The Strange Groom's Cursed Bride
Chapter 86: WAR.

Chapter 86: WAR.

The white lights of the clinic buzzed faintly overhead, sterile and far too bright for the way Alice felt. She sat on the narrow treatment bed, her hand freshly bandaged, the dull throb of pain syncing with her heartbeat. The nurse had applied antiseptic, stitched the cut, and wrapped it clean, but the sting still pulsed beneath the gauze like it held a memory of its own.

Across the room, Suzy sat quietly, her neck marked with a clean band-aid and her face pale. Her eyes hadn’t met Alice’s once since they entered. Her posture was stiff, hands clenched on her lap like a child waiting for punishment, but her jaw was tight.

The door clicked open and Milo stepped inside. His usual relaxed posture was replaced with subtle urgency.

"All done with the payment. We can leave now," he said. "I’ll drive you two back to the estate. I’ll come back for the other car later."

Alice nodded, barely registering his words. She slid off the bed, legs slightly trembling beneath her. She didn’t know if it was from the pain, adrenaline, or sheer exhaustion.

They walked out into the cool night air. Suzy didn’t speak.

Inside the car, they both slid into the backseat. Silence settled thickly like fog.

Alice rested her arm gingerly on her lap, the bandaged hand looking alien in her own sight. Her head lolled slightly to the side as she stared out the window, eyes unfocused, barely taking in the neon lights flickering by.

Then she noticed Suzy.

The girl hadn’t said a word since the clinic. She was angled toward the window, arms folded tightly across her chest. Her fingers dug into her own forearms. Her lower lip trembled, but she bit it down. She was blinking rapidly, swallowing hard.

Alice reached out gently and placed her hand over Suzy’s.

Suzy flinched, once, startled. Then went still.

A sniff broke the silence.

Alice turned slightly. Suzy’s face was turned away, but she could see the tear trailing silently down her cheek.

Milo’s eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror, then back down again.

Alice gave Suzy’s hand a small squeeze. "Hey," she whispered, voice hoarse. "Tonight wasn’t your fault."

Suzy shook her head, pressing her fist to her mouth, then wiping the tears hastily with her other hand. "Don’t," she whispered back, still not facing her. "Just... don’t."

Alice didn’t press further. But her hand didn’t leave hers.

A long stretch of quiet passed before Suzy asked, still in that same broken whisper, "Don’t tell the family."

Alice didn’t ask why. She didn’t need to. She didn’t even speak to them. What would she say if she tried? That Suzy got cornered by a psychopath who nearly killed her? That a man she thought of as harmlessly annoying turned into a monster with a blade?

So Alice just nodded.

The car rolled toward the gates of the estate. The motion-sensor lights cast brief, golden halos around the trees lining the path. The silence in the car turned from tense to suffocating.

Suzy cleared her throat and asked, too casually, eyes fixed ahead at Milo. "Does your boss know what happened tonight?"

Alice froze.

She knew it was a rhetorical question. It had been gnawing at her, a cold knot of dread in her stomach.

Because Hades definitely knew.

Gavin had shown up at a suspiciously perfect time, materializing from thin air like a shadow summoned.

And now Milo knew exactly where to meet them. It could only mean one thing: Hades had been spying on her.

The thought sent a fresh wave of anger and frustration through her already battered mind.

Milo shifted in his seat. "Um... Boss is aware."

Suzy nodded slowly like she expected it. "Is he home?"

"I’m not sure," Milo replied too quickly.

Both girls knew it was a lie.

Alice didn’t say anything. She just turned her head back to the window. Her fingers trembled slightly where they lay on her lap.

Suzy, however, leaned forward a little. "Then can you tell him something for me?"

Milo looked up again.

"Don’t mention tonight to my family."

His jaw flexed subtly. "Understood."

They reached the estate. Alice passed the gate card to the front seat wordlessly. Milo handed it to the guard without looking back. The gate buzzed and opened.

As they drove through, the looming silhouette of Block A passed by. Then Block B.

The car slowed.

Suzy turned to Alice. Her eyes were puffy, her hair slightly disheveled, but her expression was composed. Barely.

"I’m sorry," she said softly. "For tonight. It was... all my fault."

