The Last Ten Days, The Apocalypse Countdown

The Will

Chapter 2

The Marchetti family estate sat behind tall wrought iron gates on the western edge of Bellport City. White marble columns flanked the entrance. A stone fountain carved with angels stood in the center of the circular driveway. The hedges were trimmed to perfection, and the lawn looked like it had been cut with a ruler.

It was the kind of house that whispered old money from every brick.

Nick stepped out of the taxi and walked through the front door without knocking. He already knew what was waiting for him inside, because he had lived through this exact scene before. And the last time, it had ended with him losing everything.

The main living room was arranged like a courtroom. Attorney Robert Falcone sat at the long mahogany dining table with two notaries flanking him, a neat stack of documents laid out in front. To the left, Elena Marchetti sat on the leather couch in a crimson designer dress, her legs crossed and her expression dripping with rehearsed grief. Beside her, Vincent slouched with one arm thrown over the backrest, scrolling through his phone with the kind of bored arrogance that only came from growing up with someone else's money. And standing by the window with his hands clasped behind his back, Frank Costello observed the room like a chess player surveying the board.

Elena looked up first. "Nicholas. You're late. We've been sitting here for hours."

"Flight was delayed." Nick sat down across from Falcone without greeting anyone else.

Vincent snorted without looking up from his phone. "Probably couldn't afford a direct flight. Had to take the budget route."

Frank offered a thin, practiced smile. "Good to see you, Nicholas. Your father would have wanted us all together for this."

Nick almost laughed. His father's sworn brother. The man who had helped Elena forge documents and redirect funds in his previous life. The man who had stood right there, in that exact spot by the window, and told Nick that the will was "unfortunately unclear" and that the inheritance would need to be "held in trust" while they sorted things out. By the time Nick realized he had been cheated, the apocalypse had already hit and the money didn't matter anymore.

Not this time.

"Let's get started," Nick said flatly.

Falcone cleared his throat and adjusted his reading glasses. "Very well. I will now read the last will and testament of the late Salvatore Marchetti, founder and chairman of the Marchetti Group."

The room went still. Even Vincent put down his phone.

"Chairman Salvatore Marchetti hereby designates that his eldest biological son, Nicholas Marchetti, shall inherit all outstanding shares of the Marchetti Group, valued at approximately twenty billion dollars."

Elena's jaw tightened. Her fingers dug into the armrest like claws.

"Furthermore," Falcone continued, "Elena Marchetti and Vincent Marchetti shall jointly receive two residential properties and two billion dollars in liquid assets."

The silence lasted exactly three seconds.

"Two billion?" Vincent shot out of his seat like someone had lit a fire under him. "Are you kidding me? That senile old man gave this deadbeat twenty billion and threw us two? We're the ones who stayed! We're the ones who ran that company while this loser was off doing nothing!"

"Vincent, sit down." Elena's voice was sharp enough to cut glass, though her own face had gone pale.

Frank stepped forward smoothly, his tone measured and reasonable. "Nicholas, as you know, your father's company is an extremely complex entity. The share transfer alone could take months of legal review. Perhaps it would be wise to appoint an interim trustee to manage the assets during the transition. I would be happy to"

"That won't be necessary."

Every pair of eyes snapped to Nick.

He sat with his arms crossed, completely relaxed, like a man who had already won a game that nobody else knew they were playing.

"I don't want the shares."

The silence that followed was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.

Elena leaned forward slowly. "What did you just say?"

"I said I don't want the company shares. You can have them. All twenty billion."

Vincent looked at his mother, then at Frank, then back at Nick. A disbelieving grin crept across his face. "Is this guy serious right now? Did he eat paint chips as a kid?"

Frank's eyes narrowed. His practiced smile wavered for just a moment. "And in return?"

Nick held up three fingers. "One, the two point five billion in liquid cash transfers to my account today. Two, the Brabus G800 in the family garage. Three, the Golden Ridge estate becomes mine, free and clear."

Elena's mind was already running the math. Twenty billion dollars in company shares for two and a half billion in cash, a car, and a vacation house. This fool was handing them the keys to an empire for pocket change.

"You're absolutely certain about this?" Elena kept her voice steady, but her eyes were burning with greed she could barely contain.

"I've never been more certain of anything in my life."

Vincent burst out laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. "Oh my god. Mom. Mom, take the deal. This idiot is dumber than a pig walking into a slaughterhouse with a smile on its face. He's literally begging us to rob him!"

"I agree with the young man's proposal," Frank nodded, stepping closer to the table. "It seems like a very reasonable and generous arrangement."

Of course you do, Nick thought. You parasites have been waiting for this your whole lives.

What none of them knew, what none of them could possibly imagine, was that in ten days those shares would be worth less than the paper they were printed on. The Marchetti Group, along with every other corporation on the planet, would cease to exist the moment the first earthquake split the ground open. Twenty billion dollars in stock was about to become twenty billion dollars of nothing.

But two and a half billion in cash? In ten days, that could buy enough supplies to survive for a decade.

"Attorney Falcone," Nick turned to the lawyer, "draw up the revised agreement. I want it signed, notarized, and executed before I leave this room."

Falcone glanced between the parties. "If all sides are in agreement, we can finalize the revised distribution immediately."

"Do it," Elena snapped. "Now."

The next forty minutes were a blur of signatures, stamps, and notary seals. Nick signed every page without hesitation. Elena could barely keep her hand steady from excitement. Vincent signed while making jokes about how Nick must have been dropped on his head as a baby. Frank signed with the quiet satisfaction of a man who had just stolen a country.

Nick's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen.

Transfer confirmed. $2,500,000,000.00.

Two and a half billion dollars. Sitting in his account. Ready to be spent on the only thing that would matter in ten days: survival.

He stood up, pocketed his phone, and walked to the hallway without a word. The keys to the Brabus G800 were hanging on the hook by the door, exactly where he knew they would be.

"Wait, that's it?" Vincent called after him. "You're not even going to say thank you? We just let you walk away with two billion dollars, you ungrateful cockroach."

Nick paused at the door. He didn't turn around.

"Enjoy your shares, Vinny," he said quietly. "I hope they keep you warm."

He walked out and closed the door behind him.

None of them said goodbye. He didn't expect them to.

In ten days, they would understand exactly what they had lost. But by then, it would be far, far too late.