$100 Million Before Doomsday: My Doomsday Shelter System

Chapter 4: The Café

The call came at noon.

Joshua was sitting on a park bench three blocks from the house, scrolling through the Doomsday Shelter System on his phone and studying the list of upgrades he could unlock with enough points. Fourteen days left on the countdown. Fourteen days before the sky would split open and the world would start dying. He needed to move fast, but he also needed to deal with the mess Elena was going to throw at him before he could focus on anything else.

His phone buzzed and Elena's name appeared on the screen. He stared at it for two full seconds before answering.

"Joshua." Elena's voice was sharp and high, dripping with the kind of confidence that only came from a woman who believed she was still in control. "We need to talk about the divorce. I've already spoken with my lawyer and we have terms for you. Meet me at the café on Fifth Street at two o'clock. Don't be late."

She hung up before he could respond. She always did that. It was her way of making sure he knew she was the one calling the shots.

Joshua slipped the phone back into his pocket and a slow smile crossed his face. He had already texted Victor that morning.

The café on Fifth Street was one of those trendy places with exposed brick walls and overpriced coffee that tasted like burnt cardboard. Joshua pushed through the glass door at exactly two o'clock and spotted Elena immediately. She was sitting at a corner table with her legs crossed and her chin lifted, wearing a white blouse and gold earrings like she was heading to a business meeting instead of a divorce negotiation.

Sitting next to her was a woman Joshua had seen a few times before. Jessica Palmer. Elena's best friend from college, and apparently now her divorce lawyer. She was thin, with sharp cheekbones and dark hair pulled back in a tight bun, and she had the kind of face that always looked like it was judging something. A stack of papers sat on the table in front of her, and she was tapping a pen against the edge of her coffee cup with a rhythm that said she had already decided how this meeting was going to go.

Joshua sat down across from them without saying hello.

"Well, look who actually showed up on time for once." Jessica looked him up and down with a little smirk pulling at her lips. "Elena told me all about you, Joshua. I have to say, I expected someone a little more impressive. But I guess when your entire career is fixing leaky faucets, expectations should stay low."

Her voice was light and casual, like she was making small talk at a dinner party instead of insulting a man to his face.

Joshua didn't react. He just folded his hands on the table and waited.

Jessica took his silence as weakness. Her smirk got wider and she opened the folder in front of her, pulling out a printed document and sliding it across the table toward him.

"Let's not waste each other's time. Here are the terms. Elena is being very generous, considering what you put her family through yesterday." Jessica tapped the paper with her pen. "First, you will pay Elena ten thousand dollars per month in alimony. Second, you will transfer full ownership of the house to Elena. Third, you will cover all legal fees for both sides. These terms are non negotiable."

Joshua looked down at the paper. Then he looked up at Jessica.

"Ten thousand a month." He repeated it slowly, like he was trying to figure out if she was joking. "For a woman who hasn't worked a single day in the past six years. And you want me to hand over a house that my parents left to me before I was even married."

"Your parents aren't here anymore, Joshua." Elena's voice cut in, cold and smooth. "And that house has been my home for six years. Our home. I raised a family there."

"You didn't raise anything there." Joshua's eyes moved to Elena and held steady. "You sat on the couch while I cooked, cleaned, repaired, and paid for every single thing under that roof. The only thing you raised was your expectations."

Elena's nostrils flared but she kept her composure. She turned to Jessica and nodded. "See what I mean? He's been like this since yesterday. Acting like a stray dog that suddenly thinks it's a wolf. Don't let him bother you. Just proceed."

Jessica leaned forward with her elbows on the table. "Joshua, I'm going to be very honest with you. I've seen a hundred men like you walk into negotiations like this thinking they can bluff their way through. It doesn't work. You have no lawyer. You have no resources. Elena has told me that you gave her every cent you earned during the marriage, which means right now, you can't even afford a bus ticket, let alone a legal fight."

She paused to let that sink in.

"So here's my advice. Take the deal. Sign the papers. Walk away with whatever dignity you have left. Because if this goes to court without a lawyer, I will bury you so deep you'll forget what sunlight looks like. Do you understand me?"

Joshua leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "No."

Jessica blinked. "No?"

"No to all of it. The alimony, the house, the legal fees. All of it. Every single demand on that paper is garbage and you know it."

