The Star Of Depravity - Chapter 2

The last verdict for Chief Operations Officer and sole heir to the shoe empire Soles Incorporated, Ervin Wang’s— 

Upon hearing his name, he froze.

The reporter clad in a red suit, plastered a serious expression on her face, the words coming out precisely as she spoke about the news at hand.

—involvement with Belford Firm’s Pump-and-Dump investment fraud shall take place tomorrow morning.  

The only sources of illumination in his estranged room were the sun’s light seeping through the Venetian blinds beside the foam he called his bed, and the television he opened to supposedly watch something funny that would lift up his mood.

Six months ago, as he faced criminal and civil charges, including several money laundering schemes, the young chairman was immediately ordered arrested.

A cockroach looked startled as it ran on the cracked floor. It hid behind cans of beers lined in his wooden front door.

The money laundering schemes he perpetrated carry a fine of up to 1 million dollars— 

His remembered his lawyer patted him on the shoulder yesterday and told him it’s not his year.

—and ten years of imprisonment.

It’s not like he expected they’d win the case. He had already faced his apparent doom when the judge ordered his presence for the final verdict.

In defense, a statement released by the board of executives of Soles Incorporated revealed—

He sat upright and placed both his elbows on his knees. The TV remote remained on his side; his hazel eyes fixed on the screen that showed a video of him in a black cap and hoodie being surrounded by reporters asking his statement about the matter.

—that the twenty-eight-year-old entrepreneur allegedly sold his company’s stocks to save it after filing for bankruptcy.

The entire experience was disheartening.

He couldn’t take what he heard anymore. He threw a bottle of beer on the screen. The glass shattered, and in a second, the TV blackened. The reporter’s voice washed-out until the room fell in silence.

Closing his eyes, his hand roamed his face in exasperation upon what he had done. The subtle hair that grew on the lower half of his face grazed his palm as he rests it under his chin.

Even though he’s still on probation, Ervin knew he needed fresh air.

He already felt imprisoned in his own thoughts.

Almost three-fourths of his employees had to be retrenched due to their company’s attempt to save what was left of his father’s empire.

He had everything within his grasp—

Sign the papers, Ervin, and I’ll do my best to save your company from closing. 

—his inheritance.

Your father…! 

—the company.

Sold? Our company stocks? Ervin dear, it’s risky.

Son, please tell me they’re lying. They’re lying, right? 

—his parents’ approval.

How could you do that? You’re not the man I decided to marry—let me go! I can’t live with your crimes, Ervin. Let me go. 

—and his fiancee’s hand in marriage.

I’m sorry, I can’t take this anymore.

Ervin felt lost.

As if he’d thrown all of it at the cliff’s end, he woke up one day and realized he’d started losing what he cherished most.

The guilt left him distressed for several months. The faces of his former employees who saw him as their savior, transformed into betrayal and disappointment.

Some came forward to him personally. They were crying and begging him to do something about the situation as they can’t afford to lose their jobs.

He couldn’t do anything about it, his face a mask of stone and a blank sheet of paper.

Did he do it on purpose?

Yes, he did. And he wouldn’t deny it.

His father got sick in the middle of filing for bankruptcy, and Ervin was forced to burden his shoulders. He had no choice but to make do of the resources they had.

The board of executives held him as someone brash and uninterested, and he didn’t take it personally because it was the truth. He wasn’t the least inclined to follow their orders, but he was determined to save his father’s empire and the employees that cherished it.

But as he said, he had to do it.

His father had been the most hardworking and humble man he’d ever met in his entire life. Jason Wang started out as someone who repaired shoe soles on side-walks. He eventually grew his creations into hand-crafted shoes. Soon, he opened stores, and the people liked his items.

Throughout the years, his father competed and collaborated with several high-end brands. The world didn’t fail him as his business grew into a shoe empire that spread into three countries worldwide.

But then they lost talented people, and the company’s gain declined fast.

Ervin knew his father was an inspiration.

But you failed him, said the voice he’d been hearing for months now.

“Go away,” he muttered as he kicked the can of beer near his feet.

“I don’t hear you.” He didn’t know where it began. He had no time to spare to have himself checked. He was too ashamed to show himself in public.

People didn’t know his struggle, so when he finally told them the truth, not a single person listened. They chose not to believe the fact that he too got scammed.

Belford Firm’s top-paying broker, John Hughes, was a colleague during college. Ervin had always been the cautious type when it came to things he’s serious about.

Hughes took the dire opportunity to call him during a crisis, offering him a promise that’s too good to be true.

It was the first sign of a scam.

Ervin knew, but what made him risk it was that the man who offered it was John fucking Hughes.

Now, both of them are going to prison in a few hours or so.

No one, except the police and several people in the company, knew of his whereabouts.

His father had been in the ICU for five months straight, and Ervin knew it was his fault.

