The Cheating Wife's Worthless Husband Is the Apocalypse King

Chapter 7: Kill him

Inside, something quiet and satisfied settled behind his chest. By the time anyone came looking for that remaining balance, the world outside would be unrecognizable, and Edmondo Ricci would have far bigger problems than a delayed payment.

He signed the paperwork, shook hands, and walked back out into the afternoon sun.

The city's largest wholesale distribution center sat on the edge of the industrial quarter, a warehouse complex the size of four city blocks that supplied restaurants, hospitals, and emergency services. Marco had called ahead and arranged a commercial account that morning.

He spent the next four hours walking the aisles with a printed list that covered both sides of three pages. Non perishable food, sealed in bulk quantities. Water purification tablets. Medical supplies. Seeds for every fast growing vegetable he could identify. Fuel containers. Generators. Tools.

The floor supervisor, a tired looking man named Giulio, followed Marco through the third aisle with a clipboard and an expression that kept shifting between professional calm and barely concealed shock.

"Sir, this is... this is an extraordinary order." Giulio flipped through his clipboard pages, his pen moving in short, rapid strokes. "We are talking about over one million euros in total purchases."

"Yes." Marco picked up a case of sealed grain packs and set it on the flatbed cart without pausing. "I need everything loaded and delivered to this address by end of day Thursday."

Giulio blinked. Then he nodded rapidly, already reaching for his radio.

By the time Marco signed the final delivery confirmation at the checkout desk, a notification hummed softly through his phone and directly into his mind.

FIRST MISSION COMPLETED. 

REWARD: COMPREHENSIVE PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENT.

Marco flexed his hand slowly as he walked out toward the parking lot. The difference was subtle but unmistakable, like a dial inside his body had been quietly turned up a few notches. His steps felt steadier, his lungs fuller, his eyes sharper against the afternoon glare.

He allowed himself one small, private smile.

He did not notice the silver sedan parked across the street from the wholesale center entrance, or the woman sitting in the passenger seat with her phone raised, recording every delivery truck being loaded through the zoom lens of her camera.

Valentina lowered her phone slowly, her eyes fixed on the warehouse doors, her mind turning over what she had just spent the last two hours watching.

She had followed Marco on impulse after leaving the café, still shaking with fury and humiliation, half expecting to catch him walking back to some cheap apartment to eat leftovers alone. Instead, she had watched him walk into Ferro Sicuro and come out thirty minutes later looking satisfied. She had followed him here next and sat in stunned silence while flatbed cart after flatbed cart was loaded and tagged for delivery.

She called Bianca before the last truck had even finished loading.

"He's been hiding money." Her voice was tight and electric with barely contained excitement. "The whole marriage. Bianca, he spent more today than I have ever seen in my life."

Bianca's intake of breath was sharp on the other end of the line.

"How much?" Her voice came out careful and hungry at the same time.

"Over a million euros. Maybe more." Valentina gripped her phone tighter, leaning forward in her seat. "He lied about everything. He's been hiding income this whole time, and now we can prove it."

A long pause stretched across the line, and then Bianca's voice came back transformed, bright and trembling with something close to triumph.

"Valentina." The word landed slow and deliberate. "Do you understand what this means? If I can bring this into court, if I can prove concealed assets in front of a judge..." She let out a short, breathless laugh. "I would beat Professor Acerbi at his own game. I would be the most talked about lawyer in the country."

Valentina smiled for the first time since leaving Caffè Rinaldi, her eyes still fixed on the warehouse entrance across the street.

"Then let's make sure we bury him."