Chapter 1

My wife sold me to the Furies. I was the price she paid to save another man.

A spiked whip of hellfire tore through my chest again.

"Still breathing, mortal?" A Fury's laughter grated in my ears, sharp as broken glass.

The burning agony pierced my bones. I clenched my jaw tight, but a muffled groan still escaped my lips.

That tiny sound thrilled her.

"Yes! Just like that!" the Fury shrieked with joy. Her whip became a blur of fire, lashing my ruined flesh with savage glee.

"Ah!" I finally screamed.

An hour ago, a Stygian blade had severed the tendons in my limbs. I knew my screams only fueled her excitement.

I bit my lip until it bled, swallowing the rest of my cries. My mouth filled with blood.

And through the haze of pain, the memory of her betrayal echoed in my mind, as sharp and clear as if it were happening right now.

"That's eight rounds of torture, isn't it?" It was Cassia's voice, seared into my soul.

"Cassia, how could you trade with the Furies? You let them drag Aiden to Tartarus!" Hecate's voice trembled. "Aiden threw himself before the Gorgon for you!"

Hearing that, my blood-soaked eyelashes fluttered.

During that fatal Gorgon attack, I threw myself in front of her. Enduring the agony of petrification, I carried her to safety. I passed out from exhaustion and almost died.

But when I woke up, she insisted Adonis had saved her. No matter how I explained, she didn't believe me. She even accused me of stealing his credit.

It hit me like a physical blow.

She didn't "not believe" me. She knew. She simply didn't care.

"Adonis was supposed to suffer this fate." Cassia's voice held a manic obsession. "To save him, I had no choice. By marrying Aiden, I already broke Adonis's heart. I can't let him suffer anymore."

"But Aiden is your true love! This will break him!"

"Aiden is a child of prophecy! His soul is strong!" Cassia argued sharply, desperately trying to convince herself. "He'll be fine! He survived so many injuries before. He'll survive this too!"

Lying on the filthy stone floor, I suddenly laughed.

It tore at my lungs. Tears mixed with blood and hit the ground.

She knew it would hurt me. She knew it would break me. But she still dumped Adonis's disaster onto me.

So, letting her precious Adonis suffer was "breaking his heart." But what about me? Did damnation not break mine?!

"Cough—" Extreme grief and rage overwhelmed me. I coughed up a massive mouthful of black blood.

"Hey! Is the mortal dying?!" The demon torturing me recoiled.

Through the spell, Hecate panicked. "Cassia, he's fading! He's not going to make it!"

"Shut up! Don't tell me how he is!" Cassia cut her goddess off. "Don't tell me... If my heart aches for him, I won't be able to do this. The ritual must continue."

Then, Cassia gave the cruelest order.

"Dark Priest, use the Severing Spell of Eros. Destroy Aiden's manhood." Her tone was agonizing, yet absolute. "The transfer must be exact. I have to take his ability to father a child. It's the only way to completely break Adonis's death curse."

"Even if he never forgives me, even if we can never make love again," she choked out, barely able to breathe. "I will still love him."

What a joke of a love. I closed my eyes in despair.

My mind filled with memories of her begging to make love to me. This was the woman who kept saying she loved me. The woman who said she'd endure the agony of divine punishment just to have my child.

And now, for another man, she was going to utterly destroy me.

"Force the potion down," the Priest ordered coldly.

A vial of Draught of Wakefulness was shoved roughly down my throat. Immediately after, a devastating blast of dark magic smashed into my lower body.

Wide awake, I felt every piece of my manhood being shredded and torn away.

It was an agony beyond the limits of the flesh. Even my soul shivered.

"Gods, that's brutal." Even the demons watching flinched.

In a haze, I heard Cassia's voice. She sounded like she was talking to me, or maybe just hypnotizing herself:

"Aiden, you have to hold on. Once I finish my mission, I can stay in the mortal realm forever. Then, I'll spend eternity making it up to you."

Make it up to me with what? With her self-righteous love, dripping with my blood and dignity?

I let out a wretched laugh. I realized I couldn't even shed a tear anymore.

As the monsters closed in, I completely stopped fighting.

They grabbed my broken legs, dragged me away, and threw me into a freezing, foul-smelling water dungeon. The bone-chilling dead waters of the River Styx instantly swallowed my battered body.

I don't know how much time passed. The heavy doors of the dungeon burst open.

Cassia stood against the light, stepping out of a holy portal. She was spotless. Her face showed flawless panic and genuine heartache.

She plunged into the filthy water, pulling my ruined body into her clean, warm embrace. Hot tears hit my face.

"Darling," she trembled, her voice breaking with heartbreak. "I'm here to save you."