Devil Fruit

Chapter 4: Devil fruit.

Julian stared at me for a long moment. I could see the war raging behind his eyes, the battle between his pride and his fear, the struggle between his desire to maintain control and his terror of losing everything he had worked so hard to build. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, and I watched his shoulders slump slightly as he finally realized he had lost this battle, that I had finally found a way to beat him at his own game.

"Fine," he said, his voice cold, bitter, filled with barely contained rage. "I will sign your precious divorce papers, Elara. But I want you to know this is not over, and I will not forget what you have done to me today."

He picked up a pen and signed the papers with quick, angry strokes, shoving them across the desk toward me without meeting my eyes. I felt a surge of triumph flood through my veins as I picked them up and examined his signature carefully to make sure it was valid.

I then took a pen and signed my own name on the dotted line. I wrote my new name, Elara Vance, because I was done being his wife and would not carry his name with me into the new life I was building for myself.

"Now," I said, tucking the signed papers into my purse, looking down at him with a cold, satisfied smile. "We still have the matter of the alimony to discuss. You offered me ten million dollars as part of the divorce settlement, and I intend to collect every single penny of that money."

Julian looked up at me with a shocked, furious expression, and he opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off before he could get a single word out.

"Do not even think about trying to weasel your way out of this, Julian," I said, my voice cold, hard, completely uncompromising. "You put that offer in writing. I have a copy of it. If you do not transfer the money to my account by the end of the day, I will make sure every single person in this city knows exactly what kind of man you really are. I will destroy your reputation, Julian, and I will make sure no one ever trusts you or does business with you again. Is that really a risk you are willing to take?"

He glared at me with pure hatred burning in his eyes. For a moment I thought he was going to refuse, but then his shoulders slumped in defeat and he nodded his head in resignation, because he knew I had him cornered and there was no way out.

"Fine," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, the venom dripping from it making me smile with grim satisfaction. "I will transfer the money to your account by the end of the day. But I want you to know this is not over between us, Elara. You have made an enemy of me today, and I do not forgive and I do not forget."

I laughed, a cold, hollow laugh that made him flinch slightly, because I had never laughed at him like this before, never shown him this side of myself, and I could see the confusion and unease growing in his eyes as he realized he no longer knew who I was or what I was capable of.

"I stopped caring about what you think a long time ago, Julian," I said, turning and walking toward the door without looking back at him. "Enjoy your life with Clara and your secret love child, and try not to think about the fact that you just let the only woman who ever truly loved you walk out of your life forever."

I walked out of his office without looking back. I could feel his eyes boring into my back with pure hatred burning in them, but I did not care, because I was free. I was finally free of him, and I had the money and resources I needed to start preparing for the apocalypse that was coming.

I walked past his stunned assistant, got into the elevator, and pressed the button for the ground floor with a steady hand, watching the doors slide shut on Julian's world. I felt a weight lift from my shoulders that I had been carrying for seven long, painful years.

The elevator descended. I pulled out my phone and saw a notification from the bank confirming my accounts had been frozen, that I no longer had access to them. A surge of cold fury washed over me. I had planned to drain the accounts myself, but now I realized Julian had gotten there first, that he must have suspected I was up to something and moved to protect himself before I could act.

But it did not matter, because I had the ten million dollars coming, and that was more than enough to buy what I needed to survive the apocalypse, more than enough to secure the resources that would keep me alive when everything else fell apart.

I thought of the devils fruit, the only food that would be worth anything when the world ended, the fruit that could give a person the strength and stamina to fight the anomalies and survive the chaos, and I knew I needed to start buying it right away because it would not be cheap or easy to find, but with ten million dollars I could get enough to secure my survival and even share with the people I chose to protect.

I also knew I needed to start building a stockpile of supplies: food, water, weapons, medicine, everything I would need to survive when the world went to hell. I needed to do it quickly and quietly, so no one suspected what I was planning.

The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped out into the lobby of Julian's building, walked through the doors and out into the sunlit streets of Veridia. I breathed in the fresh air and felt something I had not felt in seven long years.

I felt hope.

I felt ready to face whatever came next.

And for the first time since I woke up in my bed that morning, I finally believed I could survive this, that I could make it through the apocalypse and come out the other side stronger and better than I had ever been before.

I had three months to prepare, and I was going to use every single second of them to make sure

I never died alone and betrayed ever again.