The Lost God Heir

Ethan Cole pedaled through morning traffic, his delivery bag thumping against his back. 

Another early shift, another day he had to push harder than his body wanted. Rent was due again, and Lila needed help. That was enough reason to keep going.

Money had become the first thing on his mind every morning and it wasn’t always like that. 

Three months ago, he worked at Hart Technologies with a good pay, a stable life and a loving girlfriend.

Until Damien Crowley, his boss, fired him publicly, calling him incompetent.

 Damien hadn’t done it out of frustration. He’d enjoyed it. Everyone knew he had an interest in Lila Lena, but Ethan never expected he’d go as far as destroying someone’s job.

Ethan still remembered the smirk on Damien’s face as security walked him out.

Anger sipping through his vines. But there was nothing he could do. In the company, he was nothing but a small fry.

He reached a red light and checked a new order. Above it sat a message from an unknown number:

“Mr. Ethan Cole, we need to speak with you regarding a legal matter. Urgent.”

He scoffed under his breath.

"Scam!"

He closed it and checked the order details. He didn’t have time for random messages. He had two shifts today and planned to pick up Lila’s favorite noodles afterward. She’d said she was craving them and that the landlord might show up. Ethan promised he’d talk to him and beg him to give them some time to pay the rent, at least he hadn't defaulted for months.

It wasn’t the future he wanted, but he still hoped things would improve. He hoped Lila believed that too.

---

By noon, Ethan had done nine deliveries. Sweat clung to his shirt like death. People in office suits passed him without a glance. He used to walk into buildings like these as an employee. Now he felt invisible near them.

His phone buzzed again and he stared with a cold smile.

It was the same scam contact from before.

“Mr. Cole, this matter concerns your family estate.”

He didn’t bother responding. He had no family except his late mother. Whoever was texting him was wasting their time thinking he was going to fall for such a sham.

At four fifteen, just before the end of his shift, he got a request for one last delivery—a big one, good tip.

The message lit up Ethan's being and he accepted immediately. Extra money meant fewer problems tonight.

He picked up the bags—wine, snacks, and a small box the receptionist told him to handle carefully, and a dozen packs of condoms that would make anyone raise a brow. 

But Ethan didn't care, he was ready to deliver anything as long as he was paid enough for Lila's rent.

He tightened his grip and followed the address.

Lena's apartment district.

He didn’t think much of it until the building number matched hers.

Then the floor.

Then the exact unit.

His steps slowed. His stomach tightened.

Why was someone else ordering so much stuff to her apartment? Was she hosting someone? She hadn’t mentioned anything. 

Lately she barely spoke to him. Every week was “stress,” “work,” “space.” and he tried being the understanding boy friend.

He swallowed and took the elevator up.

Maybe the delivery wasn’t for her. Maybe, it was a mistake... He tried to assure himself but then,

A man’s voice cut through the door.

“Babe, hurry up! And tell the delivery guy to get better condoms next time!”

Ethan froze.

He knew that voice. Always sharp and cocky. The same voice that mocked him at work and ordered him to be thrown through the doors.

Damien Hart.

"It isn't true!" He tried to convince himself but his racing heart said otherwise.

His hand landed on the doorknob before he even realized it.

The door opened easily and the sight inside hit him instantly.

Lila sat on the bed, sheets around her waist, stacked naked.

Ethan's heart dropped to the bottom of his feet and he stumbled backwards, his face drained of all the colours in it.

Their gaze met. Lena's eyes widened—shock, real—but it was only for a moment. 

Then her expression flattened, almost uninterested, like getting caught was just bad timing and she almost scoffed.

Beside her, Damien lay shirtless, relaxed, completely unbothered. The small box Ethan delivered was half-open on the nightstand—condoms spilling out like a flood.

Damien spotted him and grinned, slow and satisfied and cold.

“Well look at that,” he said. “You finally delivered something correctly.” He said with a dripping sense of mockery to his voice.

He didn’t move to cover himself. He didn’t look embarrassed. He looked proud.

“You took your time, Cole,” Damien added. “My girl hates waiting.”

Lila looked away, silent.

Ethan felt his chest tighten, but Damien kept going, enjoying every second.

“She complained about you earlier,” Damien said, leaning forward. “Said you were dragging her down. Honestly? She’s right. You weren’t built for someone like her... Street rats and thugs, maybe.,"

He drew Lila closer to himself, his tongue licking her face as she leaned closer, without an ounce of shame.

The world tilted. Ethan felt the heat drain out of him. But he didn’t explode. He didn’t throw anything.

"Didn't you love me?" The words that came from Ethan's lips felt almost like a whisper, his eyes piercing deep into Lila's soul.

"Love?" She scoffed like she just tasted poop.

"How could anyone love a full package of poverty?"

"Listen up Ethan! There was never the word Love, especially not for someone of your class."

"Then those words you said to me! They meant nothing?" Ethan's world cracked right before his eyes, and everything felt like a dirty lie.

"Oh that. It was just business for. I tell you sweet things and you pay my bills while the real man in my life worries about other stuff!" She chimed in, and smuggled into DAMIEN'S hands as he resumed his smirk.

"And since there's nothing more to hide, maybe you should know that today is my one year anniversary with Damien!"

The two crackled. Everything instantly went blurry. It had started long ago, even before he was fired...

"And the reason you were fired was because she could not keep sneaking into my office in the disguise of seeing you!"

Ethan understood the Snickers now, from his colleagues whenever he walked by. The way they laughed mockingly when he talked about the shared love with Lila. 

Everyone knew.

His hands clenched tightly. He was stupid not to have seen through the lies.

But everything ends there.

His heart hurts but Ethan pushed back the pain and stared at them. 

"Thanks for letting me know early enough!" He returned.

Something inside Lila and Damien twitched. They expected him to beg to their satisfaction, they expected a broken man but they were instead getting something totally different.

"That's all?" Lila almost sneered.

Ethan ignored her, and walked away with the broken shatters of himself.

He waited in the elevator catching his breath as emotions flooded every bit of his body. Memories flooded into his mind like a storm, or he should call them lies.

Then his phone rang again.

Same number.

Same message.

But a new line appeared:

“Mr. Ethan Cole, this concerns your inheritance. Your grandfather’s estate is awaiting your confirmation.”

This time, Ethan finally saw it and a realization hit him. These people knew his last name that he had never used, because of the stories of how his father ran away.