Chapter 370: The Ritual
"Not hungry?" Sammi asked, noticing that Frank had barely touched his food, clearly distracted.
"It's nothing. Today's not the weekend—why aren't you at school?" Frank steadied himself, answering casually before his gaze shifted to Carl, whose mouth was stuffed full of dumplings.
"I wanted to stay with you," Carl said after swallowing.
He was still too young to express complicated emotions, but that simple, honest sentence struck straight at the heart.
Frank sighed and ruffled his hair. "Alright… just for today. But tomorrow, you're going back to school, understood?"
Carl's grades weren't great anyway—he'd already repeated a year in elementary school and skipped classes often. One more day wouldn't make a difference.
Meanwhile, Fiona, who had already left, hid in the stairwell of the emergency exit. She crouched in a corner, burying her head in her knees, her body trembling with suppressed sobs, clutching the envelope tightly in her hand.
For the rest of the day, Frank remained unsettled.
Fiona's words kept echoing in his mind, stirring something he had thought he'd already come to terms with.
For a moment, he even began to waver.
But every time he thought about the consequences, hesitation took over again.
"Castle," Frank called.
Castle, who had been standing by the door like a silent guard, stepped forward.
Originally, Frank had hired him to keep an eye on Jimmy and stop him from stealing cars. Now that Jimmy had gone to New Mexico, that task was technically over—but the contract wasn't, so Castle stayed on as Frank's bodyguard.
He had even been the first to notice when Frank collapsed.
Last night, it hadn't just been Fiona keeping watch—Castle had stayed in the room as well.
"What is it?" Castle asked.
Frank leaned in and whispered something to him.
Castle's eyes flickered with brief surprise, but he asked no questions and quietly left the room.
"What did he go to do?" Sammi asked as she walked in carrying some fruit, just missing him.
"Something I needed him to handle. Carl, come here," Frank said, beckoning.
Carl ran over, and Frank whispered something to him as well.
"Did you remember everything?" Frank asked.
"I did—I'll go get—" Carl started, but Frank quickly covered his mouth.
"I told you, don't say it out loud. Just remember it. Go on now." He gave Carl a light tap on the head.
"Okay." Carl nodded and ran out.
Less than half an hour later, Carl returned with a small bag. Frank checked its contents, nodded in satisfaction, and gave him some pocket money as a reward.
Not long after, Castle came back as well, carrying another bag.
Frank sent Sammi away for a bit, then checked everything inside. Everything he needed was there.
After that, he did nothing—just sat quietly, watching the time pass, waiting for the sun to set.
Back at home, they had already realized Carl had skipped school.
Fiona still hadn't recovered from the morning—or perhaps she simply didn't want to see Frank in his current state. Ian came to the hospital to take Carl home instead.
Frank spoke with Ian for a while, asking him to comfort Fiona.
He also tried to send Sammi home, saying Castle alone was enough, but she insisted on staying.
Finally, deep into the night, at Frank's signal, Castle knocked Sammi unconscious.
Then, Frank got into a wheelchair, and Castle pushed him out of the hospital and into a car waiting outside.
"Where are we going?" Castle asked from the driver's seat.
"I'll guide you," Frank replied.
Following Frank's directions, they drove out toward the outskirts.
After more than half an hour on the road, Frank was in visible discomfort, his whole body feeling like it was falling apart. At last, they reached a secluded rural crossroads.
"Dig a hole in the middle of the intersection," Frank instructed from his wheelchair.
As Castle retrieved a shovel from the trunk and began digging, Frank opened one of the bags.
Inside was a metal box, about the width of two hands.
He opened it.
It was filled with soil—and faintly visible beneath the dirt were fragments of what looked like bones.
Frank then took out the items Carl had brought back and carefully placed them into the box.
As Frank snapped the lid shut on the metal box, Castle had already finished digging the hole.
"Step back. No matter what happens, don't interfere," Frank said.
Then he pushed his wheelchair forward to the center of the crossroads. Slowly, he stood up—but staggered, nearly falling, catching himself on the armrest just in time.
He stared at the pit, the box in his hands, hesitation and conflict flickering in his eyes.
After a long moment, he crouched down, placed the box into the hole, and began covering it with dirt.
Only after finishing did he return to his wheelchair.
What he had just performed… was a ritual.
A ritual to summon a demon—and make a deal.
After Joseph's bankruptcy and death, Frank had come across his diary by chance. It detailed Joseph's meteoric rise—how everything had begun with a bargain.
A deal with a demon.
In exchange for one's soul, a single wish could be granted.
Joseph, once a penniless drifter in the South Side—so broke he traded food stamps for alcohol—had, within just a few years, become a billionaire. A man who could sit across from Tony Stark as an equal, raising glasses in the same room.
All because of that deal.
And in his diary, Joseph had recorded, in meticulous detail, the method for summoning a demon.
Follow the steps, and even an ordinary person could complete the ritual.
Though Frank had eventually burned the diary, its contents had already been etched into his mind.
He couldn't forget it—even if he wanted to.
Every time he faced a problem he couldn't solve, every time he hit a dead end, the ritual would surface in his thoughts.
Like a whisper in the back of his mind—
telling him that any trouble could be solved with a single wish.
Like something… pulling at him.
And yet, despite that—
Frank had never intended to use it.
If anything, he had always feared it.
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