The Forsaken Heir of the Frozen End

Chapter 2 The Family He Refused to Save

The moment Pascal stepped into the hallway, Charlotte’s voice struck him like a blade.“Why are you taking so long?” she demanded from downstairs. “The entire world doesn’t revolve around you.”

Pascal stopped halfway down the staircase. For a brief second, the familiar words dragged him back into memories he wished he could tear apart with his bare hands. In his previous life, he would have apologised immediately. He would have lowered his head, swallowed his emotions, and tried desperately to avoid creating conflict.

Now, however, something had changed. The fear that once controlled him had frozen to death alongside his body during the apocalypse. Pascal slowly lifted his gaze toward the living room below. Morning sunlight filtered through the massive glass windows of the Beckham residence, illuminating the luxurious interior with soft golden light. Everything looked peaceful. Elegant. Safe.

Yet Pascal knew better than anyone how fragile that illusion truly was. In fifteen days, those same windows would be buried beneath endless snow. In less than a month, corpses would freeze along every major road in the city. And within three months, civilisation itself would collapse beneath the Eternal Winter.

The thought should have terrified him. Instead, it made him strangely calm. Charlotte sat elegantly on the cream-colored sofa with one leg crossed over the other, holding a cup of coffee as though she were preparing for a casual family discussion rather than dismantling someone’s entire life. Beside her sat Ben, whose face carried the same harmless innocence that had fooled Pascal for years.

Only now could Pascal clearly see what had always been hidden beneath it.Calculation.Ben noticed him first and smiled warmly. “Brother, you’re finally awake.”Pascal almost laughed. The fake affection sounded so convincing that anyone else would have believed it instantly.

Victor Beckham sat silently near the dining area, scrolling through financial reports on his tablet. As usual, the man looked emotionally detached from everything around him. He wore a tailored black suit despite it being early morning, and his sharp features carried the same cold authority that had intimidated Pascal throughout childhood.

Victor rarely shouted. He rarely punished anyone. That made him far more terrifying. Charlotte placed her coffee cup down carefully before speaking. “Sit down, Pascal. We need to discuss something important.”Pascal obeyed without a word, though his eyes remained cold.

The atmosphere inside the room felt disturbingly familiar. He remembered this scene perfectly. In his previous life, this conversation had broken whatever remained of his dignity. Ben suddenly reached over and grabbed the hand of the young woman sitting beside him. Only then did Pascal fully notice her.

Elena Vale.His girlfriend.Or rather, the woman who had once claimed to love him. Elena avoided Pascal’s eyes initially, though guilt flickered briefly across her beautiful face. She wore an expensive white sweater that contrasted sharply against her long dark hair, and her delicate appearance still possessed the same elegance that had once captivated him completely.

Pascal felt nothing now. Not heartbreak.Not anger.Nothing.That frightened him more than hatred ever could. Charlotte folded her hands calmly. “Ben recently introduced Elena to us properly,” she began. “After spending time together, we realised something important.”Pascal already knew what was coming.

Even so, hearing it again made his chest tighten slightly. Ben squeezed Elena’s hand while lowering his gaze shyly, pretending to feel embarrassed.“Elena and I…” he began softly, “we’ve developed feelings for each other.”The room became very quiet. Not naturally quiet.

The kind of suffocating silence that presses against a person’s skin while waiting for emotional devastation to arrive. In his previous life, Pascal had exploded with disbelief the moment he heard those words. He remembered shouting at Ben, demanding explanations from Elena, and begging Charlotte to understand how cruel the situation was.

They had looked at him like he was the problem. Like his pain was inconveniencing them. This time, Pascal simply leaned back into the sofa. Charlotte frowned slightly, clearly unsettled by his lack of reaction.“Elena didn’t know how to tell you,” Charlotte continued carefully. “But feelings change. Ben and she are more compatible.”

Pascal finally looked toward Elena directly. She flinched under his gaze.Interesting.In his previous life, she had appeared far more confident during this conversation. Pascal suddenly realised something important. Elena had expected him to break down emotionally again.

She had prepared herself for guilt. For accusations.For tears. But his calmness was making her uncomfortable.“You should say something,” Ben added softly. Pascal smiled faintly.“You want my permission?”Ben blinked in surprise. Charlotte’s expression hardened immediately. “Watch your tone. Pascal ignored her completely. Instead, he studied Elena carefully.

During the apocalypse, Elena eventually abandoned the Beckham family after resources became scarce. Pascal remembered hearing rumours months later that she had attached herself to a powerful survival faction in the northern districts.

She had always followed strength. Loyalty meant nothing to her.“You can have her,” Pascal said calmly. The sentence stunned everyone at the table. Even Victor finally looked up from his tablet. Ben stared at him in confusion. “Brother… what do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said.” Pascal’s voice remained frighteningly composed. “If the two of you want to be together, then go ahead.”Charlotte narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Something about Pascal’s behaviour clearly disturbed her. Perhaps for the first time in years, she could no longer predict him. Elena finally spoke, her voice uncertain. “Pascal… are you serious?”

