CHAPTER 9
1141 Words
“Just like that? I will lose everything my father has ever toiled for over a careless woman with low self-esteem? Darn! What was I thinking? Love? Haha… I must have been a fool for letting a mere word like ‘wife’ mess my life up.
I am more pained that I needed to stay married to meet the conditions of signing our lucky break contract with the Johnsons’.
That's not even a near-valid excuse; this is one hundred per cent my fault; I should have listened to Father. Mixing business with pleasure has its rewards, I am reaping more than I bargained for.
A contract marriage would have tilted these unforeseen circumstances to the abyss.”
In between regrets, and necessity, he found himself lurking in the wilderness bordering both.
A drop of hot tear clouded his lower eyelid when a thought cut through the base of his stomach like a betrayal stab.
“Brother, I promise. I will find a way to get you out of this s**t hol..”
Cring! Cring! Cring! Cring!
A deafening sound filled the room, signalling an end to a conversation they both knew they were not halfway near the end.
“Your allocated 20 minutes of prison visit time is up, Mr Nathan. As the law demands, both of you are advised to step aside in opposite directions, observing absolute social distancing.” The prison warder interpreted the loud decibel sound.
“How much more time can I buy?.” Nathan shot back at the prison warder in a shaky voice.
“We are sorry, sir, it is about our official prison visit closing time. We, at this point, expect everyone to leave.” The warder retorted, showing little disdain at Nathan’s.
Ethan’s head rubbled thoughts over the words, “How much more time can I buy?”. How much time did I blow into thin air, loving the wrong person? Can I buy it back? Could love be a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
“Excuse me, is this place not supposed to be devoid of danger? What is a scorpion doing over there, Mr. Warder???” Nathan’s voice couldn't hide the sheer anger in his mind.
“Holy shi!!! How did it get in here?” Jumps into action, and moves closer to the corner of the box room, where the scorpion lies patiently. And severed it with his 7CM round-headed baton.
Nathan swiftly stole the moment and slipped a nano-sized paper note into Ethan's palms as soon as all the sensor surveillance CCTV cameras concentrated on where the dangerous source emanates from.
A backup team of four rushes into the box room to restore decorum, only to discover it was a fight with a mere scorpion. That is not what they were thinking.
“You guys should do better next time.” Nathan threw words in disdain and made for the door out of the box room. And Ethan was shown his way back to his prison custody.
The night came when the whole prison yard became a cemetery. Each prison had two inmates, and each prison door faced each in a row of 10, in total 1000, allowing a corridor where the warders walk past, all prison rooms had the same sizes, except for Ethan’s.
Ethans’ was twice that of every other inmate. Yes, you wouldn’t expect an influential figure person to squat.
The inside was perfectly lighted, such that you could see a pin at night. A controlled channel flatscreen Television was pasted directly opposite his bunk bed. He was at least better than the rest, but they all shared one common thing–NO FREEDOM.
He covered his blanket head to toe and unwrapped the note his brother gave him.. and a deep frown courted his face at the first read:
Damian is still alive but hospitalized. But he is as good as dead lying half-dead since the bullet ruptured his spinal cord. He barely can think or do a thing for himself. So, the complainant will be ruled absent from judgment in court. Don’t fret. That's our script.
Do not plead guilty.
Don’t trust any prison warder, 90% work for him.
Sorry, I had to use Scorpio for the distraction. Don't get too mad, I bought another one.
“What?” shhhh… he scolded himself to pipe low to avoid calling attention to his cell. “Why did you not just buy another one, you foolish boy.” He whispered in cheerful banter.
Please, brother, you should accept Naomi’s visitation request. Who knows? She might have something important to tip in.
He let a deep frown that caused his eyes to squint, and his mouth twitched forward, forming an “O” shape.
******
“Mr. and Mrs. Ethan. You have just 20 minutes.”
Naomi leaned forward, throwing the dangling end of her muffler hung around her neck to the back. Before she could take off her glasses he felt words spearing through her heart.
“Why did you not protest that you aren't Mrs. Ethan like you do? You have suddenly become soft? I should have known that you are friends with benefits. Maybe I would not have been here. I went all out to protect you from someone you really desired more.
Oh. Do you like how he treats you like trash?
Yeah. My father was right; women don't like nor appreciate Mr. Nice Guy.
There I thought I loved you; I never knew how much you have infected me to the point of sounding like a god-forsaken weakly. I feel like I have lost my ball…..”
“Ethan, stooo..oop.. stop it..” Naomi lashes out, cutting Ethan in between words as tears drool uncontrollably down her face, her face lost all expressions at the Ethan he had just met.
Not the Ethan that had a farm of affection for her. Her Ethan wouldn't raise a voice at her feeble heart.
“Naomi. Have you not deceived me enough? What are these tears supposed to do to me? Make me cringe? You silent manipulator.” His fingers clenched into a fist, shaking like one with uncontrollable muscle spasms.
“Ethan, you never loved me. It was all about your father’s empire. Do you know how my whole world came to a halt the moment I discovered the Johnsons’ contract terms? I shook it off to ensure we could be together. I should have trusted my guts, they were not wrong.
Am I a mere toy to fulfil your self-centred interest? I understand what the marriage was all about now. It has always been about the firm.” her voice fainted into soft sober, and moans.
“How do I feel now that I am three weeks gone for a man that prioritizes his father’s firm over everything?”
“Wait! What?”
- Writer
