Chapter 2: A Second Chance
Phinex’s POV
“So hot…”
I jerked awake.
The blinding sunlight stabbed into my eyes. I gasped for air, my first instinct to check my fingers.
Soft.
Warm.
No frostbite.
The beach. Bikinis. People laughing and fooling around. The sound of waves.
The sun had bleached the sand white, and the air was thick with heat.
I glanced down at the date on my phone. My pupils contracted.
I was back!
Back to one month before the frozen apocalypse descended.
Mom was still alive.
The supplies hadn’t been looted yet.
No one knew that in a month, this sweltering summer—the one everyone complained about—would become an icy hell on earth.
“Ha…”
I laughed, but tears spilled down my face first.
“I still have a chance.”
“Baby, what are you talking about?”
A familiar voice suddenly sounded behind me.
The smile on my face slowly faded.
“Why are you crying? Are you feeling unwell?”
A hand reached toward my face.
I jerked my head away.
Cecilia stood beneath the sunlight, his black swim trunks outlining his attractive figure. His face wore the gentle expression I had once known better than anyone.
“Baby?” He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
I stared at him for several seconds before asking, “Cecilia, are you hiding something from me?”
His expression froze for only an instant.
A very brief instant.
But I saw it.
So he and Dilia had already been involved by this point… Maybe even earlier.
“Did someone tell you something?” His smile returned quickly. He took my wrist and lifted my hand to his lips. “What could I possibly be hiding from you?”
His lips touched my skin.
Disgusting.
God, if I threw up on the beach, it would be entirely his fault!
I yanked my hand back and rubbed it hard against my pant leg.
Smack!
I slapped him across the face.
Cecilia was completely stunned.
Several people nearby turned to look.
But I suddenly calmed down.
It wasn’t time to tear off the mask yet.
I needed money. I needed time. And I needed to gather enough supplies before Cecilia and Dilia realized what was happening.
So I immediately reddened my eyes and struck first.
“Who are you dressed like that for?”
Cecilia looked bewildered. “…What?”
“Are you trying to seduce other women?”
“Phinex, you—”
“I knew it!” I turned and walked away. “You don’t love me anymore!”
After taking a few steps, I nearly laughed at myself for that ridiculous outburst.
But I held it in.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cecilia still standing there, wearing an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
Soon, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
I didn’t stop walking. As I passed the glass doors, I glanced at his reflection.
Judging by the movement of his lips, he said, “Dilia, something isn’t right…”
…
When I got home, the first thing I did was call Mom.
The phone rang only twice.
“My Nixie, do you miss Mommy?”
Her long-missed, gentle voice came through the phone. I burst into tears.
I had missed her so much.
“Oh, why are you crying?” She immediately grew anxious. “Did Cecilia bully you? Give me the phone. I’ll talk to him.”
She was still the same.
She didn’t ask whether I had done anything wrong. She didn’t lecture me first.
She protected me first.
I covered my mouth and spent a long time forcing the sobs out of my voice.
“I’m fine. He can’t bully me anymore. I just missed you so much…”
“Mom, when your project is finished, come home right away, okay?”
“You miss Mommy that much?”
“Yes.” I nodded hard, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “I miss you terribly. Don’t extend the project, and don’t take on any other work at the last minute. Come home as soon as it’s over.”
Mom laughed. “All right, all right. The low-temperature, cold-resistant crop project is already in its final stages. I’ll come back and be with you the moment it’s finished—half a month from now.”
Low-temperature, cold-resistant crops.
Something stirred in my mind.
And half a month would be enough.
“It’s a promise.”
“It’s a promise.”
After hanging up, I stared at the screen for a long time.
Then I went to the garage.
Parked in the corner was the secondhand car I had bought with my own money before getting married.
It was old, and the paint had faded in two places.
Cecilia thought it was embarrassing. Whenever Dilia rode in it, she would pinch her nose and joke that it was “an antique stolen from a museum.”
I used to think it was shabby too.
Now, looking at it again, I found it unbelievably pleasing.
At least it belonged entirely to me.
I opened the trunk and placed inside the small can of gasoline I had just bought as a spare.
A faint glimmer flashed.
The gas can was gone.
Me: “…”
My first thought was that something had gone wrong with my mind.
“What happened? I just put it in there.” I stared in disbelief.
The garage light was broken, and the dimness made it impossible to see clearly.
After feeling around, I finally found the gas can.
“Huh? Why is this trunk… so strange?”
Before, I could reach both sides without even spreading my arms.
Now, I had to lean almost my entire upper body inside.
A little panicked, I worried that the car had malfunctioned. I quickly started the engine and drove out of the garage.
Under the sunlight, I discovered in horror that…
…
Several dozen minutes later, I drove to the supermarket.
The shopping cart wheels rattled over the tiled floor.
A toilet brush? No.
Clothes hangers? Was I supposed to use them to hang corpses in the apocalypse? No.
Pretty glass cups? They would have to be swept up if they broke. No.
My eyes landed on the off-season sale section.
Snow boots, thermal gloves, candles, thick socks.
I wanted all of it!
I was stuffing down jackets into the cart when a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder.
“My darling Phinex!”
My back went rigid.
Even if I were dead, I would recognize that voice.
I slowly turned around.
Dilia was wearing a light-colored spaghetti-strap dress. Her makeup was flawless, and her sweetness was sickening.
My fingers instinctively tightened around the down jacket.
I wanted to slam her face into the shopping cart right then and there.
But I couldn’t.
There was still a month to go.
The more she believed I was unsuspecting, the safer I would be.
“What a coincidence.” I smiled too.
Dilia gave me a suspicious glance, then looked at the cart full of winter clothes.
“Why are you buying so many winter things? It’s over thirty degrees outside.”
“They’re cheaper out of season,” I said casually. “I’m saving money.”
The contempt in her eyes was almost impossible to hide.
“You’re always so good at budgeting.” She linked her arm affectionately through mine. “You have savings of your own, don’t you? And Cecilia is so rich. Do you really need to haggle over the price of a few clothes?”
Without changing my expression, I slipped my arm free and tossed a pair of snow boots into the cart.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed her expression turn strange.
It was probably because of the phone call Cecilia had made to her.
Perhaps they suspected that I already knew about their ugly, improper relationship.
She followed me around half a row of shelves before finally asking, with feigned casualness, “By the way, how have things been between you and Cecilia lately?”
Here it was.
I lowered my head and checked the sizes.
“Pretty good.”
“Really?”
“What? Are you hoping we’re not?”
She faltered, then immediately laughed and patted me.
“What are you talking about? Of course I want you to be happy. You’re my best friend.”
My best friend.
I nearly laughed out loud.
“Are you?”
“Of course.”
“Then why are you so concerned about my husband?”
The smile on Dilia’s face froze for half a second.
“I—I’m not! I’m concerned about you.”
She instinctively bit her fingernail.
She had always done that whenever she felt guilty.
And somehow, I had never suspected a thing.
I deliberately watched her.
One second.
Two seconds.
Her eyes began to dart away.
