Chapter 158 Is He Dead?
As Ava journeyed home, she sat in the backseat of the car, clutching the divorce papers, her tears flowing freely throughout the ride. The driver, feeling her distress but unsure of how to comfort her, simply focused on the road ahead.
Once she arrived home, Ava dialed Alexander's number, but to her surprise, it was Ethan who answered.
"Why are you answering Ethan?" she asked, her voice laced with confusion.
"Oh… Ava," Ethan's voice was overly formal, even slightly tense, upon hearing her. "Is there something you need?"
"This is Alexander's phone, why would you assume I'm calling for you?" she retorted, perplexed. She rarely had private conversations with Ethan.
"Ah, this is Alexander’s?" Ethan's voice was thick with confusion, a result of having had one too many drinks and mistaking Alexander's phone for his own.
A moment later, Ava heard him call out, "Alexander, your wife's on the phone for you!" He then proceeded to knock loudly on what Ava assumed was a door. "Open up, will you? Your wife is calling! Open the door!" Ethan's voice echoed through the phone.
"Alexander, you've taken over my room, fine, but are you dead in there? Come on, open up!" Ethan continued, his words causing Ava to furrow her brow in concern.
After a while, Ethan spoke again, "Well, he had too much to drink last night and is in my room, not opening the door."
"Could you please tell him that I got the papers from Grandma and he needs to get up so we can finalize it by this morning?" Ava requested, her voice steady.
“What? You guys are actually getting divorced?” Ethan sounded genuinely surprised. They had been talking about it for so long without taking any action. He had assumed it was all just talk. To his surprise, today was the day the deed was to be done—the papers were even ready.
“Yeah, could you call him again, please?”
“Oh, alright, I'll give it a shot.”
“Alexander!” Ethan yelled. “Your wife is at home with the divorce papers, waiting to finalize it. Get out of bed and take care of the paperwork!”
Ava listened as Ethan called out for a while, but there was no response from Alexander.
After a while, Ethan chuckled awkwardly, “He's not answering. Might’ve drunk too much and now he’s out cold. How about when he wakes up, I'll have him call you?”
Ava sighed, “Alright then, just make sure you tell him.”
“Sure, I’ll let him know.”
Ava hung up the phone, her fingers lightly caressing the family bible in her hands. The bible was now in her possession, and Grandma wouldn’t ask for it back. She didn't have to worry about running out of time anymore. She just hadn't expected that Alexander would be at Ethan’s place. She'd thought he might be staying the night with Isabella. Hearing Ethan’s voice for the first time, it felt somewhat comforting.
...
Ethan knocked on the door for a long time, but still, there was no response from inside. Could something have happened to Alexander?
“If you don’t open this door, I’m gonna break it down, Alexander!” Ethan warned, his worry escalating. Alexander couldn't be dead, could he?
Last night, Alexander had drunk far more than him, and no matter how hard Ethan tried, he couldn't stop him.
“Alexander, you’re not getting up, huh? I’m really gonna break it down!” Ethan threatened again, backing up a few steps before charging at the door.
Boom!
“Ah!” Ethan grunted as he tumbled to the ground, landing in an awkward heap. He didn’t manage to break the door open; instead, he was the one who’d been bounced back.
Damn it, in those TV shows, those guys could kick down a door with one foot. Is it that they have iron legs or are the doors just made of cardboard? Ethan thought to himself, writhing on the ground in pain.
He had no idea where he'd tossed the key to the room, and there was no finding it now. However, it didn't matter; he couldn't just stand by and let his buddy Alexander die on his watch.
After gathering himself, Ethan prepared to ram the door again. Just as he was about to charge, an irritated voice from inside stopped him cold, "Beat it!"
Ethan hit the brakes hard, his face pressed against the door!
"Oh, great, you're not dead! Why didn't you say something sooner? I thought you croaked!" Ethan exclaimed, relief washing over him.
A thud echoed as something hit the door from the inside. It must've been Alexander hurling something at the door.
"Hey, what did you hit? You didn't chuck my action figure, did you?" Ethan asked anxiously.
Bang! Another object struck something else.
"Alexander, stop breaking my stuff, this is my place!" Ethan protested, anger seeping into his voice.
Thud! The sound of things being smashed continued.
"Fine, fine, I'll shut it," Ethan cowered, "Just stop the smashing, but you did hear about your wife wanting a divorce, right?"
Thud! Another item was cast aside.
"Ah, forget it! I won't talk anymore!" Ethan ran off, covering his mouth in pain.
