\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silas\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone knew Hades Sinclair. Hell, I thought I knew him better than most, we\u2019d been close long enough to see the parts other people never did. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the line he dropped over the phone this morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat woman is going to be my wife. If she is the woman I\u2019m going to marry, that means you\u2019re going to be her lapdog. So do everything she asks, and ruin anyone who dares bully my wife. Or else, you\u2019ll end up in the grave with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat in my office, listening like a fool. Wife. Lapdog. Ruin. Grave. Each word slammed into a different corner of my skull, ricocheting until nothing made sense. What the hell did he mean? Who was she, really? And why me? It was too much, then again, everything about Hades was always too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s what made him Hades. He lived at an angle the world didn\u2019t expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first time I met Hades was back in high school. It was a school full of rich kids who thought they owned the place. But the day he walked in, all of that crumbled. The hierarchy flipped in a single day. Even the teachers gave him a wary respect, like they were afraid to breathe wrong around him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was just some scrawny kid who got shoved into lockers for fun. And then there was Hades, sitting on the goddamn roof. Don\u2019t ask me how he got up there. To this day, I still don\u2019t know. But that was where it happened. That crazy bastard looked down at me and asked if I wanted to make a deal with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of us had a clue what the hell he meant. My bullies sure didn\u2019t. But I knew making a deal with Hades was the smartest thing I could ever do. And before I could even blink, he\u2019d beaten every single one of them. Just like that, my tormentors were gone, and my life was tied to his.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We became friends after that, and I respected him because, unlike everyone else who hovered around him in fear, at least he wasn\u2019t fake. Hades was the kind of man who\u2019d steal the most important thing from you, but he\u2019d have the decency to tell you before he did it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, that didn\u2019t make him any less of a fucked-up individual. Honestly? I figured he\u2019d die old and alone, because what sane woman would marry a man that insane? But damn, I was so fucking wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t just sane, he was young, beautiful, the kind of woman who looked like she belonged to another world entirely. And unlike the others he toyed with, and I would know, since Alec and I were the ones cleaning up after him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This one was different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I scanned the room, a smile tugging at my lips. I already had a good idea of what was happening here, thanks to the report I\u2019d read on my way over, and now, watching the scene play out, it was almost funny. Every single one of them, circling her like vultures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Idiots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did they really not know the woman they were ganging up on? Even the president of the goddamn country would stand when Hades\u2019s woman walked into a room. And yet here they were, bullying her like she was just another target. These people weren\u2019t dealing with a helpless girl, they were playing with the grim reaper\u2019s bride.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u2019s voice cut through my thoughts. \u201cI\u2019m sorry for asking for you when you were busy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to her and grinned, letting my teeth show. \u201cThat\u2019s perfectly fine. You could call for me even if I were shot dead.\u201d I said, smirk widening. \u201cI know for a fact that man wouldn\u2019t let me stay dead if you were the one calling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She blinked at me, confusion flickering across her face. I chuckled. Did she really have no idea? She might know who Hades was, but did she truly understand the kind of devil she was about to marry?\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:57 Tue, Jan 6\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u30b6\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
90\u00a0<\/p>\n
505 vouchet\u00e9\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho the hell is this? Why are you here? We don\u2019t need strangers barging in while we\u2019re having a serious discussion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The shrill voice belonged to a woman across the table. I turned my gaze on her, curling my lip in disgust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up,\u201d I growled, the words sharp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The woman recoiled, frowning, clearly stunned at my tone. Violet\u2019s brows lifted in surprise. Well, that was the thing about me, I wasn\u2019t the type to pretend. I said things exactly as they were.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I straightened. \u201cI\u2019m Miss Violet\u2019s lawyer. I\u2019m here to represent her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That earned a scoff from another woman, her face as ugly as her tone. \u201cLawyer? You called a lawyer? Why would you do that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet crossed her legs. \u201cYou brought yours, so I brought mine. If this is about law, then let\u2019s level the playing field.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled at her tone. I\u2019d written her off as a damsel in distress, but I was wrong. The way she looked at them wasn\u2019t fear, it was calculation. Everything she does was measured. For the first time, I wondered if Hades Sinclair had finally met his match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A woman across the table rolled her eyes. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to bother,\u201d she said, dismissive. \u201cThis is probably just some lawyer she hired off the street. We have one of the best in the country, remember?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to see who they meant. The man sat frozen, eyes wide, hands trembling, staring at me like the ceiling had split open and something divine had dropped into the room. He rubbed his face hard, as if trying to wake from a dream. \u201cM-Mr. Silas\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tilted my head at him and looked away, bored, then sat in the chair beside Violet. \u201cNow that introductions are out of the way, let\u2019s begin.\u201d I lifted one hand. \u201cYou have two choices. Choice one, go through me. Simple, I won\u2019t kill you. I\u2019ll just take everything you own, money, reputation, legacy-poof. You\u2019ll still breathe. You just won\u2019t have anything worth bragging about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raised my other hand slowly, a small smile playing at my lips. \u201cChoice two?\u201d I chuckled. \u201cYou don\u2019t want choice two. You really don\u2019t want to go through him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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10:57 Tue, Jan 6 \u2022\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 96 \u00a0 Chapter 96\u00a0 Chapter 96\u00a0 Silas\u00a0 Everyone knew Hades Sinclair. Hell, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craving-the-guardian-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}