Chapter 4

I had never seen Hera panic before. She looked like she was about to cry for me!

Could she actually still love me?

Then, suddenly, I heard Bobby wail tearfully, "Mooom! Dad is bleeding! I'm scared!"

She turned. Edmund was covering his bleeding shoulder, wincing. Some of the glass shards seemed to have cut through his skin a little.

"I'm taking you to the hospital!" Hera declared instantly.

She immediately forgot me, took his hand, and prepared to leave.

"Wait. We have to bring him along, right? His injury is worse," Edmund murmured.

Bobby, however, bawled. "I don't want him to follow us! He's bleeding everywhere! I'm scared!"

Edmund did not correct his son or insist that I needed help. Instead, he looked at Hera expectantly.

She took only a few seconds to make her choice.

"We can't bring him. Bobby's afraid of blood and might faint seeing Sebastian like this," she declared. "He's gonna be fine. He's a firefighter and knows how to do first aid on himself. Let's go."

She scooped Bobby into her arms, took Edmund by the hand, and left me bleeding in the restaurant where we'd had our first date five years ago.

Blood and tears blurred my vision.

The restaurant owner was the one who took me to the hospital. Fortunately, the cuts turned out to be less serious than the bleeding had made them out to be. All I needed was some first aid and a bandage.

The physical pain was nothing compared to what tore through my chest. I lay on the sick bed, my senses growing numb. I knew she wasn't thinking of me.

I just wished my injury was not severe enough to compromise my ability to help with the wildfire.

That night, I drifted between painful wakefulness and torturous dreams. Through it all, my phone stayed silent. No texts. No calls. Maybe only Edmund and Bobby mattered to her now.

…

When my phone finally rang, it was a call from Albert. "Grimwald! Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir! I'm ready for duty."

My head was no longer hurting as much. I got out of bed and flexed my muscles a little. They were fine.

I did not think I needed to inform Hera of anything anymore. The Saintess had no time for a mortal of my status.

"Alright. No need to rush to the station, Grimwald. The situation is dire. Our superiors are making sure that our equipment is complete and sufficient before deploying the Beta Team," Albert explained. "They told me we'll be heading out in the afternoon. I'll update you once they confirm a more specific time."

I was stunned. I had to wait another half a day? Where was I supposed to go in the meantime?

Home? No. This might be my last time on Earth. That was all the more reason to avoid putting myself in a dehumanizing situation.

Suddenly, Hera called.

"Sebastian, please refrain from coming home for the moment. Bobby said he doesn't like seeing you. Every time you're around, his father either gets upset or has some kind of accident. He's just a child; it's natural for him to think this way. You need to give him more space and time to adjust," she said coldly.

"I reserved a hotel room for you and instructed the majordomo to bring your suitcase over. While you're at the hotel, Edmund will stay home to help Bobby settle in." She paused. "Don't worry, Edmund will sleep in your room. Nothing will happen between us."

Nothing had changed. She never called to discuss anything—only to inform.

"That is all. I still have a meeting to attend."

I listened to the disconnect tone once the call ended. She'd grown bolder, hadn't she?

Since I found out about them, she no longer cared to hide. She adopted the child without asking for my opinion. Now, she had found an excuse for Edmund to stay in the house while kicking me out.

The only thing missing was an admission of their relationship. But why would she grant me that honesty? To the Saintess, I was just a mortal.

"Fine. I guess I wasted five years of my life on her."

With a mission this dangerous, I could very well be at the end of my life. Whatever time I had left would be too precious to be wasted on this drama.

It was time to move on.

…

After being discharged, I headed to the hotel. The majordomo had sent my suitcase along with Hera's laptop. He had probably mistaken it for mine, since I had gifted it to her for our anniversary.

I had accidentally chosen a color she disliked—black—but she did not seem to mind and had been using it ever since. This laptop was her entire workstation.

At first, I did not even want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Then I remembered the photos we might have stored there, memories of better days before she became obsessed with the Awakenist creed. I wanted those memories gone. If our relationship was over, the pictures should be gone as well.

I turned on the laptop. Before I could start going through her files, her Discord window popped up.

Edmund's photo stung my eyes. She'd pinned him to the top of her chat list and nicknamed him "Ed." Just two letters, but they carried a staggering sense of closeness. I could choke on it.

What about our chat? I used to message her a dozen times a day. Where was our conversation?

I scrolled down, my heart aching. Edmund was the only one pinned at the top. Below him were groups within her company, conversations with other executives, and her clients. Then came Awakenist groups, and even a chat with the monastery abbot.

I kept scrolling until I reached the very bottom, where my original Discord handle appeared. She hadn't bothered to give me a nickname. Worse, I was the only one muted.

No wonder her replies were always so scarce. I could send her a dozen texts and get only one- or two-word answers.

That affectionate, two-word nickname contrasted sharply with the cold ,curt replies she sent after I poured out my worry and care. The ironic sentimental difference was tearing me apart.

A chill sank deep into my bones. It was suffocating. I couldn't bear to read any further.

Then, suddenly, a notification appeared.

It was from "Ed." He had sent a dozen pictures of Hera attending Bobby's school events. The first showed all three wearing matching shirts, holding hands, their faces lit with wide grins.

The second showed Hera and Edmund walking side by side as they led Bobby to poke a balloon.

The third showed Edmund sharing a cookie with her. They were eating it at the same time, their lips nearly touching.

The pictures just kept getting more and more intimate. I had never seen the stoic and aloof Saintess show such an array of emotions.

"An Awakenist must always remain composed," she used to tell me.

Yet, she looked overjoyed in every photo.

And even more damningly was the timestamp at the bottom of the photos. These pictures were taken ten minutes ago.

So that was why she hadn't wanted me to come home. She was worried I would see all of this. And to think she'd told me she had a meeting today.

"You said an Awakenist never lies. But lying is all you've done throughout our marriage," I muttered.