Branded a Predator, I Chose Revenge

As I stared at the scene before me, my knuckles turned white as I gripped the bouquet of asters. My wound, which hadn't fully healed, throbbed in pain with each beat of my heart.

Cheers and laughter rang from all sides of the training grounds. And right now, Alicia Connor's legs were wrapped around Steven Greene's waist.

"Give me 200 squats! If you don't finish, you're doing extra drills tonight!" Alicia's voice was as clear as ever, but the coy lilt in her tone was something I'd never heard from her before.

Steven hooked an arm around her waist and bounced her upward, his tone teasing. "Shall we give our pals here a little show?"

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The newly recruited soldiers whooped and clapped.

I thought it was just a joke. I didn't expect Alicia to lean down and kiss Steven as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

My entire body froze. I couldn't believe it. I told the soldier standing guard at the gate that I needed to speak with Alicia face-to-face.

I didn't notice the way he looked at me.

A little while later, it was Steven who came over instead. He looked me up and down, his eyes full of disgust and contempt, as if he were examining a pile of filth.

I hadn't recognized him at first, but his face started looking familiar to me now. Then, a memory of a photo I once saw flashed through my mind. He was Alicia's first love—I'd seen a photo of them together before.

That had been years ago. When I asked her about it, she'd said that the relationship was long over.

Steven's gaze lingered on the scar across my face and my crippled leg. His lips curled mockingly.

"So you're the bastard who stalked Alicia three years ago and took advantage of her while she was drunk, huh?"

Thinking he'd mistaken me for someone else, I frowned in displeasure and said, "I'm Alicia's husband. I've come to see her. Step—"

"What a load of crap!" Steven cut me off with a snarl, his expression darkening.

Everyone around us snorted after hearing what I said.

"You? A scar-faced cripple like you has the nerve to say he's Major Connor's husband?" one of the soldiers called out scornfully, his expression contemptuous. "Why don't you make a puddle with your piss so that you can take a good look at yourself first?"

Steven abruptly snatched the bouquet of asters from my hands before snorting disdainfully. "What makes you think trash like this is good enough for Alicia?"

I stared fixedly at the familiar watch on his wrist. It was the gift Alicia was supposed to have gotten for me for our wedding anniversary four years ago. At the time, she claimed she'd accidentally misplaced it.

Now I knew it was just an excuse to hide the truth. She'd given it to another man instead.

"How dare you claim to be Alicia's husband? You don't even know what flowers she likes. Alicia's favorite flowers are roses, not a bunch of cheap flowers you can find by the roadside."

Steven eyed the asters derisively.

But I didn't believe him. I'd been with Alicia for five years, and she told me that she hated roses the most. She always got a strange expression whenever she saw roses.

"Do you know why roses are Alicia's favorite? That's because they're my favorite. She told me that she likes everything I like," Steven bragged smugly.

"That's impossible!" I shouted back almost instinctively.

My relationship with Alicia had been going strong for five years. I couldn't believe that everything would've changed after just three years.

Steven shut me up with an impatient wave, his expression annoyed as he snapped, "Get lost! Stop being an eyesore. Take a good look at yourself, why don't you? Don't sully the army base."

The surrounding soldiers chimed in as well.

"A cripple fantasizing about being involved with Major Connor? You should know your place!"

Stamping down my rage and the pain shooting through my body, I pulled out the marriage certificate from my pocket and raised it in front of them. My voice trembled as I said, "See for yourself! This is the marriage certificate to prove I'm married to Alicia. I'm her husband!"

Steven glanced at it before flashing me a mocking smirk. "You think you can latch onto Alicia just because you forged a marriage certificate? An ugly piece of shit like you isn't even fit to kiss the ground she walks on!"

"That's right! It's obviously forged! There's no way Major Connor would marry a scarred cripple like you. If you're going to come up with a lie, at least make it convincing. Now get lost!"

The soldiers shoved me away. I lost my balance and tumbled to the ground.

As it was, after that last mission, I not only received a scar on my face but also became crippled in one leg, too. I ended up in a coma for three years as well, which left me looking gaunt and sallow. It wasn't surprising that no one believed I was Alicia's husband.

"Get the hell out of here now! Don't you know about the relationship between Major Connor and Captain Greene? If you offend the captain, you'd die without knowing what came for you!"

Steven chuckled. "To think you wanted to pretend that you're Alicia's husband! Unfortunately for you, you picked the wrong person to mess with."

He puffed out his chest, his expression smug. "I'm the man Alicia loves. How dare you try to act like her husband? You've got some nerve!"

After he kicked me hard, I finally realized what had happened in the last three years. Alicia had been promoted to the rank of major and had found herself a new man.

She moved Steven from his civilian administrative position and made an exception to promote him to captain. The two of them not only flirted with each other but even openly acted as if they were married!

A chill washed over me.

I was the one who gave Alicia all of her present glory!

She wouldn't be in the position she was now if I hadn't risked my life to save her and allowed her to claim the military honors that should've been mine.

If she truly had a change of heart or had fallen out of love with me, she could've been honest with me. We could've just had a peaceful divorce. I had never imagined it would end like this instead.

"Tell Alicia to come out. Once she's here, she'll know exactly who I am!" I declared.