Since the apocalypse began, humanity had all but vanished. Seizing another person's special abilities had become disturbingly common.

For an ability wielder, each special ability was as vital as one's heart itself. Even minor damage to it could bring devastating consequences, let alone forcibly ripping it out of the wielder.

I was the person with the most special abilities on the entire planet. I carried the fate of mankind on my shoulders in the fight against the zombie hordes. I spent every waking second on guard against betrayal and watching for knives in the dark.

Yet it never once crossed my mind that the fatal blow would come from Savannah, my own wife.

When she handed me that glass of water, I drank without a shred of suspicion. The next instant, tearing agony exploded through every nerve in my body.

Even then, I didn't suspect her. I thought some enemy had poisoned me. I begged her to call for help.

It was only when she showed no surprise at my reaction and calmly took out the extraction vial that the realization dawned on me. She was the one who'd hurt me.

In that moment, a tidal wave of despair swallowed me whole.

I'd once had a chunk of flesh ripped off by a zombie and hadn't made a sound, but right then, tears rolled down my face. I couldn't tell anymore whether it was the physical pain or the heartbreak that hurt worse.

I made a last-ditch effort to ask for help. I pleaded with Savannah, choking out that I would die. However, she merely thought I was lying because I didn't want to hand over my special ability to Edmund.

I coughed up blood right in front of her.

Savannah was an ordinary person who'd never awakened any power. How could she possibly understand how important the special abilities were? She was convinced I was faking it.

After extracting my special abilities, she turned and walked away without looking back, leaving me only the cold sight of her retreating figure.

And so, wracked with unbearable pain, I died.

Savannah successfully implanted the special ability into Edmund's body.

He couldn't wait to test it. A blinding bolt of lightning erupted from his palm, shattering all the glass in the lab.

His face lit up with wild excitement. "I finally have a special ability! I won't have to live under everyone's scorn anymore!"

He grabbed Savannah's hands and looked into her eyes tenderly. "Sav, without you, I would've been called a useless piece of trash my whole life. You're the most important woman in my life."

She shook her head seriously. "Even without powers, you were never a waste. Those people couldn't see your worth. Chase was just lucky that he awakened so many special abilities. How could he ever compare to you? Now, you have a special ability, too. If you ask me, he should step down as captain and let you have it."

She looked so contemptuous at the mention of me that it was as if I were rotting garbage that she couldn't kick far enough away.

Every word out of her mouth stabbed straight into my heart. I heard it shatter, loud and clear.

Yes, I'd awakened multiple special abilities, but I'd also had to train ten times harder than anyone else. I'd never taken even a single day off.

I'd pushed every single ability to its absolute limit. It was only with my power and strength that I'd earned the captain's position and become humanity's hope.

Each time the zombie wave came, I was the one charging at the front, carving out the peace and safety the survivors now enjoyed.

Yet, Savannah easily reduced it to me being lucky.

Edmund couldn't hide the smug curl of his lips, though he pretended to be modest. "Chase has been captain for years, after all. If I tried to take his spot right away, no one would accept it. For now, I'd be happy just being a regular team member."

At that, I clenched my fists so hard that my knuckles turned white. He'd stolen my special ability and was even dreaming of stealing my position as captain. I couldn't wait to see if he was actually capable of holding it!

Savannah suggested they return to Edmund's place to celebrate, to which he instantly agreed.

As an ordinary person, Edmund had a housing allocation that was barely big enough for one. But the moment the door opened, I was stunned.

The place was packed—canned food stacked to the ceiling, sacks of potatoes, and even rare fresh fruit and green vegetables.

Those supplies were things that would cost even me a fortune in points to redeem. How could an ordinary person like him have all of this?

Then, it hit me. I thought about the supplies back home that seemed to run out suspiciously quickly. I would often reach home exhausted, wanting to cook something, only to find the pantry mysteriously empty again.

When I asked Savannah about it, she would just scold me for being useless and for not bringing back enough food. I'd felt so ashamed that I'd upped the frequency at which I traded for items.

Now, I knew the truth. She'd been taking everything I brought home and giving it to Edmund.

Bitterness flooded my chest. All this time, I'd been played for an absolute fool.

I watched as Edmund and Savannah exchanged coy glances and suggestive looks in that cramped room. A storm of grief and fury roared inside me.

I tried with everything I had to tear myself away from this suffocating scene, but some invisible tether yanked me back, chaining my soul to Savannah's side.

Just then, a phone rang. Savannah's face twisted with annoyance. She answered and snapped, "I'm at Ed's place now. Make it quick!"

There was a long silence on the other end. She was about to hang up impatiently when a voice, low and shaking with barely-contained rage, finally came through. "Savannah, Chase is dead. How can you still be in the mood to be with another man?"

It was Sean Tate, my teammate.

Savannah rolled her eyes. "Tell Chase to quit the theatrics. Does he really think I'll fall for this? All I did was give one of his special abilities to Ed. Is he petty enough to make up lies like this to fool me?"

Sean's voice abruptly grew louder as he asked incredulously, "What? You're the one who stripped Chase's special ability?"

Savannah replied indifferently, "Yeah. He has so many. One less won't kill him."

Sean roared, "Do you have any idea that losing a special ability can kill us? We can't afford to lose even one! Chase was your husband! He treated you like you were a queen. How can you be this heartless?"

Savannah snorted. "Stop lying to me. Tell Chase that I'm not coming home tonight."

She ended the call without another word.

Edmund slipped an arm around her waist, putting on a show of concern as he said, "Sav, I think Chase is mad. Should I go apologize to him?"

She shook her head, sounding completely indifferent toward me. "Don't bother. This is something he should've done. Why should he get to hoard all those special abilities? I only took one—that's already showing him respect."

How could she make the things she'd done sound so matter-of-fact? She didn't feel even the slightest bit of guilt toward me.

Then again, it made sense. She never cared about me in the first place. To her, I was just a fool on a leash. She could summon me when I was useful and dismiss me when I was inconvenient.

All the sacrifices I'd made for her were just jokes to her. Everything I had was hers to give away to please Edmund. Even my life meant nothing to her.