The Strange Groom's Cursed Bride-Chapter 59: Block C

She was unconscious.

Or maybe sleeping.

Or maybe both.

Hades didn’t care.

He carried her in his arms like a burden he wasn’t sure how he’d ended up with, his jaw tight and eyes like polished stone. Every step he took from his car toward his private apartment echoed with tension, his expensive shoes barely making a sound, but his presence screaming with authority. And anger.

If someone asked him why exactly he was angry, he may not be able to tell.

By the time he kicked open the door, the silence inside the sleek modern space shattered.

Milo in the middle of a call while standing in front of the TV with reduced volume stopped mid-sentence, looking like a dropped ice cream cone.

Rowan, who had been typing furiously on his laptop, blinked as if he’d just seen a ghost.

Even Gavin, who was down the stairs now looked at Hades and Alice in his arms, only raised a brow, a silent judgment in his gaze.

But no one said anything for a solid five seconds.

Then Milo let out a very undignified sound. "Am I still drunk or is that...?"

Rowan stood up immediately, eyes wide, "Is she dead?"

"Where’s Clarisse" Hades said flatly, his eyes scanning the room without stopping.

"You gave her an assignment," Gavin reminded him smoothly.

Hades had forgotten briefly that he had called Clarisse just a while ago and sent her on an assignment.

"I called the estate doctor already. Should be here in five." Gavin said.

The other two whipped around to stare at him.

"You called a doctor?" Rowan asked, incredulous.

Milo narrowed his eyes. "How the hell did you know to do that? You were with us the whole time. Why did you leave us out?"

Gavin just sent Rowan a sharp, wordless glare. The kind that could peel paint off the walls and curdle milk. "Because I am trustworthy."

"Are you still on about that?" Milo said, incredulous. "I told you I didn’t use your three! I only went once, plus I already resubscribed!"

"Okay, boys," Rowan muttered, waving his yogurt like a white flag. "Now is not the time."

"Obviously," Hades growled.

Without another word, he carried Alice through the apartment, up the stairs to one of the spare rooms. The others trailed behind awkwardly.

The guest room was pristine, unused. Hades pushed the door open with his shoulder and stepped inside.

Then, carefully—but not gently—he lowered Alice onto the bed. With her shoes and all.

The sheets barely rustled.

But Hades’s irritation crackled like static in the air.

She winced, her body twitching slightly from the movement, her face scrunching as if in pain. Her feverish skin gleamed under the soft overhead lights. One of the thin straps of her emerald dress slipped awkwardly off her shoulder, baring the soft dip of her collarbone. She rolled weakly to the side, her dress rolling up a bit as she murmured something incoherent.

The boys just... stood there.

Watching.

"She looks... hella uncomfortable." Milo commented awkwardly.

At once, Hades turned to face them fully. His eyes were knives.

"Get. Out."

The words were quiet.

But deadly.

Gavin was the first to move, already turning on his heel. His departure was swift, almost eager.

Milo followed, still muttering to himself as he left, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor running through his frame as he sensed the shift in the room’s atmosphere.

Rowan lingered until Hades shot him a pointed look, and then he scrambled after the others.

Hades paused at the doorway, one hand still on the knob. He looked over his shoulder once, toward the girl lying on the bed.

His jaw clenched.

Then he stepped out and shut the door.

Just in time—

Ding-dong.

The sharp chime of the doorbell echoed from the main floor.

"She must be here. The doctor," Milo said, already heading toward the staircase, his movements precise and hurried.

The moment Hades reached the bottom of the stairs, an awkward Rowan opened the door, looking at the others just as the doctor stepped in.

He wasn’t what any of them expected.

A tall, awkward young man in a pale grey coat stepped in, wheeling in a sleek black medical suitcase. His glasses were slightly fogged from the evening humidity, and he looked mildly disoriented, like he’d run here half-asleep. But he was young. Maybe late 20s. And good looking.

Hades’s gaze narrowed the instant he took him in. "Why are you a man?"

The doctor blinked.

Then blinked again.

"I... I was born a man?"

There was a long pause.

