Storage space.

Ivy watched him process everything with nothing but mild contempt.

She had already pulled the documents from the drawer.... the divorce agreement and the property sale contract, both complete. She had drafted these exact papers once before in another life… and never gotten to use them.

This time, she would.

She slid them across the table.

"Sign. Thumbprint. Five hundred thousand into my account by tomorrow. Not one dollar short."

Adrian hesitated, staring at the figure.

Five hundred thousand.

His hand trembled slightly. He didn't have that kind of money.

Maya didn't hesitate.

She snatched the pen and shoved it back into his hand.

"SIGN. At this price, you don't think.... you sign."

He did.

The moment his thumbprint hit the paper, the voice returned in Ivy's mind .... calm, precise, like a system notification.

{Warning: Adrian Brooks does not have sufficient funds to complete the agreed payment.}

Ivy said nothing.

She already knew.

The casino. Every weekend. The debts. The loan sharks.

This house had never been about security .... it was collateral.

But Maya would handle it.

She had waited too long for this moment to let it slip.

She would borrow, mortgage, scrape together whatever she needed before Ivy could change her mind.

And by the time everything processed…

The virus would already be here.

This house.

This neighborhood.

Not safe.

A faint, cold thought passed through Ivy's mind.

Let them experience it too.

Afterward, she walked her daughters back to their room, holding herself together by force.

BANG.

The door shut behind them.

Ivy pulled both girls close, her voice low but firm.

"Aria. Lila. Listen carefully. Starting today, you no longer have a father."

She held their faces gently.

"In this home, it's just Mama… and your sisters."

Aria blinked, confused.

"Mama… is it because Daddy doesn't love us?"

Ivy pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"No, baby. It's because we deserve better. Some people aren't worthy of being your father."

Lila nodded, surprisingly resolute.

"Okay, Mama. I don't like Jack anyway… he's always mean to us. If we don't have a daddy, does that mean he won't come around either?"

Ivy hugged them tighter, her chest aching.

"Yes. I promise. No one will hurt you again."

They accepted it.

Children always did.... trusting first, questioning later.

"Go next door and play for a bit," Ivy said gently. "Mama needs to rest."

She watched them leave.

Then turned back to the empty room.

"All right," she said quietly. "Tell me what you are."

Silence.

Then.....

[I am the Bloodline Guardian System. I am here to help you survive the apocalypse… and avoid your previous end, Host.]

Her jaw tightened.

That end.

Aria screaming.

Lila crying.

The baby going still.

The voice continued:

[The choice is yours. Accept this chance… or repeat the same fate .... yours and your daughters'.]

Ivy exhaled slowly.

The hesitation in her eyes faded, replaced by something colder.

Stronger.

"Then help me," she said.

Her voice didn't shake anymore.

DING.

[Step one: locate your inherited key and activate Storage Space. Any object you point at can be stored.]

"A key?" she muttered. "I've never seen...."

[Most inherited keys are bound to heirlooms.]

She froze.

Heirlooms.

Without wasting another second, she crossed to her vanity and opened the bottom drawer.

Inside lay a silver pendant.

The only thing her parents had left her.

"Is it… this?"

Her fingers trembled as she lifted it.

Instead of answering, the system displayed:

[Please create your Storage Space, Host.]

It worked.

Shock flickered across her face.

All this time, she thought her inheritance was the house.

But it had been this.

"I understand now…" she murmured, brushing her thumb over the pendant. "You were protecting me all along."

The system didn't wait.

[Store at least $1,000 worth of items. Time limit: one hour.]

Ivy looked around the room.

Furniture she had chosen with love.

Memories she no longer wanted.

"The bed."

She pointed.

Gone.

Her breath caught.

It felt like erasing something deeper than wood.

[Item worth $400 added. $600 remaining.]

"Original price?" she asked.

[Correct. All items are assessed at purchase value.]

A slow smile formed.

"That's perfect."

That meant everything she had lost… still counted.

She raised her hand again.

"Chairs. Curtains. TV. Rug."

One by one, they vanished.

The room emptied.

And with it, something inside her loosened.

Her movements became faster, more decisive.

Each object removed was another piece of the past erased.

No hesitation.

No regret.

Once she has finished clearing the room...she diverted her attention towards the living room and kitchen even though she was still in the room. She only needed to stretch her heirloom forward anyways and everything would be extracted and that's exactly what she did.

Thinking about it... she remembered that they were actually on their way out in her past life too and now they're gone.

Perfect! Ivy thought inwardly with a smirk on her face.

It'll be perfect for Adrian, Maya and Jack to come back to an empty home.

Ivy cleared everything in the living room...the chairs, dining table, television, rugs.

She cleared everything in the kitchen....the cooker, the cabinets, even foods that was present.

And as if that wasn't enough...Ivy also cleared the paint used in painting the wall. It has value too afterall since the paint was bought with money. The tiles, chandelier... everything was extracted.

By the time Ivy was done...the whole mansion was looking like an abandoned site.

DING.

[Time limit reached. Total value exceeds $50,000. Storage Space unlocked: 300 cubic meters.]

Ivy rested a hand over her belly, her voice soft but steady.

"And now?"

[Apocalypse countdown: 15 days. Evacuate and establish a safe house.}