QUEEN OF THE NORTH: APOCALYPSE TRANSMIGRATION MANUAL

"Sign the papers, Kristen. Don't make this any uglier than it already is."

The cold voice sliced through the heavy air of the private dining room like a blade.

Kristen Snow blinked, a sharp, throbbing pain piercing her temples. The rich scent of black truffles and expensive red wine filled her nose, but her vision remained blurry, swimming with fractured colors. She looked down at her hands. They were trembling, resting on the polished mahogany surface of a table that cost more than an average family's annual income. On her left ring finger, a massive, flawless five-carat diamond ring glittered beneath the amber chandelier light.

Where am I?

Just seconds ago, she was huddled in her cramped, freezing apartment, furiously typing a scathing review on a w******l app, cursing out an author for writing a spineless, billionaire-obsessed female lead who shared her exact name. She had fallen asleep with her phone burning against her chest, furious at the character's absolute lack of dignity.

"Are you deaf? My son told you to sign!" A sharp, aristocratic voice barked from her right side, filled with pure disdain.

Kristen turned her head slowly, her senses clearing. Sitting beside her was Victoria Stewart, her mother-in-law, a woman dripping in vintage Chanel jewelry, her face contorted into a mask of deep-seated superiority. Right next to Victoria sat Chloe Harrington, a young woman with pale skin and tear-filled eyes, clutching a designer silk shawl around her shoulders like a fragile, wounded bird.

And directly across the table stood Josh Stewart. The billionaire CEO of Stewart Enterprises was undeniably handsome, with a jawline carved from marble and eyes like chips of unyielding ice. He was pushing a thick leather-bound document toward her with a smooth, dismissive flick of his wrist.

The bold, gilded text on the first page stared back at her: MARITAL DISSOLUTION AND ASSET TRANSFER AGREEMENT.

A violent flood of foreign memories suddenly crashed into Kristen’s mind, making her catch her breath. The sheer force of the mental d******d made her grip the edge of the table. She hadn't just fainted from exhaustion. She had transmigrated. She was inside the very book she had been hate-reading — The Billionaire's Doomsday Obsession.

Worse, she wasn't the blessed, superpowered female lead who would emerge later in the story. She was Kristen Snow, the tragic, canon-fodder ex-wife destined to die a brutal death.

In the original plot of the book, this exact dinner was the beginning of her execution. Josh would use his immense corporate power to force her to divorce him, stripping her of the Snow Mountain Estate — her late grandfather's massive, self-sustaining luxury citadel in Aspen — under the guise of providing a "healing retreat" for his high-risk, pregnant mistress, Chloe. The original Kristen had cried, pleaded for his love, and signed the papers just to please him. Her reward? Exactly seven days later, a freak cosmic anomaly plunged the earth into a sudden, catastrophic ice age. Josh and his toxic mother used her fortified estate to live in absolute luxury, while they threw the penniless, asset-stripped Kristen out into the freezing snow to be torn apart by mutated beasts.

Remembering that stupid book, just made her blood to boil even the more. How can a female lead be that weak?

Kristen glanced at the gold Patek Philippe watch glittering on Josh's wrist.

Friday, October 23, 11:15 AM.

The global frost outbreak was scheduled to hit on October 30 at exactly 11:15 AM. She had precisely one hundred and sixty-eight hours before human civilization collapsed entirely and flat paper currency became worthless trash.

"Kristen..." Chloe sobbed softly, wiping a fake theatrical tear from her porcelain cheek with a delicate lace handkerchief. "Please don't hate Josh. The doctor said my pregnancy is extremely high-risk, and the toxic city air is dangerous for the baby. The mountain estate in Aspen is the only place I can safely carry his child to term. We will compensate you financially, I swear it..."

"Compensate her?" Victoria sneered, crossing her arms tightly as she leaned back. "With what money? Every single dime she spends belongs to the Stewart estate anyway. Kristen, you’ve been a barren, useless wife for three long years. Handing over the Aspen estate is the single useful thing you’ve ever done for this family."

Josh stood tall, his expression completely devoid of warmth as he adjusted his cuffs. "Sign it, Kristen. If you cooperate, I will authorize a ten-million-dollar alimony check to be wired to your personal account. If you choose to fight my corporate legal team, you'll be tied up in litigation until you're left with absolutely nothing but court fees."

