From Doormat to Doomsday Billionaire!

Chapter 3: Ninety-two days

“Cheap, cheap, cheap!” She pointed a manicured finger at the ring on the floor.

 “Four years, and the best gift you can do is a piece of junk your grandmother wore to the market?”

In his last life, Rhys had pressed that ring into her palm on their anniversary. His family’s heirloom. He had thought she deserved something sacred.

She had thrown it back in his face. The same way she did again.

Thank God for your greed. he thought. 

He bent down, picked up the ring, and closed his fist around it. Next second, It went into his pocket.

Lexi’s lip trembled on cue. Her eyes glistened. She pressed a hand to her chest like a woman bravely enduring a tragedy.

“I gave you my youth. My beauty. And you’re still too pathetic to give me a life I can show off. Do you know how embarrassed I am to be your wife? My friends have husbands. You’re worthless!.”

Once, a speech like that would have ripped him open. Rhys would have apologized. He would have gone to his knees on this very floor and begged her.

Now it only made him bored.

“You know what the funniest part is? I could hand you the whole world, and you’d still complain it was the wrong planet.”

Lexi gasped. The color drained from her face.

She swung her hand again but the slap didnt land.

Her palm stopped inches from his cheek, held by Rhys who stared at her with hot, burning fury.

In that moment, Lexi finally looked into his eyes.

There was nothing there. No pleading. No devotion. No flinch.

Something stilled inside her. The husband she knew was…gone.

The manager cleared her throat. “Sir, it’s done.”

Her voice broke the ice. Rhys let go of Lexi’s hand and she dragged herself back, mumbling curses, refusing to show she was now terrified of him. 

She dashed to the door to walk away, but the door  slammed open before she reached it.

Henry Stowe barged in.

“What’s with all the noise?” He glared at his sister, then at Rhys. “Where’s my million? I’ve got people waiting.”

Rhys looked Henry over slowly.

 “There’s no million. If you want money, go get a job.”

He replied.

Henry’s jaw dropped.

“A job? Are you out of your goddamn mind? You promised, Rhys!”

“I never promised anything. Your family just decided my wallet was a public utility.”

“You bloody piece of shit!”

Henry lunged, and clenched his fist. He swung.

Rhys caught the hand In midair and held it in place. Henry tried to move, but his strength was useless against Rhys.

“How did he get so strong!” Henry wondered.

Rhys tightened his grip on Henry’s fist, cracking the bones, making Henry groan in pain.

“Let him go!” Lexi yelled at Rhys. Rhys just fixed his eyes on Henry.

“Move another inch, and I’ll break it.”

It was almost a whisper. 

But it carried something Henry had never heard in his brother-in-law’s voice. 

When Rhys released his hand, Henry fell to the ground with a thud.

“You’re insane! How could you do this to him?” Lexi yelled as Henry cried on the floor like a child.

Rhys buttoned his coat and he walked past them both without a glance.

Behind him, the Stowes found their voices. Threats and curses, something shrill about Henry’s business, all meaningless word and nonsense.

When they were out of his sight, Rhys ducked into a quiet alley, bit the tip of his finger, and let one drop of blood fall onto the ring

A bright swallowed the world around him.

When it faded, he was standing in an empty apartment.

The air was clean. There was no water, power or piece of furniture. Two bedrooms and a living room spread across a hundred and twenty square meters, beneath ceilings nearly three meters high. 

Past the balcony doors lay a small, bare garden.

“This time, I’m filling every inch.” Rhys whispered.

This was the Hex Dimension.

Whatever he stored here would stay exactly as it was. Bread would never mold. Water would never evaporate. Hot meals would stay hot, and frozen food would never thaw.

In a world about to starve, Rhys knew how much that meant.

But the ring had its twist.

Rhys looked up. 

In the center of the living room, a pale timer hung in the air.

26:20.

It ticked down. One second, after another.

He could only spend thirty minutes inside the Hex Dimension, then a full twenty-four hours before he could enter again.

He smiled. After ten years in the Freeze, limits didn’t frighten him. He’d seen worse.

He stepped out of the Hex Dimension and back into the world.

The street was bright and loud. Cars crawled through the intersection. A couple bickered over where to eat. A delivery driver jogged past with a stack of warm meals, whistling.

Rhys tilted his head back, looking at the sky.

The sky was flawless. A clean, endless blue, soaked in sunlight, as if nothing in the world could ever go wrong.

But Rhys knew the truth.

There was only ninety-two days until that blue turned to ice and the world began to scream.

Rhys knew he had to get ready for Doomsday.

He had no time to waste.