Football System: Touchline God
Chapter 51: Half A Month

Chapter 51: Half A Month

Time moved like water through his fingers. Fast and unstoppable. Before Maddox knew it, half a month had slipped away into nothing.

The days were getting shorter. The nights were getting colder. Winter was coming to the North, bringing with it the kind of chill that settled into your bones and never left.

During those quiet weeks, Maddox received his Grade C coaching badge. The certificate came in the mail on a Thursday morning. A thick paper with a golden seal, and official stamps that meant something in the football world.

It wasn’t just a piece of paper for Maddox, It was proof. Proof that he knew what he was doing. Proof that he belonged with the best youth coaches in the country.

The badge put him on the same level as men who coached top youth teams and low-level Knights League Two teams. Men who earned good money and respect.

In another world, this badge would have opened doors more opportunities. Phone calls would have come. Interviews would have been lined up. Offers would have been made.

But this wasn’t another world. This was his world. And in his world, the badge meant nothing.

Back at his apartment, life stayed exactly the same. Silent. Hollow. Routine.

The same gray walls. The same empty rooms. The same cold bed that he slept in alone.

Every morning, he made instant coffee and stared out the window at the street below. People walked by with purpose. They had places to go. Things to do. Lives to live.

Maddox had none of that... yet.

One afternoon, the doorbell rang. He opened it to find Aunt May standing in the hallway. She wore her good coat and carried a small handbag. Her face was tired and her eyes were sad.

She didn’t need to say why she was there. Maddox knew. It was about Alina. It was always about Alina.

Aunt May came inside and sat on his couch. She looked around the apartment with the kind of expression mothers get when they see their children living badly.

"She misses you," Aunt May said without introduction. "She won’t say it, but she does."

Maddox poured her tea from the pot he’d made earlier. The liquid was brown and bitter. Like everything else in his life.

"She has a funny way of showing it," he said.

Aunt May sipped her tea and made a face. Too strong. Too bitter. "You know how proud she is. How stubborn. She gets that from her father."

"And her mother," Maddox added.

Lady Sayuri was one of the most selfless noble women he knew. During dark times she’d provided this newly wed couples protection from her own family. She had never once showed dislike for Eric and instead, supported their marriage, like every mother should.

Aunt May couldn’t argue with that. "She wants you to come home. She won’t ask herself, but she wants you to. I’ve heard her crying alone multiple times in her room."

Maddox sat across from her. The space between them felt like a canyon. "Then she knows where to find me."

"She’s waiting for you to make the first move."

"And I’m waiting for her to apologize."

Aunt May set down her cup. The sound was sharp in the quiet room. "For what?"

"For choosing her family over her husband. For letting them treat me like dirt. For standing by while they destroyed my career."

The words hung in the air like smoke. Heavy and poisonous.

Aunt May was quiet for a long time. When she spoke, her voice was soft. "Marriage is about compromise, Maddox. About bending so you don’t break."

"I’ve been bending for five years," Maddox said. "I’m tired of it."

When Aunt May left, she carried with her a simple message: "If she can’t apologize for her part in this, then I’m not coming back. I won’t beg to be understood."

Maddox knew she would tell Alina everything. Every word, every tone. Every expression on his face.

He waited for the phone to ring. For a text message. For some sign that his wife was ready to fight for their marriage.

Days passed. Nothing came.

No call. No message. No apology. Nothing.

Pride stood between them like a wall. Tall and thick and impossible to climb.

So Maddox didn’t bother trying anymore.

But that wasn’t the only thing that happened during those two weeks. While his marriage crumbled, he kept looking for work. Job hunting became his new routine.

Millbrook United had rejected his application without an interview. No explanation. No feedback. Just a form letter that said "thank you for your interest, but we’ve decided to pursue other candidates."

Every morning, he checked the football websites. Every afternoon, he sent out applications. His resume was okay. His references were strong. His coaching badge was fresh and shiny.

But the responses were all the same.

Three other clubs in the Youth League did the same thing. Rejected him with the same tone and speed.

Maddox wasn’t new to rejection. In football, rejection was part of the game. But this felt different. His Grade C coaching badge should have been enough to get him a mid-level youth team at the very least. This felt planned.

He started keeping track. Writing down names and dates. Looking for patterns.

The pattern was clear. Every club that rejected him had one thing in common. They all had connections to the Marrowgate family.

Millbrook United’s chairman was Lord Pemberton. He golfed with Darius Marrowgate every Tuesday.

Crescent Valley FC’s owner was Lady Whitmore. She served on the same committee board as Rosana Marrowgate.

Thornfield Athletic’s manager was James Fletcher. He used to work for Marrowgate Industries in his youth days.

The connections were there. Thin threads that ran from club to club. All leading back to the same place.

The Marrowgate family.

Maddox couldn’t prove it. Not yet. But he knew. Deep in his bones, he knew.

They hadn’t forgiven him for marrying their daughter. Not without their blessing. Not without their permission. In their eyes, he was nobody. A coal miner’s son who had reached too high for a swan’s meat.

He had no right to love Alina. No right to have her love him back.

That alone had made him an enemy.

So now, in the shadows, they were squeezing him out. Not with noise or threats. Not with lawyers or contracts. But with silence. With invisible hands pulling strings to block every opportunity.

They wanted him crushed. Finish him to prove how right they were.

And they were doing a damn good job of it.

Maddox sat in his apartment as the sun set outside his window. The sky turned orange, then red, then black. Street lights flickered on. People hurried home from work.

He was alone. Truly alone. His wife wouldn’t speak to him. His career was being destroyed by people he’d never even had conversations with.

But he wasn’t broken.

The Marrowgates thought they could crush him with silence. They thought they could make him disappear.

They were wrong.

Maddox had been oppressed before. He’d been rejected before. He’d been alone before.

But he’d never been defeated. And he wasn’t about to start now.

Since regular means couldn’t make things work for him, he’d use his available connections from now on.

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