In the original script, this was where the protagonist would break down, weeping and begging him not to throw away their three years of marriage.

Instead, a slow, terrifyingly serene smile spread across Kristen’s lips. She looked at the three people sitting in front of her as if they were already rotting corpses.

Ten million dollars in cash? A corporate legal team? In seven days, a single can of beans would be worth more than Josh's entire multi-billion-dollar empire. She didn't need his mercy; she needed his liquid capital to fund her final preparations.

"You want the Aspen Estate?" Kristen asked, her voice steady, smooth, and entirely lacking its usual submissive tremor.

Josh frowned slightly, his cold eyes narrowing as he was thrown off by her calm demeanor. "Yes. The deed must be transferred into Chloe’s name by the end of the business day."

"Fine." Kristen picked up the heavy Montblanc pen resting on the table. Without a single tear, she flipped directly to the final signature page and signed her name with a sharp, aggressive flourish.

Victoria gasped in immediate delight, reaching across the table to snatch the papers away before Kristen could change her mind. "Good! At least you finally recognize your place!"

Chloe let out a soft sigh of relief, a smug, victorious glint flashing deep within her tearful eyes as she looked at Josh.

"But," Kristen said, casually leaning back in her leather chair and crossing her legs, her violet eyes locking onto her ex-husband. "We need to talk about the real financial settlement."

Josh scoffed, a look of deep annoyance crossing his features. "I already told you, my secretary will wire the ten million to your account by tomorrow morning."

"I don't want ten million tomorrow, Josh," Kristen replied, sliding her smartphone across the smooth mahogany table. On the screen was a fully drafted legal injunction, ready to be sent to the federal monitoring commission. "I know about the three offshore shell companies in Panama you used to divert forty million dollars from our joint marital funds over the last fiscal year. That isn't a standard divorce dispute, Julian. That is corporate embezzlement, tax fraud, and grand larceny."

Josh's face instantly drained of all color. His stoic, billionaire facade shattered in an instant. "How do you know about those accounts?"

"I know everything," Kristen smiled, her eyes flashing with a cold, terrifying amusement. Thanks to her meta-knowledge of the novel, she knew his dirty financial secrets better than his own chief accountant did. "I've already instructed my legal team to file an emergency marital asset freeze. If you don't authorize an immediate, irrevocable wire transfer of fifty million dollars to my private liquid account within the next five minutes, I will press federal charges. Let's see what your high-risk mistress does when you're sitting in a federal holding cell."

"You malicious little bitch!" Victoria screamed, slamming her hand on the table, but Josh sharply held up his hand to silence his mother. He was staring at Kristen as if he were looking at a ghost. The submissive, love-struck puppy who used to quiet down at his slight frown was entirely gone. In her place sat a cold, calculating predator who held his entire empire by the throat.

"Fine," Josh hissed through gritted teeth, his breath rattling in his chest as he pulled out his phone. "Fifty million. And we are completely, totally done."

Three minutes of heavy, suffocating silence passed. Then, Kristen's phone vibrated against the wood with a crisp bank notification: Irrevocable Deposit Confirmed. Current Balance: $50,000,000.

Kristen stood up smoothly, grabbing her designer winter coat from the back of the chair. She reached down, unceremoniously pulling her massive diamond wedding ring from her finger, and tossed it right into Chloe’s half-eaten bowl of lobster bisque. The heavy ring splashed hot, orange broth all over the front of the mistress's pristine, white silk gown.

"Ah! My dress!" Chloe shrieked, jumping up in panic.

"Keep the ring, Chloe. Consider it my personal charity to the new bride," Kristen smiled beautifully, her voice carrying a chilling weight as she walked toward the heavy double doors of the private room. Before she stepped out, she paused, looking back at the furious, trembling Stewart family. "Oh, and a final word of advice, spend every single penny you have left today. Eat well. Enjoy the central heating. You really don't have much time left."

With fifty million dollars sitting in her liquid account and exactly seven days on the clock, Kristen stepped out into the crisp afternoon sun. The free chapters in the plot had officially begun, the paid ones were about to start soon, and it was time to go shopping for the end of the world.