He met her gaze evenly.“In fact,” he continued, “this conversation saves me time because I was planning to discuss something myself.”Charlotte frowned. “What are you talking about?”Pascal slowly stood from his seat. Then he delivered the sentence that instantly changed the atmosphere inside the entire room.“I want to terminate my adoption relationship with the Beckham family.”

The words struck the room like thunder. Ben’s expression froze. Charlotte stared at him in disbelief. Victor slowly lowered his tablet onto the table. For several long seconds, nobody spoke. Pascal could almost hear the fragile image they maintained of him collapsing apart piece by piece.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Charlotte finally snapped. Am I?” Pascal asked quietly. Charlotte rose from the sofa with visible anger. “After everything this family has done for you, this is how you behave?”Pascal nearly laughed again. Everything this family had done for him?

The irony was almost unbearable. He remembered working late-night delivery jobs while Ben spent money carelessly. He remembered sacrificing scholarships because Charlotte insisted Ben needed emotional support at home. He remembered starving during the early weeks of the apocalypse because he gave most of his food to them.

And in return? They threw him outside to die. Pascal’s eyes gradually grew colder.“I’m grateful for being raised here,” he said evenly. “But clearly, I’m no longer needed.”That’s not true,” Ben interrupted quickly, though uncertainty lingered behind his expression. “You’re still my brother.”Pascal looked at him silently. Ben unconsciously tightened his grip on Elena’s hand.

For the first time, genuine discomfort appeared beneath his innocent facade. Perhaps some instinct deep inside him realised the older brother he manipulated so easily no longer existed. Victor finally spoke.“What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”Pascal turned toward him.

The man’s sharp gaze felt oppressive even now, but it no longer intimidated him the way it once had.

“I’m becoming independent,” Pascal replied simply. Victor studied him carefully. Pascal could almost see the calculations happening behind the older man’s eyes. Unlike Charlotte, Victor understood people well enough to notice when something fundamental had changed.

And Pascal had changed completely.“You have no money,” Victor said flatly. “No stable career. No support system. Independence sounds impressive until reality crushes you.”Pascal smiled faintly. If only they knew what reality was truly coming.“I’ll manage.”Charlotte suddenly scoffed in frustration. “This is obviously about Elena.”No,” Pascal replied immediately. That answer startled everyone again because it was true. Elena no longer mattered enough to hurt him.

The apocalypse had burned away smaller emotions. Now, only survival remained. Charlotte crossed her arms.“Then stop acting dramatic.”Pascal’s patience finally began to thin. He remembered enduring this same dismissive tone his entire life while convincing himself he deserved it. Not anymore.“I’m not asking for permission,” he said coldly. “I’m informing you.”

The temperature inside the room seemed to drop slightly. Victor’s eyes sharpened. Ben looked increasingly uneasy. And Charlotte’s anger slowly transformed into something more dangerous.Offence.“How dare you speak to me like that?” she hissed. Pascal stepped closer. For years, he had unconsciously made himself smaller around this family.

Less threatening.Less difficult.Less noticeable. Now he stood straight before them for the first time in his life.“You asked what I’m trying to accomplish,” he said quietly. “The answer is simple. I’m done begging people to care about me.”

The words hit harder than shouting ever could. Even Charlotte momentarily lost her voice. Because despite everything, some part of her understood he was telling the truth. Ben quickly stood up. “Brother, we can talk calmly—”“Stop calling me that.”Ben froze. Pascal’s voice had not risen. That made it far more unsettling.

The warmth Ben had relied upon his entire life had vanished completely from Pascal’s eyes. And suddenly, for reasons he could not explain, Ben felt cold. A strange chill crawled across the back of his neck. At the same moment, the chandelier lights above them flickered violently. Everyone looked upward instinctively.

The room darkened briefly before stabilising again. Charlotte frowned. “What was that?”Victor immediately grabbed his phone.“No signal,” he muttered. Pascal’s heart skipped once. That should not happen yet. In his previous life, the global communication disruptions began three days later. A dangerous realisation formed inside his mind.

The timeline was changing. Outside the massive living room windows, snow suddenly began falling.Slowly.Silently.Charlotte stared toward the glass in confusion.“It’s too early for snow.”Pascal’s breathing slowed. The snowflakes drifting outside looked wrong.Larger.Darker.Almost grey beneath the morning light.

Then he saw something that made his blood run cold. One snowflake landed against the window directly in front of him. Instead of melting…It moved. Like a living organism. Tiny frost veins spread outward across the glass before disappearing seconds later. Pascal’s eyes widened slightly. Impossible.

The Living Frost phenomenon was supposed to appear months into the apocalypse. Not before it even began. A terrible thought surfaced inside his mind. His rebirth had changed more than fate. It had accelerated something. And somewhere far beyond the city, hidden beneath layers of ancient ice and darkness, something had already begun to awaken.