2: Asset liquidation

Vivi paced back and forth in her bedroom, trying to decide what to do now that she had been reborn.

The residual panic of her past death had completely faded, replaced by the sharp focus of someone who had already lived through the end of the world.

She checked the time. 08:30 AM.

Ward was probably sitting in his car or finishing his coffee, expecting her to act like her old self, timid, accommodating, and easily manipulated into paying for dates while Susan reaped all the benefits.

Vivi scoffed and shook her head.

“No more.”

With a cold sneer, she walked over to her desk and opened her laptop. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before muscle memory, sharpened by years of surviving in the dark, lawless world of the apocalypse, took over.

In her past life, Ward had constantly bragged about his smart investments, his joint business accounts, and the lines of credit he shared with Vivi under the guise of “building a future together.”

In reality, he had been using her clean credit score and personal savings as a safety net for his failing startup.

Now, that safety net was going to fund her ticket to absolute power.

Vivi bypassed the two-factor authentication on Ward’s primary business portal with ease. She had memorized his passwords, security questions, and PINs from the countless times he had made her handle his paperwork. What he had considered a convenient arrangement had given her access to far more information than he had ever imagined.

Click. Click.

The screen flashed, displaying their joint assets, corporate credit lines, and personal savings accounts.

Her expression turned mocking.

Ward had nearly three hundred thousand dollars in liquid assets spread across various accounts, plus several high-limit business credit cards currently maxed out by his extravagant spending.

“All mine,” she said with glee.

Using a decentralized, overseas crypto-transfer protocol she had learned, she began draining the accounts. She transferred the funds in rapid, encrypted increments so the banks wouldn’t flag immediate fraud until it was far too late.

Transaction successful. Transaction successful. Account balance: $0.00.

She wiped out his savings, emptied his business emergency funds, and maxed out every credit line attached to his name. She even liquidated the value of the car they technically co-owned by transferring the title leverage through an online broker service she knew would process the payout instantly for a fraction of the cost.

By the time she was finished, Ward Hoover was legally, financially ruined. He didn't know it yet, but he was already a pauper sitting on a mountain of invisible debt.

Not that it would matter. The world was coming to an end anyway.

Bzzzt.

Her phone vibrated on the desk.

A message from Ward appeared on the screen.

> Ward: Babe? Did you hang up on me? Susan and I are waiting to pick you up. Hurry up, we don’t have all day.

>

Vivi picked up the phone, her eyes cold and emotionless.

She still had a few days before she needed to leave for Veridia, so she had no intention of revealing her hand too early. If she suddenly blocked Ward and Susan, packed her bags and vanished a week before the end of the world, those two parasites would undoubtedly grow suspicious.

Worse, Ward might realize his accounts were drained by her, sabotaging her plans to use his stolen funds in the new world.

‘No,’ she thought, tapping her foot impatiently. ‘I need to play the long game.’

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

‘Besides, those two? They haven’t seen anything yet.’

Staring back at the message, she forced her expression to soften, before calling Ward back. When he answered, she made sure her voice carried just the right amount of hesitation and apology.

“Hey, Ward. I’m sorry about earlier. I wasn’t feeling well. Could we reschedule the outing? Maybe sometime next week?”

On the other end, Ward scoffed, completely buying it. “Fine. Whatever. Here I was trying to take you out, and you’re rejecting me. Just make sure you’re free later next week.”

Nami rolled her eyes.

‘Oh, I’ll be free,’ she thought with a cold, internal smile.

She looked back at the laptop, and closed it with a pleased smile on her face.

In her past life, she would have been trembling with guilt by now, agonizing over whether she had done something wrong even when she was the one being mistreated.

But as she looked down at her hands, she felt no guilt whatsoever, only a deep, chilling sense of peace.

For once, she had put herself first, and she intended to keep doing so.

She made sure not to leave a single digital fingerprint linking back to her name. Everything was routed through offshore proxies and decentralized wallets, hidden behind layers of encryption.

Ward had no idea she had such a hidden talent after all.

Throughout the day, Vivi struggled to contain her excitement. She paced around her apartment, prepared breakfast, ate, and then resumed pacing, unable to settle down for long.

She was literally waiting for the end of the world.

Later that afternoon, she finally collapsed onto the couch and switched on the television.

The news was filled with ordinary political debates, economic reports, and other mundane headlines. Everything was proceeding as usual, as though the world had no idea what awaited it.

In just a few short years, however, the news would be dominated by elite Hunters, terrifying monsters, and the sudden appearance of spatial gates in the middle of cities.

The world she remembered was approaching, and nothing could stop it.

Just then, her phone buzzed against the couch cushion.

A message from Ward appeared, followed almost immediately by another.

Vivi crossed her legs and unlocked the screen.

> Ward: Babe, what the hell is going on? I tried to pull cash for lunch and the ATM said my card was invalid.

> Ward: My banking app is showing zero across all accounts. Did the bank lock something? Answer your phone.

>

Vivi exhaled slowly, allowing a small, humorless smile to touch her lips.

Lunch?

She was fairly certain he was with Susan at that very moment.

‘Oh, how I wish I could see the look on your face right now.’

She waited a full two minutes, just long enough to simulate being busy or half-asleep before dialing him.

She infused her voice with a mild, sleepy confusion.

“Hello?” she murmured, rubbing her eyes for effect.

“Vivi! Thank God!” Ward’s voice came rushing through the speaker, breathless and strained with panic. “Listen, something’s wrong with my bank. My primary account, the business line, my savings… they’re all wiped out. Every single cent is gone. The app says zero balance!”

“What?” Vivi gasped, making her voice sound shocked and alarmed. “Wiped out? How is that possible? Have you called the bank?”

“I’m looking at the error codes right now! It looks like a massive security breach or some kind of system-wide hack!” Ward ranted. “I’m ruined if I can’t access those funds today. We need to go down to the branch right now. Grab your bag, I’m coming to pick you up.”

Vivi widened her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Oh… oh no, Ward. Are you sure? Could it just be a glitch? Do you want me to check my account, too?”

“Check yours, yeah. See if your card works, though what you have wouldn’t even cover my grocery bill,” Ward muttered under his breath.

Even in the middle of a financial crisis, his usual condescension had slipped through.

Vivi almost laughed.

He didn’t suspect her for even a second.

Why would he?

In Ward’s eyes, she was financially ignorant, technologically incompetent, and entirely dependent on him. He genuinely believed she was the kind of woman who would struggle to operate an ATM, let alone drain a multi-tiered corporate and personal financial portfolio.

He had no idea how much she had deliberately lowered herself to fit his ideal image of a weak, obedient girlfriend.

“My card went through fine this morning when I bought coffee,” Vivi lied smoothly, her tone soft and reassuring. “Don’t panic, babe. Just drive to the main branch and have them check your accounts. It must be some kind of server error. I’ll keep my phone nearby in case you need me.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. It’s probably just a bank glitch,” Ward muttered, sounding as though he were trying to convince himself as much as her. “I’ll call you back once I sort everything out.”

The line clicked dead.

Vivi lowered her phone and tossed it onto the couch.

For several seconds, she stared at the television screen before a look of pure disdain settled over her face.

“Enjoy yourself while you still can, Ward Hoover.”

Her lips curved into a cold smile.

“In a week, money won’t be the only thing you’ll be worrying about.”