My Wife Killed Me, Now I’m the Apocalypse Billionaire

Chapter 7: Greed

The negotiation was set to take place at a private conference room inside the Bellavista Business Center, a glass tower on Corso Milano that housed half the law firms in the city. Karla had arranged the neutral meeting space herself, insisting that face to face mediation before trial was standard procedure, even when she already knew how it would end.

Sean arrived first and took a seat at the long mahogany table. Karla sat beside him with a closed folder in front of her. Five minutes later, the door opened and Jessica walked in, followed by Margaret and a lawyer Sean didn't recognize, a thin balding man clutching a leather briefcase like it might run away from him.

Jessica had dressed carefully. A soft gray blazer, hair pulled back into a neat bun, minimal jewelry. The picture of a reasonable, wronged woman. She sat down across from Sean and offered him a small, tight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Sean. Thank you for agreeing to meet." Her voice was calm, almost gentle.

"Let's get to it." Sean's tone was flat.

Margaret sat down beside her daughter and folded her arms, staring at Sean like he was something she'd found stuck to the bottom of her shoe. The lawyer cleared his throat and opened his briefcase.

"My clients are prepared to discuss a settlement that avoids the expense and public spectacle of a courtroom trial. Given the circumstances of the marriage, the emotional distress caused, and the child involved, we believe a fair number is two hundred million dollars." The lawyer slid a document across the table.

Sean didn't even look at it. "No."

The lawyer blinked. "Mr. Miles, I don't think you understand the position you're in. My client has significant public support at the moment. Millions of people online believe you deceived her."

"That's not a legal argument. That's a social media trend." Karla opened her folder and slid out a single page. "My client's divorce was finalized at 2:47 PM on March 1st. The lottery tickets were purchased at 3:30 PM the same day. There is no marital claim to post divorce winnings under state law. We've reviewed this extensively."

Margaret leaned forward, her face twisting into something sharp and bitter. "You think a piece of paper matters more than six years of my daughter's life? She cooked for you, cleaned for you, raised your son while you sat around doing nothing useful. And the second you get rich, you toss her aside like garbage."

"Margaret." Sean's voice stayed level, but there was an edge underneath it now. "I raised nothing. I paid for everything. And I'm done discussing history that isn't relevant to this room."

Jessica placed a hand gently on her mother's arm, her expression soft and pleading as she turned back to Sean. "Sean, please. I'm not trying to punish you. I just want what's fair for Jack. He's your son. He deserves a share of this. Two hundred million is nothing compared to what you have now."

She still hasn't stopped saying his name like she believes it.

"There is no settlement." Sean folded his hands on the table. "If you want to pursue this in court, my attorney is fully prepared. We have documentation covering every hour of the timeline. We also have your text message from three nights ago threatening to continue a smear campaign unless I paid you. That's extortion, Jessica. My legal team is already building a defamation case around your videos."

The color drained slightly from Jessica's cheeks, but she recovered fast, her chin lifting with practiced composure. "That's not what I meant. I was upset. Any woman would be after what you did to me."

"Save it for the judge." Karla closed her folder with a soft, final click. "My client has authorized me to proceed straight to trial. This meeting is over unless you have a serious offer that reflects the actual law."

The opposing lawyer looked at Margaret, then at Jessica, clearly hoping one of them would signal a retreat. Neither did.

"Two hundred million is our number." The lawyer's voice had lost some of its earlier confidence.

"Then we'll see you in court." Sean stood up, buttoned his jacket, and walked toward the door without another word. Karla gathered her folder and followed him out, leaving the Jones side of the table sitting in stunned silence.

The car ride back to Ridgewood was quiet. Sean stared out the window as the city blurred past, his mind already three steps ahead, calculating supply routes and fortification timelines that had nothing to do with courtrooms or ex wives.

Back at the Jones house that evening, the mood had curdled into something venomous. Margaret paced the living room floor while George sat rigid in his recliner, jaw clenched so tight his teeth ached. Jessica sat curled on the sofa with her phone in her lap, and Zach leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"He said no. Just like that. No." Margaret's voice cracked with fury. "That ungrateful little worm sat in that room and told us no."

"We push harder." Zach's voice was smooth, unbothered, almost amused by the whole situation. "The video's already at four million views. We keep the pressure up. Post more clips, more emotional stuff. Get people angry enough and Sean won't have a choice."

Jessica looked up from her phone, her eyes hard and calculating. "I want to take out a loan. Put real money behind the promotion. Boost the video on every platform, buy trending spots, get influencers to reshare it."

"How much?" Zach raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Enough to make this impossible to ignore." Jessica was already opening a banking app on her phone.

Within two days, Jessica had taken out three separate online loans totaling nearly eighty thousand dollars, all funneled into paid promotion for her original video and two new follow up clips featuring tearful monologues about betrayal and abandonment. The campaign exploded. Comment sections filled with strangers calling Sean every name imaginable. Hashtags trended. A morning talk show even mentioned the story in passing without naming him directly.

Sean read Karla's update over breakfast at the villa two mornings later.

"The video has crossed nine million views combined across platforms. Public sentiment is overwhelmingly against you right now. I want to be clear that none of this affects the legal outcome, but it's worth knowing." Karla's voice came through the phone speaker, calm and professional as ever.

"Understood." Sean took a sip of coffee, his expression unchanged.

"You don't seem concerned." There was a note of curiosity in Karla's tone.

"Public opinion doesn't sign court documents." Sean set his mug down. "Let her spend her money. It won't change the timestamps."

Across town, Jessica sat in her bedroom scrolling through the surge of comments with a satisfied smile stretched across her face. The numbers kept climbing, faster than she had expected, faster than even Zach had predicted. She picked up her phone and opened her messages, her thumb hovering over Sean's name.

Zach walked in behind her, glancing at the screen over her shoulder. "Look at that. Ten million and climbing. You're basically a celebrity now, babe."

"Two hundred million doesn't feel like enough anymore." Jessica's lips curled into something cold and hungry. "Not after all this attention. Not after everything he's put me through."

"So ask for more." Zach shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed with easy confidence. "The internet's on your side. Use it."

Jessica typed the message slowly, savoring every word before she hit send.

"Sean. Given everything that's happened, and the attention this situation has gotten, two hundred million isn't going to cut it anymore. I want five hundred million. Or I keep posting. Your choice."