War God is Back for his Mother

Chapter 3: The Call

The honeymoon suite still smelled like her perfume. The candles had burned down to nothing, leaving little pools of wax on the nightstand. The bed was still unmade from where they had been tangled together just hours ago.

Alex Crown ignored all of it.

He walked to the closet and pulled out a small suitcase from the back. Inside was a password box. He entered six digits and the lock clicked open. Sitting inside on black velvet was an encrypted wrist device. Sleek. Military grade. He had not touched it in three years.

He powered it on. The screen glowed pale blue. He entered a second password and dialed a number he had memorized a long time ago.

It rang once. Someone picked up immediately.

"Commander." The voice on the other end was sharp and clear. No hesitation. No surprise. Just instant readiness, as though the person had been waiting by the phone for three years.

"Voss," Alex said. "I need something."

"Anything."

"Prepare a divorce contract. Full terms. No conditions in her favor. Send it to this device within twenty four hours."

There was a brief silence. Then Voss spoke carefully. "Understood, Commander. May I ask the other party's name?"

"Selena Sterling."

"It will be done."

Alex paused. He looked at the blood drying on his right hand. Glass from the phone was still embedded in his palm. He didn't bother cleaning it.

"How is the Temple?" he asked.

"Standing strong. All divisions operational. Awaiting your return."

"I'll be back soon."

"Commander, the generals will want to know the timeline."

"Tell them nothing. Not a word about this call. Not a word about my return. Total silence until I say otherwise."

"Understood. Absolute confidentiality. No one outside this line will know."

"Good."

"Commander. It's good to hear your voice again."

Alex hung up without responding.

He stood at the window one last time. Evergreen City sparkled below. Somewhere out there, in a hospital room, his wife was sitting beside another man's bed. Holding his hand. Telling him everything would be fine.

Alex turned away from the window. He grabbed his jacket, walked out of the honeymoon suite, and closed the door behind him. He did not look back.

He took a taxi home.

The next morning, sunlight poured through the windows of the VIP ward at Holloway Hospital.

Selena Sterling woke up with a sharp pain in her neck. She had fallen asleep in the companion chair beside Dennis Doom's bed, still wearing her coat from the night before. The coat was wrinkled and creased from hours of sitting in an awkward position.

She blinked against the light. Her back ached. Her mouth was dry. She looked down at herself and saw the faint traces of wedding makeup still smeared on her face.

Then she heard a groan from the bed.

"Dennis?" She stood up immediately and leaned over him. "Dennis, are you awake? How do you feel? Does anything hurt? Let me call the nurse."

Dennis Doom opened his eyes slowly. He looked at her. Then his face crumbled completely.

"Selena." His voice cracked. Tears spilled down his cheeks. "Why are you still here? You didn't go home? You stayed the whole night?"

"Of course I stayed. You were in the hospital."

"But last night was your wedding night. Your honeymoon. You were supposed to be with Alex. Not sitting in a hospital chair watching me sleep."

His lip trembled. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, but more tears came. He looked like a child who had broken something precious and couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Selena's chest tightened. She sat on the edge of his bed and took his wrist gently, checking his pulse out of habit.

"Stop crying," she said softly. "It's done. I'm here. That's all that matters."

"It's not all that matters. Alex is going to hate me. He already hates me. I know he does."

"He doesn't hate you."

"He should. I would hate me. What kind of person ruins someone's wedding night? I'm the worst friend you have. I'm worse than nothing. I'm a burden. You should have let me die here alone."

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that."

"It's true. You should have stayed with your husband. I'm not worth leaving your honeymoon for."

Selena forgot how the whole situation had started. She forgot that she had been the one to leave. She forgot about the hotel room and the candles and the way Alex had looked at her when she walked out the door. All she could see was the man in front of her, crying and blaming himself, looking so fragile that a strong wind could break him.

"Are you running a fever?" she asked. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You feel normal. Any pain?"

"Just my stomach. It's better than last night."

"Good. That's good." She let out a long breath of relief. Then her expression hardened slightly. "Now I'm going to say something, and you're going to listen. You cannot keep doing this to yourself. Drinking on an empty stomach when you know your body can't handle it. Skipping meals. Working until three in the morning. You're going to kill yourself, Dennis."

"I just wanted to celebrate your wedding."

"You can celebrate without destroying your health."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing and start eating properly."

Dennis wiped his eyes again and nodded like a scolded child. Then his expression shifted. Something darker crossed his face. Worry.

"Selena, I need to tell you something," he said quietly.

"What?"

"I called Alex last night."

Selena went still. "You called Alex?"

"After you got here. I felt so guilty. I thought maybe if I called him and explained, he would understand. So I called him. But Selena, he didn't say anything. Not one word. He just listened and then hung up."

"He hung up on you?"

"I think he's really angry this time. Like actually angry. Not the usual kind where he gets quiet and then gets over it. This felt different. His silence was different."

Selena stared at him. Something cold touched the back of her neck.

"Why didn't you tell me this last night?"

"I didn't want to worry you. You were already stressed about me. And I thought maybe he just needed time to cool down. But now I'm scared. What if I really ruined things between you two? This is all my fault. The nurse checked my phone and saw the emergency contacts and called you on her own. I tried to stop her. I told her not to bother anyone. I told her you were on your honeymoon. She wouldn't listen."

His voice broke again. Fresh tears rolled down his face.

"I'm so sorry, Selena. I keep messing everything up. Every time I try to do the right thing, something goes wrong. I should have never let them call you. I should have handled it myself. I always make things worse. I always do."

He covered his face with both hands and sobbed into them.