The Man She Called A Nobody

Chapter 2: Reality Hits Hard

“Divorce?”

The word slipped past Nelson’s lips as a raspy whisper. His jaw went slack, and he stared at Mrs. Park as if she had just grown a second head. He was completely blindsided.

“Are you serious?” he asked, his voice cracking under the weight of his confusion.

Mrs. Park sat regally at the dining table, her posture rigid, her gaze lethal. There was not an ounce of humor in the room.

“Do I look like I’m stuttering, you fool?” she sneered, a cruel smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.

Nelson stood rooted to the carpet, utterly speechless. The words hit him like a freight train. He felt the oxygen drain from the room as reality began to claw its way into his chest. After four years of sacrificing everything; his pride, his time, his own ambitions, to elevate this family from the dirt, this was his reward? Insults? Humiliation?

He frantically scanned the room, hoping someone would laugh and tell him it was a sick, twisted joke. But the silence was deafening.

His body went entirely numb until Mrs. Park’s sharp voice snapped him back to the present.

“Why are you still standing there staring at us like an idiot? Have you not realized that Lisa has outgrown you?” She gestured grandly toward her daughter. “She deals with wealthy executives now. She sits at the table with real men who command respect. Look at you… you’re a pathetic, poor man who can’t even afford a decent suit, let alone take care of a woman of her status.”

The word divorce ricocheted through Nelson’s mind, louder with every echo.

This was the same family that, four years ago, couldn't even afford to pay their heating bill. The same family that ate instant noodles for dinner. When Nelson married into the Park family, everything miraculously began to change for them. Lisa suddenly got opportunities. She met contractors. She shook hands with the city's elite.

When she was crying over rejected proposals, Nelson was there. When she was buried under a mountain of paperwork, Nelson made sure she ate. He was the invisible pillar holding up her entire world.

And they all knew it.

But tonight, they were looking at him like a piece of trash they had just scraped off their expensive shoes.

Nelson slowly turned his head to look at Lisa. His wife. The woman he loved.

She sat there with her legs elegantly crossed, swirling the wine in her glass as if they were discussing the weather.

He searched her eyes desperately, begging silently to see a glimpse of the girl he married four years ago. Instead, she offered him a slow, exasperated eye roll.

“Lisa…” Nelson’s voice broke, the sting of betrayal bringing hot tears to his eyes. “Tell me this is a joke. Please.”

Behind him, Mrs. Park let out a mocking chuckle.

Lisa finally set her glass down. The clink against the wood sounded like a gavel dropping.

“Look, Nelson, this is a decision I’ve made, and there’s no going back,” she said, her tone as flat and businesslike as a corporate memo. “You should know me better. I don’t go back on my word.”

Not a hint of remorse. Not a shred of sympathy.

Nelson’s hands fell limply to his sides. The last drop of fight drained out of him, replaced by a chilling, hollow sensation that traveled down his spine. No one in their right mind would have predicted this four years ago.

“What exactly are you waiting for?” Mrs. Park barked, growing impatient. “Are you going to stand there polluting the air in my dining room, or do I need to call the police and have you removed for trespassing?”

Nelson lowered his head. For the first time in a very long time, he felt small. Worthless. He had given his soul to the Park family, and they had chewed it up and spit it out the moment they struck gold.

Without another word, he turned his back on them and began the slow walk toward the front door. Every step felt like he was wading through wet cement. He looked like a man who had lost everything.

As his hand gripped the cold brass of the doorknob, a voice cut through the silence.

“Nelson.”

His heart betrayed him, skipping a hopeful beat. It was Lisa’s voice. Soft. Familiar. Maybe she had realized what she was doing. Maybe she was going to stop him.

He paused, glancing over his shoulder.

“You’re forgetting something.”

Lisa ruthlessly slid the silver wedding band off her finger —the ring he had saved up for months to buy when he had nothing— and carelessly tossed it across the room. It bounced off his chest and clattered onto the hardwood floor.

“And shut the door behind you when you leave.”

That was the kill shot. The words carved out whatever was left of his heart.

Nelson stared at the ring glinting on the floorboards. There was a hurricane of things he wanted to say. Secrets he could reveal that would shatter their fragile, arrogant world in seconds. But he swallowed the words. They weren't worth it anymore.

Slowly, deliberately, he crouched down and picked up the ring, slipping it into his pocket.

He stood up and let his dark, piercing gaze sweep the room one final time. He looked at Kyler’s smug face, Mrs. Park’s victorious sneer, and finally, Lisa’s cold, indifferent eyes.

Then, he stepped out into the night and pulled the door shut.

Inside the house, Mrs. Park beamed with satisfaction. She had prayed for this day for four long years, and the universe had finally delivered.

“But, Mom…” Lisa murmured, staring at the closed door. For a fleeting fraction of a second, a flicker of doubt crossed her face. A strange, sinking feeling that she had just thrown away something irreplaceable. “Do you think this was the right way to do it?”

Mrs. Park rushed to her daughter's side, pulling her head to her chest and stroking her hair.

“Listen to me, baby,” she cooed softly. “This is the greatest decision you will ever make. Do not shed a single tear for that boy. You need to understand who you are now. You are no longer a struggling nobody. You are a princess.”

She tilted Lisa’s chin up, forcing her to make eye contact. “And a princess deserves absolute royalty. Nelson could never provide the life you are destined for. His name alone is a liability to your new corporate image. I won't let him drag you back into the mud.”

Mrs. Park smiled warmly. “Besides, with your new status, there will be a line of powerful billionaires begging to take care of you. You have nothing to worry about.”

Lisa’s face brightened, the fleeting doubt washing away. Even though a tiny, quiet voice in the back of her mind screamed that she had made a terrible mistake, she pushed it down and smiled. Her mother was right. She was destined for greatness now.

“Don’t worry, sis. We’ve got your back. We are moving up in the world,” Kyler chimed in, though he aggressively avoided looking at the door.

******

Outside, the neighborhood was completely dead. Nelson walked aimlessly down the dark, freezing street, his eyes glued to the starless sky above.

After blocks of wandering, his legs gave out. He collapsed onto the cold concrete curb beneath a flickering streetlight. He sat motionless for a long time, the silence of the city pressing in on him, until a single, hot tear finally slipped down his cheek.

He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had cried.

Memories assaulted him like physical blows. Lisa clinging to his arm when she was terrified of failing. Lisa’s radiant smile the day she registered her company. Lisa whispering in the dark that she could have never survived without him.

And now, after everything… she had thrown him away like garbage. All for a corporate suit she barely knew.

Nelson raised a hand and violently wiped the tear from his face. His expression hardened, the sorrow evaporating into something cold and sharp.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen cast a pale, blue glow over his tired features. Bypassing his regular contacts, he opened a hidden encrypted dialer and punched in a sequence of numbers.

It rang exactly once.

“Hello,” a deep, impossibly composed voice answered.

“Jhon,” Nelson said. His voice was no longer the weak, stammering tone of a rejected husband. It was low, steady, and vibrating with quiet authority. “I need you to come pick me up. Bring something appropriate. I don't want to draw attention tonight.”

There was only a half-second pause on the line.

“Right away, Master Reed,” the voice replied, dripping with absolute reverence. “It is very good to hear from you again. Tracking your location now.”