Chapter 4

Carlos' gaze darkened. “Throw this thing out!” He ordered.

The security guards approached Ethan, holding him by both arms. “Let me go!! Check the collection you are about to sign on!!” Ethan kept yelling and throwing his legs in the air.

“Arrgghh Carlos!!!” He yelled again; the security guards were almost at the door,” No, no, no”, Ethan panicked. If they got to that door, he had lost his chance; he couldn’t fail in this lifetime too. He racked his brain, “What to do?”

A thought ran into his head, and without thinking, he bit the hand of the security guard on the right. He yanked his arm from the second one and ran back towards Carlos.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two? Don’t you need your jobs anymore? I told you to get this crazy guy out of my fucking office!” Carlos barked.

“Just check the fawking collection, piece number twenty, yes, that’s the one, it’s a fake!” Ethan yelled breathlessly.

The man with Carlos's eyes widened. “Who is this guy, and how did he know the exact part that is fake?” Sweat broke from his forehead; he slammed his hand on the table,

“Are you deaf? The boss said to throw him out!” He pointed at Ethan; his finger was shaking.

“Why are you so nervous? Are you scared you’d get caught?” Ethan tilted his head.

“What are you talking about? You are the crazy one here!” The man’s body was obviously shaking.

The security guards held Ethan again, “Carlos, kings! Just check the piece I named; if I am wrong, you can break my legs, blind me, kill me, do whatever you want, but please just check.” Ethan pleaded desperately.

Carlos squinted his eyes, “Why is this stranger so bent on him checking the jewelry? No one would ever put their lives on the line for nonsense; maybe I should check.”

“What piece did you say is fake?” Carlos asked, opening the package.

“B..oss, why are you listening to this psychopath? He’s probably a beggar or a mentally deranged person. Let’s just call the police.” The man was trembling, almost peeing on himself.

“And why are you so worked up about it? Why are you so nervous?” Carlos faced the man; he gulped in fear. Carlos wasn’t the type to mess with, and he knew that, but he still did.

“Piece twenty, the emerald set.” Ethan smiled.

Carlos raised a brow” You even know the particular jewel in the piece?”

“Just check already!” Ethan stomped his foot on the floor.

Carlos started bringing out each set, till he got to piece twenty. The moment he picked up the emerald jewelry, he could already tell that it was fake; it wasn’t even transparent.

“What the actual fuck is this?” Carlos said so calmly; anyone would get deceived, but the man knew that he was finished. He was trembling so hard that he ended up peeing on himself.

“S..sir i…the….I…didn’t….I…wasn’t….” The man was shuddering; he couldn’t make sense of what he himself was saying.

“You didn’t pack it? Weren’t you in charge of the package? Didn’t you know it was inside? Someone fooled you and added it to the collection? Which lie are you trying to come up with?” Carlos tilted his head, and slowly, he took off his glasses.

The man desperately fell on his knees,” Please boss, have mercy. I didn’t mean to do that. I wasn’t in my right senses.” The man kept bowing his head, hitting his forehead against the tiled floor.

“Alright, you can go.” Carlos waved.

“What? Someone almost ruined your sales, and all you say is they can go?” Ethan scoffed.

Carlos shot him a glare, and he instantly held his lips, “This guy is low-key scary.” Ethan thought.

“Really? Thank you, boss. Thank you.” The man bowed and scurried out of the office, his pants wet from his ode. Carlos nodded at the security that they could go too. About a minute later, a cleaner arrived and cleaned up the mess the man had made.

Carlos didn’t say a word, like he was expecting something, and truly, he was. His phone dinged; he picked it up. It was a video of the man tied to a chair; he was being electrocuted, his gaze was fixed on the phone screen. Ethan moved behind him to see what it was since he was hearing the screams and pleas of the man.

Ethan gasped when he saw the video; he quickly covered his mouth and stepped back when Carlos looked at him. Carlos returned his eyes to the phone, and when the video ended, the man was almost dead.

After two minutes, Ethan was rooted to a spot due to shock. Another video was sent to Carlos; without clicking on it, he knew what it was, but he clicked anyway. They dropped the man by the roadside, then called the ambulance, which had arrived and was taking the man to the hospital. Carlos turned off his screen and looked at Ethan.

Immediately, Ethan remembered, “I have achieved what I came here for; I should leave.” He said and walked towards the door.

“And who said you can go?” Carlos' voice came from behind the desk.

“Huh?” Ethan turned to look at him. “I have no business here anymore.” He added and turned back; he was already about to twist the doorknob when Carlos' voice came again.

“How did you know about everything?”

Ethan froze; how was he supposed to tell Carl he just got reborn to two years back after he had died? Carlos would just assume his mad and not believe him. I mean, who would believe such stuff? Even he himself still hadn’t believed it.

Ethan turned and walked back in, “Someone tipped me off.”

“And who is that?” Carlos asked.

“I can’t tell you that; they asked their identity to be kept private.” Ethan lied.

“And why's that?” Carlos became interested.

“They will get killed if their identity gets leaked, even in the slightest.“ Ethan made up another lie.

Carlos was quiet, seemed he fell for it. Ethan took a deep breath in. He smiled and turned to walk away.

“You called me a name when you entered this office,” Carlos said. He stood up from his seat and walked towards Ethan. “What was it you called me?”

“Carlos, kings?”Ethan turned.

“No, you called me an... idiot.” Carlos bent towards Ethan. Ethan’s eyes widened as he recalled.

“You were acting like one tho,” Ethan whispered, but Carlos heard perfectly.

“So you called me an idiot?”

“Would you have preferred I’d let you sign those papers without checking the good?” Ethan was getting pissed. He didn’t even say thank you, he thought.

“I’d rather you not call me an idiot.”

Ethan rolled his eyes secretly and walked out. Carlos sat back on his seat, his eyes not leaving the door. “What a lunatic…