Before the police arrested him, his father threw a fit that caused him to have a heart attack. Now, Ervin’s mother wouldn’t even allow him to visit the hospital his father was confined to.

Ervin stood and accidentally stepped on a shard of glass.

“Shit…!”

He wiggled his foot in pain, “The hell?” roaming his hand on his sole; he managed to remove it.

He heard the chuckle he’d always hear in his sleep.

Suffering and pain—they’ll come and go, it said.

It actually wasn’t anything knee-trembling. Ervin didn’t know when he began hearing that dark voice in his head. But what he did note was that it would always come when his emotions are horribly heightened.

Ervin swiped the gray hoodie on the floor. He quickly wore it above his white t-shirt. He had worn his jeans for several days now, and he’s not planning on changing it. He couldn’t afford one, anyway.

Rummaging through his jean’s back pocket, he felt his room’s key, and a few bills left. He didn’t bother counting it.

When he reached the front door, he decided he’d buy a can of beer to suppress the ache in his chest.

Ervin walked out with his hood on.

He doesn’t expect the clothing to hide his features. He just felt like putting it on to lessen the sun’s exposure on his sight.

The police’s siren reverberated as he mutely walked on the side-walk. Soon, Ervin wouldn’t be able to roam the streets freely. He’d be placed behind bars. That fact haunted him up until this day.

Losing your freedom is scary, isn’t it? The dark voice said as if it was taunting him.

“Stop it,” he muttered too loudly that the couple who passed by threw him a dirty look.

He held their accusing stares until he felt them become uncomfortable about the situation.

They looked away with disgust.

Ting!

The automatic front door of the convenience store opened when he stepped onto the velvety floormat. The chilly breeze of the air-condition cooled his hot face. He blew out a breath as the young cashier greeted him with a jolly, “Welcome, sir!”

He ignored the guy and roamed his head to find the section for cigarettes and booze.

Fumbling for the lock on his hoodie, he zipped it below his chest. He hadn’t felt such a cold temperature in a long time. The room he purchased on a tight budget had no AC in it. Besides, he didn’t have the money to pay for such a luxury.

He’d basically wasted his money for alcohol and cigarettes, and sometimes microwavable food. Or if he’s not up to it, he’d buy cup noodles instead.

When he turned a corner, he immediately found the section for cigarettes. It was at an odd location beside the stack of chocolate chip cookies.

Whoever did the arrangement couldn’t decide whether he’d separate sweets with tobacco products.

Ervin almost laughed at the thought. He mostly didn’t feel like doing it nowadays.

His gaze focused on the red box beside a pack of chocolate chip cookies. He reached his arms and—

“Oh!”

The woman beside him reacted as the pack of chocolate chip cookies she was about to grab contravened with Ervin’s attempt at getting a box of his favorite cigarette.

Their skin touched for a brief second before the woman lurched her palm away.

She was several inches smaller than his six-foot stature. Her pale pink, shiny hair reached past her breasts, and the black roots were already showing on her scalp. The woman had a nice scent to her, almost as if she was a mix of vanilla and cotton candy.

She seems familiar, he thought inwardly.

When she looked up, and his light eyes met her dark ones, Ervin couldn’t decide whether to feel repulsive and guilty at the same time.

How could he have forgotten such a person that made his blood boil every time they met inside the conference room?

Meanwhile, the woman looked taken aback, her almond-shaped eyes flashing between a mix of emotions Ervin couldn’t guess what.

In a split second, her face twisted in an expression that Ervin had mostly seen on his employees’ faces. But unlike them, she faced him head-on. She didn’t walk away or ignored his plea of forgiveness.

She just stood there, her mouth in a thin line.

Ervin swiftly seized the box of cigarettes.

The woman was motionless a few inches away from him. Her head leveled his broad shoulders, but her stare was at par with his. Her dark eyes felt accusing enough that Ervin wanted to shrink back and cower away in shame.

The ache pounded his heart so bad he felt despair cloud his mind.

He tipped his head down, “Han Seo-rin,” he said quietly. It was the only way he knew how he’d greet her.

As her co-workers called her in her English name, Han Seo-rin, or Sorin, was one of the talented people that had successfully led one department of the Designs Team of Soles Incorporated. She was dubbed the companies blazing sunshine, and Ervin finds the nickname to be ridiculous. Every employee knew they couldn’t find common ground, especially when it came to designs.

They’re basically labeled as hot and cold, fire and ice. But to Seo-rin, Ervin was hate and hate, and hate and hate.

Deep down, Ervin knew she loathed him as much as he detested her unnerving attitude of not wanting to be bossed around by the boss himself.

Whenever she confronted Ervin in his office to have her designs approved, he’d serve her with silence and immediate decisions.

Maybe it was unfair of him to have done so?

Who cares? He placed the cigarette and the can of beer he swiftly grabbed on the way to the counter.

It’s already done. And I can’t take back what I did. 

Beep! 

The cigarette went through the scanner.

