"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
Hades never cared about Alanna's tears in the past. He even thought of her as weak because of her tendency to cry.But the tears that she had shed in the past transformed into phantom pain that constantly haunted him now.Just what on earth had he done to Alanna in the past?Suddenly, Hades felt like slapping himself. He closed his eyes while rubbing the spot between his brows tiredly.Once Alanna and Winston left, Hades got into his car and drove after them.He could tell that Alanna was avoiding him. Still, he wouldn't give up on her no matter what.He wanted to be with Alanna. She was the only woman he wanted in this lifetime.The banquet was held in a hotel that belonged to one of the Ministry members.Alanna was extremely beautiful, not to mention there had been rumors about her being the successor to Winston's position flying around in the Ministry. As such, she became the center of attention as soon as she stepped into the banquet hall of the hotel.Travis was pleasan
Alanna was so familiar with the newcomer's words that she knew who he was straight away without turning to look at him.Her first instinct was to struggle out of Hades' grasp, yet he drew her back into his embrace once again."Hades Florentine?"Alanna stopped struggling when she heard Elizabeth's voice."I didn't expect someone as prestigious as you to be able to recognize me, Mrs. Silva," Hades said mockingly.Of course, Elizabeth was frustrated to hear the mockery in Hades' tone. Everyone in the upper echelons knew who he was, after all.What did he mean by that? Was he secretly mocking her for not being blue-blooded enough to know who he was?It was true that the Silvas had always kept a low profile among their wealthy peers. Their reputation paled in comparison to the Florentines'.Still, the Silva family was still an elite family at the end of the day. In other words, Elizabeth still viewed herself as superior to Hades because of her seniority in the upper echelons."Had
The moment Elizabeth finished speaking, Hades retorted with a sneer, "Kindly get things straight, Mrs. Silva, and see who's badgering who. Travis is the one who keeps running over to Jagersville, even during the holidays. How can you claim that it's Alanna who's badgering him?"If you don't want Travis to be with Alanna, then keep him in check! That's the best thing you can do! I'd be eternally grateful to you if you could get Travis to leave Alanna alone!"Elizabeth was speechless. "Why, you—""Mom!"Travis cut Elizabeth off before she could say anything else. He had rushed over just in time to hear what Hades said, and his expression turned stormy.He had only been gone for a short while. Why had Elizabeth approached Alanna?"What are you doing here, Mom?" Travis asked.Elizabeth was unusually gentle when she spoke to Travis. "I'm not doing anything, Travis. I spotted Ms. Jacinto, so I just wanted to greet her."Nevertheless, Travis knew what Elizabeth was truly like. Lately,