War God is Back for his Mother

Chapter 2: The Thorn

Alex Crown was still holding the phone to his ear. Dennis had stopped crying, but the call had not ended. Neither of them had hung up. And now Alex could hear everything.

Footsteps in a hospital corridor. The squeak of rubber soles on tile. A door opening. Then her voice.

"Dennis! Oh my God, are you okay? Lie down. Don't sit up. Lie down right now."

"Selena, you shouldn't have come. I told them not to call you. I told them."

"Stop talking. Just stop. Where's the nurse? Has anyone brought him fluids yet?"

"Ma'am, we're preparing the IV drip now."

"He needs nutritional fluids too. Look at him. He's completely drained. Have you eaten today, Dennis? Tell me the truth."

"I had something small at the reception."

"Something small. You drank half a bottle of champagne on an empty stomach. What were you thinking?"

"I was happy for you. I wanted to celebrate."

"And now you're bleeding internally. Was the celebration worth it?"

"I'm sorry, Selena. I really am. I didn't mean to pull you away from your wedding night. Alex must hate me. He probably wants to kill me."

Alex's grip tightened on the phone. He could hear the softness in her voice when she answered. That particular warmth she reserved for broken things.

"Don't worry about Alex," Selena said gently. "He's not angry."

"He has to be angry. I ruined his night. I ruined your night. I'm the worst person alive."

"Dennis, listen to me. If Alex was going to be angry about you needing help, he would have been angry a long time ago. This has happened before. Many times. He understands."

"But it's your honeymoon."

"And you're in a hospital bed. What kind of person would I be if I stayed in a hotel room while you were suffering? Now drink this. Slowly. Don't gulp it."

There was a pause. Alex heard the clink of a glass. The shuffle of blankets. A nurse adjusting equipment.

Then Dennis spoke again. His voice was small and pitiful. "What if he is angry though? What if this is the last straw?"

Selena laughed softly. "Then I'll handle him myself. Trust me. Alex is a big boy. He can survive one night alone. Now stop worrying and focus on getting better. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"You're too good to me, Selena. You really are."

"Drink your fluids."

Alex pulled the phone slightly away from his ear. His face was completely still. She would handle him. Like a dog that barked too much. Like a pet that needed to be calmed down and put back in its corner. That's what he was to her. Something to be managed.

Through the phone, he heard one more thing. It was faint. So faint that no ordinary person would have caught it. But Alex Crown was not ordinary. His senses had been sharpened through years of combat and training that no one in this city knew about.

It was a smile. Not a sound exactly, but the shift of breath that comes when someone smiles with their mouth closed. A tiny exhale through the nose. Satisfied. Smug. Coming from Dennis Doom's direction, right after Selena finished comforting him.

Alex's blood turned to ice.

He thought back. Six months. Six months of Dennis Doom appearing at the worst possible moments. The time Alex had cooked dinner for Selena and Dennis called crying about a work emergency. The time they had planned a weekend getaway and Dennis showed up at their door with a fever, looking like a lost puppy begging for scraps. The time Alex had bought concert tickets and Dennis had a panic attack that required Selena's immediate attention.

Every single time, the pattern was the same. Dennis would appear weak. Helpless. Pathetic. He would apologize with tears in his eyes. He would say things like "I'm so sorry" and "I don't deserve your kindness" and "Alex must hate me." And every single time, Selena would melt. She would comfort him. She would turn to Alex with those soft, disappointed eyes and say "He can't help it" or "Be patient with him" or "You're being too hard on him."

And Alex would swallow it. Every time. Like a trained dog swallowing a bitter pill because his owner told him to.

But there was one memory that stood out from the rest. Three months ago, late at night. Alex had come back to Selena's office to pick up something she had forgotten. The hallway was dark. Dennis's office door was slightly open, and the light was still on.

Alex had glanced inside.

Dennis was standing by the window. Alone. And the man Alex saw was nothing like the fragile, stumbling fool he pretended to be. His spine was straight. His shoulders were pulled back and tense. His jaw was locked tight. He looked like a wolf waiting to strike. Everything about his posture screamed control, calculation, and intent.

Alex had blinked, and the moment was gone. Dennis turned, saw him, and immediately crumbled back into his usual harmless self. Smiling. Slouching. Asking if Alex needed anything.

At the time, Alex thought he had imagined it. He told himself he was being paranoid.

Now he knew he wasn't.

Dennis Doom was not weak. Dennis Doom was not innocent. Dennis Doom was the thorn buried deep between him and Selena Sterling, and he had been twisting it for six months.

Alex finally hung up the call. He stared at his phone screen. A notification had popped up from X.

He tapped it.

Dennis Doom had posted a photo. A hospital selfie. He was lying in bed with an IV in his arm, looking pale and fragile. And beside him, leaning close with concern on her face, was Selena Sterling. She was still wearing traces of her wedding outfit. Her hair was still done. Her makeup was still on.

The caption read: "Blessed to have the most caring woman in the world by my side tonight. She left her own honeymoon to make sure I was okay. I don't deserve this kind of love. Sorry to her husband for stealing her away. Your current husband won't be angry, right? I hope not!"

Alex read it twice.

Your current husband.

Current.

Like it was temporary. Like he was a placeholder. Like Dennis already knew he wouldn't last.

Something cracked inside Alex Crown's chest. Not his heart. Something harder than that. Something that had been holding everything together.

He squeezed the phone. The screen cracked under his fingers. He squeezed harder. The glass shattered. Pieces bit into his palm and blood ran down his wrist, dripping onto the white marble floor.

He did not feel it.

He walked to the floor to ceiling window and stood there. Evergreen City stretched out below him, glittering and alive. Millions of lights in millions of windows. Millions of people living their small, ordinary lives.

Three years. He had given Selena Sterling three years. He had left behind everything for her. The temple. The title. The power that made entire nations tremble. He had folded all of it up and put it away like an old coat because she made him feel like he didn't need it anymore.

And she couldn't even stay for one night.

Blood dripped from his hand onto the windowsill. The city lights blurred through the glass.

For the first time that night, Alex Crown smiled. It was a small, quiet thing. It did not reach his eyes. There was no warmth in it. No humor. No sadness. Just the cold, clean edge of a decision already made.

He was going to end this.

What kind of groom decides to divorce on his wedding night?

What a joke...