Chapter 3

At this moment, Ethan glared sharply at Milena and Mr. Manager. He couldn't believe they would stoop so low.

Mr. Manager smirked, confirming Ethan's accusations.

"If that's true, then what? What can you do about it?"

Hearing Mr. Manager's words, Ethan exploded. Without hesitation, Ethan started punching Mr. Manager repeatedly.

Milena screamed as she watched, until a few people came and tried to stop Ethan.

"Remember, Mr. Manager! I won't stay silent. I'll come back for revenge."

Ethan now walked home, his mind wandering aimlessly. His heart and mind were in turmoil.

Ethan felt utterly destroyed, betrayed by his friend and lover.

"What could have led to all of this happening? Have I committed a grave sin for God to punish me like this?" Ethan monologued to himself.

Ethan rubbed his face in frustration, trying to calm himself and make sense of everything going wrong within him.

But it all seemed futile. Ethan still felt overwhelmed by fear.

Ethan tried to reflect on his past experiences that led him to where he is now.

But there wasn't a single moment Ethan felt warranted the current punishment he was enduring.

He didn't feel deserving of any of this.

"So, what led me to feel like this? What made everything so difficult?" Ethan asked, unable to find a true answer.

Despite the noisy cacophony of vehicles around him, the man clearly ignored them. None of the sounds seemed to affect him.

Everything turned silent, as if nothing was happening.

Only the voices of his sister and his neighbor kept echoing in his ears like a broken old cassette tape.

Crunch!

Just as Ethan's footsteps entered a narrow alley to shorten his way home, he felt something different happening to him.

His strong hand reached out to touch his stomach, stroking it as it grumbled like a crowd of demanding worms asking for food.

Ethan sighed deeply. He couldn't believe it all.

In the midst of his dire problems, Ethan had to deal with his hungry stomach's demands.

"What should I do now? If I use the money I have to buy food, what about the future? Especially since I need a lot of money for my mom's medical expenses."

Ethan felt an overwhelming dilemma. He had never been in such a dilemma before.

Usually, there was happiness in working wholeheartedly and joking around with his office friends, who now turned out to be the masterminds behind the destruction of his current life.

"Hold on! I can't use this money right now. No matter what, Mom is far more important than me. I don't need to think about myself first; I have to think more about Mom's medical expenses."

Ethan affirmed in his heart. His eyelids closed suddenly, allowing the negative energies to reconcile within him.

Ethan didn't want to dispel those energies because the negative energy had already merged within him.

At least, if he couldn't let go of everything, Ethan had to find peace and allow the negative energy to settle so as not to complicate his mind.

The man continued to walk with a heart in turmoil, trying to contain the pain.

The loneliness that now truly made the surroundings silent made Ethan feel even more that the world was unfair to him.

Ethan felt that God favored others over his own life.

"What do you really want, God?! Why do you let me feel such a heavy burden? Why do you trap me in this narrow space? Why?"

Ethan continued to monologue with himself, questioning everything that had made him feel so lost.

"Where are the words of those who say that God has surely prepared the most beautiful and best destiny for His servants? Where did those words go? Where did the statement that God is fair go? Where? There hasn't been a single moment that makes me grateful or believe in those words right now."

Ethan closed his eyes for quite some time. His footsteps continued without any intention of stopping.

It must have been countless times. Ethan's stomach kept growling, indicating how urgent the situation was for him right now.

It was foolish of him to choose to buy iced tea instead of bread or something else.

If only Ethan had known earlier about the difficulties in his life, maybe he could have dealt with it and prevented all of this from happening.

For a long time, Ethan wrestled with his thoughts and questions about the destiny that God had given him, not long after he found himself in the middle of that narrow alley.

Faintly in his blurry eyes, a wrapped rice packet lay on top of the trash can filled with many old cardboard boxes.

"Is God being kind to me?" Ethan asked while looking up at the sky.

Ethan was convinced that someone up there was watching him, looking at him as if to say he wasn't as heartless as he thought towards those who had come to rely on him.

"But it's in the trash can. Should I take it? Is it okay? Maybe there's a reason why the food was thrown away."

Even though Ethan's hunger was at an acute level, there was still something that made him afraid.

Ethan approached the trash can. His eyes darted nervously, looking left and right, afraid someone might see him taking the food.

After he made sure everything was safe and the situation was conducive, Ethan opened the plastic and took the neatly wrapped rice.

Ethan untied the rubber band around the rice packet. There was nothing unusual about it. The food looked intact, but why was it on top of the trash can?

Ethan himself didn't know the reason for the presence of the rice packet on top of his trash can.

Ethan stared blankly at the rice packet, suddenly reminded of Milena, his girlfriend.

"You're a jerk, Milena. How dare you play with me after what I did for you. Just wait, Milena, you'll face the consequences. You'll regret wasting me."