My Reborn Apocalypse Begins with a Divorce novel Chapter 4

“Here to look at a place, sir?” a male agent greeted him almost instantly.

Ray nodded. “To buy.”

The agent’s face lit up as if someone had just turned on all the lights inside him. “Of course! What kind of property are you looking for?”

“I’ve already decided,” Ray said. “I want the sole villa in Mallory Avenue. Call the owner. I’ll sign today. I’ll pay the listed price, but I need the keys immediately. Renovation starts today.”

The agent blinked, almost certain he’d misheard.

Was this real life? A buyer just walking in, offering to pay full price—on the spot?

“This—yes, yes, of course! I’ll call right now!” His voice trembled with excitement.

That villa was listed at 1.2 million. Even with his meager half-percent commission, that meant six thousand in his pocket. Six thousand, from one deal!

Good thing he wasn’t a woman, he thought fleetingly, or he might have suspected this guy was trying to seduce him.

Half an hour later, the owner arrived.

Everything went smoothly. Ray wired over a hundred-thousand-dollar deposit. Once the paperwork was ready, they could head straight to the county recorder’s office to close the deal.

The seller, seeing the deposit and Ray’s ID, happily handed over the keys. It wasn’t like there was anything left inside to steal—just an empty shell, no valuables, and some old furniture.

The agent was over the moon. His coworkers could only look on, half in awe, half in envy. One hour of work, six thousand earned—it was a story that spread fast.

Within hours, the tale rippled through the agency network, through Mallory Avenue, and by nightfall, every gossip-loving person in the community had something new to chatter about.

…

Ray walked into the villa, the key cool in his hand. The facial-recognition gate recognized him automatically; he was already a registered resident. Inside, he sat down and opened his laptop.

Time to search.

For what? Home renovation.

He filtered by reviews and reputation, then dialed a number.

“Hello?” a gruff male voice answered.

“I want to renovate a villa,” Ray said.

“No problem,” came the reply.

“I have one requirement,” Ray continued. “It needs to be solid. As in—someone could hit it with a hammer, and it still wouldn’t break. The windows, too—install retractable steel shutters.”

The line went quiet for a moment. Clearly, the man hadn’t heard such a request before.

But business was business.

“No problem,” he finally said.

“How long will it take?”

“At least six months,” the man replied. “Depends on the villa’s size.”

Ray smiled. “I need it done within two months.”

There was silence on the other end.

This wasn’t a shed or a kennel. A full villa renovation in two months? Impossible.

“…That’ll cost extra,” the man said at last.

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