Left on His Wedding Night, the War God Returned

Chapter 7: What Remains

Kevin sat on the weathered iron bench in the Parco Sempione, watching the morning joggers pass without seeing them. The divorce agreement lay in a manila envelope on the bench beside him, delivered by a man who looked like an accountant but moved like a soldier.

Commander Voss had arrived exactly on time. Clean suit, pressed collar, the kind of man who could blend into any crowd in any city in the world. But when he saluted Kevin, his posture was rigid with military precision that no civilian suit could hide.

"The documents are in order, sir. Standard terms as you requested." Voss handed over the envelope and stood at attention. "If I may ask, War God, have your injuries from three years ago fully healed?"

"The external ones are fine."

Kevin didn't mention the rest. The internal damage from the final war still needed another six months to fully mend. Once it healed, his cultivation would break through to a level no living warrior had ever reached. But that was his business and no one else's.

"Should I arrange for a military aircraft to escort you back to the Temple?"

"Not yet. I'll deal with things here first."

Voss nodded. "Understood. Is there anything else you need?"

Kevin thought for a moment. "Activate the Backup Supplier Plan. Move the timeline up."

Voss's eyes widened slightly. He understood what that meant. For three years, Kevin had been quietly feeding the foundation of Sarah's entire empire from the shadows. Sixty percent of Sterling Corporation's arms business, the weapon research, the production data, the ballistic parameters, the compatibility systems, all of it had Kevin's fingerprints buried deep inside. 

The remaining forty percent, her pharmaceutical division, ran on formulas and research directions he'd provided during late nights when Sarah thought he was just reading in bed.

If Kevin pulled that support, Sterling Corporation wouldn't collapse overnight. But it would start bleeding, slowly at first, then faster once the cracks in production became impossible to ignore. And with Jasper Doom whispering in Sarah's ear, steering her decisions, those cracks would widen into chasms.

But Kevin couldn't let that happen unchecked. The military forces and mercenary organizations that relied on Sterling Corporation's weapons needed a steady supply. As the leader of the War God Temple, he had a responsibility that went beyond personal heartbreak.

"The silent factories registered under my name," Kevin said. "Bring them online. Full production capacity within the month."

"Consider it done, War God." Voss saluted crisply and left without another word.

Kevin sat alone on the bench. The morning light filtered through the trees in thin gold beams, and the distant sound of church bells drifted from somewhere across the city. His hands rested on the envelope, feeling the weight of the papers inside.

He opened it and looked at the first page. Divorce Agreement. Two signatures required. His and hers.

The words blurred as memories surfaced.

Three years ago. The final great war. He'd defeated the enemy War God in single combat, but the victory had nearly killed him.

 Every bone felt shattered, every organ bruised and torn. He'd come to Milano to heal in anonymity, a broken warrior hiding in a beautiful city where no one knew his name.

And then he met her.

Sarah Sterling, in a bookshop near the Navigli canal, arguing with a clerk about a first edition that she was certain was a fake

. She'd turned and looked at him and smiled, and something inside his chest that had been dead for years started beating again.

She used to tease him about the way he carried himself. "You walk like a prince who lost his kingdom," she'd say, laughing, running her fingers through his hair. "So elegant, so refined, like you stepped out of a painting. But you're just Kevin, aren't you? Just my Kevin."

She had no idea that every step felt like bullets ripping through his body. That he held her gently not because he was tender by nature but because his hands shook with pain he refused to show.

They fell in love fast and deep. Her affection was fierce, almost possessive, and he loved that about her. They talked about the future, about children, about names. 

Two boys and a girl, they'd decided. Marco, Leo, and a little girl named after his mother. 

He'd promised himself that after the wedding, he would take Sarah to visit his mother's grave in the mountains north of the empire. 

He wanted to tell the woman buried there that her son had finally found happiness, that she could rest easy now.

When had it started to change?

Six months ago. Jasper Doom arrived at Sterling Corporation, and Sarah's world began tilting in a direction Kevin couldn't follow. 

Her attitude toward Jasper shifted from professional distance to admiration, then to something closer and warmer that she refused to name. 

Every time Kevin raised concerns, she dismissed him. Every time he drew a line, she stepped over it.

The memories came in fragments. Jasper's phone calls interrupting their dinners. Sarah cancels their plans because Jasper needed something. The airport incident. The kiss at the company banquet. And finally, last night, her silhouette disappeared through the honeymoon suite door while the bed was still warm.

Kevin closed his eyes. Could any of it go back to the way it was?

The answer sat in his hands, printed on legal paper.

No.

Across the city, Sarah sat on the sofa in their apartment and called the one person she trusted enough to be honest with her.

"Clara, I think I made a mistake."

Her cousin Clara Sterling, a psychologist with a practice in Roma, answered with the careful patience of someone who'd been expecting this call.

"What kind of mistake?"

"Kevin and I had a fight. A bad one. He's talking about divorce." Sarah's voice cracked on the last word, and she hated herself for it.

Clara was quiet for a moment. She'd never liked Kevin, not from the first time Sarah introduced him three years ago.

 A man with no background, no family name, no visible means of supporting himself beyond whatever odd jobs he picked up. 

In Clara's professional opinion, Sarah had married beneath herself, and she'd said so more than once. But Clara also knew that a public scandal between newlyweds would humiliate the entire Sterling family.

"Divorce? Already? What happened?"

"He's being irrational. He thinks there's something going on between me and Jasper, which is insane. Jasper is my employee. That's all."

"Sarah, slow down. Start from the beginning."

Sarah recounted the entire argument, her voice shifting between anger and hurt. She repeated three times that Kevin was overthinking things, that he was paranoid, that his jealousy was turning into something ugly and controlling.

Clara listened to all of it. "Have you considered that maybe Kevin has a point? Maybe cutting ties with Jasper would solve the problem."

"Absolutely not. I'm not going to fire my best employee because my husband can't handle his own insecurity. That's not fair to Jasper and it's not fair to me."

"Sarah..."

"No, Clara. Kevin doesn't get to dictate who I work with and who I'm friends with. That's not how marriage works."

A careful pause. "Is the reason you won't let Jasper go because you can't bear to?"

Sarah's mouth opened. Then closed. Something flickered in her eyes, quick and uncertain, before she pushed it down.

"That's ridiculous," she said, but her voice had lost its edge.

Clara noticed. "Sarah, I'm not trying to take sides here. But you just got married yesterday. Whatever you think about Kevin's reaction, he's clearly hurting. Maybe consider his words seriously. At least do something to show him you're willing to work on this."

"I shouldn't have to prove anything. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Then prove that. But prove it to him, not to me."

After they hung up, Sarah sat in the silence of the apartment, surrounded by half packed boxes and the ghost of Kevin's cologne still lingering in the air.

The frustration hadn't faded. If anything, it had thickened, settling into her chest like something she couldn't cough out.

She grabbed her car keys and left for the office. If her marriage was going to make her feel this suffocated, at least work wouldn't.