With only five days left before the world ended, I needed to get away from this family and stockpile supplies as quickly as I could. I made a silent promise to myself.

Soon enough, I heard my mother-in-law’s voice from outside, “Sophia, clean up the table and the kitchen.”

I opened the door to see my husband and mother-in-law lounging on the couch, watching TV. My husband was texting his lover, saying, “Miss you so much, baby. It’s been a whole day.”

From the phone came a reply, “I miss you too, Luther.”

The dining table was a disaster, with food scraps scattered on the floor.

They really saw me as nothing more than a maid and seeing my husband’s smug face made me want to puke.

Old memories flooded back. When he was wooing me, he had been just as deceitful.

He once made a big show with 999 paper roses and showed me his hands cut by the sharp edges of the paper.

I was so touched at the time that I agreed to marry him.

Despite his family’s poverty, he had taken good care of me, providing for me and covering my needs.

If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have married him, ignoring my parents’ warnings and moving so far away.

I earned a good salary and paid for all our expenses myself, while he never contributed any of his 3,000-dollar paychecks.

I covered everything, including food, money, and resources, while he pretended to be polite. But ever since I couldn’t get pregnant, he’d been treating me like a servant.

In the face of the apocalypse, he even suggested that I was wasting resources and should be the first to go.

In my previous life, when we moved to the underground parking garage, food and water were running low. I tried to limit myself to one meal a day, hoping they’d start treating me better.

But instead, my husband secretly signed me up for a supply run while I wasn’t looking. I was shaking with fear.

Meanwhile, his flirtatious coworker was happily eating our food. Why was it always me who had to go?

The woman clung to my husband’s arm with a sickly-sweet smile, her hand resting on her belly.

My mother-in-law’s voice cut through the air with icy disdain. “Hayley is pregnant with our grandchild. She can’t be put in harm’s way.”

She shoved my backpack into my hands and pushed me out the door.

I had hoped, despite everything, that my mother-in-law might have packed some actual food for me.

But when I opened the backpack, I found it was stuffed with sand instead of supplies.

As the sandstorm surged violently, I dropped the heavy bag and tried to run. But without any protection, I was quickly swallowed up by the towering storm.

The TV pulled me back to reality. The weather report was giving a warning.

[We’ve got some unusual weather coming up due to a cold front and a Montana cyclone. Expect strong winds and possible sandstorms over the next few days. Please stay calm, keep doors and windows shut, and avoid going outside if you can.]

My mother-in-law scoffed at the report, still munching on sunflower seeds. “This weather forecast is always off. Who are they kidding? We’re way too far inland for any sandstorm. Pfft.”

I stood by the door, smirking to myself. There was still a week until the apocalypse would hit, and the sandstorm would roll in.

Not just inland areas, but even the coast wouldn’t escape.

I needed to use this week wisely, stock up on supplies, and maybe even get some payback on this family.

On the sixth day before the end, I woke up to noises from the neighboring room.

The bed creaked and there were unpleasant sounds.

“Careful, don’t let Sophia hear,” came a sweet, whiny voice.

“Why should I worry? She can’t even get pregnant. Hayley, hurry up and give me that baby boy!” Luther’s voice was impatient.

In my previous life, I would have cowered in silence, lying in bed and crying quietly.

But this time, I managed to swallow my disgust, filled a basin with water from the bathroom, and stormed over to the door of the next room.

I threw the water straight onto the naked couple in bed.

The woman shrieked as the cold water hit her, and Luther flew into a rage.

I watched their panic with a smirk and said, “Getting frisky already? Thought you might need to cool down.”

“Sophia, are you out of your mind? If you can’t have kids, just get out!” Hayley snapped.

My mother-in-law, hearing the noise, rushed out and started scolding me immediately. “Sophia, Hayley’s staying with us for a few days. If you can’t handle it, you should move out.”

It was as if I was the intruder. I had once tried so hard to please them because of my guilt over not being able to conceive.

Now, she and Luther were quickly calming down the upset Hayley, sweet-talking her.

I looked at the three of them coolly. Moving out was exactly what I wanted, so I went back to my room and started packing my things.