Chapter 001

Mara jerked forward with a ragged breath as camera flashes blinded her again and again.

“Mom... where is my mom?” Her frantic gaze dropped to her hands.

They were empty, although only a moment ago, her mother had been dying in them. The heat had cooked them from the inside while their skin remained almost untouched. Mara could still hear her mother begging for water and felt the final breath leaving her body.

But there was no burning street beneath Mara now. There was carpet under her shoes, cold air against her skin, and hundreds of people waiting and cheering beyond the curtain.

Her shaking hand found her phone.

The screen that wasn't melting showed October 1, 2050.

A message from her mother was just beneath the date.

Mom: I have reached the Calder villa. I will prepare dinner before you return. Good luck with the signing.

Her mother was alive, and Mara had returned forty-five days before the apocalypse began.

“What are you doing?” Jason’s hand closed tightly around her wrist.

“I hope you are not trying to mess this up. If anything goes wrong today, I will end our marriage immediately.”

His grip tightened. “Fix whatever this is because you will be going onstage in a few minutes.”

Mara barely heard him. Her eyes remained fixed on his face as a cold twist dug into her stomach.

The man she called her husband was responsible for her death. He had taken everything from her and claimed her self-cooling hotel blueprint as his own.

During the apocalypse, when there had not been enough rooms for everyone, Jason had chosen Selena, his mistress, and her cat's newborn children over Mara and her mother. Then he had them thrown onto the street without so much as a bottle of water.

They had been the easiest people to discard.

It did not take long before the heat began cooking them from the inside. As her mother died in her arms, Mara vowed that if she ever received a second chance, she would never again ignore his red flags because of a stupid word called love.

Loud cheers from the crowd dragged her back to the present. Jason forced a smile onto his face and pulled her toward the stage.

“It is our turn now. There must be no mistakes, so at least be smart enough to follow the script you were given yesterday.”

The old Mara would have nodded and folded. This time, she looked directly into his eyes with so much disgust twisting through her that she could barely stand his touch.

She could end his life there and then, but death would never be enough for everything he had done. First, she would take back everything he and his family had stolen from her.

This time, her mother would live, the hotel would remain hers, and Jason would learn what it felt like to lose everything.

Mara snapped her wrist out of his hand and walked onto the stage. The cheers grew until they became deafening.

The agreement and official stamps were already waiting on the podium. The document would transfer full ownership of Mara’s hotel design, patents, prototypes, and future profits to Jason and the Calder Group. In return, Mara would receive almost nothing.

The wedding was his repayment; he always reminded her.

Born in one of the hottest regions on earth, Mara had spent years turning her family’s inherited cooling design into a self-cooling hotel that could actually work. She only lacked the money to finish it, and Jason’s family had promised to provide it.

Jason had money and status, but he could barely pass his university classes without her. Mara completed his assignments, corrected his designs, and eventually became the unpaid brain behind everything the Calder family owned and claimed.

Even when Jason took credit for her work in public, a few blown kisses from him had kept her quiet. Meanwhile, he slept with Selena and promised to marry her once Mara signed away the hotel.

Jason stood beside her and smiled for the cameras. “Sign the agreement, darling.”

Mara looked across the crowd one last time. She picked up the agreement as though it were nothing more than a piece of shit and tore it in half.

The hall fell silent as the two halves dropped onto the podium.

The investors stared at her in disbelief. Had the cowardly daughter-in-law of the Calder family finally grown some balls? Or just went mad.

“You were all expecting me to sell off my rights, weren’t you?” Mara asked. “Well, I would rather sell them to a stray dog than to someone who barely passed his exams without my help.”

A rush of gasps spread through the crowd.

Mara felt Jason’s stare on her before he marched onto the stage, grabbed her arm, and dragged her behind the curtain.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Are you too dumb to see it? How did I ever fall in love with someone like you?”

“I do not know what this is about, Mara, but you will pull yourself together and sign that agreement.” His voice rumbled from his chest.

Usually, Mara would have whimpered whenever he became angry. Now, his anger only irritated her.

“So you can take my hotel and start a family with your mistress?” Mara’s eyes moved toward Selena before returning to him. “Will it be one child, or should I say children?”

Jason’s muscles tensed, and his jaw tightened. Mara had never seen him so speechless before.

His surprise only lasted a few seconds before his expression hardened again.

“If I cheated, it was because you pushed me to do so Mara. Selena listens to me, and she would never humiliate me the way you just did. She is beautiful, calm, and obedient, unlike you. You're not delicate, you're hard.”

He straightened his back and looked down at her.

“Do I need to remind you that marrying me was a privilege? I can end this marriage whenever I want.”

“You call that a privilege?” Mara’s voice turned cold, but Jason mistook her calmness for fear and didn't even bother to hide his smirk.

“You still have a chance. Go back there and tell everyone that you made a terrible mistake. Say you were not thinking clearly, or tell them you took something. I would prefer the second excuse, and I will repair your reputation later.”

Mara stared at him, wondering how stupid she had allowed this man to believe she was.

“Is that so?” she asked loudly.

“Yes, and if you correct your mistake now, I will make sure I do not blame you for what happened today.”

Mara lowered her head slightly. “You are right. I made a mistake.”

From the corner of her eye, she caught the excitement brewing in Jason’s gaze as she began walking back toward the stage.

“I told you she would crawl back,” he whispered to Selena. “Once she signs, the hotel is ours. Then I will divorce her myself.”

Mara did not miss a single word.

Jason followed her onto the stage and raised a reassuring hand toward the audience. Believing she had returned to correct her mistake, the crowd began applauding again.

Another copy of the agreement was already waiting on the podium. Mara tapped the microphone twice before lifting her gaze to Jason.

“There will be no need for another agreement because I will not be signing away my hotel.”

Jason’s smile vanished as Mara held his gaze.

“I want a divorce.”