Elena slammed her palm on the table so hard the coffee cups rattled. "You ungrateful dog! You think you can just say no? You think this is a game? I gave you six years of my life and this is how you repay me?"

"You gave me six years of lies." Joshua's voice stayed level. "That's not the same thing."

"It doesn't matter what he thinks, Elena." Jessica put a calming hand on Elena's arm, but her own eyes were sharp and annoyed. "Without a lawyer, he's got nothing. He can bark all he wants but when we get to court, this little act of his is going to fall apart in about five minutes."

"Who said Joshua can't win this case?"

The voice came from behind them. Deep, calm, and carrying the kind of authority that made all three of them turn around at once.

Victor Haines stood at the entrance of the café in a dark gray suit with a leather briefcase in one hand. His steel colored eyes swept across the table, taking in Elena's stunned face, Jessica's frozen smirk, and Joshua sitting calmly in his chair. He walked over without rushing, pulled out the empty chair next to Joshua, and sat down like he owned the building.

Elena looked at Victor and then looked at Joshua with her eyebrows pinched together. "Who is this?"

"This is my lawyer." Joshua didn't smile, but something satisfied passed through his eyes.

Elena let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "Your lawyer? You? The man who couldn't afford to buy himself a new pair of shoes last month suddenly has a lawyer?" She shook her head and waved her hand dismissively at Victor. "I don't know who you hired, Joshua, but it doesn't matter. Jessica is one of the best lawyers I know. Don't hold back, Jess. Teach them both a lesson."

Jessica hadn't moved. Her pen had stopped tapping. Her face, which had been sharp and confident just thirty seconds ago, had gone completely white. She was staring at Victor Haines with her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide, like a student who had just been caught cheating on an exam by the one person she never wanted to see.

"Professor?" Jessica's voice came out thin and shaky, nothing like the smooth, aggressive tone she had been using a minute ago. "Professor Haines? Why are you here?"

Victor looked at her. He studied her face for a moment with no recognition at all, the way a man looks at a stranger who has called him by name in a grocery store.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The color that was left in Jessica's face vanished completely. Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out. She looked like someone had reached inside her chest and yanked out every ounce of confidence she had.

"I was your student. At the law school. Jessica Palmer. I graduated four years ago."

Victor's expression didn't change. Not a flicker of recognition. Not even a polite attempt to pretend he remembered her. He simply looked at her for another second, then turned his attention to the papers on the table. He picked up the document Jessica had prepared and began reading through it. His eyes moved down the page slowly, and with every line he read, his expression got colder.

When he finished, he set the paper back on the table and looked at Jessica with the kind of disappointment that made the air in the café feel ten degrees cooler.

"You wrote this?" His voice was quiet but it cut through the room like a knife through wet paper.

Jessica nodded, barely.

"Ten thousand dollars in monthly alimony for a spouse with no income contribution to the marriage. Full property transfer of a pre marital asset. Complete coverage of opposing legal fees with no counterclaim provision." Victor shook his head slowly. "With this level of ability, you actually graduated from the law school where I teach?" He paused and let the silence do its work. "Don't tell people you're my student in the future. It's too embarrassing."

Jessica's eyes dropped to the table. Her hands were trembling in her lap and her jaw was clenched so tight it looked painful. She didn't say a word.

Elena looked between Jessica and Victor, and for the first time since the meeting started, real fear flickered across her face. "This doesn't change anything. Joshua is still broke. He can't afford to fight me in court."

"Your husband's financial situation is no longer what you think it is." Victor opened his briefcase and pulled out his own folder. "Now let's discuss the real terms. Joshua is requesting the full return of all non marital expenses he covered during the six years of your marriage. Housing costs, food, utilities, medical bills, everything he paid for that should have been shared equally. That total comes to a significant sum."

Elena's mouth fell open.

"In addition," Victor continued, his voice as steady as a metronome, "due to your documented infidelity during the marriage, Joshua is also seeking five hundred thousand dollars in emotional damages."

The café went dead silent.

Elena shot to her feet so fast her chair scraped backward across the tile floor. Her face was red and twisted, and her hands were shaking at her sides.

"That's a lie! I never had an affair! I never cheated on him! Not once!" Her voice cracked and echoed off the brick walls, and every person in the café turned to stare at her.