Reborn Before The Apocalypse: The Last Safe Hotel

Chapter 007 – Wrongfully Accused

*****

Rael stormed back to Southbridge Avenue, his face still burning from Ronan's slap. Every step fueled the humiliation boiling inside him.

"What kind of son-in-law have you raised?!"

The moment his parents saw the palm print across their treasured son's face, their concern turned into rage.

“Who did it, son?!”

The husband and wife trembled with rage, while Rael could barely force the words out. Never in his life had he suffered such humiliation… especially at the hands of someone he considered beneath him.

“Mother, Father, it... It was the sister-in-law's husband. He... he publicly slapped my fiancé. He made us the biggest embarrassment today.” Zarah spat.

The couple froze as though they had just heard the most impossible thing in the world. They glanced at each other before Helena frowned.

“Ronan?” she demanded. “That lowlife has been holed up in his room since yesterday.”

“Even if he isn't there, I don't think he has the spine to slap my son. Unless he's tired of living,” Joren added.

Rael gritted his teeth.

“He... it was him!” he spat. “He... he...” He couldn't even finish.

Only then did they realize Rael wasn't joking.

“Celeste! Celeste! Get over here now!” Joren’s roar shook the house.

Celeste rushed over from the second floor, jolted awake from her sleep.

“What’s going on? Is the house on fire?”

Joren stormed toward her, nearly jabbing a finger into her face.

“It was all your fault!” he growled. “This was all your fault!”

Celeste looked from her parents to Rael, completely bewildered. She had never seen her family lose control like this.

Her gaze shifted to Zarah, who was staring at her with disgust and fury.

“What... happened?”

“Wasn't it your failure of a husband?” Zarah snapped.

Celeste frowned at the venom in her voice but ignored it. “What did he do?”

Zarah immediately launched into an exaggerated account of what had happened, painting Ronan as the sole villain and making it sound as though he had deliberately humiliated them without provocation.

By the time she finished, Ronan sounded like an irredeemable monster.

Helena and Joren exploded.

“I'll kill him! I must kill him!” Joren roared, thick veins bulging along his neck.

“Boohoo! That bastard has been possessed! Is he going to kill one of us before you finally do the right thing?” Helena cried, glaring at Celeste.

Celeste remained stunned. ‘Ronan did all of that?’

She found it almost impossible to believe. She had never loved Ronan, but after three years together, she knew him well enough.

He would sooner slap himself than raise a hand against her family. Could he really have changed that much?

First, he had supposedly insulted her parents before locking himself in his room. Now this?

She stared skeptically at her brother. “Are you... really sure he slapped you?”

Rael glared at her.

“Would I lie?!” he roared. “I'm telling you, he has changed!”

Something suddenly occurred to him.

“Mother… that missing jewelry, have you found it…?” he asked, his breathing hitching.

Everyone was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic.

Helena shook her head. “No.”

“He stole it…” Rael muttered.

Everyone froze.

“Tell me,” Rael continued, “how could someone who couldn't even afford a decent pair of shoes suddenly afford a VIP section at Harater Restaurant?”

Joren's eyes widened.

"Did you just say VIP section?" His expression darkened.

But then he seemed to realize something.

"I think he stole it too." He took a slow, controlled breath.

“Do you remember what my friend said earlier when he called me?” Joren asked, looking at his wife. “He resigned.”

Celeste and Rael were caught off guard by this revelation, while Helena paused for only a moment before losing her temper again.

“That bastard! We sheltered him and fed him, and he still dares to rob me?!”

Even Celeste was eventually forced to consider the possibility.

She gritted her teeth and pulled out her phone, disappointment and anger filling her eyes.

Then she stopped.

She suddenly realized she had never once called Ronan first.

She didn't even have Ronan's number saved. Throughout their three-year marriage, he had always been the one reaching out.

A faint wave of guilt passed through her, which she instantly pushed aside.

After getting his number from her mother, she dialed.

...

Ronan was blissfully enjoying the feast of his life inside Harater Restaurant when his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and froze.

“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”

They weren't.

My Love was displayed across the screen.

It took him a moment to recover before he scoffed. He already knew why she was calling.

He casually answered.

“Come home now,” Celeste ordered coldly.

Ronan paused. Then he sneered as though he'd just heard the funniest joke.

“I’m busy.”

The silence on the other end immediately told him Celeste hadn't expected that response.

He was about to end the call when she took a deep breath.

“Who do you think you are to slap and embarrass my brother?” Ronan wasn't even the least bit disappointed.

He already expected this.

But then Celeste's next words struck him completely off guard.

“You even had the audacity to steal my mother's jewelry.”

Ronan fell silent.

Steal?

The word echoed in his head until everything Celeste said afterward became meaningless.

Then a short, humorless laugh escaped him.

“Wow.”

He ended the call.

Celeste didn't even realize the call had been disconnected. She simply stared at her phone, replaying that laugh in her mind.

‘Was he wrongfully accused?’

‘Did I go too far?’

For a brief moment, doubt crept into her heart.

But before she could dwell on it, her family's words filled her ears again. By the time they were finished, her doubt had been replaced with fury.

‘So this has always been your true color?’ Her hands clenched. ‘You want a divorce, right? Then I'll give you one.’

...

Ronan sat there for a long moment before forcing out a quiet sigh.

If Helena, Rael, and Joren had accused him, he wouldn't have cared. Those three had already done far worse to him.

But Celeste...

His appetite vanished.

Just as he was about to ring the bell for the waitress, his phone rang again.

For a moment, Ronan assumed it was Celeste calling back to continue.

But the number was private.

He frowned at the screen before answering.

It was Kade.

Ronan's expression immediately brightened.

‘That was quite fast.’

“So... what's the conclusion?” he asked.

There was a brief pause.

"You're certain every game has at least a sixty percent success rate?"

Ronan smirked. “We both know I wouldn't risk my life for nothing.”

“The company has accepted your condition.”

Ronan wasn't surprised.

“We'll forward the membership once the call ends,” Kade continued. “When should we expect you to fulfill your end of the agreement?”

“Once the membership has been confirmed.”

Neither said much else.

The call ended, and almost immediately, a message arrived on Ronan's phone.

It contained his membership to the Black Ledger, along with instructions to change his username and conceal his identity.

‘That was quite easy.’

Ronan settled his bill and left the restaurant, heading straight for a small computer café in the lower-class district.

He entered a web address known only to a select few and logged in using the credentials he had received.

After confirming the site and membership’s legitimacy, he forwarded the games he had already drafted on his phone before returning to his Black Ledger account.

He changed his password and username, masked his identity, and got straight to business.

He carefully selected multiple Premier League games with combined odds exceeding 5,000 and placed a $500,000 bet.

The prospective winnings?

$2.5 billion.

But it was only the beginning.