It’s not like I can change anything—

There was a low hum from the voice in his head. I see. You’ve hurt a lot of people. 

It was that damn voice again—

Beep! 

The can of beer slid on the counter as the cashier began placing them in a paper bag.

“Don’t. I’ll just hold them.”

The ache in his chest grew and grew.

Seo-rin soon took the space behind him as she awaited her turn.

Ervin felt the weight of her stare on his back.

“That would be ten dollars, sir,” the cashier stated.

He took out the crumpled money on his back pocket.

He counted—

“Damn it,” he groaned bitterly. He only had two dollars left.

He’d never felt this low that he couldn’t even afford his vices.

The cashier worriedly cast his eyes at him.

Ervin ran a hand through his hair, “How much is the beer?”

“Eight dollars, sir. Is there a problem?”

He hastily grabbed the box of cigarettes, “I’ll take this one instead. Void the beer.” Then, he threw the cash on the table.

Oh, how pitiful. How will you eat tonight? You just spent the last of your money on vices. 

Ervin walked out of the convenience store with a heavy feeling in his chest. What was happening in his life?

He’d been convicted of a crime, met his enemy at work, and couldn’t even afford both of the vices that kept him sane.

Tearing the box’s cover, he took one stick of cigarette and placed it between his lips. He turned to a small alley and began to ponder on his life.

He brought out the match he bought the other when his lighter ran out of gas. When he finally lighted the stick with his trembling fingers, he brought the flame on the cigarette’s end. The white smoke flew above in a straight line.

Ervin slid on the ground as he lay his head between his arms.

The cigarette’s ash fell on his slippers as the cars passed by in a hurry home.

He didn’t mind the sting that came about on his skin.

What a failure, the voice commented.

“Shut up!” with quivering fingers, he inhaled the unburnt end of the stick. “I don’t need them. I don’t need anyone.”

Really now… the dark voice made a clicking sound with its tongue.

Ervin blew the smoke out of his mouth. He drew in shaky breaths.

“I can live my life alone.” He didn’t know why he had the urge to prove to his own mind that he was purely capable of a lot of things, even if he’s on his own.

And deep down, you know it hurts to be alone. Shame. 

“Will you ever shut up?”

The voice laughed like booming fireworks. Ervin didn’t know why he copied what it was doing. He let out a sound that couldn’t be differentiated between crying and laughing.

He chose the wrong decisions to save the very people that crucified him of his crimes. What was he to do, then?

Ervin couldn’t bring himself to hate them. He didn’t want to pin them of what he had done. After all, he was the one that brought it upon himself. He’s the one who thought of using the company’s stock to its advantage.

Experts warned him, but he was too stubborn, his ego and pride mixing in a dance of pressure and responsibility.

“Will this ever end?” his voice sounded defeated already.

The voice hummed. Do you want it to end? 

Ervin barked a laugh as he rubbed his eyes on his hoodies’ sleeve.

He never thought about it. He felt as if he’s enclosed in a dark mist that kept fogging his reasoning.

Ervin threw the cigarette stick on the ground. He stepped on it with resentment afterward. His hand found the pockets of his hoodie.

Ting! 

The convenience store’s automatic door opened, and Ervin began walking toward the pedestrian lane.

You haven’t answered my question yet, the dark voice mused. What shall it be, Ervin Wang? Do you want to end your suffering? 

Ervin stood at the end of the pedestrian lane. He glanced at the traffic light hanging between two posts; it was still red.

Your friends hadn’t sympathized with you when you lost everything. 

That was a fact. No one did call to ask what really happened.

And that John Hughes? He used you to his advantage. The voice crackled a horrifying laugh. And you took his bait. 

His head throbbed at the pain that seeped from his chest. Sweat lined his forehead from recalling John Hughes’ betrayal.

Ting! 

The convenience store’s door opened once more. He heard footsteps shuffling from behind him.

Finally, the light turned green.

He began walking unhurriedly, his slippers heavier with every step it takes.

And that insufferable woman—oh, she went out of the front when you had no money left. Now, she’s dating another millionaire. 

Was this voice the malice he’d hidden all this time? Was it the truth he denied?

“Who cares…” his voice came out beat. He didn’t have the strength to move anymore.

Ervin didn’t notice that he stood still in the middle of the pedestrian lane.

His surroundings turned black and white, his line of hearing diminishing along with every sense in his body.

So, what’s it going to be?

“Nothing…”

He didn’t know how, but he somehow saw an image of a dark entity smiling at him like it was evil incarnate.

The temporary world he created to shelter his fragile self, suddenly shattered into tiny pieces.

His senses promptly slithered back.

He was as motionless as a rock. A commotion was happening behind him, but he didn’t mind. Some voices shouted desperately for him to move.

Ervin heard the loud, long honk of the truck. It’s bright blinking headlight seared his eyes as he gazed upon it, the emptiness occupying him.

Ervin!