“Don’t talk about her like that!” My father’s voice cracked with fury. “You made promises! She’s not just some pawn in your game!”
Hades chuckled softly, the sound chilling. “Pawn? Hardly. Callista walked away from your carefully laid plans all on her own. You underestimated her, just like everyone else.”
“I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation,” my father growled.
Hades leaned closer to my father’s face, eyes glinting with dark amusement. “I’m the one being made to look like a fool at my own engagement party.” He straightened up. “Again, we had a deal, and it appears I'm not getting what was promised on your end.”
My stomach twisted as dread coiled tightly around me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Callista wouldn’t do this,” my mother protested weakly, disbelief thick in her voice.
Hades shrugged casually, leaning against the doorframe as if he were completely unfazed by their outrage. “You think she obeys because she wants to? She left because she wanted freedom—not just from me but from both of you.”
The silence that followed felt suffocating—a truth that shattered the image of family we had so carefully curated for years.
I clenched my fists, torn between anger and fear for Callista. The room buzzed with tension while outside, laughter echoed like a cruel mockery of our unraveling reality.
I watched Hades lean back, slow and deliberate, like a predator savoring the moment before the kill. He barely looked surprised, as if he had anticipated this chaos all along.
"Don't worry your pretty little heads," he said. "I prepared for this. I'm a reasonable man. As such, I have a solution."
His gaze slid toward me, those dark eyes glinting with mischief. A grin tugged at his lips.
He saw me.
He knew I was out of the room, listening.
“Oh Seph, darling,” he called out, his voice smooth and inviting. “Why don’t you come in here? There’s something important we need to discuss.”
My heart raced, panic seizing me as I stood frozen in place. The hallway felt narrow and stifling.
“Come now,” he continued, feigning concern. “Don’t tell me you’re scared. Callista, yes, but not you.”
With my teeth clenched tight, I stepped forward into the lounge. My parents turned to me, surprise flashing across their faces like a flickering light.
“What does she have anything to do with this?” my mother snapped, confusion etched into her features.
Hades simply smirked, the kind of smile that made my skin crawl.
My father’s expression shifted from anger to something unreadable as he turned his gaze on me. It felt like the air had thickened; dread settled over my shoulders like a heavy cloak.
“You’ll marry him.” The words hung in the air, a crushing weight that pulled at my insides.
I barely registered who had spoken until I caught sight of my father’s grim determination—he’d made up his mind without a hint of doubt or remorse. The room spun around me; reality twisted into something grotesque and foreign.
I let out a laugh, but it came out broken and bitter, a sound that barely echoed off the lavish walls.
“You can’t be serious,” I managed to say, my voice trembling with disbelief. The weight of their gazes pressed down on me—my father’s determination, my mother’s confusion, and Hades’ amusement.
But they were serious. I could see it in their eyes, the way my father’s jaw tightened and my mother paled. Hades leaned against the wall, his presence larger than life, watching me with an insufferable smirk playing at his lips.
“Find another way.” I clenched my fists at my sides, fighting the panic clawing at my throat. “I have no part in this deal.”
He merely raised an eyebrow, as if amused by my defiance. The look in his eyes sent a shiver through me—something predatory lingered beneath his composed exterior.
“You’re wrong,” he replied smoothly, every syllable dripping with that condescending charm that made bile rise in my throat. “You’re very much a part of this.”
“No!” I shouted, frustration igniting within me. “I’d rather die than be tied to you!”
