Rise Of The Underworld King

Chapter 2

"We have arrived at the place, sir," the driver announced politely.

He tapped Ethan gently on the shoulder and held out his hand, waiting for the transport f*e.

Ethan had not been paying attention for several minutes. His mind had gone somewhere else entirely, pulling up memories of his grandmother.

He remembered the day she pulled him under her body in the rain so that he could stay dry while she got soaked. He remembered the day she went without food so he could eat. He remembered the day she came home with her bags packed because the landlord had finally run out of patience with her, the afternoons she stood at the roadside with her hands out, asking strangers for whatever they could spare.

Ethan drew a long breath and let it out slowly.

The driver had grown confused watching him sit there like a man who had forgotten where he was. He tapped him again.

"Could you please give me my money so I can leave?" the driver asked, looking straight at him.

"I'm sorry," Ethan said, coming back to himself. "I was thinking about something important." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the fare, handed it over, then climbed out of the taxi.

He was almost at the front door when the news he had seen earlier that morning came back to him. The news about his wife and the man she had been seen with.

Ethan smiled to himself.

He pulled out his phone from his front pocket, dropped it into his trousers instead, drew a breath, and knocked on the door. Finding it already open, he walked inside.

Tina was on the couch with a bag of snacks open beside her.

"Ethan!" She sat up sharply. "Where have you been? You haven't called me in three whole days."

He looked at her for a moment before answering. "I was with my grandmother."

The mention of his grandmother changed her face immediately. Her voice went softer. "Is she alright? How has she been doing? It's been such a long time since I last saw her. Where is she now? Is she—"

"Stop," Ethan said. "Stop pretending you care about her. You never showed any real concern for that woman, and you know it. And it doesn't matter anymore anyway, because she's dead. So please, stop performing."

Tina went motionless. "Dead?" she repeated. "How? When?"

The snack bag slipped from her hand. "Why didn't you tell me, Ethan?" Her voice was rising now. "The woman died and you didn't even tell me. Why would you do that? When did she die?"

"Three days ago," he said quietly.

"Three days?" She shook her head, the disbelief turning into anger. "Three days and you said nothing? Why are you doing this to me?"

Ethan's eyes hardened. "Did I not call you the very day she died? I called you more than eight times. You picked up one time, told me you were busy, and ended the call. That is what you did. Or are you going to tell me you've forgotten?"

Tina's voice wavered. "I didn't know that was the reason you were calling. I misread the situation. I thought you were just trying to get my attention over nothing. I had no idea you were calling about something that serious."

Ethan looked at her without speaking for a moment. Then he let out a slow breath through his teeth and reached into his pocket for his phone.

"Stop with the performance, Tina." He unlocked the screen and turned it toward her. "Do you know what this is?"

She looked at the photo.

"Is that not you? That man whose chest you are leaning against is who? Do you want to deny that you were with him the day my grandmother died? You could not even answer my call properly because of him. And from what I read, you did not even let him know you are a married woman. That is where you were." He paused. "All of that, because of this man. What a pity."

Tina met his eyes steadily and smiled as though none of it applied to her. "Where did you get that photo from? That man is Steven James, and he is a good customer of mine. There is nothing beyond business between us, Ethan. We are friends, and he brings good offers to the table. That is all this is."

"You rested your head on his chest," Ethan muttered. "Is that also part of your customer service? You are a married woman, Tina. A married woman."

"These are baseless accusations," she yelled at him."I am not having an affair with anyone."

Ethan said nothing to that. He began to move slowly around the room, as though he was thinking through something he had not yet decided, humming under his breath. Then he stopped as his eyes landed on the papers sitting on the table.

He moved closer and read the bold heading at the top of the first page aloud, more to himself than to her. "Divorce Agreement." He looked up. "Is that what this says?"

Tina folded her arms and cleared her throat. She did not even answer.

She had been carrying those papers around for days, waiting for the right moment to hand them to him.

Ethan looked down at the papers again. Without reading through a single clause, he reached into his pocket for his pen, found the signature line, and signed. He capped his pen, slid it back into his pocket, and dropped the papers onto the couch in front of her.

Then he sat down.

"It is done," he said. "There is nothing left between the two of us."

He was still smiling.