Milo choked on nothing, pretending to cough into his fist.

Rowan turned away to hide a smirk, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Gavin looked like someone had just personally offended his ancestry, his expression a tight mask of disbelief and annoyance.

Hades didn’t smile. His arms crossed slowly over his chest. "I told them to send a female physician." novelbuddy-cσ๓

He turned to Gavin, sharp as a blade. "Why is he here?"

"I asked for Dr. Shima," Gavin said coolly. "She was supposed to be on call tonight."

"I’m covering her shift," the man stammered, visibly wilting under Hades’s stare. "She didn’t answer her phone and—well—I was the only one available."

Dead silence followed his explanation.

Then—

DING-DONG!!

The doorbell rang again.

This time, aggressively.

Like someone was attacking it.

All five men turned to the door slowly, instinctively.

Rowan was closest. He shuffled toward the wall panel and pressed the intercom. A second later, he turned to them with a confused expression.

"Uh... it’s Suzy."

Gavin’s jaw tightened instantly as soon as he heard that name, a fresh wave of irritation washing over his features.

Hades raised his brow in a questioning manner but then nodded once, and Rowan pressed the button to unlock the door.

The door flung open.

Suzy stormed in barefoot, heels clutched in one hand, panting like she’d run the entire way. Her sleek hair was disheveled and her dress slightly wrinkled, but she was full of righteous fury. Her eyes immediately went to Hades.

"You!" she snapped, her voice ringing with indignation, despite the tremor of fear that she desperately tried to suppress. "Where... is Aurora?"

Pause.

"I saw you... stuffing her into your car like a suitcase. You... you kidnapped her!"

She sounded scared but determined.

The doctor looked at the men with a questioning look on his face.

Rowan spoke up. "Kid-napped? Excuse me miss, but that accusation is—"

"Shut up!" Suzy snapped at him and he sealed his lips at once in disbelief.

Milo looked at her, eyes twinkling.

Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose, his gaze on Suzy was solid annoyance.

Hades’s patience was running thin. "Kidnapped?"

"Y-Yes," Suzy said, marching further into the room, her courage warring with the deep-seated apprehension of being in Hades’s presence. "She... was fine at the party. Then suddenly, you are carrying a passed out Aurora into your car. And before you lie, I already checked Block A. She’s not there. So where did you take her—"

Her gaze had been going around when she suddenly took note of her environment and paused.

She spotted the unfamiliar man—the doctor.

Her eyes flicked to the suitcase. To the tension in the room. To the four men all standing there, watching her.

And then... to Gavin.

Her expression faltered when she locked gaze with him.

He looked like he might want to throw her out, and if Hades so much as breathed the order, he would fling her away.

Aa for the doctor, he tried not to breathe too loudly, a terrified mouse caught in a den of lions.

Milo tried not to snort, his idiot smile still plastered on his face as he watched Suzy, clearly captivated.

Rowan raised a questioning brow at him but he simply shrugged.

Hades broke the silence.

"Come."

His voice was low but commanding, and his eyes, cold and unwavering, were locked on both Suzy and the doctor. The unspoken message was clear. He was speaking to the two of them.

"W-Why... what... do you want to do to me?" Suzy stammered, taking a wary step backwards.

"Aren’t you curious about Aurora?"

He made it clear in the simplest of words. She was sick. And upstairs.

Suzy would assist the doctor. Handle the... delicate aspects.

"You barged in." Hades turned, his gaze cutting. "Make yourself useful."

Then he was already walking back upstairs, his silhouette a dark, unyielding presence.

Suzy blinked again, her expression somewhere between incredulous and offended—but the ingrained fear, mixed with a flicker of stubborn courage, made her follow.

The doctor hesitated, but Gavin tilted his head toward the stairs with a curt, "Go."

He didn’t spare Suzy any glance even when she stared at him briefly.

Once the three had gone up, Milo, still looking up the stairs, grinned.

"Just the perfect woman for me," he said dreamily.

Rowan and Gavin paused and looked at him.

"You must have gone crazy." Rowan commented, shaking his head.

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