"How about we go to the theme park next Sunday?" Hades said softly over the phone, his voice warm despite the exhaustion. "I've been swamped with business training at the Falcon Empire all summer… and I know you're starting to get upset with me."
"I'm not upset," Cieryl's sweet voice came through the line with a quiet giggle. "And I understand. I don't want to add to your stress. Especially now that the school year is starting again, you'll be even busier balancing classes and business training. But I'm not saying no to a theme park date. I miss you, too much."
"I miss you too, babe," Hades replied with a smile. "A little more patience, school starts soon. We'll see each other more often then, every day."
"I know. I'm actually excited to go back," Cieryl laughed softly. "I can't wait to see all our friends again."
Her giggle made his chest tighten slightly, comforting and familiar.
Just as Hades was about to respond, a knock echoed at the door. It opened without waiting for his permission.
"Young Master," the Falcon family's elder butler announced in a respectful tone, "the Master and Madame have arrived. Dinner will be served in a few minutes."
The old man gave a slight bow and closed the door without waiting for a reply.
"Babe, I have to go. Mom and Dad are here," Hades said apologetically. "I'll call you back later. In the meantime, why don't you start planning where you want to go? Choose the theme park, and I'll make the rest happen."
"Okay, I will. I love you," Cieryl said softly.
"I love you too," he replied before ending the call.
He stood from his study desk and headed to the walk-in closet. He was still in his basketball jersey, and that simply wouldn't do, not in the Falcon household. Here, even dinner required formality. In this house, everyone dressed to impress, no exceptions.
By the time Hades descended to the dining room, his parents were already seated at the long, regal table.
Jupiter Falcon, even in his age, exuded commanding authority with every breath. Beside him, Angelina Falcon, poised and graceful as always, regarded her son with a distant expression.
"Sit down," Jupiter said coldly the moment he noticed Hades.
Hades obeyed without a word, taking the third seat on the right side of his father, directly across from his mother. The two seats closest to Jupiter's right remained untouched. No one ever sat there. They were permanently reserved for his older brother, Zeus, and his fiancée, Ceres.
Seats that had remained empty for more than eighteen years.
Because Zeus and Ceres were long dead.
"Caspian gave me good feedback regarding your performance during the business training," Jupiter said flatly halfway through dinner. "Keep it up. Make sure you listen to him and learn as much as you can. There is no better mentor than Caspian."
"Yes, sir," Hades replied, tone neutral.
Their dinners were always like this, polished, formal, and emotionally distant.
His parents never really asked about anything beyond school or business. They didn't care about what Hades liked, what he dreamed of, or who he loved. Unless it was tied to legacy or responsibility, it didn't matter.
Still, he noticed the brief exchange of looks between them.
"I heard you joined the school's varsity basketball team this year?" Angelina asked, lifting her wine glass delicately but not sparing him a glance.
"Yes, Mom," Hades answered evenly. "But don't worry, it won't interfere with my studies or my business training."
His voice remained calm and respectful, trained by years of discipline.
"We won't interfere with any extracurricular activities you wish to pursue, as long as your grades and training performance remain intact," Jupiter said, tone clipped and formal. "However… we've heard you're seeing Cieryl Clark."
He placed his glass down with a faint clink. "End that relationship before the school year begins."
"Sir?" Hades blinked, stunned by the abrupt command.
"You know very well why we adopted you, Hades," Jupiter replied, voice cold, matter-of-fact. "The Monteverdes will be arriving in New York next week. That includes Evadne. They'll be staying indefinitely. Instead of wasting time with Cieryl, I suggest you begin focusing on Evadne. I don't want any tension between the Falcons and the Monteverdes. Is that understood?"
Hades turned toward his mother, silently begging for support, for any hint of defiance against his father's cold words.
But Angelina, ever poised and unyielding, simply nodded in approval of Jupiter's words. Just like always, she sided with her husband. And just like always, she saw only Evadne as the rightful daughter-in-law of the Falcon household.
"Yes, sir." The words left Hades's lips heavy and bitter, but there was no room to argue.
Dinner ended without another word from him.
The only conversation that followed was his parents' excitement over the Monteverdes' arrival. Angelina was already discussing plans for a welcome party, mentioning flowers, caterers, and press presence as if they were preparing for royalty.
But Hades heard none of it.
He had perfected the art of appearing composed while drowning inside.
