Chapter two

"Ashley..." He whispered.

The little girl was visibly shaken as she saw what had become of her father. Her eyes welled up with tears and Ethan felt more like a failure. Alisa signalled to the guards and they untied him.

"Next time, you won't be this lucky," she warned and stomped off, ignoring the little girl. The guards looked around and their gazes were stuck on Ethan's injured back.

"Just apply a bit of ointment and it would heal in a week." One of them murmured as he walked past Ethan. Ethan smiled, at least they had conscience.

Ashley stood at the same spot, staring at her father. Ethan, despite the pain, managed to come down from the table and stagger towards her.

"You're back? Why did you come out? You should learn to stay indoor, okay? You know daddy will always come to check up on you." Ethan said, moving her hair behind her ears. Ashley wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and Ethan shut his eyes tightly. This was his only hope in life. "Let's head back in," he said.

"Daddy, you're injured," Ashley whispered. "Go to the clinic, daddy."

Ethan chuckled. "Oh, darling, the things you can only understand when you grow."

He led Ashley into the house and Cara saw him. She scowled as she noticed his blood stained body. "What happened to you?"

Ethan didn't answer and simply walked passed her. Cara saw his back and gasped, her eyes filled with tears instantly.

"Ethan, what happened? Oh my goodness!"

Ethan still didn't respond, but he kept going. He climbed the stairs to their bedroom and sat Ashley down on the bed. He took off his torn clothes and tossed them in the waste bin. Cara entered right at that moment and she watched him enter the bathroom. After a few minutes, Ethan emerged in his briefs. He opened the wardrobe and took out a pair of trousers which he wore.

"Will you at least let me treat the wound for you?" Cara asked gently.

"Why do you care?" Ethan replied softly. "It's not like you didn't have a hand in it. I did ask you to discuss privately, but you didn't accept. You rather insulted me publicly."

"What has that got to do with this?" Cara fired in defence.

"What that has got to do with this is that after you left, a maid was obviously pitying me because I'm that pitiful, and she kept encouraging me, and your mother walked in, accused me of cheating and ordered your father's bodyguards to beat me up. That's what it has got to do with this." Ethan explained with gritted teeth.

Cara scowled even deeper. "My mom did this to you?"

Ethan scoffed and started packing his things into a duffel bag. Cara watched with displeasure. "If you leave, do you have a place to go?"

"No, but I will rather be homeless than be treated this way." Ethan snapped. Ashley watched the banter with wide eyes. She hurried to her room through the conjoining door and returned with many of her clothes, roughly packed in her travel bag. Cara decided that maybe she had to follow Ethan.

"Pack mine too, I need to have a word with my mother," she stated firmly. Ethan glanced at her in surprise. Was she willing to go with him? Maybe she loved him too. He gave a single nod and Cara stormed out. Ethan gently folded Ashley's clothes and then Cara's clothes as well.

By the time Cara arrived, she picked Ashley up and pulled one bag while Ethan pulled the other two, following behind her.

"You'll come back to beg me, when you can't provide for them," Alisa whispered as Ethan passed her. Ethan didn't respond to them, he simply followed Cara.

"Sit at the back," Cara ordered and he obeyed. He and Ashley sat behind while Cara drove. She drove to a smaller apartment that was a few streets apart from their family house. "This used to be my mother's house, but she gifted it to me on my last birthday, the documents have just been changed not long ago, we can stay here."

Ethan nodded. Had his wife always had this house and let them suffer so much in his in-laws house? He decided not to worry.

"We need to visit the clinic," Cara said with a scowl. Without waiting for him to protest, she drove them down to the hospital to have his wounds treated.

After the treatment, Cara found out that she couldn't pay for anything, her cards had been frozen by her mother. How could she survive without money? Ethan paid for his treatment and he knew that what was left could never serve them for the month, but if Cara was willing, he would be strong enough to work.

-

Two weeks after, Cara had completely changed. She lashed out at Ethan at the slightest inconvenience, she brought different men home and didn't mind that Ashley was around. Ethan could not pay Ashley's school fees anymore and his daughter was being harassed at school.

The two jobs which he worked had clashed and he lost both of them. On getting home, he met Cara leaving the house in another man's car and Ethan's heart broke all the more. Sitting alone, he got a phone call from an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Ethan, dear, you sound so unhealthy. How are you coping with my daughter?" Alisa's mocking voice sounded through the phone. Ethan's grip on the phone tightened and he willed his voice to stay steady.

"You already know, ma'am, why do you bother to ask?"

"Because it's fun to hear you admit defeat. Why don't you come over and help us prepare for an event tonight, I'm sure I could spare you a grand."

-

Ethan arrived at his wife's family house and there was no banquet, rather, he noticed that everyone was seated with straight faces.

