A moment of silence went by. "The Maxwells are my grandfather's old friends," Hades finally said.Alanna knew what he meant almost immediately.Hades chuckled. "I promise I won't make physical contact with her. Is this okay?"Jealousy began swelling up in Alanna's heart. She wanted nothing more than to ask Hades if it was okay for him to skip out on the banquet.It didn't matter if Hades and Holly ended up making physical contact. Cyrus would still introduce Holly to everyone as his future granddaughter-in-law.But Alanna suppressed her urge to say anything.At the end of the day, Hades was a Florentine. Alanna had no reason to ask him not to attend his own grandfather's birthday banquet.Hades could tell that Alanna was upset, so he caressed her cheek."Why don't you attend the banquet with me?"Alanna shook her head. "Nah."She forced out a smile and added, "If I were to attend the banquet, I'd just make myself a free target for humiliation and derogatory insults."Hades f
Travis didn't say anything after that. He double-checked the press conference's sequence of events with Alanna one last time before walking away.The moment he did, Holly approached Alanna immediately."Does Hades know how close you are with Mr. Silva?"Alanna shot her a look. "Have you fully recovered from your injuries, Ms. Maxwell?"Of course, Holly had yet to recover from her injuries. In fact, the gash on her cheek might become a permanent scar.When Alanna brought up Holly's injuries, the latter looked immensely frustrated. She never would've thought that Hades was willing to hurt her because of Alanna.Even though the Maxwells later visited Cyrus, who promised them that he'd deal with Hades appropriately, Holly was still annoyed. After all, Hades cared about Alanna a great deal.Holly tittered softly. "What's there to be smug about, Alanna? Do you really think you can capture Hades' heart just because he wants you by his side?"Alanna just looked at the written speech wh
After that, Alanna greeted the foreigners in fluent Luterynean.The president, Saul Jaeger, stared at her in awe.Hector chuckled out loud. "Take a good look at the refined madam."Alanna frowned slightly, but she soon recognized the woman. It was Miriam, the one she had saved in the washroom on the day of the ceremony.Miriam was thrilled to see her savior. She quickly hugged Alanna."I finally got to meet you, Ms. Jacinto! The reason why we came here today is to meet you in person! Thank you so much for saving my life!"Alanna laughed. "It was nothing."But Miriam refused to let her go. "It might be nothing to you, but to me, you're still my savior."Saul began telling Alanna how grateful he was for saving Miriam's life. Hector chuckled softly from his position."They wish to invite you to Luterynd as Crevania's Goodwill Ambassador. It so happens that Mrs. Simmons and I share the same idea to nominate you as the ambassador as well. We wonder if you're interested in accepting
By the time Hades brought Alanna out of the washroom, she was so exhausted that she had gone limp. She leaned against his chest and felt as though she was about to fall asleep.But she still remembered Hades' unusual emotional state.Something was definitely off about Hades tonight.Even though Hades was quite temperamental, it was rare for him to exhibit such a temperamental side once they patched things up.Clearly, something was wrong."What's wrong, Hades? Did something happen today?"Hades looked down at Alanna in his arms. A moment later, he muttered, "Am I that obvious?"Alanna just stared back at him with pursed lips.Hades placed her on the bed before turning around to grab the hair dryer for her. He didn't answer her question, though he took the time to blow dry her hair gently.Then, he changed the air-conditioner's temperature to a comfortable one. Finally, he pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes."I just missed you. On my way here, I had a dream. I dreame
"Let's go. The others are waiting for you."Jeff then looked at Alanna. "My grandpa, in particular, has been rambling about wanting to see you again ever since we parted ways."Alanna smiled. "I should've dropped by to visit them sooner."Jeff laughed as well before leading the couple into the manor. But after they took a few steps, they saw Jill helping Benedict into the courtyard."You're finally here!" Benedict waved merrily at Alanna. "Ally, come here! Let me see if you've grown thinner!"Jeff couldn't help but chuckle. "Grandpa, you're exaggerating things. We just parted ways with Alanna a few days ago."Benedict flashed Jeff a glare before proceeding to drag Alanna into the manor.Alanna turned to look at Hades, who nodded at her. Only after Alanna and Benedict disappeared into the distance did he greet Jill. "Hello, Mrs. Simmons."Jill nodded at him with a smile. "You should talk to Jeff while I check on the food in the kitchen."After Jill walked away, Jeff said, "Yo
"This is Sandra's wing. Oh… no one has stayed here for so many years. They never let anyone touch anything there. Sometimes, I feel that the longer they preserve everything inside the wing, the sadder I become."Benedict let out a small sigh.Only then did Alanna recall the fact that Jill had a daughter who had gone missing in the past. She pursed her lips for a moment. Just as she was about to speak up, someone called out from afar, "Dad, I heard that we have guests over."Both of them turned around to see a woman walking toward them. It was Gwyneth, the woman who had caused trouble for Alanna back then. She was also Jeff's and Travis' aunt.The moment Gwyneth saw Alanna, her smile vanished instantly."I was wondering who the guest was. Turns out it's just a lowly bitch."Benedict's expression darkened instantly. "Watch your mouth!"Gwyneth was stunned upon hearing Benedict's response. "Dad, I'm telling the truth! It's bad enough that bitch seduced Travis! To make things wors
Alanna didn't really understand what Hades meant by that. Then again, she didn't really want to wear the ring.She could tell that it was an incredibly expensive ring. If she were to damage or lose it, she'd be filled with grief.Soon, Hades and Alanna returned to Jagersville."Are you going home?"Alanna shook her head. "I want to visit my mom at the hospital."Once Tara's condition began to stabilize, she was immediately transferred out of the ICU ward.Alanna had been traveling between cities recently, so she didn't get to take care of Tara. Now that she had more time on her hands, she wished to spend more time with Tara.Hades nodded in response. He began driving toward the hospital right away.Once they reached the hospital, Alanna glanced at him."You should go to the ward with me."Hades paused momentarily. Even though he did have plans on following Alanna into Tara's ward, he understood very well why she specifically told him to go with her.She wanted him to visit T
Alanna frowned at Hades, who just stood at the side with an impassive look."Michel is a real bastard for pulling such a shitty stunt. He deserves to be beaten up."Chelsey shot him a look. "It's rare for a scumbag to see reason."Once the elevator doors slid open, she made a beeline for Mark's office right away.Alanna was worried that Chelsey might act brashly, so she quickly stopped her. "Chelsey, remember to use your words, not violence. Okay?"As she spoke, she tried to retrieve the sharp scalpel from Chelsey's hand.But Hades grabbed her hand comfortingly. "Mark's there. Everything will be fine."Alanna shook his hand away before following Chelsey into the office.Michel happened to be sitting in Mark's office leisurely at that time.Mark stared at him. "Lately you haven't been dropping by the hospital that frequently. Are you no longer interested in those beautiful doctors? Or is it because you're sexually incompetent nowadays?"Michel huffed in response. "Well, I've b