THE HUMILIATED GROOM RETURNS AS A DEITY GOD.

The mindblowing Marcus

The crystal chandeliers seemed to hold their breath as Sarah Moon stood before Marcus, her dark eyes burning with an intensity that made the air itself crackle with tension. Every supernatural being in the ballroom leaned forward, sensing they were about to witness something that would reshape the power dynamics of their entire world.

Sarah's voice rang out clear and confident, carrying across the silent ballroom like a royal decree.

"Marcus, I want you to be my partner."

The words hit the crowd like a lightning strike. Gasps echoed through the opulent space as supernatural elites struggled to process what they had just heard. Crystal glasses slipped from nerveless fingers, shattering against the marble floor in a symphony of disbelief.

"Did she just—?"

"Sarah Moon... proposing to him?"

"This can't be real!"

"The most powerful woman in New York just—"

Diana Sterling felt the world tilt beneath her feet. Her ice-blue eyes went wide with shock and something that might have been panic. Sarah Moon—CEO of Moon Enterprises, the woman who makes deals worth billions, who commands respect from supernatural councils across continents—is confessing to Marcus?

The man she had dismissed as worthless garbage was now being courted by someone who made Diana look like a small-town mayor trying to impress a queen.

"This is impossible," Diana whispered, her voice cracking with disbelief. "He's nobody! He's nothing!"

But even as the words left her mouth, doubt gnawed at her confidence like acid.

The wealthy young men who had spent the evening mocking Marcus now stared at him with expressions of pure, venomous jealousy.

"How is this happening?" a man in a diamond-studded watch hissed. "I've been trying to get Sarah Moon's attention for three years!"

"This street rat just walked in and she's throwing herself at him?" another snarled. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

"He must have some kind of supernatural charm or mind control!" a third suggested desperately. "There's no other explanation!"

Becoming Sarah's partner would mean more than wealth, the thought rippled through the crowd like wildfire. It would mean influence that rivals the supernatural council itself. Power beyond imagination.

Every single person in that ballroom understood they were watching someone ascend to heights they could never reach.

Then Marcus did something that defied all logic and expectation.

He remained perfectly calm, studying Sarah's beautiful face with the same detached interest he might show a mildly curious painting. When he spoke, his voice carried no excitement, no gratitude, no overwhelming joy.

"I cannot give you an answer right now. Let us discuss this later."

The silence that followed was so complete that people could hear their own heartbeats thundering in their ears.

"WHAT?!" someone screamed from the back of the crowd.

"Did he just... turn her down?"

"He's refusing Sarah Moon?!"

"Has he completely lost his mind?!"

Alexander Cross, still nursing his wounded pride and bleeding lip, stared at Marcus as if he were watching someone commit suicide in slow motion. "You absolute idiot! Do you have any idea what you just did?!"

"Sarah Moon doesn't make offers twice!" a woman shrieked. "You just threw away the chance of a lifetime!"

"He must be brain damaged from all that poverty!" another guest added with cruel laughter. "Too stupid to recognize a miracle when it hits him in the face!"

But Sarah Moon surprised them all again.

Instead of anger or wounded pride, her lips curved into a smile that was equal parts amused and intrigued. Her dark eyes sparkled with something that might have been respect.

"Very well," Sarah said, her voice carrying the confident patience of someone who had never been denied anything she truly wanted. "I shall await your decision."

The crowd's shock reached new heights.

"She's... waiting for him?"

"Sarah Moon is waiting for some nobody to make up his mind?"

"This has to be a dream. This has to be some kind of supernatural hallucination!"

Diana felt something cold and bitter rising in her throat. He refused her. He actually refused the most powerful woman in New York. And she's... she's willing to wait?

For the first time since this nightmare began, Diana wondered if she had made the most catastrophic mistake of her life.

Marcus turned toward the ballroom exit with the same casual indifference he had shown all evening. "The celebration was... interesting. But I have other matters to attend to."

Sarah fell into step beside him, her midnight gown flowing like liquid shadow. Her smile never wavered, as if walking away from a room full of New York's supernatural elite was the most natural thing in the world.

"Shall we go somewhere more private to continue our conversation?" Sarah asked, her voice carrying implications that made several men in the crowd whimper with envy.

Victor Moon let out a bark of delighted laughter, clearly pleased with how the evening had unfolded. "Sarah always did have excellent taste in men!"

Jake Moon shook his head in amazement. "I've never seen anyone handle her like that. Impressive."

The entire Moon family treated Marcus's casual dismissal as if it were the most natural response in the world—as if they expected nothing less from someone of his caliber.

As the group reached the ballroom doors, Marcus felt another surge of memories crash through his consciousness like a tidal wave. Standing before armies that stretched beyond the horizon, supernatural beings from dozens of dimensions kneeling in acknowledgment of his authority. The weight of divine power that had once been his to command. The title that had struck fear into the hearts of gods and demons alike: Marcus, the God of War.

The memories were coming faster now, triggered by each confrontation, each display of the power he was only beginning to remember.

The ballroom doors closed behind them with a soft click that sounded like thunder in the oppressive silence.

Diana stood frozen in the center of the emptying ballroom, her face pale with the dawning realization of what she had lost. Compared to Sarah Moon's effortless confidence and power, Diana felt like a child playing dress-up in her mother's clothes.

What have I done? The question tortured her with its simplicity. What have I thrown away?

Alexander Cross stumbled over to her, his face still swollen from Marcus's casual humiliation. "Diana, don't let this get to you. He's still a fraud, and Sarah's just been deceived like everyone else."

His voice cracked with desperate conviction. "The Cross family has connections throughout the supernatural underworld. We'll expose him for what he really is. We'll crush him and show everyone that—"

"Shut up, Alexander," Diana whispered, her voice hollow with defeat.

The remaining guests began filing out of the ballroom, their conversations a mixture of shock, speculation, and fear.

"Did you see how the Moons treated him?"

"Like he was more important than they are."

"What if he really is someone powerful? What if we've all made a terrible mistake?"

"The Sterlings are finished. Completely finished."

As the last of the crowd departed, Diana Sterling stood alone in her family's ballroom, surrounded by the shattered remnants of her certainty. The man she had dismissed as worthless had just walked away with the most coveted woman in New York—and somehow, that felt like the least shocking thing that had happened tonight.

Who is Marcus Steele? The question echoed in the empty ballroom like a prayer to gods who might not be listening.

Outside, Marcus walked into the New York night with Sarah Moon at his side and the weight of returning memories pressing against his consciousness like storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

Soon, very soon, the God of War would fully awaken.