THE SUBSTITUTE HUSBAND’S RISE TO POWER.

004.

Smiling, Alex was quick to pick up the call, and apologize for leaving them high and dry, but he never got the apology to come out of his mouth before Julian’s voice bursted out in excitement.

“Alex? Holy shit, man!” Julian’s voice exploded through the speaker, raw excitement crackling like electricity. “You finally came around! I can’t believe it, I’ve been waiting for this moment for years.” Julian added as he laughed.

“Oh god, you have absolutely no idea how I felt when I got your text, Alex. Top of our elite program, rarest talent I’ve ever seen, and you walked away from medicine like it was nothing. I grieved that shit, brother. I grieved it hard. It felt like I lost my own mother.”

Alex leaned against the wrought-iron gate, the cold metal biting through his shirt into his bruised back. He couldn’t believe how excited Julian was to hear from him.

A bitter laugh scraped from his throat, but warmth flickered in his chest for the first time in days, real, human connection cutting through the numbness. “Thanks, Julian. Means more than you know.” Alex said, his voice lower than he intended for it to be.

“So? What do you say? Is there still a place for me in Horizon?” He asked, his voice hopeful as he clung to the slightest chance that he was still needed.

“Absolutely. Armed conflicts are escalating like wildfire. Doctors like you are desperately needed, and I’m sure you know what that means, Alex.” Julian responded excitedly.

“In fact, there’s a mission leaving tomorrow, heading to a small town near the border of a hot foreign warzone. Aid station, triage, the works. Short-staffed because it’s dangerous as hell. Spotty power, no reliable internet. You in?”

Alex didn’t hesitate, not even for a second. “Count me in.” The words left his lips with a finality that he doesn’t intend to take back.

His pulse spiked, sending sharp, visceral pangs of pain through his torso, but beneath it surged something primal—purpose, freedom, the chance to stitch lives back together instead of bleeding out for a ghost.

Julian’s chuckle jolted him out of his thoughts. “After all these years, you haven’t changed a bit. Still brave as a fool, I’m honestly curious, Alex, do you have another life elsewhere?”

Alex laughed, he knew Julian wasn’t expecting a response to that question. But then, the tone shifted, laced with worry. “What about Elena? If you’re putting yourself in such grave danger, what happens to her?”

Alex’s jaw clenched so tight that his teeth ached. Elena. The name sounded different now that he felt nothing for her. “Don’t worry about her.” Alex responded, his voice was flat, and filled with exhaustion.

Julian exhaled loudly, clearly relieved. “Alright then. Spend tonight with your family, man. With her. You’ll need it because it’s going to be a while before you can see her again.”

The call ended, and Alex thought about it. He doesn’t mind not seeing her for years, but about five years ago, he would have been worried. Not anymore.

For a while, Alex stood there, phone still warm in his grip, staring at the house that had never felt like home. He felt nothing for her anymore—no love, no longing, just the hollow echo of five wasted years.

But he was an orphan, rootless, and she was the only witness to the fragments of his life. She deserved to know he might not come back from the battlefield.

He turned back, pushing through the front door with a quiet click. On the other side of the apartment, candlelight flickered across the dining table like liquid gold, casting intimate shadows over wine glasses and steaming plates.

Elena and Marcus sat close, too close, her laugh soft and throaty as he consoled her with a hand brushing her arm. “Don’t stay angry, baby. He’s not worth it, you shouldn’t be stressing yourself over him.”

Marcus leaned in, voice dripping with a fake concern that anyone would have been able to hear—anyone but Elena. “You think he might actually not return this time?”

Elena smiled confidently, twirling her fork with elegant fingers. “Of course he will. He’s an orphan, Marcus. Orphans crave warmth like addicts.” She said proudly.

“I don’t mean to use it against him, but over the years… I gave him just enough. Made him completely devoted. This is just a tantrum. He would never defy me for long.” She added as she laughed.

“Alex always does this. He gets emotional, disappears for a few hours, then comes back when he’s calmed down.” Elena sighed as she took a sip of her wine. “He needs me more than he realizes.”

“Besides, the jealousy and anger were his fault entirely, and once he realizes that, he’ll come crawling back as always. On his knees if that’s what I want.”

Just at that very moment, the door opened, revealing a stunned Alex. He couldn’t believe how quickly they’d moved on to a candlelit dinner in his absence.

How long has he even been gone?

Elena glanced up at him, exchanging a knowing look with Marcus. Both of them assumed he’d come crawling back. She smiled, gesturing smoothly to the empty seat. “Alexander. Sit. Let’s talk like adults.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, you were right.” Marcus chimed in, smiling at Elena as if he didn’t want to acknowledge Alex’s presence.

“He did come back after all,” he added, and the air in the room thickened. There were a million things going through Alex’s mind, but he didn’t let any single one of them known to either of them.

His hands curled into fists at his sides, pain rippled through the entirety of his being. The ache in his chest was alive, breathing, and making sure he felt every shard of betrayal despite the fact that he felt nothing for her, he still couldn’t stop the involuntary pain.

He glanced around the table, carefully taking in everything on it, and he fought back the sad laughter that clawed at his throat.

He hadn’t even been gone for long, and yet, Elena and Marcus were here, making him feel as though they were the host, and he was merely a guest in his own house. The situation was utterly laughable.