Reborn Before The Apocalypse: The Last Safe Hotel

Chapter 004 – The First Step

*****

Ronan had exactly $1,200 in his bank account.

It was everything he had managed to save after years of working himself to exhaustion.

Most of his salary disappeared into the Frost family's groceries, electricity bills, and household expenses. By the end of each month, he barely had enough left to feed himself.

Yet none of the Frosts had ever appreciated him. To them, he was a poor, useless man who had married above his station.

The worst part was that even this $1,200 had never truly been meant for him.

It was meant to buy Celeste's birthday present the coming week.

A bitter smile crossed his face. In his previous life, she hadn't even looked at the gift before tossing it aside while her family mocked him for being cheap.

Back then, he had endured their ridicule in silence.

Now, remembering it only made him feel like a fool.

Never again.

Ronan left the bank and pulled out his phone.

He searched for the nearest brokerage houses before choosing the smallest one in the area. He didn't want unnecessary attention.

When he arrived, however, he was stunned by the crowd.

It was barely seven in the morning, yet the place was packed.

Men and women of all ages crowded around the trading desks, discussing market movements and placing orders with the brokers. 

The reason wasn't difficult to figure out. The markets had just entered a new trading cycle that day, giving traders another opportunity to make money.

But for Ronan, it was his first opportunity to cash in on knowledge no one else possessed.

He approached the trading desk and studied the enormous screens displaying the day's stock prices, futures contracts, and market movements. 

‘This is where it begins.’

Ronan calmly selected his positions, choosing trades that made little sense to anyone who didn't possess his knowledge.

At first, nobody paid him much attention.

Then one of the traders glanced at his selections and frowned. "That position is ridiculous."

Ronan ignored him.

Another man leaned over to look at the screen. "You're seriously going through with that?" 

"He's definitely new to trading," someone scoffed. "Anyone who knows what he's doing wouldn't pick those."

A few traders laughed.

One of the older men shook his head sympathetically. "Young man, don't throw your money away. At least use common sense before putting your money into something like that."

Ronan didn't even look at them.

He continued adding positions, carefully allocating his capital across several futures contracts. Then he reached into his wallet and counted out $600.

The chatter around him died.

Even the broker stared at the money before looking at Ronan. 

"Six hundred dollars?" He asked in disbelief.

Ronan nodded.

The broker hesitated. “You understand that if even one of these positions moves against you, you could lose your entire investment, right?”

"I understand."

"You should reconsider."

"I don't need to."

The broker sighed, then processed the order. He had seen countless people ruin themselves chasing highly leveraged positions. 

Moments later, the trade confirmations appeared on the screen as the surrounding traders watched Ronan with pity. 

However, he simply checked the confirmations and walked away.

Outside, Ronan reviewed his positions one final time before checking the projected return based on the price movements he remembered. 

$1.44 million.

In his previous life, that figure would have left him sleepless and driven him insane with excitement.

Now, it barely stirred Ronan.

Money alone wouldn’t buy warmth, a single loaf of stale bread, a drop of water, or survival in the apocalypse.

But it could buy him a future before it began.

Ronan flagged down another taxi and headed for a brokerage house across town, where he repeated the process with five hundred dollars from his remaining six hundred.

When he stepped back onto the street, his projected profits had climbed past three million dollars. 

This was only the beginning.

Ronan tucked the trade confirmations into his pocket.

"Still not enough."

He needed far more than three million dollars to build the Haven.

Fortunately, the market opportunities he remembered had only just begun. And trading was only one of the advantages his second life had given him.

By the time he finished, it was already past two in the afternoon.

Ronan checked his phone. ‘She should be awake by now.’

"Time to finalize the divorce,” he murmured, his eyes turning cold.

…..

The Frost family villa stood on Southbridge Avenue, a comfortable middle-class community, large enough to show the Frosts lived far better than ordinary people.

The moment Ronan stepped out of the taxi, his gaze landed on a bright-red BMW parked outside.

His expression immediately hardened.

The car belonged to Varek Riven… the man the Frosts had always wanted Celeste to marry.

Whenever he visited, they compared Ronan to him and reminded Ronan that he wasn't even worthy of licking his shoes.

Back then, seeing that car was enough to fill him with dread.

Most of the time, he turned around and left without entering the house, while other times, he lowered his head and endured every insult thrown at him.

Each visit had chipped away at his pride until almost nothing remained.

Now...

It only reminded him of the man who had tortured him, shattered his limbs, and watched him die with a smile.

Without realizing it, his fists tightened until his knuckles turned white.