A SON IN LAW TURNS BILLIONAIRE AFTER DIVORCE

The wind didn’t just howl; it tore through the ruined fabric of Leonard’s winter gear like broken glass, biting straight into his bleeding flesh.

Every breath felt like swallowing crushed ice, even though it was cold.

He slumped against the shattered metal frame of the snow crawler, his lower body completely pinned under two tons of mangled steel. Heavy dark blood seeped into the white snow beneath him, turning it to slush. Just a few hundred meters away, the massive, rogue corpse of the mutant snow beast lay still, its steaming blood freezing instantly in the sub-zero air.

Ten years. Ten long, brutal years since the Great Freeze stole the world. He had built the Asgaurd Harbour from nothing. He had fed over two thousand families. He was their shield.

And now, he couldn’t even feel his legs.

Thump... thump... thump…

The deep and heavy rumble of snow crawler vibrated through the frozen ground.

Leonard forced his swollen eyelids open. A pale hand trembled as he raised it into the blinding glare of the ice. A silhouette stepped out from the passenger side, wrapped in pristine, heated fox-fur lining.

"Wait... Is that actually Leonard?"

Leonard’s heart stopped. The sound of that voice hit him harder than the freezing temperature.

"Susan...?" he rasped, his throat raw and coated in dry blood.

Susan Miller. His wife of fourteen years. A woman who had never once set foot outside the heavily fortified walls of the Asgard Harbour since the day it was built.

Then, another figure stepped down from the vehicle, casually adjusting a heavy tactical jacket. He walked over to Susan, sliding a leather-gloved arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his side.

Jonathan Brad.

"Well, well," Jonathan chuckled, his breath pluming smoothly in the air. He looked down at Leonard like he was examining an ugly smudge on his boot. "Look at you. You really are hard to kill, aren't you?"

Leonard’s eyes darted between Jonathan’s arm and Susan’s face. "Susan... what... what are you doing out here? It’s... it’s not safe..."

Susan didn't flinch. She didn't reach for him. She didn't rush forward in tears. Instead, she let out an irritated, high-pitched sigh, wrapping her arms tighter around Jonathan.

"Look at him, Jon," Susan scoffed, her voice cold, dripping with impatience. "He won't even last another five minutes. If he doesn't bleed out, the cold is going to finish him off anyway. Why did we even drive all the way out here?"

"H-How..." Leonard coughed, dark red spittle spraying across his cracked lips. "The... the expedition... The geothermal valley..."

Susan burst into a melodic, cruel laugh. "A geothermal valley? Are you seriously that stupid, Leonard? In this weather?"

Jonathan pulled her closer, pressing a lingering kiss right on her cheek. Susan giggled, leaning into his touch right in front of Leonard’s bloodshot eyes.

"There was never a valley," Susan said, her eyes gleaming with cold mockery. "The scavengers found that beast two weeks ago. Only one of them came back alive."

Leonard’s mind raced through the haze of agony. "The... the scavenger... He said... he said he had post-traumatic stress... He lied..."

"He didn't lie to me," Jonathan grinned, tapping his chest proudly. "He’s my man, Leonard. Has been since day one. We fed you the coordinates. We told you it was a paradise. And like the noble idiot you are, you insisted on leading the team yourself."

"You..." Leonard’s fingernails dug into the frozen ice, ripping his own skin as he tried to drag his trapped body out. "You set me up... Fourteen years... Susan, I gave you everything!"

"Oh, stop whining!" Susan snapped, stepping closer and looking down at him with disgust. "Fourteen years was more than enough! You think I enjoyed living in your shadow? You think I liked watching you play the hero while I sat back and waited for scrap metal and ration cards? We don't need you anymore."

She slowly raised her right hand, pulling off her thick glove.

On her ring finger sat a plain, dull gold ring.

Leonard’s jaw tightened. "My... my heirloom..."

"Your 'cheap' ring," Susan corrected, tilting her hand so the pale sunlight caught the metal. "You gave this to me years ago and I threw it in a drawer because it looked like trash. Imagine my surprise when I found out what it actually does. A spatial dimension? Infinite storage? Do you have any idea how much food and fuel was tucked away inside this thing?"

"It... it went missing three weeks ago..." Leonard gasped, the sickening realization crashing down on him. "You stole it..."

