Chapter 4

At 6 PM, Chloe showed up.

She stood at the doorway, her eyes red and puffy, her voice shaking.

"Your dad called me. He said you took out a massive, dangerous loan to buy this trash heap. Ethan, are you mentally unstable?"

"Come inside," I said softly. "Come in, and I’ll show you why."

She hesitated for a few seconds, biting her lip, before stepping inside.

I dragged her over to the thick wall, knelt down, and pressed the metal detector to the base.

"Beep. Beep. Beep."

Chloe froze. "What is that?"

"A metal detector." I looked up at her. "There’s something inside this wall."

Her mouth fell open. "So... your dream was real?"

"Yes," I lied smoothly. "I had to make sure, so I tested it. There’s definitely something here. I’m breaking it open tonight.

If it’s gold, we are getting married tomorrow, buying a penthouse, and leaving all your snobby friends in the dust."

Her eyes welled with tears, and she threw her arms around my neck.

"I’m pregnant," she whispered against my chest.

"I found out two days ago. I was going to get an abortion after we broke up..." She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. "Ethan, please don't let me down."

"I won't. Everything changes tonight."

By 9 PM, the neighborhood was completely quiet.

I pulled a sledgehammer and a crowbar from my bag. Chloe sat on the dusty sofa, nervously wringing her hands.

Before raising the hammer, I looked at the wall and whispered, "Sir, forgive me. Once I get the money, I’ll remodel this place beautifully."

But the old voice didn't reply.

A sudden wave of anxiety hit me.

But I quickly brushed it off. The detector had beeped. It couldn't be a mistake.

I swung the hammer with all my might.

"SMASH!"

A huge chunk of plaster shattered, revealing red bricks underneath.

I dropped the hammer and clawed at the bricks with my bare hands, sending debris showering to the floor.

The space behind the brick wall was completely hollow.

My hands froze in mid-air.

"Where's the gold?" Chloe asked, peering over my shoulder.

I didn't answer. Like a madman, I tore away the remaining bricks.

The hole got wider and wider, revealing a completely empty space inside the wall.

There was absolutely nothing there.

"This is impossible..." My voice trembled violently.

Chloe’s hopeful expression drained into a ghostly pale. "Ethan, stop joking. This isn't funny."

I grabbed the crowbar and began violently smashing the kitchen ceiling.

The thin drywall shattered instantly, showering my head and face in thick white dust.

I reached my hand inside the gap, feeling around frantically.

Nothing but dust.

It was completely empty.

I collapsed onto the pile of shattered bricks and drywall, my entire body shaking.

Chloe stood nearby, covering her mouth as tears seeped through her fingers.

"Ethan... where is the gold?"

I opened my mouth, but my face was dead white. "Chloe, listen to me..."

She snapped. She wiped her tears aggressively. "Ethan, I’m getting the abortion. Have a nice life!"

She turned and bolted out of the apartment.

I sat alone in the ruins of the living room. The gaping hole in the ceiling stared down at me like a hollow black eye.

The room smelled of thick dust and old mold.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. It was my dad.

I answered, only to hear my mother’s hysterical, sobbing voice: "Ethan, come to the hospital right now! Your father had a massive heart attack!"

"The doctors said he needs emergency surgery immediately, and we don't have enough money for the deposit..."

The phone slipped from my hand, the screen shattering on the concrete floor.

"But the detector beeped... how could there be nothing..." I mumbled to the empty room.

I stared blankly at the demolished wall.

Just as I was about to sink into complete, numbing despair, that familiar, raspy voice echoed in my head once again.

And what it said made my adrenaline surge, freezing me in place.