And I'd come back to the day before everything ended.
Judging by Owen's behavior, he already knew about the Frost System. In this timeline, I must have already told him.
In my previous life, this was the exact moment I'd refused his demand to take Lesley in.
The apocalypse had a way of stripping people bare, and Lesley Henson was the loudest mouth in any room she walked into. If I let her move in, the entire city would know about my Frost System within three days. Every activation drained my energy. If too many people found out and came begging, I'd be worked to death before the heatwave even broke.
And if I died, my family died with me.
So I'd put my foot down. Hard. I refused to let Owen bring Lesley into our home.
That decision kept Owen, his family, and mine alive through three brutal months of apocalypse.
Lesley wasn't so lucky.
Ten days in, she and her family ventured out to scavenge fresh food. The sun killed them where they stood.
Owen had seemed calm about it at the time. After the apocalypse ended, he arranged the funeral for Lesley's family himself. Then he proposed to me, married me, played the part of a loving husband.
Until the day I was due to give birth.
He told me he was taking me to a prenatal checkup. He drove me to the desert instead.
By the time he finally spoke, I'd been baking under the open sun for ten hours. My lips were cracked. My vision was fading. And he stood over me with that cruel, razor-edged smile.
"Wanda, you really are a selfish bitch! If you'd just let Lesley stay with us, she and her family never would have died! Go keep her company in the grave."
I clutched at his hand, begging, pleading with everything I had left.
"Owen, you can't do this. I'm carrying a baby. The baby is innocent..."
Something vicious flashed through Owen's eyes. He lifted his foot and brought it down, hard, on my belly.
"Lesley was pregnant with my child when she died! I've been waiting for this day! You and your brat can burn in hell together!"
I felt my baby kicking inside me as I was roasted alive in the desert. The searing pain of my skin blistering made me shudder.
"What's with that look on your face?!"
Maybe the memories from my past life had left my expression a little grim. Owen's tone sharpened with impatience. He grabbed the bag of Lesley's clothes and shoved it into my arms.