A SON IN LAW TURNS BILLIONAIRE AFTER DIVORCE

Chapter 7

He woke before sunrise, showered, changed into fresh clothes, and headed straight for the finest restaurant he could find.

Sitting by a sunlit window, Leonard ordered without so much as glancing at the prices. Prime steak, fresh seafood, delicate pastries, and the restaurant’s most expensive single-origin coffee were laid out before him.

By the time he set down his fork, a deep, comforting warmth had spread through his entire body.

So this is what it feels like, he thought, letting out a quiet, relaxed breath.

Spending money on himself without an ounce of guilt felt... so damn good.

After breakfast, he called a car and headed straight to the state lottery center.

The moment the security guards and senior staff learned why he was there, their entire attitude changed instantly. Smiles replaced stiff formality, and a senior executive personally escorted him into an executive private reception room. His physical ticket and identity were verified through several meticulous rounds of security inspections.

At last, the life-changing winning amount was officially confirmed: Five hundred million dollars.

One hundred million vanished immediately to satisfy state and federal taxes. Leonard also authorized a crisp two-million-dollar charitable donation to keep his name out of the aggressive local news cycle and avoid unnecessary media pressure.

When every signature was finalized and every document stamped, the official amount transferred directly into his newly opened account was exactly three hundred and ninety-eight million dollars.

Leonard sat in the private office, staring at the long string of glowing digits on his phone screen.

$398,000,000.00

To an ordinary person, it sounded like an insurmountable mountain of wealth. But to Leonard, who knew the devastating horrors coming in ninety-one days, it was still not enough. He needed to make it grow—fast.

Representatives from several major national banks had already gathered like vultures outside the reception room door. The moment Leonard emerged, they surrounded him with eager smiles, glossy business cards, and grand promises of exclusive private banking privileges.

Leonard had no intention of locking his money into conservative funds or living off pathetic annual interest. In three months, the entire global financial system would collapse into dust. Every dollar left sitting in a standard bank account would become useless, floating pieces of digital data trapped inside dead servers.

Still, he chose one of the institutions—Apex National Bank—for one simple reason: its nearest premier branch was within easy walking distance of Maple Grove.

The bank’s senior business manager, Yvonne Quinn, personally handled the massive fund transfer and immediately upgraded Leonard to the highest tier of private-client service.

She was an exceptionally attractive woman in her early thirties, with carefully styled hair, a sharp fitted blazer that hugged her frame, and a wide, professional smile that lingered a little too long whenever their eyes met.

Once the final digital signature was captured, Yvonne leaned closer across the polished desk, her perfume drifting faintly toward him.

“Mr. Buck, a process like this must have been utterly exhausting,” she said, her voice dropping into a smooth, intimate murmur. “Perhaps I could show you around the city tonight? Somewhere quiet... just the two of us to celebrate?”

The invitation in her eyes and voice could not have been clearer.

For a brief second, Leonard felt a flicker of temptation. But then, the image of a glowing digital clock ticking down to the end of humanity flashed in his mind.

“No, thanks,” Leonard replied smoothly.

A trace of visible disappointment crossed Yvonne's face, her lips parting slightly in surprise.

Leonard calmly took out his phone. “Let's exchange contact info, though. I may need your direct help moving extremely large amounts of liquid capital over the next few months.”

Her professional smile immediately returned, brighter than before. “Of course, Mr. Buck. Day or night, my line is open for you.”

Leonard hadn't lied to her. He really did need her authority at the bank for his grand expansion plan.

Over the next two months, he was going to use his vivid memories of the pre-apocalypse market to day-trade high-leverage stocks he knew were about to surge. He would turn his nearly four hundred million dollars into roughly two billion before the sky started falling.

Then, in the final thirty days, he would liquidate every single penny out of the financial markets. Every remaining cent would be converted into mountains of non-perishable food, medical supplies, fuel, heating equipment, and tactical gear—all of it loaded straight into his temporal dimensional space.

But before any of that could begin, Leonard needed to buy a proper safe house.

He took a cab straight to Maple Grove, stopping directly in front of the grand property sitting right across the street from the Miller family home.

The estate was massive, structurally reinforced, and possessed an ideal layout that could easily be turned into an impenetrable bunker.

Better yet, buying this specific house would give him a front-row seat to the Millers’ utter desperation when the frozen apocalypse arrived. The two properties were even connected by the neighborhood’s shared underground parking garage, which meant he could pay them a personal visit whenever he pleased without ever stepping foot outside into the storm.

Dear Millers, Leonard thought, a dark, terrifying warmth creeping into his heart as he looked at their front door across the pavement. Did you really think I would let you die of hunger that easily? Everything you put me through, every bit of pain and betrayal I suffered in the ice... you are going to experience every single drop for yourselves.

When Leonard stepped out of the cab, the current homeowner and the luxury real-estate agent he had called the previous evening were already standing by the driveway, shivering slightly in the morning air.

The house was sprawling, modern, and newly renovated with high-grade security features. Leonard walked through the ground floor once, glanced up at the high ceilings, and turned back to face them.

“I’ll take it.”

The female real-estate agent blinked, stunned. “W-What? Would you like to view the upper floor, sir? Or perhaps take some time to negotiate the asking price with the owner?”

“No,” Leonard said calmly, pulling his black card out. “I'll wire a one-million-dollar non-refundable deposit right now. Complete the legal transfer as quickly as humanly possible.”

The owner, who had already cleared out his personal belongings and furniture, was so overwhelmed by the instant cash offer that he handed over the master keys on the spot.

The real-estate agent looked as though she might burst into tears of pure joy right there on the lawn. She had expected weeks of tedious negotiations, building inspections, and waiting on mortgage approvals. Instead, Leonard Buck had purchased one of the most expensive luxury properties in Maple Grove after a two-minute walkthrough. Her commission check alone would be astronomical.

By that evening, the sudden, staggering transaction had become the absolute biggest story in the neighborhood. The news spread like wildfire from doorway to doorway, carried along by local gossips and growing stranger with every dramatic retelling.

Some claimed Leonard had secretly inherited billions from an unknown relative overseas.

Others insisted he was an early cryptocurrency legend who had just cashed out his fortune.

One particularly imaginative neighbor swore on her life that Leonard was an undercover operative who had just sold classified government secrets.

Not a single soul guessed the truth. How could they?

Mrs. Justina, the neighborhood's self-appointed queen of gossip and information broker, heard the unbelievable news before she even sat down for breakfast the next morning.

There was almost nothing in Maple Grove she did not know... or pretend to know.

When she learned that Leonard Buck—Susan Miller's quiet, pushover husband—had just dropped millions in cold cash to buy the sprawling estate directly across from the Millers, her eyes lit up with pure excitement.

“What a wonderful, devoted son-in-law!” Mrs. Justina gasped, clutching her hands together. “He bought it just to stay close to them! Oh, the Millers are so incredibly lucky to have a man like him!”

Eager to be the first to congratulate them, and even more eager to pry into where Leonard’s sudden fortune had come from, Mrs. Justina adjusted her sweater and hurried straight toward the Miller house.

She didn't even bother knocking on the front door. She pushed it open with a wide, beaming smile, stepping into the foyer. “Good morning, my dear neighbors! You won't believe the incredible rumor going around about Leonard—”

Mrs. Justina froze mid-sentence. Her smile vanished instantly.

The entire Miller family was standing in the living room, surrounded by overturned cushions, screaming at each other in utter, hysterical chaos.