Both of them were silent for a short while."I'm leaving now," Alanna finally declared. Then, she turned to leave.But Hades quickly grabbed her wrist. "I'm going to take a quick shower. Give me some time. I need to talk to you about something."Alanna didn't seem inclined to stay at all. So, Hades quickly approached her."Remember what I told you about discovering a new clue in Garrett's case? What I said is the truth. There's something fishy about his bank account."Only then did Alanna stop in her tracks."What's the issue?"Hades replied, "I'll explain everything to you while we eat.""Then you can tell Yves to explain everything to me later."Hades' irritation came back in full force. "I was the one who made the discovery! Why should he be the one who tells you about it?"Alanna wore a look of impatience. "I've made plans with Mr. Simmons, so I have no time to waste on you!"She had already made plans with Jeff to visit Tara right after having a meal together.Hades' e
The moment Alanna exited the restaurant, she received a phone call from Jane."Ms. Jacinto, hurry up and come to the ward! Those people are crazy!" she exclaimed anxiously.Alanna hung up immediately. Hades grabbed her wrist before dragging her into the car."I've reported the incident to the authorities nearby. They're rushing toward the hospital as we speak. Michel has already posted his bodyguards in front of the ward too. Your mother will be fine, so don't worry."But Alanna's expression was still tense and worried. Only one thought filled her mind.She was the one who dragged Tara into this mess.Alanna shut her eyes out of sorrow and rage. Maybe she shouldn't have publicly fought with Melanie.At the same time, she was reluctant to take it all lying down. Why? Why must she be the one getting bullied by Melanie? Was it all because Melanie was Hades' first love?Both Melanie and Hades belonged to the upper echelons. They were childhood sweethearts who were forever trapped
Hades' expression was as stormy as ever. "Aren't you being a little too nosy, Ms. Soltz?"Chelsey turned to glare at Hades furiously. "Am I really being nosy, or are you just mad that I got everything right?"Hades didn't know how to answer Chelsey for a moment.He would protect Alanna; that was for sure. He'd deal with those who humiliated her, and he'd definitely wipe out all that derogatory stuff from existence.But Melanie…All Hades could do was ignore Melanie and not lend her a helping hand. He could even treat her like a stranger, but he wasn't sure if he could do anything concrete to her.Chelsey was heartbroken, to say the least. "Ally was blind to have loved you for ten years! Hades, you're not worthy of her love!"After that, she hurled the flyers at Hades angrily. Michel, who stood next to him, was implicated as well.Naturally, Michel was quick to defend himself the moment he felt the flyers hitting him. "I have nothing to do with this!"Chelsey just glared at him
"Yes." Alanna didn't bother concealing the truth.At that moment, Hades found it extremely difficult to breathe. He never thought that Alanna had loved him for the past ten years. He remembered getting mad at Alanna's mysterious crush multiple times in the past just because he once existed in her life. Ironically, he had been jealous of himself for such a long time."Why didn't you tell me?"Alanna just chuckled. "Because there simply isn't a need to tell you anything, Hades. I know you never loved me from the start, so why should I tell you? So that I can be degraded and humiliated even more? Or should I tell you the truth just so you can trample all over my pride and feelings even more? "Hades, I'd very much prefer it if our relationship is strictly transactional. Ah, right. Our relationship isn't even a transaction at this point.""Alanna!" Hades' eyes became bloodshot at that moment. Every word that Alanna had uttered cut into his heart deeply. It hurt so much."But you
But for some reason, Alanna felt extremely relieved after letting everything out. It seemed that she could finally let go of her heavy love for Hades once and for all."Mr. Florentine, if you're still willing to help me out today, I'll be very grateful to you. If not, I won't blame you either. You should go home now. I'm feeling a little tired."Hades was frustrated and saddened at the same time. To think that Alanna no longer loved him now…But he also understood that he should never be biased toward Melanie from now on if he still wanted a shot at getting back together with Alanna."Don't worry, I'll deal with this matter properly."After a pause, Hades asked, "Can you show me the letter you wrote me once?"Alanna looked down at her lap. "It's gone now. I've burned it."Hades' expression darkened once again. "You burned the letter?""Yup." It was true that Alanna had burned the letter. That was the first thing she did after going home that night.She no longer wanted to
Hades quickly borrowed Jane's phone so that he could call Alanna right away.Once the call went through, he said, "Alanna…"But when Alanna heard his voice, she didn't hesitate to hang up on him.Of course, Hades was bummed out because of that. Was she unwilling to even talk to him over the phone now?He turned to look at Jane. "When did she mention that?""Yesterday, I think. Ms. Jacinto said this place is too dangerous for her mother. Who knows if someone else might barge into the ward and hurt her mother? "If you ask me, those people are all crazy! Ms. Jacinto is such a wonderful woman. How could anyone possibly hate her so much? No sane woman would be able to handle these kinds of derogatory insults."For some reason, Hades felt phantom pain surging into his heart. He returned the phone to Jane afterward."Is she not coming over today?"Jane shook her head. "Ms. Jacinto isn't coming over today. She's been pretty busy lately. After she got off work yesterday, someone named
Rejoin the family?Hah! What a noble fucking excuse.It was too bad that Alanna never gave a damn about the Smith family from the start."Tucker Smith, I've never had a father in my entire life, let alone a sister! Don't you dare show up in front of me ever again! You disgust me!""Alanna, just think of this as me begging you, alright? You can also talk to Hades on my behalf!"Tucker was left without a choice. He thought his plan would work, but he never expected Jeff to be that heartless.He initially planned on getting his connections to rescue Melanie from her fate. Little did he know that Hades would issue an order to admit Melanie into the asylum right away before he could do anything.No one knew that Melanie had broken down mentally on the night she got admitted into the asylum. That wasn't a place meant for regular people, to begin with.When Alanna heard Tucker's words, she felt like laughing all of a sudden."In that case, why aren't you begging Hades for help? I tho
This was Alanna's first time meeting Jill.Jill seemed quite energetic for a woman in her 70s with gray hair. There was an intelligent sparkle in her clear eyes despite her age.Hector must have sensed Alanna's gaze, for he paused in his steps and looked in her direction.Jill did the same as well. She was stunned to see Alanna.That was until Hector called out to her."Mrs. Simmons, this is Ms. Alanna Jacinto. I think Jeff has brought her up before."Jill snapped out of her trance before flashing Alanna a smile."Alanna, I've heard all about you from Jeff. I've been meaning to meet you for quite some time now. I didn't expect our first meeting to be dragged out for so long."Jill stared at Alanna longingly. She couldn't help but feel emotional when she gazed at her. For a moment, she thought her nose was going to tingle from how emotional she was.She remembered Sandra being this beautiful back in the day.Oh, Sandra was so gorgeous and talented! Yet, tragedy still went for