The female doctor suddenly paused. Then, she added, "The man that came with Melanie was quite handsome. He also had quite a commanding presence.""I know, right? That man was more handsome than a lot of male celebrities. Do you think he's Melanie's boyfriend?""He probably is. Why else would he come to the hospital with her at that hour?"Seeing that the two doctors had moved on with their discussion, Chelsey didn't ask any more questions. She looked at Alanna, who smiled and said, "I think I should probably head back."Chelsey nodded with a frown. She understood that Alanna might not feel comfortable about the discussion. Not many people knew about the relationship between Alanna and Melanie. Chelsey was one of the people who knew. Melanie was Alanna's half-sister. They had the same father but different mothers. Although Alanna was the older sister, she was only older by 30 minutes. They were born on the same day but ended up leading completely different lives. Tucker Sm
Alanna had no intent of showing up before them. She didn't like the name Melody Smith either. As long as they didn't cause trouble for her anymore, she didn't mind staying away from them forever. That was until three years ago when Tara got into a traffic accident. She had no choice but to go to Tucker for help. That was the time she realized how heartless Tucker truly was. She never had any contact with the Smiths after that. She would still see Melanie on the TV or social media occasionally.Melanie debuted overseas four years ago. She never returned to the country in the past four years, but people knew about her because she was pretty. She was even dubbed the woman in everyone's dreams because of her beauty. Alanna fell asleep as soon as she got in bed after she got home.In her dreams, she was back at the beach. It was winter, and the winds were chilling. Even the windows of the beachside villa were making noises in the wind. Melanie was yelling at her because she lost
That would mean Hades left her place because his first love called him. Alanna felt hurt. She caressed her stomach instinctively. Alanna wondered if it was time for her to leave since Hades' first love had returned. Did that mean … she could leave and give birth to the baby? She spaced out as she looked at her belly. She didn't even catch what Renee was saying. Her heart was already in turmoil. "Ms. Jocinta?"Alanna snapped back to reality and composed herself. "It's time to work. Stop gossiping, or you'll be in for it if Mr. Florentine catches wind of this."Renee stuck her tongue out and went back to her desk. Alanna also forced herself to start working. Renee came knocking on Alanna's door at noon. "Mr. Florentine is asking for you, Ms. Jacinto."…The door to Hades' office was slightly ajar. Alanna could hear his voice coming from the office when she arrived at the door. He seemed to be on the phone. His tone was very gentle. Alanna never even knew he was ca
Alanna relented. Hades wouldn't give her the chance to turn him down. He never cared about her feelings. Over the years, she had learned to accept her fate because she couldn't rebel against him. She accepted the orders he gave and the pain he inflicted. "Understood."They finished the meal in silence. Hades ate very slowly. He never liked talking while he was eating. He was very sophisticated. Alanna was distracted while eating. She tried her best to ignore the rumors but still felt upset. Hades' phone rang after they finished eating. Alanna glanced at it and noticed a single letter "S" as the caller ID. Hades accepted the call immediately. "What's wrong? I ate … yeah. You should eat proper meals, too … Okay. I'll hang up now."Alanna already knew who the caller was. Hades was only so gentle when he was talking with his first love. "You left in a hurry last night. Was it because your first love came back?" Alanna asked in a seemingly casual manner. Hades was fiddli
Melanie was suddenly silenced. "I didn't kick her out. I just asked her to move."She looked at Hades with an aggrieved expression."Hades, you won't get mad at me over a manager, right?"Tears welled up in her eyes after she said that. She had been waiting for Hades to contact her in the past few years while she was abroad. Unexpectedly, he didn't even attempt to contact her in the past four years. During that period, she had thought of coming back for him more than once. But she had her pride, too. She was the one who asked for the breakup. Hades treated her differently. He would smile gently at her and call her by her nickname, "Mel". He would even fight against his siblings for her sake. But there were also limits to his special treatment of her. He never touched her, nor did he ever talk about marriage with her. He even refused to meet with her parents. Her original intent was to give Hades a push—some kind of a sense of urgency so he would marry her as soon as
Melanie held Hades' arm after she got out of the car. Alanna withdrew her gaze and walked toward the studio. However, she was stopped at the entrance. "Ms. Jacinto."Melanie was holding on to Hades. Alanna couldn't see her face because she was completely covered up. But she could sense that Melanie had a big smile on her face. "I'm sorry I kicked you off the car just now."She claimed she was sorry, but she deliberately mentioned the fact that Alanna was kicked out of the car. There were a lot of people in their vicinity. All of them heard what she said. Their gaze fell on Alanna. Alanna was one of the first employees of the company. She had been by Hades' side since he started the company. Hades had always treated her well. Although there was a fuss over her resignation a while back, she didn't resign in the end. No one in the company dared to cross her. Melanie was the first to do something like that. Her words basically confirmed everyone's suspicions. Her relation
Melanie's expression soured. "Do you really think he belongs to you just because you've spent a few years by his side? To the public, he's always been a bachelor. That should tell you enough about what he thinks of you."Her words struck Alanna like a poisoned knife. She knew better than anyone else what she meant to Hades, but she did not want to show weakness to Melanie."He doesn't belong to me, but he doesn't belong to you either!" she retorted.This seemed to hit Melanie's sore spot. Her expression darkened. "Don't act haughty so soon, Alanna. He'll be mine sooner or later. I'm here now because we're going to discuss our marriage, so if you know what's good for you, you'll stop harassing him!"It's one thing for your mother to be a homewrecker. Are you going to follow in her footsteps as well? How despicable!"Unable to hold back her anger, Alanna slapped her."Alanna!" Just then, Hades' voice sounded from behind.Alanna's hand trembled. She tensed, afraid of what she wou
Alanna scoffed. "In that case, isn't it better if we get to the bottom of this, Ms. Smith? No one can smear your reputation if things are made clear, can they?"The truth did not matter in her battle with Melanie. Victory depended on Hades' favor, which she clearly lacked.She was fighting a losing battle.She knew that even if they checked the surveillance cameras, it wouldn't matter in the end; as long as Hades placed the blame on her, then no amount of proof would change his mind.Even so, she wanted him to know the truth."There's really no need for that, Ms. Jacinto," Melanie said hastily. "I've already said that I'll let this slide. What else do you want from me?"Alanna looked at her calmly. "How could we let this slide? We can't let you suffer such a grievance, Ms. Smith."Hades stood between them with an unreadable expression. "The filming is starting soon, Ms. Jacinto. Are you sure you want to continue wasting everyone's time like this?"It was clear where his loyalti