When dinner was over, he calmly made his way back to his room. He closed the door behind him, slow and silent, then collapsed onto his bed face-down.
And screamed into the mattress.
He screamed until his throat burned and his breath stuttered. It was the only way to stop himself from breaking everything in sight.
Then, just as quickly, a twisted laugh escaped his lips. Dark, bitter, unhinged.
He remembered Jupiter's words.
"You know very well why we adopted you, Hades."
Of course he knew.
They reminded him every day, not always through words, but through their actions. Through the way they looked at him. Through the way they planned his future like a contract, not a life.
He was never truly their son.
He was useful.
A pawn chosen not out of love, but obsession.
He wasn't a Falcon. Not really. He was just an orphan, abandoned on the steps of an orphanage as a baby, nameless and unwanted. The Falcon couple first met him when he was five. And for the first time in his short life, he thought he would finally belong to someone.
What he didn't understand then was that their visits to the orphanage had little to do with kindness.
They had been funding that particular orphanage because it was part of a foundation started by Zeus Falcon himself. And before her death, Ceres Monteverde had once been a generous benefactor of the same orphanage.
Ceres.
The woman who should've become their daughter-in-law.
The woman they lost too soon.
Evadne was her younger sister.
And after Zeus and Ceres died, Evadne became the Falcon couple's obsession. Their reason to endure. Their redemption.
If it were possible, they would have adopted her instead, but she wasn't theirs to claim. She belonged to the Monteverdes.
So they did the next best thing, they adopted someone for her.
A five-year-old boy from nowhere, nameless and pliable. Someone they could mold. Train. Prepare.
He was never meant to be their son.
He was a placeholder.
A pawn.
A groom-in-training.
Before he was Hades Falcon, the nuns named him Alec Bennet.
The name "Hades" wasn't chosen because it meant something to his adoptive parents.
It was chosen because of her.
Evadne Persephone Monteverde.
Even his name had never truly been his.
Persephone and Hades.
The match had been made long before he knew what love was.
Before he had the right to choose for himself.
His phone buzzed, pulling him out of his thoughts.
A new message. From Cieryl.
Cieryl: Babe, let's just go to Adventureland. I wanna ride the carousel and then the Ferris wheel 🥰
Hades's chest tightened as he read the message, eyes lingering on the wallpaper behind it, a photo of Cieryl, beaming at the camera, her smile so genuine it felt like sunlight.
How was he supposed to break up with her?
Cieryl was his light, the only bright spot in a life carefully sculpted to please everyone but himself. Every time the weight of expectation crushed his chest, every time the pressure from the Falcon name became too much, it was Cieryl who pulled him back. With her laughter. Her kindness. Her unwavering belief in him.
And yet… he only had himself to blame.
He had known all along why he was adopted. Why he was raised the way he was. And still… he had fallen in love with another woman.
With Cieryl Clark.
Who, by cruel twist of fate, was also Evadne Monteverde's niece, daughter of Ciena, Evadne's half older sister.
He had fallen in love with the wrong girl.
Because Evadne wasn't just anyone. She was the Monteverdes' miracle. The child born out of grief and sorrow, the one who pulled her parents out of despair after the loss of their firstborn, Ceres.
Evadne was sacred. Untouchable. Pre-destined.
And he… he was the offering.
There was no way the Monteverdes, much less the Falcons, would allow him to disgrace her by choosing someone else.
But the thought of hurting Cieryl… of seeing her cry because of him…
That was something Hades knew he'd never forgive himself for.
His mind was a mess. Torn between guilt, duty, and the truth of his own heart. And in that chaos, a darker feeling began to rise, slow, venomous, burning from the inside out.
Anger.
Not just at himself.
Not just at his parents.
But at Evadne Persephone Monteverde.
Why did everything in his life have to revolve around her?
He had no voice in this. No choice.
He was his own person.
He had his own dreams.
His own passions. His own soul. His own love.
But none of it mattered. Because in the eyes of the Falcons, he wasn't their son. He was an asset. A polished diamond, sculpted and refined for one sole purpose, to be given, like a gift, to a girl who didn't even know how much of his life she owned.
They wanted him to be the best. Not for himself, but because Evadne deserved nothing less.
Even the perfect husband.
He was no longer a boy named Alec Bennet.
He was Hades Falcon, flawless on paper, beautifully trained, well-bred, and entirely groomed...
For her.
A silent, priceless offering to a girl who didn't ask for him,
But who already had everything.