Chapter 1:
At a bus stop sign not far from a tall office building, a tired-looking middle-aged man with slightly ruffled hair and dark circles under his eyes sat on a rusty bench. His back was hunched over and his hands rested weakly on his knees. His face looked empty and broken as he kept on replaying the scene from earlier today, over and over again.
***
"You are fired Alex. Go turn in your ID card to the HR department and leave this company immediately."
For a few seconds Alex didn't move, he just stood there, staring at the man he called his manager with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
This has got to be some kind of a joke right?
For seventeen freakin years Alex had given everything to this company. But now, all he was given in return was a custom made sack letter that seemed to mock him.
"B-but sir... please give me a chance. I have a family to feed, and without this job I don't... I don't know what I'm going to do. Please"
The manager sighed, already looking irritated, and rubbed his forehead.
"Look, I can't help you with that, okay? the company decided to lay off some staff to save money. So you aren't the only person affected by this. I suggest you man up and go. I'm sure that with your years of experience, you'll find another job."
Something inside him snapped.
"Bullshit! I've been working for this company for seventeen freaking years! And now you're just going to throw me away like trash?!"
His shout immediately drew the attention of the nearby employees, causing them to glance at him with pity.
That did it.
"SECURITY!"
The manager roared, his face turning an ugly shade of purple.
"Get him out of my sight. NOW!"
The door swung open immediately and two guards walked in. One of them grabbed his arm, causing him to wince in pain. Then the other reached for the ID card holder around his neck and tried to pull it off. But Alex resisted fiercely.
It was stupid, but that small piece of plastic was more than just an ID card. It was his life and seventeen years of overtime and missed anniversaries. Now someone was pulling it out of his fingers like it was nothing but trash.
When the guard finally tore it away, it felt like something inside him had been ripped out with it. Then they pushed him out of the building without any mercy.
"Geez, know your place man" one of them muttered.
"Yeah man. Just go out before you keep on embarrassing yourself."
But Alex didn't answer them. Accepting his fate, he walked out of the gate, crossed the street without looking and sat down heavily on the rusty bench across the building.
***
He clenched his fist slowly, then loosened them and gave out a sigh.
"Now, what am I supposed to do? I still have a butt load of bills to pay. And I haven't even completed the house mortgage payment...."
Honk! Honk!
Suddenly, a bus honked loudly, pulling him out of his thoughts. Regaining his composure, Alex took a deep breath and forced himself to stand up and enter inside the bus.
"Oh well, it's not like staying here would even change anything."
Inside the bus, he found an empty seat close to the window and leaned his head against the seat back as the bus lurched forward.
...Soon, Alex finally caught sight of the familiar neighborhood, and pulled the cord to signal to the driver that this was his stop and got off, then walked home slowly. When he finally reached his house, he stood in front of the door for a moment, then took a deep breath while comforting himself.
"You know what?! It's just a fuckin job. As long as I still have my wife and kids. I'm sure that I can start over again. Besides I'm pretty sure that once I tell Emily about this, she'll cheer me up and say something like everything is going to be okay and we will get through this together."
After saying that, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.
"Emily, I'm home"
But no one responded. He paused, then shrugged it off. Maybe she went out with the kids or something.
But just as he was about to walk further, he heard something like a faint sound from upstairs. At first he couldn't tell what it was, but after listening closely, his body froze.
"...mmh...right there... Yeah!"
"No..." The word slipped out.
He slowly moved one step after another, to confirm whether his ears were playing a prank on him.
Then another loud moan followed, confirming his fear.
"Faster baby.... D-don't stop..."
That was Emily's voice.
Soon, Alex finally reached the bedroom door. As he was about to open the door he heard a man's voice which sounded deep and familiar.
His eyes immediately shot open when he realized who it was.
"Zack! But why?! My childhood friend. The man who stood beside me at my wedding as the best man. The one who said brothers forever."
His fingers slowly tightened into a fist as anger washed over his body.
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Alex pushed open the door and felt his heart crack, as he saw the scene unfolding In front of his eyes. A naked and flushed Emily lay on the bed with her legs wrapped around Zack's waist, as he pounded inside her aggressively.
"Yeah baby, I'm about to... Keep going... Faster..."
"You like it don't you? Tell....."
Suddenly, his shaky voice cut through the room.
"Emily?"
They both jerked in shock. Zack's eyes widened while Emily gasped and began to panic. The room looked messy and smelled of sex and sweat.
"A-alex it's not what it looks like..." Emily said with a panicked voice.
For a second, nobody moved. Then Alex suddenly lunged at Zack, desperately trying to shove and claw at him. But Zack easily dodged it and pushed him back. But Alex came back again like a man who had nothing left to lose
"Alex, stop!" Emily shouted while clutching the sheets to cover herself.
Alex finally stopped moving, and stared at her like a broken doll. The question fell out of him like broken glass
"How long has this been going on Emily? HOW LONG?!"
She sighed. "Since you've found out, I'll be straight with you. I've been with him for fifteen years, Alex. Like did you really think those kids look anything like you."
Alex felt something crack as his legs suddenly weakened and hot tears streamed down his face.
"No! You're lying. It's not true... Please tell me it's not true!" he yelled, refusing to believe a single word.
"Look I'm not lying, Okay! You're just going to have to deal with it."
Emily's voice suddenly sharpened.
"And besides I've already transferred everything into my name. The house, account. Everything!"
Alex eyes widened as he realized something.
"Y-you... Used me?"
She rolled her eyes "Oh please, don't be so dramatic. You were useful okay that's all you ever were"
"Y-you filthy... Lying... Bitch..."
Anger quickly clouded his senses and he lifted his hand to slap her. But Zack caught his wrist and growled.
" Don't you dare touch her"
He twisted free, then turned to attack Zack instead— But he didn't notice when Emily picked the vase by the bedside.
Crack!
Suddenly a sharp pain exploded in the back of his head, causing him to fall to his knees as blood trickled down his neck. His eyes caught the broken pieces of the vase that laid scattered across the ground.
Alex struggled to look up at Emily, muttering. "W-why...?"
But she didn't respond.
Suddenly, He gave out a bitter laugh when he realized that she wasn't even paying attention to him— instead she was arguing with Zack on how to cover up the crime scene.
"...So this is it?" He thought.
"So this is how I die? Like a piece of trash.
Hahaha. Guess I'm the biggest fool who ever lived. If there's really a God up there please punish those pair of adulterous couple"
Then darkness slowly came.
Suddenly a calm feminine voice cut through the darkness.
[The heavenly desire system initializing]