THE FORGOTTEN HUSBAND’S REVENGE!

Chapter 1: The Bloody Courtyard

BEEP!

‘Commander, your wife is being held captive in the Green residence. Come quickly!’

…

“Goodbye Supreme Commander!”

The roar of 200,000 soldiers on the ground grew louder and louder as the military helicopter ascended from the ground. The sound of the aircraft blades and the wind current mixed with their cries.

Maxwell stood at the open bay, with a firm, rigid salute as he stared at his comrades with a small, rare smile on his lips as they became smaller and smaller due to the altitude.

He sighed softly as he sat on the seat reserved for him. Two military personnels were sitting down behind him as they stared straight ahead.

He took out a locket from his pocket, in there was a picture of his parents, his sisters and his wife in a family portrait. He grinned widely as he wiped off the dust from the corner of the locket.

He had spent four years away from home, defending the borders. And in these four years, he had been promoted to the position of the supreme commander with a 200,000 battalion at his command due to his high wit and determination.

Now, the country was at peace again and it was finally time for him to return home.

“Commander, we are almost home,” One of the soldiers announced and he nodded grimly.

The helicopter descended in the military airport base far from his home. The soldiers came from the helicopter before him, with a salute. Their eyes watered.

Maxwell stared at his companions. “Be strong, soldiers!"

They nodded. “You too sir! We will be indebted to you for your sacrifice and will always be at your beck and call.”

They watched as he entered the car that had been arranged for him.

It was finally time for him to see his family. Maxwell wondered if his father’s limp had improved or if his mother was still trying to improve his sisters in their baking skills. Most of all, he thought of Arabella. He had survived all the odds of the battle for her.

They were very young when they had gotten married to each other. They had barely known each other and were more like strangers but in order to improve family ties they had to sacrifice their happiness for their families.

He remembered how softly and maturely she had spoken to him at the courthouse when they got their marriage certificate. She had shed real tears when he got recruited into the army but because of security reasons, he was sometimes never allowed to speak to his family and he hoped that she understood.

I will make it up to her, he thought. I will make sure she is happy for the rest of her days.

As the car drew closer to the Green estate, his brow shot up with confusion and alertness, a massive flock of crows circled the estate giving an eerie feeling.

The gates, once gleaming white were now rusted and agape. Maxwell held tightly to his gun as he stepped down from the car.

The silence of his home was heavy and suffocating as he walked carefully into the courtyard. His heart stopped. His knees buckled as his legs gave way and he fell to the ground.

In front of him were four graves. The picture of his father, mother and his sisters were engraved into the stones.

“How… How did this happen?” He whispered into the wind. His eyes widening in shock, his hands trembled as his fingers moved against the cold stone of his mother’s grave.

The man who commanded the biggest and strongest battalion in the whole of the country was suddenly a small boy lost in a nightmare.

His parents…

His lovely sisters, Anna and Elise.

They were… gone.

Before he dived further into his grief, a high piercing scream filled the air flowed by the stomping of feet. His head snapped towards the direction of the house. The grief in his eyes didn’t fade away but ignitied into fury.

The silver locket he had been holding his fist snapped, the metal piercing into his palm but he didn’t feel it. A low growl sounded from within him.

He didn’t run. He launched.

Maxwell hit the front doors with his feet, the wood coming apart under the impact. Inside, his once happy home filled with laughter and servants working around was now empty and a wreck.

“What the—“

In the center of the room, four men stood over a figure tied to a chair. One of them, a massive brute with a scarred cheek, held a jagged blade to Arabella’s neck, his eyes beamed with recognition.

“Look who finally showed up,” The brute sneered, oblivious of the deadly aura emitting from Maxwell. “The dead husband arises from the ashes and comes to the rescue. Ashley told us to finish you if we saw—“

Maxwell didn’t let him finish as he sprinted towards him with inhumane speed, his hand closing around his neck. He ignored him as he squirmed under his grip, the brute’s face reddened due to the lack of air flow.

Maxwell’s face showed no discomfort as lifted the 200 pound man from the floor with a single arm. His feet dangling in the air as his hand slapped against Maxwell’s arm.

The world blurred around him, his gaze on the woman he had fallen for. There were bruises all over her body, her face was pale and her skin had lost its color.

“Did you do this to her?!” He thundered, tightening his grip on the man’s neck as he snapped it.

Another reached for his pistol but before he could fire, Maxwell threw the dead’s brute body at him. Another lunged with a knife, he caught the blade in his bare palm, the steel slicing deep but his face revealed no pain.

He grabbed his arm and broke it like a dry twig. Before he could let out a scream, Maxwell’s fist collided with his throat, crushing the windpipe instantly.

The third tried to flee but Maxwell caught him by the back of his hair, swinging him with one hand into a stone pillar. He fell to the ground with a thud.

He was dead.

The first man scrambled from under the dead brute’s body, backing away. His eyes filled with fear as he trembled under Maxwell’s hard gaze. “Stay back! You wouldn’t want to make my leader angry he will send more men and he will kill—“

Before he could finish, Maxwell retrieved his gun from his side and finished him off with one bullet.

Maxwell blinked, the red mist slowly cleared as he stepped back. He turned and knelt beside the Arabella, hurriedly untying her.

“Arabella,” He whispered. His voice was cracked, his face filled with horror as she slumped forward, her dress torn. Maxwell caught her, pulling her small, shaking frame against his chest.

“I’m here,” he muttered softly, pouring kisses on her forehead. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

Arabella didn’t cry. She grabbed onto his tunic, her breath hitching in her chest. She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes, her gaze shattered and hunted.

“They killed them, Max. They killed them…”

Her voice was merely a ghostly rasp that chilled him to the bone.

“And I couldn’t stop them…”

Maxwell’s broken heart seemed to turn into stone.