Chapter 003

The safe had disappeared into the pocket space, and Mara could recall it just by thinking about it.

She recalled it and watched it return to the exact spot where it had been. All she had to do was touch an item and think, Store. Bringing it back only required another thought.

There was no time to keep testing inside the Calder villa, so she took Evelyn back to their old two-bedroom apartment before Jason returned.

Once they were home, Mara tested other items: a ballpoint pen, some food from the kitchen, and fresh vegetables. Everything remained exactly as it was when she kept it there.

She started the stopwatch on her cell phone before sending it into the pocket space. When she removed it two minutes later, the stopwatch was still at zero.

No time had passed inside the pocket space. That meant she could keep anything there, and it would never go bad.

Soon, going outside for supplies would become almost impossible. This was the most valuable thing she could have asked for.

[POCKET SPACE CAPACITY: INFINITE]

Another sound chimed in her mind, and Mara’s face lit up with excitement. She had not only been reborn, but she had also gotten a system.

With this, she could stockpile and prepare for the apocalypse. Even with the self-cooling hotel, getting food in her previous life had still been a struggle.

If living things could enter the pocket space, she might even protect her mother from outsiders during an attack. It was perfect, and she did not have any time to waste.

Mara checked her account balance and liquidated all the money in her savings. The words FOR JASON’S SIGNING GIFT were written boldly above the fund.

A bitter sensation rose through her guts almost instantly.

She had been willing to give up her rights, yet she still planned to buy Jason a gift worth half a million dollars with money from her sold blueprints and engineering jobs.

“Damn, you were really stupid, Mara,” she said to herself.

But that stupidity had ended. With the money, she could buy her first supplies, stop Jason from accessing the rest of her work, and file a lawsuit against him.

She picked up her phone and dialled a contact she had deleted two years earlier.

“Your husband finally released the leash he had around your neck?” Grace asked once the call connected.

A sad smile found its way onto Mara’s face. Grace had been her closest friend before Jason.

They studied different courses, but they did everything together, argued about law and engineering, and helped each other whenever either of them was broke.

Then Jason demanded that Mara cut off everyone outside his approved list, and she had been too head over heels in love to question him.

“I am sorry, Grace. I should never have cut you off.”

Grace released a slow breath. “How can I be sure he will not throw another rule at you tomorrow, and I will not hear from you for another two years?”

“Because I am divorcing him, and I need your help.”

“Did you just say divorce?” Grace choked on her breath. “You want to divorce Jason Calder, the same Jason I know?”

Mara’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I will also sue him for stealing credit for my work, using my name without permission, trying to take my blueprints, and allowing his family to abuse my mother.”

There was a long silence before Grace finally spoke.

“Am I speaking to Mara?” She drew out every syllable.

“Yes, you are,” Mara replied flatly.

Mara could almost hear the smile spreading across Grace’s face.

“It is great to know that my friend finally got her brain back. May it remain permanent.”

In her previous life, Grace had begged to be allowed into the hotel. Mara let her stay for one night, but Jason chased her out the next morning and claimed people had to become cold to survive.

He would soon get a taste of his own medicine.

“Send me every document you have,” Grace continued. “I will prepare the divorce papers and ask the court to stop him from touching your work.”

“I will send everything today. I also got legit intel about a drought and extreme heatwaves coming within the next few weeks. You should stock up on food, water, and medicine.”

By the next morning, the broadcast from the signing ceremony had made Mara popular. The banker recognised her immediately when she went to make a withdrawal.

“Are you sure you want to cash out all the money in your account?” she asked, still eyeing Mara.

“I also want to take out a loan of one million dollars,” Mara replied flatly.

“One million?” She raised a brow.

The banker requested the paperwork, and Mara offered her part of the unfinished hotel as collateral. The bank needed to confirm her ownership and value the property before approving the loan, but her personal money was available immediately.

In a few months, money would become useless. Only resources would matter, and everyone would return to the primitive mode of exchange known as trade by barter.

“It's her.” She heard whispers as she walked off from the hall.

“She's a really stupid one isn't she?” Another muttered.

They stiffened when Mara stupid and turned towards them.

“No, soon you will realize you are the stupid ones. Actually, not too long from now.”

Mara rented the empty shop beneath their apartment as a temporary storeroom before going to a water-bottling factory.

Water would be one of the first things affected. Once the power failed, treatment plants would stop working, damaged pipes would contaminate the water, and bacteria would kill almost as many people as the heat.

After ordering a full truckload with installment payments, Mara bought food from a wholesaler and visited a licensed armoury for guns and ammunition.

During the coming apocalypse, the heat would be a problem, but people would become the real monsters. She needed to protect herself, her mother, and her fortress.

She also bought clothes, cooling suits, batteries, and as much medicine as she could afford. Wherever possible, she used installment plans to reserve more supplies.

When the trucks arrived, the neighbours peeked through their windows.

In her previous life, Mara brought those neighbours into the hotel. Jason later chose them because they offered him tributes and agreed to search for food.

Even though Mara had saved them, they said nothing when Jason betrayed her. Some had even been happy because they thought they could take her position.

Now, they watched the trucks moving in and out as though Mara had gone mad.

“The divorce must have gotten to her,” one woman said.

“I heard she was on drugs when she ruined the ceremony,” another added.

Jason had clearly started spreading his version of the story.

They became quiet when Mara walked past, but she did not spare them a glance. Even if she had the luxury of time, they could all rot when the apocalypse came.

Mara paid the workers to unload one delivery at a time into the rented shop. Once each team left, she locked the doors and moved everything into the pocket space.

It took several hours before all the food, water, medicine, clothes, weapons, and other supplies had been absorbed.

[ALL ITEMS STORED SUCCESSFULLY]

Another sound chimed inside her head before something tugged at her leg.

When Mara looked down, a pair of green eyes stared back at her. It was Muse, Evelyn’s cat and favourite pet.

She and her mother could use the company when they became tired of each other during the heatwave. Muse was family too.

Mara picked the cat up and wondered whether she could enter the pocket space. Before Mara could stop herself, the command Store crossed her mind.

Muse vanished from her arms, and a smile tugged at Mara’s face.

Then something unexpected happened. A different sound chimed inside her head, and this one sounded like the ticking of a clock.

[LIVING CREATURE DETECTED. TWO-MINUTE COUNTDOWN BEGINS.]