REBORN BEFORE THE BLACKOUT

The car door shut in my face. I stood there with my hand still raised. Blood kept seeping down my leg. I could hear them inside—the engine running, low voices. “Adrian.” I knocked on the window harder. “Adrian, please open the door.” Nothing. “Please. I’m hurt. Just let me in.” His voice came through the glass, calm and distant. “Thea, go.” “You can’t be serious. You know what’s happening out here. Where am I supposed to go to?” “There’s nothing I can do.” “You can open the door.” Silence. “Is there someone else in there?” The quiet that followed told me everything. I gave out a broken laugh. “Of course there is.” The window rolled down a few inches. Adrian sat behind the wheel. He looked tired, but the worst part was the way he looked at me—no love, no guilt, just inconvenience. “Let me in,” I whispered. He shook his head. “You can’t come with us.” “Why?? This is our car. I paid for the repairs. I filled the tank. I packed half the supplies in that trunk for us.” “I know.” His eyes shifted past me. Lena sat in the passenger seat, wearing my jacket. The one I had given her few days ago because she said she was cold. My stomach twisted. “Adrian,” Lena said quietly, “but she’s bleeding.” “I know.” “Maybe we should let her in.” “No.” I stared at her. “You’re really going to let him do this? After everything I’ve done for you?” She didn’t answer. Adrian leaned closer to the window. “That’s enough,Thea.” “What happened to us?” I asked him. He frowned. “You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be.” That sentence. I had spent three years making his life easier. Cooked, cleaned, worked overtime to pay his debts, took care of his parents, sold my mother’s jewelry when his company almost went bankrupt. I never asked for anything except loyalty. Apparently even that had been too much. “Is she the reason?” I asked quietly. He didn’t speak. I looked at Lena. “The late nights. The secret calls. The money that kept disappearing. Was it always for her?” “Thea, this isn’t the time.” “Then when is?” Lena finally looked at me. There was guilt in her eyes, but not enough to make her get out of the car. “I love him,” she said softly. That was the moment the last soft part of me died. I looked at Adrian. “Did you ever love me?” He didn’t answer right away. “Tell me the truth.” He sighed. “Our marriage wasn’t supposed to last forever. I needed someone when my company was struggling. You had money. A stable job. You were willing to help. I thought marrying you would solve a lot of problems.” “So that’s what I was? A solution? For you?” “I didn’t mean it like that.” “But you literally did.” Everything made sense now. Every request for money. Every excuse. Every time he told me Lena was just a friend. He had been using me until he didn’t need me anymore. “And now you don’t,” I said. He stayed silent. “Open the door.” “I can’t.” “Then look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want me here.” He did. “I don’t want you here.” My heart shattered, but the tears never came. Something colder took their place. I nodded. “Alright.” Adrian looked surprised. Maybe he expected me to beg. Maybe he expected the woman who had forgiven him a hundred times to forgive him again. I stepped back. “Thea?” “What?” He hesitated. “I’m sorry.” I looked at him for a long moment. “No. You’re not.” Then I walked away. My leg gave out before I reached the end of the street. I fell hard. The wound had gone numb. I knew what that meant. I looked back once. Adrian was still sitting behind the wheel. He didn’t come after me. I closed my eyes. If I had another chance, I would do everything differently. I wouldn’t marry him. I wouldn’t give Lena a second of kindness. I wouldn’t spend my life taking care of people who would abandon me the moment I stopped being useful. If I could go back, I would choose myself. My last breath left my lips. Then everything went black.