The cold had stopped hurting.That was how Rhys Darby knew he was dying.An hour ago, every inch of him had screamed. Now there was only a heavy, creeping quiet, and a thin white wind threading through the tears in his winter gear. Each breath fogged and froze before it left his lips.Both legs lay pinned beneath the wreck of the snow crawler. He couldn't feel them anymore.Ten years. Ten years since a solar storm tore through Earth's magnetic field and the temperature fell off a cliff. Ten years since cities vanished under snow, oceans hardened into glass, and mutated beasts crawled out of the white, growing bigger and hungrier with every winter.Rhys had survived all of it. More than survived: he had built New Goshen from salvaged generators and sheer stubbornness, steel walls above, hydroponic levels buried below. Two thousand families slept inside it tonight.Which was why he had believed in the valley.The report had come yesterday. A geothermal pocket far to the north, ground wa

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't want cheap things?" Lexi jabbed a finger at the ring on the floor.In his first life, Rhys had given her that ring as an anniversary gift. It was his family heirloom, and he had known exactly what it meant, but love had blinded him into thinking she deserved something just as precious. Thank heaven she had refused it.He bent down, picked it up, and slid it into his pocket."Why would I stay with someone like you?" Lexi went on, wearing the wounded look of a woman auditioning for sympathy. "You can't even give me the life I deserve."In his first life, that sentence would have broken him. Now it only made him tired."No matter what I give you," he said slowly, "it will never be enough. Will it?"Her hand rose to slap him a third time, then stopped. She had met his eyes. There was no pleading in them anymore, only a patient, bone-deep disgust, and it frightened her more than she wanted to admit.The door swung open. Henry Stowe barged in, s

Lexi tossed her phone onto the couch with a click of her tongue.Marrying Rhys had never been love. It had been convenience: a hasty shield against the scandal of an unmarried pregnancy, and a way to keep her real lover's reputation spotless. And Rhys had been so easy. A live-in servant who cooked, cleaned, raised the child, and handed over nearly every dollar he earned.Now that Chris was eight, the scandal had long since faded. It was only a shame to lose such reliable, free labor.Still, she had no intention of letting him go cheaply.The next morning she arrived at the county courthouse in a pale, flattering dress and found Rhys already waiting outside, hands in his pockets, bathed in morning light."Don't think a divorce is this simple," she warned, trying to pull the old leash tight again. "There's the house, the savings, custody. It's a mess."Rhys met her eyes with chilling indifference. "I don't want the house or the savings. You keep the boy. And I won't pay a cent in child

"What do you mean that bastard divorced you?!"Michael Stowe glared at the divorce certificate with a burning fire of rage in his eyes.In this house, Rhys had been nothing but an obedient dog. He cooked, drove, fixed whatever broke, and handed over practically every cent he earned. And now that spineless mutt had bitten back and run off?Michael simply could not accept it!"Where is he?!" Henry roared from the couch. "I'm going to beat the hell out of him!""Where's Daddy?" Chris piped up, delighted by the commotion. "I wanna hit Daddy too!""That bum is dead to us!" Britt snapped.Instead of crying, Chris clapped. "Daddy's dead! Daddy's dead!"He had spent his whole life watching the Stowes treat Rhys like dirt. Naturally, he had learned to do the same."Seriously, Lexi, why did you agree to this?" Henry leaned forward. "What am I supposed to do now? You know I'm broke.""Exactly!" Michael began to pace. "We were counting on Rhys's paycheck. Bills, groceries, utilities, your mother'

"It's true…Chris isn't Rhys's son."There was no point hiding it anymore.Michael, Britt and Henry had stormed back into the house looking ready to tear someone apart. Lexi gave them the truth in a flat voice. But the moment the words left her mouth, a sharp resentment surged through her.She had told them not to go over there. Had they listened? Of course not.If they absolutely had to confront him, they could have pulled him aside. Instead they had screamed it in front of half the neighborhood.Now everyone in Maple Grove would know. How was she supposed to hold her head up on this street again?"You... how could you?!" Michael's face reddened with rage. "How could you be so careless? You let that bastard find out!"He wasn't angry about the affair—he was angry that she hadn't covered her tracks.This family, birds of a feather."Exactly!" Britt piled on. "But why did you have to lose Rhys? One was your lover, the other paid the bills. They never interfered with each other!"Henry d