Loving The Mad King

While I Was Bleeding Out, He Lit Lanterns For Her

Katie Oettgen

As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.

Romance Crime Revenge Pregnancy Enemies to Lovers Pregnancy Personal Growth

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"I think the best thing to do, my king, is to get married like they've been talking about." Elder Blake said.

"Married?" Elder Rahsan yelled out, his eyeballs almost falling from his orbs.

"But who would he get married to?" The second elder added, concern lacing his voice.

"Who wants to get married to a...

"Say it, Charles. Say the words," Elder Blake gritted out, his eyes set on the dark-haired man glancing between the man on the high chair and Elder Blake.

Elder Charles fidgeted in his seat, a huge gulp passing his mouth down his throat. "It's just that there have been rumors and concerns. So who actually wants to get married to..

"A mad king, " the king said, silencing everyone as all eyes turned to him. His lips stretched upward, mocking, sad, and bitter. His cold, black eyes swept across the room, taking in every face before him.

His eyes settled on Elder Charles as he clenched his jaw. Everyone's breath stilled as his hand drummed against the arm of his chair, slow and deliberate.

"Isn't that what people have been talking about? Who would dare marry a mad king? Or even a mad man?"

BEGINNING.

For twenty-five years now, he has been called many things. The Mad King. The monster in the high tower. The Lord with no face. Every rumor and gossip has been about him. About what he was and what he could be. He was a dangerous man, they all whispered. The man who is known to have killed his own mother when he was six pushed her off a cliff and watched her fall to her death.

He didn't shed a tear, didn't sob. It only made him grow stronger, becoming more fearful and ruthless. He was also the same man known to throw his father out with no mercy when he was accused of too many sins- neither of these sins no one has any idea about.

He has been king to the mortals [the humans} for more than 20 years now, yet no one has seen his face. Even the servants and messengers of the high tower gossiped about how secret he was. But the people were growing too greedy, too selfish.

They wanted to see this man who was named as one of the 'gods'.

A name so pure and so selfless- AHSAN.

For 25 years, he has hidden behind his tower and ruled over them. The only people who have seen him are his elders, who are too sworn in to reveal what he looks like. He didn't mistreat them or subject them to hardship. He was the best ruler they've had in a very long time, better than his ancestors. He threw yearly parties for them, fed them, and was quick to fight any war they faced.

But everything changed suddenly one day. A servant had claimed she saw the King, his beauty unparalleled. So unnatural, it had burned itself into her eyes. And when asked what she saw, she said she saw his side profile with a woman so gorgeous, the two of them making out in the light of the day.

This angered the mortals, both at home and in other kingdoms.

How dare the mad king get married, even with a wife without them knowing anything about it?

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