Chapter 2

Florence abruptly hit the brakes. She seemed apologetic as she handed me 200 dollars and asked me to get out of the car.

“Ty, you should take a cab to visit Maria. You should also use the money to get her a fruit basket. I’ll visit later. When Isaiah gets mad, it takes some effort to get him out of his mood. I’ll have to deal with him for days.”

Isaiah stood outside the car, and his expression was dark.

Florence hurriedly got out of the car to defuse his temper.

I stood to one side in the cold breeze as Isaiah started to throw kicks and punches at the car.

“This is such an awful and ugly car. Who knows how old it even is? I’m not getting in!”

Florence tried to comfort him softly. She said, “I think it’s old and ugly too. I’ll sell it off, so you won’t have to look at it.”

After saying that, Florence immediately made a call to her company to get someone to deal with the car.

She must have forgotten that she had wanted to own her own car back in the year she started the company.

Back in the day, I did my very best while entertaining clients and working so that I could help her fulfill her dream. I had gotten health issues from all the alcohol I was forced to drink.

When we went to collect the car, she hugged me and danced around. “Honey, I won’t ever let you down!”

As I watched the car I bought get towed away, I felt my heart clench in agony.

Florence did not even take a second look at me. She and Isaiah got into another car and left.

I grimaced before calling a number I had blocked five years ago.

The call was answered instantly. “Send me your location. I’ll go back to the country and see you immediately.”

…

At the hospital, I headed up to my mother’s ward.

She lay in the bed, attached to a respirator.

I put the fruit basket on the table and forced myself to smile. “Mom, Flo bought you this. She’ll be here in a bit.”

Mom could tell that I was not happy, so she said, “Tell her not to come. She’s so busy with work; she should rest well after she finishes up. I’ll be fine. Flo’s a nice girl. You two should be happy together. Don’t get into a tiff because of me.”

The phone rang, and I picked it up. Florence’s voice came through the line.

“Ty, it’ll be a while before I can get there.”

Suddenly, I could hear some withheld moans from her end of the line. “Don’t mess around, Isaiah.”

I quickly hung up. The room was quiet, and only the noise from the medical equipment remained.

As I expected, Florence did not come by at all that night.

The next morning, I wiped Mom’s face. After washing up, I went to Florence’s law firm, ready to grab the divorce agreement from the stack of other papers.

What I did not expect was to be stopped at the door. The security personnel there refused to let me in.

The security guard laughed when he saw me. “Why, isn’t this Mr. Schultz, who tried to badmouth Mr. Jordan out of jealousy? Ms. Hanson really is quite magnanimous. She only fired you instead of having your reputation as a lawyer ruined. You can still find work.”

I did not bother to respond to this.

I looked at the security guard and said, “Let me in. I’ll leave after I pick up my things.”

“I’m sorry. I only take orders from Ms. Hanson and Mr. Jordan.”

Despite his apology, it was clear that the security felt nothing but disdain for me.

I was about to say something when there came the sudden rumble of a motorcycle engine starting up.

A car sped past, and I got caught in its path and was dragged several hundred yards.