War God is Back for his Mother

Chapter 4: No Longer Exists

Selena Sterling put her phone back in her pocket. She had checked the call log. The calls from last night were there. The nurse's number. Dennis's number. Everything matched what he had told her.

She did not stop to wonder how a nurse had bypassed Dennis Doom's lock screen to find her contact information. She did not question why she had received the nurse's calls but somehow missed all of Dennis Doom's calls. Those were small details, and Selena Sterling was too tired and too worried to notice small details.

"Alex probably just fell asleep," she told Dennis. "You know how he is. He doesn't talk much. His silence doesn't mean he's angry. It just means he's processing."

"But what if he's not just processing? What if he really hates me now?"

"He doesn't hate you, Dennis."

Dennis pushed himself up on his elbows, wincing with effort. His face twisted with pain as he tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Selena rushed forward and pressed both hands against his chest, pushing him back down. "Lie down. Right now."

"I have to go apologize to him. In person. If I don't, I'll never forgive myself."

"You are not getting out of this bed." She pressed harder, her voice firm. "The most important thing right now is your recovery. Nothing else matters."

"But Alex..."

"I will talk to Alex myself. I will explain everything. He will understand."

"You really think so?"

"Dennis, if Alex was going to lose his temper over something like this, he would have done it months ago. We've been through this before. Many times. He knows you can't control when you get sick."

Dennis stopped struggling. He sank back into the pillows and stared at the ceiling. Then slowly, the tension drained from his face. A weak smile appeared.

"You're so beautiful," he said quietly. "And so kind. Alex is a lucky man. I hope he knows that. I hope he's as magnanimous as you say he is."

Selena felt her shoulders relax for the first time all morning. She stood up and stretched her neck, tilting her head side to side. The muscles were stiff and sore from sleeping in the chair.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"A little."

"I'll go get you something. Liquid food only. No solids until the doctor clears you."

"Okay."

She picked up her bag and walked toward the door.

"Selena."

She turned. Dennis was looking at her with glistening eyes. A single tear rolled down his temple and disappeared into the pillow.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For staying. For everything. I don't deserve you."

She smiled at him. Warm and genuine. "Get some rest. I'll be right back."

The door closed behind her. Her footsteps faded down the hallway.

Dennis Doom lay perfectly still on the bed. He stared at the closed door for a long time. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.

Then his face changed.

The trembling lip went still. The glassy, tearful eyes dried up like someone had flipped a switch. The fragile, broken expression melted away and was replaced by something else entirely.

A smile. Slow. Wide. Deeply satisfied.

He folded his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling with the calm, relaxed expression of a man who had just won a game he'd been playing for a very long time.

After feeding Dennis his breakfast and making sure his vitals were stable, Selena Sterling finally remembered that her husband was still alone. The guilt hit her all at once. She had spent the entire night and morning at the hospital without calling him. Without texting. Without anything.

She rushed back to The Aurora Palace Hotel, exhausted and disheveled, still wearing yesterday's wrinkled coat. When she opened the door to the honeymoon suite, she found it empty.

The bed was made. The candles had been cleared. Alex Crown's jacket was gone. His shoes were gone. Everything was gone.

She stood in the middle of the empty room and felt her guilt curdle into something bitter.

He left. He actually left without waiting for her. Without calling. Without even sending a message asking where she was or when she was coming back.

"Seriously?" she muttered to herself. "He just checked out and disappeared?"

She sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her temples. Her mind went back and forth. Part of her felt bad. She knew she had been wrong to stay out all night. She knew it looked terrible. But another part of her felt annoyed. Why was he being so dramatic about this? Dennis was in the hospital. It was an emergency. Any reasonable person would understand that.

She pulled out her phone and almost called him. Then stopped. No. If he wanted to play the silent treatment game, she would not chase him. She would go home. He was probably already there, sitting in the living room, waiting for her to apologize so he could make his point about being neglected.

Fine. She would apologize. She would make it right. It was not that big of a deal.

She took a taxi home.

When she walked through the front door, the house was quiet. She found him in the living room, standing in front of the floor to ceiling window, looking out at the city.

He did not turn when she came in. He did not acknowledge her at all. His silhouette was sharp against the bright afternoon light, and something about the way he stood made him feel impossibly far away. Like he was standing on the other side of a canyon instead of just across the room.

Selena dropped her bag on the couch and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed her cheek against his back.

"Hey," she said softly. "We're married now. Congratulations to us."

He didn't respond.

She squeezed him tighter and lowered her voice to something playful. "Let me freshen up and take a shower. Then we can pick up where we left off last night. Properly this time. No interruptions. I promise."

Alex Crown closed his eyes.

This was not new. This was the pattern. Every time she left him for Dennis Doom, she came back with this same approach. A soft voice. A warm touch. A subtle admission of guilt wrapped inside affection so he couldn't refuse without looking petty. She never said "I'm sorry" directly. She just offered herself as the apology and expected him to accept it.

And every time before, he had. Because he loved her. Because he thought it would get better. Because he believed she would eventually see what Dennis Doom really was.

But standing here now, with her arms around his waist and her body pressed against his back, all Alex Crown could think about was a hospital selfie on X. A smug exhale through the nose. And the words "your current husband."

He opened his eyes.

Slowly, he reached down and took her hands. Gently. Almost tenderly. Then he pulled them apart and stepped away from her. He turned around to face her, but kept the distance between them.

Selena's smile faltered. "Alex?"

His expression was calm. His voice was flat and cold.

"Our wedding night no longer exists."