Unlike his previous visits, he didn't look hesitant or worried. He walked toward the gate with the confidence of someone who believed he still had control over the situation.He didn't bother with the intercom. Instead, he took out his phone and called my burner line.I let it ring three times before answering on speakerphone, keeping my eyes on the monitor."You're standing on private property again, Ethan," I said through the gate intercom. "I'd suggest reading the high-voltage warning signs before touching anything."He stopped just short of the iron bars and looked up at the camera. His jaw tigh

The phone call from the local news reporter left a heavy silence hanging in the air.I sat on the wooden bench in the lower workshop of my grandmother’s house, staring at the dark screen of my phone. The reporter’s voice had been dripping with sensationalized sympathy, like a wolf dressed in the clothing of public interest. They had already bought Ethan and Clara’s story without question. My refusal to comment wouldn't stop the report from airing. It would only be presented as the sulky, paranoid silence of a girl slowly losing her mind.By the following morning, my silence had become a headline.On the school's unofficial forum and local community pages, rumors spread at an alarming speed. Ethan and Clara hadn't simply spoken to a reporter. They had carefully put together a trail of my recent absences, my sudden withdrawal from campus life, and my refusal to accept their so-called help.«“Local University Student Vanishes into Seclusion: Friends Fear Mental Collapse”»The comments be