Chapter 1 Rebirth
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Kiara shot up, lungs burning, her breath coming hard and fast.
The bedroom around her felt both strange and familiar, sending a chill through her chest.
I’m supposed to be dead, aren’t IP
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In her previous life, after surviving one extreme weather disaster after another, she was betrayed–trapped in a cave by her dad and half–sister, who brutally peeled off her flesh to sustain themselves.
The memory of her final moments was so vivid and horrifying that sweat drenched her back.
The phone kept ringing. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a trembling hand and pulled it out from under the pillow.
Yara Sharp’s name flashed across the screen. A shadow flickered in her gaze. She jabbed the button to reject her call sharply.
She and Yara had a score to settle–one she would never forget
But then she froze, her eyes went wide.
The date glared up at her from the screen–May 15, 2030, 2:29 p.m.
Is this a dream?
She pinched her arm hard. The sharp pain told her it was real.
Kiara had been reborn–five years earlier, in the last quiet stretch before the end of the world.
Kiara remembered the day perfectly. July 3rd, 2.49 a.m.–the volcano on Joplor, which had been dormant for three centuries, erupted without any warning. Lava poured for a whole week.
An entire nation vanished.
No one realized then that it was just the beginning.
Soon after came the unbearable heat. Temperatures soared to 167 F and stayed there until October.
Millions died.
Then came the rain–torrential, endless.
It was as if the sky had been torn open, dumping more water each day than the last.
In less than a month, catastrophic flooding swallowed the great cities of the world, grinding modern civilization to a halt..
When the rains finally stopped, the survivors barely had time to catch their breath before the deep freeze arrived–ice storms and blizzards that swept across the globe.
And then… earthquakes, hurricanes, sandstorms, tsunamis, glaciers collapsing into the sea–disaster after disaster, until most of humanity was gone.
Those who remained could hardly still be called human.
By her count, there were less than two months before the apocalypse began.
Kiara forced herself into motion, heading to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.
The woman staring back from the mirror had bright, clear eyes and flawless skin–a round, youthful face–completely unlike the hollow–eyed survivor worn down by years of relentless struggle in her past life.
Her
gaze dropped to the pendant at her neck–a Madonna pendant passed down from her grandmother.
In her previous life, five years into the apocalypse, while fleeing another attempt on her life from Yara, her blood had
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accidentally stained the pendant’s crystal inlay. She accidentally discovered its secret–inside was a storage space where time stood still.
Crops could grow, Supplies never spoiled.
Trapped in that cave as Yara’s food supply, Kiara had thought a thousand times–if she could start over, she would make full use of that space
Without thinking twice, she grabbed a brow razor, cut her finger, and ler a drop of blood fall onto the Madonna’s face.
After a flash of light, she heard the sound of running water. Before her appeared a gentle hillside of nearly 20 acres, covered in fertile fields. At its heart stood a two–story wooden lodge, sprawling over more than 50,000 square feet.
She stepped inside the empty lodge and focused.
With a faint whoosh, a massive four–door refrigerator appeared in the corner of the living room
Just like before.
It was only when the dizziness hit her that she pulled herself out of the space. Her nose felt wet. She touched it with a tissue- nosebleed
The space could hold living creatures, but intelligent beings suffered if they stayed inside too long. Nosebleeds, vertigo,
weakness
In her last life, she’d died before finding a cure for those symptoms. This time, she would find a way.
There was no time for sentiment. The clock was ticking. There was too much to do.
She sat down at her desk, opened a blank document, and started typing.
After five years of scavenging and trading to survive, she knew exactly which supplies would be the most precious.
Seven pages of lists later, she reviewed, double–checked, and then scoured the web for more ideas. Three more followed before she finally leaned back.
Then came the hard truth–how much money did she actually have?
The answer made her want to cry.
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Once, she had been the proud landlord of three prime high–rise buildings in Zloria’s Harborview district. Now, she had less than 200,000 dollars in cash.
Her grandmother had made a fortune in the gem trade, but Kiara hadn’t inherited her gift.
Her mother, hopelessly romantic, had married Hugh Sharp–a charming gambler who slowly drained her of everything she owned.
Only her grandmother had seen through him. Before she died, she converted her assets into those three Harborview towers and put them in Kiara’s name, forbidding any transfer of ownership.
After her grandmother’s death, the rent from those towers was all that kept Kiara and her mother afloat.
Hugh couldn’t access that income, so he revealed his true nature, bringing home his mistress and Yara, his illegitimate daughter, who was only a few months younger than Kiara
Her mother had taken it hard. She jumped to her death.
Naive and craving family, Kiara became Hugh’s new cash cow, funding his happy household and Yara’s spoiled upbringing with her rental income.
If not for the apocalypse, she might still be bankrolling those parasites.
Her jaw tightened. She grabbed her phone and unblocked a real estate tycoon who’d been pestering her for months. “Mr. Swanson,” she said, “do you still want those buildings! I’ll give you a steal–two billion. Transfer today, contract today.
There was a pause. Then came a delighted laugh from Carfield Swanson. “Deal. I’ll have the papers drawn up immediately.”
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He knew exactly how valuable that property was–the location was prime, and Garfield had already heard redevelopment was coming. Two billion for all three was a steal
Two hours later, Kiara stepped out of Garfield’s office.
Her bank balance now had nine glorious zeroes, which eased her worries.
Now came the fun part–shopping.
She moved fast–renting several massive warehouses in Eastgate, each over 30,000 square feet.
Then she drove to the farmers market and bought premium rice, flour, cooking oil, spices, canned goods, sausages, cured meats, and every dairy product she could store, instructing vendors to deliver directly to her warehouses.
Two million gone in one trip, and she didn’t haggle, paying without thinking
Water wasn’t a problem–her space had fresh, drinkable streams. These supplies could keep her alive for a lifetime.
With food secured to keep her alive, the next on the survival checklist was clothing.
The apocalypse brought deadly, unpredictable weather, and survival often came down to the right gear.
She rented a small truck and headed to Cloudwood, a district crammed with garment factories. Most of the larger ones usually filled overseas orders that produced quality products.
But with the apocalypse looming, shipping them abroad no longer made sense–better for her to seize them now.
It took effort, but she finally got a meeting with a factory manager.
Kiara ordered T–shirts, jeans, sweaters, long down coats, snow boots, sneakers, thermal underwear, hiking boots, tents, parkas. hats, and scarves.
To avoid looking like a lunatic and getting thrown out, she kept her order relatively modest–requesting multiple sizes in both men’s and women’s styles,
Even so, Kiara read from her list for a solid 30 minutes without stopping, leaving the factory manager’s jaw hanging open Who ordered that many clothes in one go and for every season? It wasn’t like the end of the world was coming What was the rush? He had good reason to suspect she was just here to mess with him, and the list in her hand was all the proof he needed. Sensing his expression growing darker by the second, Kiara calmly pulled out her bank card. “I can pay a deposit now.” “20 million,” the manager said after a pause, taken aback by her seriousness.
Flush with cash and not shy about spending it, Kiara swiped the card right away. “I want this order fast–ideally finished within a month. And while speed is important, so is quality.”
The factory manager’s stern look vanished instantly, replaced by a fawning smile. “Of course, ma’am.”
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