I transmigrated and got a husband and a son!-Chapter 1182: Missing Zeros

The date of the Reaper’s final act was set. Everyone was aware they only got several hours with the thought that these might be the last hours of their lives. To be truthful, everyone had to admit the uncertainty of this final act scared them.

They had faced numerous formidable people in the past. People who posed a threat to them. People who would kill them in cold blood. But they weren’t of the same caliber as Florence Oxley or this secret society. They weren’t the same as the Oxley Family, who could make their worst nightmare come to life.

Therefore, everyone used this time to self-reflect, to enjoy, to sleep it off, and to do whatever they could think of that would help them in the next several hours. Fig and a few members of the Reapers decided to have a feast with minimal drinks to enjoy the night. Primo slept it off like a baby. Moose, on the other hand, enjoyed his bubble bath and pampered himself for a change.

Wolf chose to practice his shooting all alone while Ram chose to prepare everything, so they were ready for Victor and Tracy and the goods they were bringing. Joker, on the other hand, buried himself with work that they’d use for their last act.

As for Hera, she went to her father’s room, which was perfectly maintained despite being unused for many years. She went to bed, picking up a small teddy bear she personally sewed for Vicenzo.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she held the small teddy bear and pressed both her thumbs into its stomach.

[Hi, I’m Teddy Hera! Papa, wakey wakey!]

[Papa has a booger — Hera, stop recording me, will you?]

A subtle smile turned up on her face as her eyes softened, hearing her father’s voice from the background. She pressed the teddy bear’s stomach again, listening to her own voice, which always had Vicenzo’s voice in the background.

"Your voice sounds cute." Suddenly, Dominic’s voice came through her earpiece. "What a way to wake up. Hearing little Hera’s voice."

"I can still remember why I made this teddy bear," she shared quietly. "His birthday was coming up back then, and I can’t think of anything else to give him. He’s a man who can get what he wants, but he keeps saying the best gift he has is me. At that time, my mom has had enough of the two of us and watches us carefully, so he stops bringing me along with his appointments."

"I made this so even if I can’t tag along with him, he can carry it around as my proxy. I documented everything I could whenever he was around. He was irritated and told me I was worse than paparazzi. I can’t blame him. I even wait for him in the bathroom to record his voice while pooping." A chuckle escaped her as she recalled a memory she had kept in this secret treasure chest in the deepest part of her mind.

[It’s day ten of Papa’s daily life and — He — Hera?! What in the world are you doing, hiding in the bathtub!? I’m pooping — get — Felice! Your daughter is harassing me! Again!]

[Tenth-day conclusion: papa’s poop smells worse than an atomic bomb. Skill level: deadly.]

"If he were alive, Dom, my mom wouldn’t have died that day." A bitter smile dominated her face as a tear rolled down her cheek. "He wouldn’t have let her leave that night, even if it meant locking her in his room. He protected her, and I want to believe that the Oxley Family wouldn’t have stood a chance if he were still alive."

Even so, at the back of her head, it was simply a wish Vicenzo’s little girl had. Vicenzo was her father, her hero, the man she looked up to until now.

"I’m saying this because... that would be our children’s wishes in the future," she continued quietly. "That would be the thing they want to believe: if only their papa or mama hadn’t died, they wouldn’t have these problems."

Dominic, who was on the other end of the line, stared at the high ceiling. "Then, all we have to do is make sure they won’t have to wonder about something like that. We make sure they won’t have a chance to ask such questions."

"I will hang up," said Hera, her voice was soft but didn’t bore any slightest reluctance. "I know we can stay on this call, but... I don’t want us to end through a call."

"The feeling is mutual," he returned calmly. "Don’t say goodbye."

"Don’t say goodbye too, Dom," she smiled weakly. "I’ll see you... after several hours?"

"I’ll see you." He nodded. "Don’t die."

"I won’t, not when I haven’t seen you yet." Hera straightened her back. "Dom, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

Hera pursed her lips before they parted.

*

*

*

"What in the world?" Tiger rubbed his eyes in front of his laptop, checking if he was mistaking the zero in his bank account. "It’s missing a lot of zeros. This isn’t right."

Tiger refreshed the page and checked his other accounts. Maybe, he thought, he transferred his money and just forgot about it. Since he was busy, he ignored the faint knock on the door. Hence, Hera, who was on the other side of the door, opened the door and stepped in.

"Hera, what the hell?" Tiger remarked without giving her a look. "I think my money is missing. Did Moose rob me?"

Slowly, he cast Hera a look of disbelief. The second he saw the nonchalant look on her face, he squinted his eyes suspiciously.

"Where’s my money?" he asked. "I know that look. You know my money’s gone."

"Don’t worry about your money," she said, tossing her earpiece and phone in his direction. Tiger caught them with both his hands. "They’re safe. You helped weigh them earlier, didn’t you?"

"What?" he gasped. "I thought they got your money back? What bullshit is this?"

"Well, they thought it was my money, but it turns out someone from Dominic’s side knows your bank accounts." Hera shrugged before she folded her arms under her chest. "Don’t blame them, but rather, blame Ivy for draining your account and putting it in Dominic’s dummy account."

"She won’t do that!"

"Did you really think she wouldn’t when you decided to give your bank account to her?" she arched a brow and this time, Tiger bit his tongue. "Tiger, I know why you gave her access to your money. You want her to use it, to buy whatever she wants, to pamper herself using your money, or maybe solve her problems with it. I know because it’s the same reason I gave Dominic all my money."

A short smile turned up on her face. "Money was never an issue for us and it was never our source of motivation."

That was right.

"Damn..." Tiger breathed out, gazing at the device in his hand. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Dominic and I decided to continue our quality time later — in person," she explained. "And we also promised to see each other. So, we thought we might give you and Ivy some time to talk — perhaps, an added motivation."

"We don’t really know if we’re going to survive this, Clark," she continued soothingly. "You must’ve heard Ivy stepped down and became Dominic’s secretary, right? Tell her she’s stupid and not using her brain, but at the same time, tell her Hera Cruel is impressed at how she beat me and Moose not long ago. She’ll receive the other phone in an hour, so you better think of what to say without screwing it up."

"Goodnight, brother." Her smile stretched. "Don’t stay up too long with her. I’ll still need you tomorrow."