Chapter 1My family's had a prophecy about acid rain that'll end the world.
So after I married Derek, I built a bunker.
Spent two years turning our backyard into a bomb shelter that could outlast anything.
Day before doomsday, I went down to check the supplies one last time.
The door slammed shut behind me.
Through the glass, Derek stood there. Cold as stone.
"Sandra's done waiting," he said. "Three years she's put up with being the side piece while you play wife. That ends today."
He grabbed the external lock and started cranking it closed.
"You wanted a bunker? Congrats. You're gonna die in it."
The metal screeched as he sealed me in.
I should've panicked. Screamed. Begged him to stop.
Instead, I turned around and locked my side too.
His face went white.
I smiled at him.
"Thanks for the heads up, babe."
Well. The world's ending. Who gives a damn about love!
...
Derek's office.
I slammed the door behind me.
"Why is Sandra your new secretary?"
He glanced up from his laptop, already annoyed. "Allison, can we not do this right now?"
"Do what? Ask why you hired your childhood friend who happens to be in love with you?"
He rubbed his temples. "She needed a job. Her family's struggling. HR approved her—she's qualified."
I actually laughed. "Qualified? Derek, she didn't even graduate high school."
His expression hardened. "This is my office. Don't come in here throwing around accusations about my staff."
I was so tired of fighting about her. But there was something else.
"Fine. Then explain where you've been for three days. Phone off, no texts, nothing. You're my husband—I think I deserve an answer."
Something flickered across his face.
His throat worked like he was choosing his words carefully.
Before he could speak, the door flew open.
Sandra rushed in, breathless and wide-eyed. "Allison, please don't be mad at Derek. It's my fault—I'm still new, so he's been staying late to train me."
"But I promise I'll learn fast. Then he can come home to you every night."
That's when I saw it.
The hickey on her neck. Dark purple.
My stomach dropped.
"Training," I said slowly. "That's what we're calling it?"
"Enough!" Derek stepped between us, pulling Sandra close. "I'm done with this, Allison. Shut it down."
His face twisted with contempt.
"You want to know why I don't come home? Because you've completely LOST IT! Acid rain, end of the world, tearing up our backyard to build some paranoid bunker. The noise is constant. It's INSANE!"
Chapter 2
Laughter exploded in the hallway.
"End of the world? Acid rain? Like, actual acid falling from the sky?"
"I'm dying. Should we stock up on canned beans?"
"Dude, no wonder he won't go home. She's insane."
I stopped breathing. Stared straight at Derek.
He looked back at me with that cold smirk.
He PROMISED me he'd never tell anyone.
This was my family's secret. The kind you guard with your life.
My grandfather saw the future. He built our fortune on it.
Every single prediction he made came true.
That's how we got rich. That's why we believed him.
And before he died, he told us one last thing: the acid rain was coming.
He told us exactly when. Made us swear we'd build shelters.
When I moved here for Derek, I bought this house specifically so I could build the bunker.
I told him everything before we got married.
He looked me in the eye and said, "Better safe than sorry."
And now he was using it to humiliate me.
Making me the punchline in front of his entire office. To protect HER.
My chest went hollow.
I looked at Sandra pressed against him, that smug little smile playing on her lips.
I was done. Completely done.
This wasn't even the first time.
First time I caught her at my house, she was in my kitchen wearing my slippers, making soup for my husband.
I freaked out. Derek laughed it off.
"That's just Sandra. Don't take it so seriously."
That night, I grabbed the soup pot and hurled it at the wall on the spot.
He walked out without looking back.
After that, it kept happening. Her pushing boundaries. Me exploding. Him taking her side.
Every. Single. Time.
But standing there with strangers laughing at me, something clicked.
My grandfather also said the rain wouldn't last forever. That we'd survive.
My parents were waiting for me back home. My cousins, my aunts and uncles—my real family. I'd see them again.
I had a whole life ahead of me.
Derek just wasn't in it anymore.
Seven days left.
I had better things to do than beg a man to love me.
Chapter 3
My expression went ice-cold.
I turned to leave.
Sandra's voice stopped me.
"Allison, you've completely destroyed your home with this doomsday obsession. Derek can't even relax anymore. Sometimes people get so lost in their own heads, they can't see how crazy they look. You drove him away, and now you're blaming HIM?"
She blinked at me. All innocent concern.
At that, the whispers erupted around us.
Derek remained impassive, as if none of it concerned him.
CRACK!
Without a word, I backhanded that bitch across the face.
The sound exploded through the office.
Sandra's head whipped to the side.
She grabbed her cheek, eyes flooding with tears. "You—you HIT me?!"
"Damn right I did." I stepped forward. She stumbled back. "Here's some free advice—if you're gonna sleep your way to the top, at least get pregnant first. Makes it worth your while."
Her mouth fell open.
"Oh, and one more thing." I leaned in close. "You're a SECRETARY. I'm Allison Mitchell-Harrington. My family owns half this state. So watch your mouth when you talk to me."
God, I should've done this MONTHS ago.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"
Derek shoved Sandra behind him, face purple with rage. "Apologize to her! RIGHT NOW!"
He lunged toward me.
I didn't flinch. Smiled instead.
"Apologize? Derek—do you even remember who you married?"
He went still.
At the same time, I made damn sure everyone heard me.
"Derek, this company, the one with YOUR name on the door. I bankrolled every dollar. The startup capital, the office lease, the furniture you're sitting on—I paid for ALL of it!"
"You said you wanted to build something. So I handed you my trust fund. Put your name on the paperwork. Let you play CEO while I stayed in the background."
Derek's face drained of color.
The office went dead silent.
Then everyone lost their minds.
"Wait—SHE funded the whole company?!"
"Holy shit, I thought Mitchell built this from scratch—"
"Dude's literally a KEPT MAN—"
Every whisper landed like a punch. Derek's face went from red to white to gray.
Up until thirty seconds ago, everyone thought he was some self-made genius. That I was just arm candy.
Not anymore.
I locked eyes with him.
"You forgot who I am. You forgot what my family's capable of. And you really thought you could humiliate me in front of your employees?"
I dropped my voice to a whisper.
"One phone call, Derek. That's all it takes to destroy you."
Now all he could do was holding a venomous stare. Didn't even have the nerve to talk back to me.
Someone in the hallway choked.
"Wait—so she was really a Harrington. THE Harringtons?"
"From Boston?!"
"Oh my God, he married into one of the richest families in the country—"
I laughed. Watched Derek and Sandra go pale. Then I spun on my heel and walked out.
I had a bunker to finish. Supplies to move.
Seven days left.