"We got your report, about Cara's behaviour." Alisa stated. "I just don't get why you think you have a right to demand faithfulness from her. You can't even feed her right."

Ethan scowled. He opened his mouth to speak but Alisa shunned him instantly. She called the bodyguards who had beaten him earlier and they came around. Ethan's gaze hardened the moment he saw them.

"What in the world?"

"It seems he didn't learn his lesson earlier, take it to the streets this time around." Alisa stated fiercely. It was bright in the afternoon and Ethan never believed that his reputation would be destroyed in such a manner.

But the men jacked him, two of them held him in place, in the streets, while two others whipped him. Anyone who asked was told that he cheated on his wife and framed her to her parents. People spat on him and cursed at him. Rather than feel hurt, Ethan felt a surge of anger overwhelm him, and the helplessness turned the anger to hatred.

Hatred for the Wilsons, for Cara and for her mother. His hatred spread against everyone of them, but when he thought about his daughter, his heart melted, and he cried.

After being whipped even worse than before, Ethan found his way home. He had promised Ashley that he would pay her school fees by tomorrow, but he didn't even return with a grain of food for the girl. To his surprise, he met Cara with another man, at home.

He tried to talk to her about it, but she simply presented him with divorce papers and told him to leave her house.

"Daddy, where are you going?" Ashley asked softly. "Daddy, let me come with you, please."

Ethan turned a deaf ear to her pleas. He had nothing on him, if he dared to take her, the Wilsons could sue him for kidnap. Even if he proved that he was her father, he had no means of taking care of her. For now, he had to let her go.

As he walked along the streets, dejectedly, he noticed a line of black cars, following each other on the road and he turned to watch them. It was as if one carried people who stared at him, he could feel their gazes. But the car swooshed by him, and then suddenly, there were loud horns on the road, causing him to turn back.

The black cars had turned and started coming back, it seemed like they were surrounding him, and they did. The doors opened and dozens of bodyguards clad in black suits stepped out from the cars. 

They bowed to him and he turned around to see if it was him or someone else, but it was him.

"Good evening, young master." They all chorused.

Ethan was shocked to his very wits. They all bowed and addressed him so respectfully. He was afraid, he wanted to run away, but when he looked around him, there was no means of escape, he knew that whatever these men came for, he had to follow them. One, he was outnumbered, two, he was wounded badly, three, they were too close to him already.

"Me?" He asked for clarification purposes.

The men nodded. "Yes, young master. We have been sent to bring you."

"Sent?" Ethan repeated. "Sent, by who?"

"We apologize, but we can't reveal the identity of the one who sent us, but he sent us to fetch you, sir." The one who seemed to be their leader spoke. "If you will, please come with us."

Ethan glanced at them skeptically, observing the cars that lined up around him. The men were dressed so uniformly, as if they were robots. They almost resembled the guards of the Wilsons, but they looked more regal and professional.

"Are you from the Wilsons?" Ethan asked. If they were, he would kill himself right on the spot.

"No sir." The man responded again. "Please, come with us, sir. Time is not on our side."

Ethan moved back a little. "Don't I have a choice?"

"Not at all sir, although I enjoy a good chase, but we don't have the time for that. Maybe some other time, if you please, sir."

Ethan found his response amusing and it calmed him a bit. Well, truly, if he didn't have a choice, then he didn't. He nodded once and the man moved aside for him to enter the car. Once he got in, the man got in beside him, and he watched everyone else get into their respective cars and they instantly drove off.

To his surprise, the car drove into the mall. "The mall?" He asked in surprise.

"Yes sir, you need to change your clothes first." The guard said, bowing even as they sat.

Confused, Ethan accepted anyway. He alighted, followed by dozens of men surely attracted some attention and he began to feel shy.

"If you want, we can form a barricade and no one would see through us to find you." The guard suggested. Ethan found that rather appealing and he consented to it. He was surrounded that he had to slow his steps to avoid hitting either of them or being hit. He picked some clothes to change into, and grabbed a few medicines for his injury from the pharmacy.

"You, pay." The leader ordered, and the others led Ethan back to the car. Next, they drove him to a luxury hotel.

"Young master, you can shower and change here. Whatever you need, I'll be outside."

Ethan went in and did as he was told. He called the guard to help him apply the ointment to his injury, and the man gladly helped him. Ethan's mind was still trying to wrap around the scenarios that had been occuring since he left his wife's house.

"Now that you're set, it's time to meet our master," the guard said. For some reason, Ethan felt worried. They drove him to a huge mansion in the city, and once they got in, Ethan recognized it instantly. It was the Greg mansion.

As they led him into the house, Ethan noticed an older man walking out with a face full

of smiles, welcoming him.

"Ah, Ethan my boy! Welcome! Here, a gift for you." Mr Greg said, handing him a flat card. Ethan glanced down and was surprised to find a golden ATM card in his hands.

"What?"