The Bigshot's Superstar Wife - Chapter 162

Chapter 162: A Hundred Steps Forward
The moment Athena noticed the appearance of a dozen more bottles in her room, a strange sense of unease settled over her.

Unlike the first time, there was no letter, no explanation, no indication of who, or what, had left them.

She picked up one of the bottles, its liquid swirling in an unnatural way, as if it were alive. The others were different colors, each glowing faintly under the dim lights of her villa.

Instead of drinking or using them, she carefully placed them inside her soul space.

The pocket dimension had been expanding lately, and it no longer felt like just an empty void, it had structure now.

A small wooden table had appeared, as if waiting for her to place something important on it. The more she helped people, the stronger her soul space seemed to grow.

Yet something else had changed too. The weather had become unpredictable.

The news was flooded with reports of erratic climate shifts, storms brewing without warning, heatwaves surging through cities, then disappearing just as quickly.

Some scientists claimed it was due to global warming, others speculated there was an undiscovered force at work.

Then, the first reports of a pandemic surfaced.

At first, the illness seemed like a mild flu, but soon, news sites buzzed with fear, patients weren’t recovering, and some suffered from unusual symptoms.

Hospitals were overrun, and government officials scrambled for solutions. Cities started enforcing restrictions, and flights were grounded.

Athena watched everything unfold with an unsettling feeling twisting inside her. Her instincts screamed at her. Something was wrong. She wasted no time preparing.

First, she hired a martial arts master, an elderly man named Master Zheng, to train the children and staff at the orphanage.

At first, some of them hesitated, why would they need to learn self-defense? But Athena was adamant.

She told them that discipline and strength were important, that knowing how to fight wasn’t just about defending oneself but also protecting those who couldn’t fight back.

Master Zheng wasted no time. He started with the older kids, teaching them basic stances and conditioning.

The younger children watched in fascination, and soon, even they wanted to participate. What started as a small training session turned into a full orphanage routine.

Mornings began with stretching, afternoons were spent learning techniques, and evenings were for practice. Next, Athena focused on securing resources.

The orphanage owned a few acres of land behind its main buildings, but it had never been used properly. That changed quickly.

She hired experienced farmers to teach the children and workers how to cultivate crops.

They planted staple foods, rice, corn, potatoes, and vegetables, things that could sustain them if food shortages became a problem.

A livestock area was built, small at first, but enough to house chickens, goats, and rabbits.

The greenhouse was stocked with herbs and medicinal plants, and Athena made sure that each child learned how to care for the crops.

The older kids took shifts helping the workers, and soon, the orphanage was self-sufficient in growing food.

The most expensive addition was the water filtration station. Athena spared no expense, installing an advanced system to ensure that clean drinking water would always be available.

She didn’t stop there, she reinforced the orphanage’s security by constructing half-concrete, half-bar fences around the property.

It wasn’t paranoia. It was a gut feeling. Her villa underwent similar upgrades.

Food storage, medical supplies, reinforced walls, hidden passageways, everything she could think of to prepare for a future that seemed to be creeping closer like an unseen storm.

A week passed. Then another. The world was changing faster than she anticipated. The news reported that entire cities were being locked down.

Some people vanished without a trace, while others were found in states of delirium, claiming to have seen things that didn’t exist.

Hospitals overflowed with patients suffering from high fevers and hallucinations. Governments started limiting public access to information.

Social media became heavily censored.

But Athena knew how to navigate the digital world. She hacked into underground forums, searching for answers. And what she found terrified her.

Some reports hinted at something beyond a mere pandemic. Strange creatures had been spotted in the wilderness, things that looked human but weren’t.

Others spoke of shadows moving unnaturally, of whispers in the dark that no one could trace.

There were videos, blurry, shaky footage of people being dragged into alleys, only to disappear entirely. And then, the power outages began.

Not just in one city, but across the world. Major networks went down. Communication lines were unstable. Panic spread. Athena didn’t hesitate.

She gathered the orphanage workers and told them everything she knew, at least, everything that wouldn’t cause mass hysteria.

She told them they had to be ready for anything, that the world was changing, and they needed to be self-sufficient.

Marrie, Samantha, Joane, and the others listened, their faces grim but determined.

Then, the first attack happened. It wasn’t from people. It wasn’t from soldiers. It was from something else.

Late one night, as Athena was reviewing security footage from the orphanage, the screen flickered.

A distortion appeared, and for a split second, she saw them, figures standing just beyond the fence, their forms barely human, their eyes glowing in the dark.

Then, the cameras cut to static. Athena’s pulse quickened. She immediately called for Marrie, who had been overseeing the night watch.

“There’s something outside,” Athena said, voice calm but firm.

Marrie paled but nodded. She woke the security guards, and together they checked the perimeter.

Nothing. No signs of forced entry. No footprints. No movement. But Athena knew what she saw. That night, she couldn’t sleep.

Instead, she returned to her soul space, sitting at the wooden table that had appeared weeks ago. She stared at the dozen bottles she had stored there.

What were they? Why were they given to her? She picked one up, the violet one, the liquid shimmering under the invisible light of the soul space.

She hesitated. Then, with a deep breath, she opened it. The moment the liquid touched her tongue, a wave of memories crashed into her mind.

Flashes of a battlefield. A war beyond time and space. A promise made under the dying sun. Athena gasped, gripping the table as her body trembled.

She saw herself standing amidst ruins, her hands stained with blood, not her own, but others’.

She heard a voice. A familiar one. “You have to remember, Athena. Before it’s too late.”

Her eyes snapped open, her breath ragged. She looked down at her wrist. The crown tattoo pulsed faintly.

She had to prepare. Because whatever was coming…

It wasn’t just a pandemic.

It was a war.