When she opened her eyes again, she found herself reborn. It was 2027 and there was a month left to the beginning of the apocalypse. She was about to leave the bed again when the man sleeping next to her opened his eyes and coughed.
Sunshine stiffened up like a cat caught in the act of stealing fish.
Slowly, she turned her head around and her eyes collided with those of Hades Thorne.
He cleared his throat.
She blinked.
He cleared his throat again.
She blinked twice.
He cleared his throat for the third time.
She scratched the side of her neck.
For a woman that had terrified a lot of people in the apocalypse with a single command, she was now tongue tied.
"I am thirsty, can you help me drink some water." Hades said.
Sunshine went around to the side table which had a water bottle with a straw inside. She held the straw to his mouth and helped his drink until the bottle was empty. Slowly, she walked to the table and put down the bottle. Then, she faced him, slightly nervous.
"I...." She started.
"I know that you were not willing to marry me." He said, beating her to it. "I also know that you did not climb into my bed, you were drugged and placed here. It must have been the doing of someone else. I suspect that it could be my parents, yesterday they went to your family with a proposal for you two sisters to marry. One of you could marry me and the other my son Cassius. Your sister chose to marry Cassius which left you to end up stuck with me."
Sunshine recalled this. In her last life, there had been such a proposal indeed. Mr. and Mrs. Quinn had proposed two marriages to her aunt and uncle.
Two sisters, daughters of servants. One was to marry the older and wealthy but newly paralyzed CEO and the other his foolish adopted son Cassius. They had suggested that Sunshine marry Hades while Moon marry Cassius.
Moon had been jealous; she wanted to be the one that married Hades and instantly become a rich lady, so she drugged his drinking his water and climbed into his bed.
They had been discovered in bed together. Even though everyone knew that Hades was paralyzed from the neck down and could not have sex, the fact that Moon was laying naked in his bed caused uproar. She got her way, and she married him.
Sunshine on the other hand had chosen to marry Cassius, the fool. They never actually married as the wedding which was scheduled for two months in the future never happened because of the apocalypse.
The shock of this change in marriages sunk into her mind slowly.
"Did you say that my sister will marry Cassius?" She asked in a confused voice.
"Mmmm." Hades confirmed. "I know that he is your boyfriend, and you must hate me for what you have been forced into. Don't worry, I will not touch you and I don't expect anything from you. Wait for me to recover and I will give you a divorce. I will compensate you generously when the time comes."
"Boyfriend!" She sneered. "Mr. Quinn, I am not Cassius' girlfriend. I simply treat him well because we were friends before he had an accident and turned into a fool. There is no such thing as a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. I hate fools."
Hades had no idea what to make of her response. He had noticed how close the two were and naturally assumed that the two had something deeper than friendship going on. Why was he detecting a hint of malice in her voice now?
"If you say so." He breathed out, wincing inwardly in pain as he made an effort to turn his head away from her.
There was no point in trying to emphasize the facts to her new husband, Sunshine excused herself and left the room. Her mind was troubled by the fact that she had been forced to care for a foolish fiancé in the apocalypse. After rebirth, she had a paralyzed husband, and she would have to care for him in the apocalypse. And his three sons!!
Had she been reborn to be a nanny again?
Did she have a world's best foolish caretaker stamp on her forehead?
With heavy thoughts on her mind, she took the paved path leading to her aunt and uncle's house which was a standalone bungalow that was positioned near the servant's quarters and not so far from the main house.
On her way there, Sunshine thought about the change in the present life. How come Moon had chosen to Cassius instead of Hades? There was no way her money loving cousin had rejected the offer to marry Hades and miss the chance to become Mrs. Quinn unless she had a very good reason to do so.
Had her sister been reborn just like she? Was this why she had changed her mind? Because she knew that Cassius was not really a fool but someone that would rise to become one of the strongest men in the apocalypse? Did it mean her cousin had been reborn before her? If yes, what kind of head start did she have? Questions bombarded her mind as she gently urged the mournful door to yield and entered the house.
"Aunt? Uncle?" Her voice echoed as she wandered into the newly furnished house. The new expensive furniture was part of the gifts her aunt and uncle had received for approving the marriages. Sunshine could not help but feel like she had been sold in exchange for material gains. Her aunt and uncle were mostly nice people, and they did show it, but they yearned for luxury just like their daughter Moon did.
Distant echoes that came from the hallway that led to her bedroom crept into Sunshine's ears. Her aunt seemed frustrated by whatever was going was going on. Sunshine wasted no time in heading to that direction after all she had come home for one thing only, to find her bracelet. The so-called lucky charm which made a fake fool a king in the apocalypse. In this life, she would be the king, the top dog.
To her surprise, her aunt and Moon were inside her bedroom. It was a small room, having been a storage area that was turned into a bedroom after Moon refused to share her big bedroom. It was as if a hurricane had swept through the small room. Everything was scattered all over the place, her clothes not that she had many, mechanical engineering handbooks, her work boots even her mattress was flipped to the wall, and it had been cut into with a knife.
Sunshine hid first and peeked into the bedroom. What were they looking for, she wondered.
Her aunt spoke up in a worried tone. "Sweetheart you cannot ransack your sister's property just because you believe that she has some bracelet that you let her borrow. You can just wait for her and ask her for it. What if she finds you going through her things." Her voice shook as she spoke, yes, she was worried about Sunshine's reaction, but she was more worried about her husband. He was very protective of Sunshine and treated the girls equally unlike her that favored her daughter more than Sunshine.
"Too late." Sunshine entered her bedroom and picked up her books from the floor. Gently she placed the books on the old reading desk in the corner before looking at her cousin. "Moon what bracelet are you talking about? I cannot recall you lending me anything of the kind."
Moon creased her brows and chewed on her bottom lip like a child caught in the act of stealing a sugar crystal. She was surprised to see Sunshine as she was not expecting Sunshine to return tonight.
"Sister Suni, have you forgotten? What is wrong with your memory? Or is it mine?" She scratched her head. "It is a red bracelet with golden lines going through it, have you not seen it? It is very important to me." She let out a tired and half broken sob.
Sunshine twisted her lips to the side; her suspicions had been confirmed Moon had been reborn just like her and she was after the so-called lucky charm.