Alice shook her head. "It wasn’t. Don’t say that."

A nod. Quiet. And then Suzy was gone, disappearing into the dim corridor of her block like a shadow swallowed by a much bigger one.

Milo stared a second longer than he should have at her retreating back. Then he pulled forward.

They rolled silently into the quiet circle of Block C.

The second the car stopped, Alice turned to him.

"Where did Hades go?"

"I’m not sure," Milo said.

"How did Gavin know where we were? How did you know?"

Milo looked apologetic now, his voice hesitant. "Whatever answers you need... you’ll have to get them directly from the boss."

Alice stared at him for a long moment. A mix of frustration, fury, and helplessness boiled in her chest.

She gave a sharp, silent nod. The kind that ended conversations.

She stepped out of the car and went inside. The moment she reached the room and closed the door behind her—

She collapsed.

Her back hit the wood with a dull thud as she slid down to the floor, legs folding beneath her.

Her hand was throbbing again. She didn’t know if it was just her mind because she already had painkillers. But then, her head was also pounding despite the painkillers already in her system.

She clutched her head tightly. As if trying to hold herself together.

Tonight had been too much.

The panic. The screaming. The violence. That man putting a knife to Suzy’s throat. The slap. The blood. Her blood.

The crash of a body hitting a table. The broken plates. The terror in Suzy’s eyes.

Gavin’s voice.

Hades’s invisible hand lingering.

She thought she could adapt to this life. Lie her way through it. Smile where she should, and pretend where she couldn’t.

But now?

Now it felt like the entire façade was splintering.

This world was cracked. Sharp. Unforgiving.

Ruthless.

And she was right in the middle of it, acting a part she didn’t know the lines to.

Her stomach churned. She pressed her forehead to her knees, breathing hard. Everything spun.

What kind of people dangle men off rooftops like it’s nothing?

What kind of people buy flower shops for no reason?

What kind of person was she becoming?

She couldn’t tell anymore.

She was too tired to.

Too broken.

She closed her eyes and just sat there on the floor.

Silent.

And alone.

Exhausted.

---

The room was dimly lit, not because it needed to be, but because it suited the mood.

Concrete walls. Metal chair. Blood on the floor.

Derren was whimpering. Slumped, wrists tied behind him with military-grade restraint cable. A nasty gash on his lip, one eye already swollen shut. His pride kept him from begging, but his silence wasn’t courage, it was fear choking him quiet.

Across from him, a tall figure stood motionless, coat draped over one shoulder, cufflinks glinting faintly beneath the light.

Hades Wildfire.

Of course, it was him.

Expression unreadable. Posture relaxed. But his eyes...

Dead. Focused.

Cruel.

"You hit her," Hades said calmly, voice low, almost conversational. "Split her lip."

Derren’s voice cracked. "I-I didn’t know she was your—"

The rest of the sentence disappeared into a scream as Hades plunged the blade.

Quick. Exact.

The same spot where Alice had bled from.

Only deeper.

Derren howled, jerking in the chair. Blood spilled like black paint under the flickering light.

Even Rowan, who should be used to this, grimaced at the sight. Gavin just stared, like an "I told you so" stare.

Hades stepped back, flicking the blade clean with mechanical precision.

"She bleeds once," he said softly, "you bleed twice."

"Jesus—!" Derren gasped, choking on pain and his own spit. "I didn’t know—she didn’t say anything—"

"That’s your second mistake," Hades said, eyes still eerily calm. "Your first was being born."

Off to the side, Gavin leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching silently. He looked at Derren’s state, then at Hades.

"Just a reminder that he also hurt Suzy and has been harrassing her for a while?" Gavin said after a beat.

Silence.

Hades slowly turned his head toward Gavin. Not startled. Not guilty. Just mildly confused. "And?"

Gavin blinked. "Suzy. Your cousin."

Another pause.

"So?"

Rowan tucked his lips inside his mouth.

Gavin stared at Hades. Speechless. For a whole second.

"You’re... unbelievable," he muttered under his breath.

But still, he let it go.

Because Hades Wildfire didn’t care about most people. Not even blood.

But the moment Alice bled?

That was war.

Their bastard boss’s useless emotion was going to make their lives more stressful from now on.

They could see it.