Chapter 58-The same old trick

Chapter 58: 58-The same old trick

Sarah’s eyes narrowed. There it was again, that effortless confidence. It was the same confidence that had infuriated her in their previous life, except now it was worse.

Sarah had spent the entire night believing that rebirth had finally given her an advantage. She had borrowed money, bought a ship, stockpiled supplies, and prepared for the apocalypse.

She had believed she could finally stand above Aymara. Yet here she was, exhausted, terrified, and barely surviving, while Aymara sounded like she had just woken up from a comfortable night’s sleep.

Sarah’s breathing became uneven. The old humiliation returned with every calm syllable Aymara spoke. Sarah had wanted to be the one looking down this time, and she had wanted Aymara to be the desperate one, the one reaching out, the one forced to admit that Sarah had won.

Instead, Aymara had found them first. And she sounded pleased.

"Where are you?" Sarah asked, her eyes scanned around, she wanted to see how Aymara was seeing her because she had a feeling the girl was watching her. "Give me your address and I’ll send you whatever you want."

Aymara smiled. "Why should I tell you that?"

"I just want to know."

"No, you don’t."

Sarah’s face went pale. Aymara’s voice was still gentle, but there was something cold beneath it now.

"You want to know whether I’m safe. Don’t you?"

Sarah’s jaw tightened. It was like Aymara could read her mind and understand the schemes in her head.

"You want to know whether I prepared better than you."

Sarah’s nails dug into her palm. She did indeed what to know that. It felt unfair to lose to Aymara all the time.

"And most importantly..." Aymara paused. "You want to know whether you and Dylan can find me and take what I have for yourselves."

Sarah’s heart stopped. Her eyes instinctively moved toward Dylan, who was already staring at her. The look in his eyes made Sarah’s stomach drop.

"Give me the phone," he demanded.

Sarah hesitated for one irrational second, she wanted to hold it tighter and keep Aymara’s voice away from him. She wanted to prevent even one more word from reaching him, but Dylan was already leaning toward the phone, already pulled toward Aymara by something Sarah could neither control nor destroy.

"Give it to me, Sarah!" His voice was harsher this time. She slowly handed it over, and Dylan snatched the phone from her. "Aymara," he uttered her name.

There was something almost desperate in his voice. Sarah heard it immediately and frowned. That softness and urgency he had not shown her in years.

Aymara raised an eyebrow at the sound of his voice. She took a careful sip of her coffee and the hot beverage filled her soul with warmth.

’How the mighty have fallen,’ she thought bitterly. ’In the past life, I was the one who was reduced to desperate pleas. Now, it’s your turn!’

"Dylan," she uttered his name coldly.

"Where are you, Ayma?"

"I called for Sarah. It’s rude that you’d interrupt out conversation like this," she said playfully, her finger drew circles on the coffee mug. "It’s girl talk. No boys allowed so hand the phone back," she added to piss him off.

"Stop playing games," Dylan asked, clenching his jaw. He was clearly holding back his anger after her provocation.

Aymara’s expression cooled. She wanted to laugh loudly at how hard he was trying.

"I’m not the one playing games. I’m serious about having girl talk with Sarah."

Dylan’s grip tightened around the phone. "You knew this was coming, didn’t you?" He asked, suddenly understanding that she might’ve been reborn too.

It was the only explanations to her selling everything and disappearing in the days that led to the apocalypse.

"I knew enough to prepare after Sarah warned me," Aymara said, pinning her foresight on Sarah’s warning to avoid giving Dylan ideas that she too had been reborn along with his mistress.

"Then you knew people would die and didn’t say anything."

Aymara’s eyes hardened. "And?"

Dylan fell silent. Aymara continued, "You’re asking me questions as though we were still dating. We’re not."

His face tightened. Being reminded that they had broken up didn’t matter to him, what hurt was knowing that she might be living better than him and he’d lost the relationship in which he could demand to join her.

"We can put the past aside for now. I never agreed to the breakup, Aymara."

Aymara almost laughed. He was sounding hilarious to her. He must still think that she was as easy to manipulate as in her first life.

"Can we?"

"You know what I mean," he said, taking a step away from Sarah.

Sarah who had been listening in on them felt as though all of her was set on fire. The way her presence lost importance in his eyes the second a better option appeared truly hurt.

"No, Dylan. I know exactly what you mean," Aymara’s voice became colder. "You want my help."

Silence followed as she called it what it was. He wasn’t being polite to honour what they once shared, it was to trick her into helping secure his life in the apocalypse. The same old trick he pulled in her first life.

"You want my ship and my supplies," she let out. "And you’re hoping that after everything, I’ll still be stupid enough to save you."

Dylan’s jaw clenched. "You can’t just let us die!" His voice cracked.

Sarah stared at him, and even she hadn’t expected him to sound that desperate.

Dylan had always been so confident and so certain that Aymara would bend for him. Yet now his voice carried panic, and beneath that panic was something Sarah recognized with sickening clarity, longing.

He wasn’t only afraid of dying. He wanted Aymara to answer him, and he wanted her attention, forgiveness, and rescue. He wanted to hear her say that he still mattered to her.

Aymara heard it too, and something inside her settled. In her previous life, she had begged him, pleaded, and sacrificed everything. Now he was the one begging.

"What happened to all that confidence, Dylan?" Aymara asked softly. "Why do you sound so broken down?...It’s only the first week of the apocalypse."

Dylan’s face darkened. He hated that his voice had lost the power it once had over her. "I’m asking you to help us."

"My answer is no," the answer came instantly. Dylan’s breathing stopped, and Sarah’s eyes widened.

"No?"

"No," Aymara took a slow sip of coffee. "You made your choices and now you get to live with them."

Dylan’s fingers trembled with anger. "You’re really going to leave us?"

Aymara smiled faintly. "I won’t leave you."

Dylan’s eyes flickered with hope. Sarah saw that hope bloom across his face, and something hot and vicious twisted through her chest.

Even after everything, one gentle phrase from Aymara could still reach and move him so. Sarah could have screamed, torn the phone from his hand, and crushed it beneath her heel but then Aymara continued.

"I’ll simply let you survive on your own and see how long you two go before you start tearing each other apart!"