Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Homelander Is Upset Again

After dealing with that overconfident Naqib, Benjamin was in no hurry to take Starlight back across the ocean to New York.

Since they had finally come all this way, of course they were going to enjoy themselves a little.

Over the next half month, Benjamin took Annie on an extremely pleasant "vacation" through a country where war and desert sands were woven together.

During the day, they rode in a private bulletproof SUV specially approved by Vought International, hunting down reckless warlord militias out in the no-man’s-land.

At night, inside an incredibly luxurious tent, he enjoyed Starlight’s increasingly skilled and obedient service.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, on the top floor of Vought Tower in New York.

Benjamin would never have imagined that Homelander was upset again.

...

"Crack!"

Inside Vought Tower’s luxurious lounge, an ugly look flickered through Homelander’s eyes.

The wine glass in his hand shattered in an instant. Expensive red wine mixed with shards of glass dripped from his pure white glove onto the priceless carpet.

Homelander’s face was so dark it looked ready to drip water.

He stared hard at the huge LCD screen mounted on the wall.

On the screen, that day’s Fox News headline was playing.

In the footage, Stormfront stood atop a pile of rubble in a black Supersuit, her short hair framing her face as she held a half-dead Supervillain in one hand and flashed a confident, cocky smile at the countless cameras and microphones.

"Yes, protecting the American people is my duty!"

"Unlike certain people who only know how to float around in the sky and pose."

"I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and wipe out trash like this."

As he listened to Stormfront’s inflammatory speech on TV.

As he heard the crowd erupt into thunderous cheers.

Homelander felt as though a massive stone had lodged itself in his chest, making even his breathing grow heavy.

Ever since Benjamin and Starlight left for their trip to Syria, Stormfront, who had once done nothing but coast and slack off in The Seven, suddenly seemed to have lost her damn mind. Out of nowhere, she started throwing herself into the spotlight like she was hopped up on adrenaline.

That damn Stormfront had shown terrifying energy, whether actively responding to rescue missions around the country or attending every kind of press conference and talk show interview.

What Homelander found most unbearable was what happened just yesterday. A high-profile Supervillain who had already been assigned for him to personally take down and use to boost his approval ratings had been snatched away by Stormfront first.

Stormfront not only took down and killed that Supervillain, she also stole every headline that should have belonged to him.

And this was not the first or second time it had happened.

Every time Homelander wanted to show off, that woman Stormfront was smart enough to cut in first and steal the spotlight.

There were even memes about Homelander spreading online now, and that was what he hated most.

Some asshole had photoshopped Homelander’s head onto Stormfront’s body in a picture of The Seven.

Someone else had photoshopped Soldier Boy and Stormfront onto Homelander’s back, the two of them standing on the flying Homelander as they soared through the sky hand in hand.

Soldier Boy was one thing.

But Stormfront?

Who the hell did she think she was?

Who the hell did she think she was?

The more Homelander thought about it, the angrier he became.

"I’m the leader of The Seven! Soldier Boy and I are the greatest superheroes in the world!"

The veins in Homelander’s neck bulged one by one.

In the past, if anyone in The Seven had dared to steal his thunder like this, Homelander would have found some night without surveillance cameras and used Heat Vision to slice their head off bit by bit.

Then he would squeeze out a few tears in front of the cameras and announce that they had "tragically died in the line of duty."

But with Stormfront, he did not dare.

Homelander clenched his teeth, took several deep breaths, and forced the red glow in his eyes back down.

Because he knew exactly what kind of relationship Stormfront had with his father.

Out of respect for his father, Homelander could only swallow the anger like a wronged child who did not dare throw a tantrum.

He was afraid that if he touched Stormfront, Benjamin would be unhappy.

"Hoo..."

Homelander let out a long breath, grabbed a tissue to wipe his hand, put on the fake, perfect smile he usually wore in public, pushed open the lounge door, and headed toward The Seven’s circular conference room.

He needed to patrol his territory and remind people he existed.

This was one of Homelander’s favorite things to do.

Especially when Benjamin was not around. Then Homelander was the goddamn sky over Vought.

However, just as he passed the quiet hallway beside the conference room, his Super Hearing, millions of times sharper than an ordinary person’s, suddenly caught a familiar voice.

It was Maeve.

At that moment, Maeve was standing in a blind spot at the end of the corridor with her back to him, holding a private cell phone that was not connected to Vought International’s surveillance system as she spoke on a call.

As her former lover, Homelander had an extremely sick possessiveness toward Maeve.

Even though they had broken up long ago.

But in Homelander’s mind, Maeve had once been his woman, which meant she would always be his private property.

Homelander could choose not to have her, but Maeve was not allowed to betray him.

Homelander stopped walking and stood at the corner like a ghost, listening closely.

"I know. I’m sorry, Elena... I really can’t get away right now..."

"Trust me, okay? Once I’m done with what I’m handling..."

Maeve’s voice was very low, but the tenderness in her tone caught Homelander’s attention.

The smile on Homelander’s face stiffened.

Elena?

That was a woman’s name.

In theory, it was perfectly normal for two women to talk on the phone like close friends.

But combined with Maeve’s heartbeat and that tone in her voice, Homelander’s almost pathological intuition instantly told him something was off.

The relationship between those two women was definitely not simple. They were sure as hell not just friends. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

A few minutes later, Maeve hung up, took a deep breath, adjusted the expression on her face, and turned to walk down the hallway.

The moment she rounded the corner, her pupils widened.

Homelander stood there with his hands behind his back, wearing that signature smile as he stared at her.

"Homelander."

Maeve forced herself to stay calm.

"Hey, Maeve."

Homelander took one slow step forward, his tall body instantly casting Maeve in shadow.

He tilted his head slightly and said gently, "Who were you talking to just now? Sounded like you were having fun."

Maeve remained as cold as usual.

"No one. Just a regular friend. Why?"

"A regular friend..."

Homelander’s smile stayed in place, but he no longer believed Maeve.

He could hear it.

He could hear it clearly. When Maeve said "regular friend," the heart inside her chest beat faster than usual.

She was lying.

Maeve had someone. Maybe an ex-girlfriend he had never known about, or maybe a current girlfriend.

Maeve had been lying to him all along.

She would rather love some ordinary woman with no Superpowers than open her heart to him.

She had even broken up with him.

An indescribable feeling of betrayal and loneliness wrapped itself around Homelander’s heart.

First, that bitch Stormfront kept targeting him, intentionally or not, stealing his spotlight.

Now, even Maeve, the person he had once considered closest to him, had been feeding him lies the whole time.

What the hell was wrong with this world?

Homelander felt like his brain was about to split open.

It seemed like the only people in the entire world who truly belonged to him were his father, Benjamin, and Ryan.

Other than his father and his son.

Had everyone else betrayed him?

Homelander did not dare think about it.

He was heartbroken.

Maeve said, "Homelander, I just remembered there’s an urgent meeting with PR that I need to attend."

She lowered her head and squeezed past him.

"I’m going."

Watching Maeve’s flustered figure hurry away, Homelander did not stop her.

...

Maeve thought back to the slightly unstable look in Homelander’s eyes just now, and a wave of helplessness rose inside her.

Originally, when Soldier Boy Benjamin returned to Vought and forcefully brought everything under control.

Homelander should have been properly disciplined.

But now it seemed that was not necessarily true.

Although Homelander had gotten much better recently, his true nature had not changed.

Strip away the powerful cloak of his Superpowers.

Homelander was still that moody, love-starved giant baby.

Maeve could only hope Benjamin and Starlight came back soon.