In the Frigid Apocalypse My Husband Lost His Wife With His Own Hands Chapter 14

In the Frigid Apocalypse My Husband Lost His Wife With His Own Hands Chapter 14

His eyes slowly reddened.

“Now I know that just because you look back at me once doesn’t mean I’ve earned the right to stand here and

expect you to return.”

I stamped PROBATIONARY APPROVAL across the application.

It was not forgiveness.

It was not permission to become part of my family.

It was only permission for someone who had done wrong to remain within the rules and make amends.

That evening, an alarm suddenly sounded.

A patrol team brought in a newly infected man from outside the walls.

Ice covered his entire body, but he still clutched a child’s backpack tightly against his chest.

Haven staff stopped the stretcher.

“The system has no identity record for him.”

“Under the old rules, we can’t classify him as human.”

I walked over.

“The old rules have been abolished.”

The man’s eyes moved with visible effort.

I held up two fingers.

“If you understand me, blink twice.”

Slowly, he blinked twice.

The crowd fell silent.

I removed the detonation collar from his neck.

For the first time in years, icy blue commands appeared across my vision.

[Warning: An unknown infected has entered.]

[Predetermined elimination protocol activated.]

[Subject 001: execute termination.]

I shut down the master controller.

The words flickered several times, then disappeared completely.

Ethan stood behind me, but he did not ask what I planned to do.

He simply set his toolbox beside the gate.

The decision was mine.

I used a pair of cutters to sever the final control wire.

The gates slowly opened.

Inside Haven, there was no longer just a seventy-nine-degree spring.

There was also an ice-and-snow district where cryogenic beings could live.

Ethan picked up his toolbox and prepared to follow us inside.

I raised a hand to stop him.

“Leave the toolbox.”

He stopped.

“What about me?”

“Wait outside until your application has been reviewed.”

Ethan studied me for several seconds, then nodded.

“Okay.”

This time, he did not follow.

I led the newly arrived cryogenic being through the gates.

The dependent slot on my record remained empty.

It was not a punishment for Ethan.

I had simply learned that leaving a place empty was better than handing it to someone who would make my choices for me again.

I did not know whether I would ever love him again.

But no program could write that ending for me anymore.

I had died once.

I had also been abandoned once by the person I loved most.

So this time, I was not turning back for love.

I had finally gained the right to choose where I would go.

And if Ethan wanted to enter my life again, he would have to follow my rules and begin at the very first step.