The Hidden King: Rise of Hercules

Wishes for Death

Sophia shot him a burning, furious glare. "What kind of crazy question is that? I ought to be asking you the exact same thing!"

The bedroom door swung open almost immediately, and Tyler sauntered in with a wide, mocking grin plastered across his face. "I always knew you were sneaking around with random guys behind our backs. I just never understood why grandfather kept refusing to believe me."

"What the hell are you even talking about?!" Sophia snapped, pure panic bleeding into her voice. "I didn't do a single thing! I don’t even have a clue how this total stranger ended up in my bed!" she argued frantically.

Tyler smirked, pulling his phone out of his pocket to snap a quick photo of the scene. Alex watched the chaotic drama unfold, his hungover brain completely failing to process what was actually happening around him.

Sophia scrambled off the bed, looking desperate. "Please, don’t do this. I swear on my life I have no idea how any of this happened!" she pleaded, lunging toward him.

Tyler scoffed, taking a deliberate step back. "Too late for that. I already sent the picture straight to grandfather."

"Damn it!" Sophia screamed, collapsing hard onto the hardwood floor. Her chest heaved as her heart hammered in a wild panic. The mere thought of disappointing her grandfather ate her alive from the inside out.

"Hey! What am I even doing here?!" Alex finally found his voice, yelling over their argument. At first, he genuinely thought he was trapped in some kind of nightmare. He vaguely remembered drinking down the street, but everything after that was a complete blank.

Tyler glanced over at Alex with cold amusement. "Hey man, no use screaming now. You’re trapped right in the middle of this mess too." He looked back down at Sophia. "Save your pathetic tears, sis," Tyler mocked. "Grandfather is going to be here any second."

Sophia snapped her head up, her eyes wide with dread. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, grandfather was staying in the royal suite down the hall last night, right after I tipped him off about all the wild stunts you pull behind his back."

"That is a total, sick lie!" Sophia yelled back. "I have never done anything like this in my life, and you know it!"

"Well," Tyler shrugged casually. "Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t."

Before anyone else could speak, Alex scrambled out of bed and made a desperate break for the door. Just as he reached for the handle, the heavy door slammed open, and a squad of burly men stormed into the room. Alex jerked backward in sheer terror, while Sophia dragged herself up off the floor, quickly wiping the fresh tears off her cheeks.

"Grandfather," Tyler purred softly as an elderly, imposing man walked into the room. A dark, thunderous frown pulled down the corners of Lord Robinson’s mouth as he stared down at Sophia.

His cold gaze slowly tracked over to Alex, his lips curling in deep disgust when he saw what the young man was wearing, or rather, not wearing.

Lord Robinson looked back at Sophia, his voice dropping like heavy lead. "I am profoundly disappointed in you, Sophia."

"No, grandfather, please listen. It’s not what it looks like," she protested helplessly, her voice shaking violently.

Lord Robinson gave a slow, disappointed shake of his head. "You know the strict rules of this family, Sophia. Yet you chose to break them anyway."

While everyone was distracted, Alex had quietly managed to slip over to the exit and was about to bolt into the hallway when two guards instantly blocked his path.

"Where do you think you’re scurrying off to, young man?" one of them growled.

Alex slowly turned around to face Lord Robinson, his heart skipping a terrifying beat. He still didn’t understand a single thing happening around him. It honestly felt like a bad acid trip.

"Starting today, you will be my grandson-in-law."

"What?! Why the hell would I be?!" Alex blurted out, losing his cool entirely. What in the world just happened? He was just chugging cheap beer a few hours ago, and now he was suddenly getting married?!

"What kind of tone is that to use with me?" Lord Robinson roared. "How dare you sleep with my granddaughter and still have the nerve to question it? What were you planning to do—use her and sneak away like a coward?"

Alex stared in disbelief, realizing every pair of eyes in the room was locked onto him, except for Sophia, who was silently weeping in the corner. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Look, that’s not what I meant. I just meant it shouldn't be like this because I don't even know her, and I swear nothing actually happened between us. I’d bet my life on it."

Lord Robinson dropped his gaze down to Alex’s bare legs. Alex followed his line of sight and let out a heavy sigh. Busted. In the panic of waking up, he had completely forgotten he wasn’t wearing any pants.

"How dare you stand there and mock me!" Lord Robinson screamed, pointing a shaking finger right at him. "For that insolence alone—" he flicked his wrist at the nearest guard "—beat him to a bloody pulp!"

"What?!" Alex’s eyes nearly bulged right out of their sockets.

He tried to open his mouth to argue, but a lightning-fast, brutal slap cracked across his cheek, instantly stealing the breath right out of his lungs.

He crashed hard onto the hardwood floor as multiple pairs of heavy hands descended on him at once, raining down kicks and punches so viciously it felt like his ribs were turning to dust.

Through the haze of pain, a bizarre, disjointed memory flashed across his mind—an image of his younger self standing beside someone whose face was completely blurred out.

He jolted awake from the daze as the guards finally stepped back, panting heavily. Alex coughed, spitting a mouthful of copper-tasting blood onto the carpet, and managed to blink his swollen eyes open. Lord Robinson was already gone, and the guards were filing out of the room one by one.

Alex squeezed his eyes shut as a dizzy wave of nausea hit him. From the sickening crunch he heard earlier, he was pretty sure his nose was broken. Every single muscle and bone in his body screamed in pure agony, making it feel like he had been run over by a freight train.

"Pathetic," Tyler sneered on his way out the door. "Hey Sophia, you might want to check on your new husband and make sure he isn't bleeding out. You guys can’t afford to look like a mess for the banquet tonight. You know you have to show up," Tyler let out a cold laugh before finally striding out into the hall.

"What have you done to me? Look at the state of my life!" Sophia sobbed harder, her voice cracking from behind him.

A moment later, a couple of guards stepped back inside, making Alex’s heart leap in sheer panic, he thought they were coming back for round two. Instead, they walked straight past him toward Sophia.

"Madam, your transport is waiting downstairs," one of them announced respectfully.

Sophia didn’t answer right away. She stood there crying for another long minute before finally forcing herself to stand straight. She cast one cold, bitter glance down at Alex crumpled on the floor.

"I hate you so much for ruining my life," she spat, taking a step toward the door before pausing. "One of my drivers will drop you off at your place. He’ll pick you up tomorrow morning so we can head to the banquet together. You should probably hit the emergency room for a check-up too, if you don't show up tomorrow, my grandfather will actually kill you."

With that final warning, she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving a single guard standing quietly in the corner.

Alex let his head drop back against the floor, closing his eyes. He didn't even want to attempt to stand up, but deep down he knew he had to crawl out of here eventually. He was completely wrecked, and the hospital bills were going to be a nightmare.

The guard standing by the door didn't rush him or say a word, a small mercy Alex was actually grateful for. Groaning softly, Alex dragged himself up onto his hands and knees, immediately coughing up another mouthful of dark blood. Something felt severely wrong internally, maybe a punctured lung, maybe something worse.

His heart had already been shattered into a million pieces the night before by Mia, but today proved something in him had truly broken beyond repair.

Maybe he was just going to die right here on this hotel floor.

Honestly? Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. He was so completely exhausted of fighting a world that only wanted to crush him.