"I took what was mine," Susan sneered. "With this ring, Jon and I don't need your permission to feed the Harbour. We hold the food. We hold the power. The people will bow to us now, not you."

"Susan... please..." Leonard’s voice broke, tears freezing on his pale cheeks before they could roll down. "I nearly died ten times over to keep you and your family alive! Your mother, your brother... I gave them royalty treatment in the Harbour while others starved!"

Jonathan chuckled, resting his chin on Susan’s shoulder. "Yeah, and we really appreciate that, pal. Truly. Oh, by the way... before you kick the bucket, I should probably clear up one little detail."

Jonathan leaned in slightly, his smile twisting into a malicious grin. "Mark isn't yours. He's my son."

The words hit Leonard like a physical sledgehammer. The air left his lungs completely.

"W-What...?

"Mark is Jon's son," Susan confirmed smoothly, not a single trace of guilt in her dark eyes. "I was already pregnant with Jon’s baby when I forced you into that quick marriage fourteen years ago. You raised his boy. You fought for his boy. You nearly froze to death five years ago getting medicine for his boy."

"No... No, no, no!" Leonard roared, a horrifying, gut-wrenching sound tearing out of his chest. "MARK! MY SON! YOU LYING BITCH!"

"Shut up!" Susan barked, turning toward the vehicle. "Come on, Jon. Mark is waiting back at the main bunker, and the board members need to meet their new leader. I’m freezing out here."

"Right behind you, baby," Jonathan said. But instead of walking to the passenger side, he climbed into the heavy steel driver’s seat of the snow crawler.

The high-powered engine roared to life, spewing black exhaust into the white storm.

Leonard looked up from the ground, his vision fading to black around the edges. "Jonathan... SUSAN!"

"Goodbye, hero," Jonathan yelled out the open window.

He slammed the crawler into gear and floored the accelerator.

CRASH!

The massive iron bumper slammed directly into the mangled wreckage pinning Leonard. The sheer force snapped the remaining frame, sending the twisted metal sliding violently across the slick ice—right over the lip of the ravine.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Leonard felt his grip slip. The snow gave way. He plummeted into the abyss, his body smashing against the jagged, frozen rock faces on the way down.

THUD!

He hit the bottom of the ravine, his bones shattering upon impact.

Above him, framed by the grey sky, two tiny silhouettes stood at the edge of the cliff. He could hear their faint, distant laughter ringing over the howling wind.

Fourteen years…

A lie... All of it was a lie…

My wife... my son... my life work…

Hot, fiery rage flared up inside his chest, defying the freezing ice creeping into his heart.

If I had a second chance... If I could go back... I would burn every single one of you to ashes!

With his very last breath, Leonard screamed into the endless void: "EVEN IF I COME BACK AS A GHOST, I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!"

Darkness consumed him.

"Leonard! Are you deaf?!"

SLAP!

A sharp, stinging pain exploded across Leonard’s right cheek, snapping his head to the side.

A hard hand violently shoved his shoulder, making him stagger backward into a wooden frame.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" an irritated, shrill voice shouted directly into his face. "Are you just going to stand there staring like an idiot? Just sign the damn paper!"

Leonard gasped, his eyes flying open.

There was no snow. No howling wind. No smell of blood or frozen steel.

Standing right in front of him, her cheeks flushed with anger and her hands resting on her hips, was Susan. But she wasn't wearing heated fur gear. She was wearing a light designer blouse and jeans. She looked smooth, young, and entirely unblemished by the apocalypse.

Leonard’s chest heaved. He lifted his hands, staring at his fingers. They weren't black from frostbite. They weren't broken. His legs... he was standing on his own two feet!

"Did you hear me?!" Susan yelled, grabbing a pen from the glass table beside them and shoving it hard against his chest. "My brother needs that money for his startup today! You promised my mother you’d sign over the deed to your grandfather's warehouse to secure the bank loan! Why are you looking at me like that?!"

Leonard ignored her screaming voice. His eyes slowly drifted past her shoulder, fixing on the digital calendar hanging on the brightly lit living room wall.

MAY 17, 2028. 10:14 AM

Leonard’s breath caught completely in his throat. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs like a trapped beast.

May 2028…

The Great Freeze didn't start until August.

Ninety-two days.

He was back. He had returned to the past—ninety-two days before the end of the world.