Chapter 21

Ethan’s POV 

I drove to one of the city's largest law firms to see my lawyer. He’s an old friend of mine, and keeping him by my side through this divorce is the best way to keep that ugly urchin in check. 

“Barrister Smith. How’re you doing?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here because of the divorce,e and you know we have to make it a lot harder for her to make her work for me,” I explained to him, watching his hand grasp for the bottle of whiskey. 

I stopped to observe him for a while, then noticed he was drunk and had a picture on his phone. 

“What’s wrong, Barrister?” I inquired as he was about to grab his pho,ne but I stopped him and wondered why he’d be drinking whiskey at this time of the day.

“Come on, what’s going on here?”

“I’ve been a divorce attorney for more than a decade, enjoying a happy married life,e and now I’m going through my own divorce.” I was shocked when he turned his phone screen so I could see a video of his wife and another man on a boat cruise. 

“You’re about to lose your wife, and yet you don’t have a lady at your beck and call?”

“I’m a married man, why would I have a lady at my beck and call?” He expressed his dissatisfaction, folding his arms and turning the chair around with his right hand on the whiskey. 

“My wife is away doing whatever she wants while I have a lady and a daughter back at home because I’ve always had her at my beck and call for about three years.” I chuckled while pulling out one of the seats so I could sit with him. 

“What do you intend to do?”

“I’ve secured all my assets,s but that doesn’t make me happy. I loved my li,fe and I want her back, ack but seeing another man close to her.” His hands were 

“What happened to using a long silver knife to strike the man through his heart and let him die before your wife, let her know that you’re meant to be hers alone.” I wondered why he wasn’t tough about it; it, he was drinking himself to a stupor because of a divorce. 

“You want me to kill someone. Do you think the authorities won’t find out who killed him? If he goes missing, it’s going to spark a lot of reactions, trust me.” Explaining his plight without a solution doesn’t work for him.e, I want my divorce finalised in my favor, and he knows how fast I want it done. 

“He’s a prominent man, if you don’t want that, then I can help you out with your problem, em and then you can help with mine. Do we have a deal?” I suggested an offer to him because that was the only way I could get his attention. If he wants my help, then he can get me what I need. 

“You want to help take out my rival?” He was surprised, dropping the cup on the table so he could have a close look at me. 

“I want to help take out the man about to ruin your marriage. If I do that, you can get Judge Johnson to rule over my case in my favor. There’s nothing wrong with that. I rub your back, and you rub mine.” 

“So if you take out this man, how are you going to make his body disappear without a trace?”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll figure it out and go ahead with the job. I just need your word that you’d do as I say because if you don’t, I’ll make you disappear as well.”

“So what do you need?”

“Information about him and that’ll be all. I’ll send you an address, have it delivered before midnight.” I stood up, picked up his half glass of whiskey, and emptied the cup. 

I was shocked at the taste of the liquor; it was good, and I loved it,t so I took the bottle with me. 

“Serene doesn’t deserve to know that I’d be taking out my lawyer’s problem for him to get Judge Johnson to rule in my case. 

I bought a large box of pizza for the family on my way home.e, I hoped Talia would be happy when she saw me. But I noticed she walked past me to the parking lot. 

“I thought you were not alone.” She was talking about crystal. I need her to understand that Crystal is not returning ever again. She’s gone. 

“Here’s pizza.”

“Talia has refused to let me help with her bath; she wants you or Crystal to touch her skin. She says my hands aren’t good for her skin.” Serene complained yet again, and I knew it was becoming unbearable for her since she’s the biological mother of Tali, a buCrystalal induced herself into Talia, and now she wantsCrystall or no one. 

“You don’t need to treat her this way, Talia.”

“She’s rude for starters, and I don’t like the way she moves; her hands are as strong as the mountains I see on the screen.” Talia hissed as she picked up the extra pack from the large pack. She picked up her juice and went up to her room. 

She’s too young to be this stubborn, but I wonder where she gets this from. I wasn’t stubborn at her age. 

“She’s treating me this way, and I hate it so much. Now I have to work to gain my daughter’s trust,t not to mention love. She hates me…”

“Don’t say that, at Serene, she’s not just used to you yet. With time, I'm sure she’s going to know that Crystalstal is never coming back, she’d have no choice but to call you mum.”

“I don’t want her to be forced to do it, I want her to call me mum willingly.” Serene sobbed, resting her head on my chest. 

“Let’s watch a movie.” She suggested, wiping off the tears that rolled down her cheeks. 

“I wanted us to be together as a family,y but clearly Talia has other plans, ns and to think that she’s not a grownup yet, she’s still a child.” I let out as I turned to the TV screen, picked up the remote controller so I could select a movie. 

“But my IQ and yours joined together is i,r so be assured that she knows a lot.”

Halfway through the movie and eating the pizza, I got a text on my phone. I knew Serene was suspicious,s and leaving without telling her where I was going would worsen the scenario. 

“Who’s texting you, Ethan?” She broke the silence as I stole glances at her before locking eyes with her. 

“It’s just wor, nothing more. You can see that it’s the lawyer handling my divorce case with your sister.” I showed her the screen in flashes so she won’t be able to read the text message he sent. 

“Why is he saying he dropped the information you need at the address you gave to him?”

How did she read so fast? I wish I hadn’t shown her, now I have to tell her everything so she would be able to understand.