"Have you seen the videos circulating online?" Jupiter's voice cut like ice.
They were inside the Academy President's private office. Mr. Oshanesi had respectfully stepped out, leaving them in tense privacy. Angelina, too restless to sit still, had accompanied the Monteverdes to take Evadne to the hospital for further examination.
That left Jupiter with his adopted son. And Jupiter never wasted time.
Without a word, Langdon, his ever-present aide, turned the iPad toward Hades and played the video.
The chaotic footage from earlier flickered to life. The screaming. The snake. The panic.
And in the middle of it all, Hades, standing protectively over Cieryl, barking orders.
Jupiter didn't look away from his son. His gaze was unwavering, sharp as glass.
"Do you know what's wrong with this video, Hades?"
Hades swallowed hard. He couldn't answer.
Because the truth was undeniable, the entire footage showed him shielding Cieryl. Not Evadne. Not even trying.
"Do you truly think you can fool us? Just because your mother and I are older, do you really believe you can insult our intelligence?"
"Of course not, sir," Hades replied stiffly, standing across the desk where Jupiter now sat in the Academy President's chair like he owned the place.
"Are you sure?"
Jupiter's voice was quiet, but his eyes burned with fury.
"I already released you from your obligation. You are no longer bound to marry Vee. And yet… you tried to win her favor. Why?"
Jupiter leaned forward slightly, every word laced with accusation.
"Do you think that if you play the part well enough, we'll change our last will?"
He didn't know what to say, because no matter what he said, it would be wrong. Jupiter had already decided what this was. And he had no idea how to explain that this entire charade was Evadne's idea, not his.
Jupiter leaned forward. "Let me make this clear. The will is final. The only reason I reactivated your Black Card is so you could buy Evadne whatever she wants or needs. That's it. You will receive nothing else from us, not a single share, not a single favor, except what's already been given."
"The remaining unallocated shares of the Falcon Empire," Jupiter continued, voice cold and surgical, "will go to the man Evadne chooses to marry. If that ends up being you, then so be it. But it will be her decision. Not ours. And if you think we don't see through this little performance of yours, your forced sweetness in front of us, then you clearly forgot who raised you."
Jupiter's voice turned to venom. "I know how your mind works. So let me ask you again, do you know what's truly wrong in that video?"
Hades clenched his fists, jaw tight. He had no answer. Every word felt like a trap. He couldn't admit fault without digging himself deeper.
And Jupiter knew that.
"The problem," Jupiter hissed, "is not that you were standing there comforting that Cieryl girl. The problem is that you allowed Vee to risk her life for your friend, and you did nothing to stop it."
"The snake wasn't venomous, sir," Hades said quickly, desperately latching onto the only defense he could offer.
"And that makes it acceptable?!" Jupiter's voice boomed across the room.
He slammed his palm against the desk, the sharp crack startling even Langdon, who stood stiffly by the table.
"So just because it wasn't venomous, you let her handle it?! Look at you, standing in the middle of the chaos, barking orders like a puppet emperor! The only reason anyone listened to you was because of the Falcon name. Strip that away, what are you, Hades? What power do you have?"
Jupiter's voice dropped again, sharp and vicious.
"Would you have knelt like she did? Put your bare hand between a snake and someone else? I doubt it. Even Casadin, pale and visibly shaking, stepped in when she asked. Despite his ophidiophobia, he had more spine than you in that moment. That boy would've died for her. And you?" Jupiter's tone was a lash now. "You, who pretend to love her in front of us, stood there and let her get hurt. Why? Because we weren't around to see it?"
A long, suffocating silence blanketed the office.
Then Jupiter spoke, quietly, coldly, and without a shred of mercy.
"I don't know how much more honesty you need to hear from me, Hades. But I'll say this once, and never again."
His gaze was unwavering.
"I expect nothing from you anymore. So stop pretending you're doing us a favor, because you're not. The five percent Falcon shares, the apartment, the car, the annual one million dollar allowance until your twenty-first birthday, take it all."
Each word struck like a hammer.
"Take it as payment. Payment for pulling you out of the orphanage. For blocking any chance you had of being adopted by a family, one that may not have given you what we did financially, but could have loved you."
Hades stood frozen.
"Your mother adored you," Jupiter went on, calm and cruel. "But I? Not for one goddamn second did I ever see you as my son. Because I only had one son. And he's dead. No one, not even you, could ever take his place."
Hades clenched his fists. His jaw locked.
"Stop the act. Stop pretending to smile while seething inside."
His head snapped up at that.
Jupiter's eyes gleamed with cold precision.
"You think I don't notice the way you grit your teeth behind that fake grin? The silent rage in your eyes every time you say, 'Yes, sir'? You've fooled the world with your perfect act, but not me. Never me."
Jupiter stood slowly from the desk, the authority of a king in every movement.
"You want to know why you'll never be enough, Hades? Why I've never, not once, been proud of you, despite your perfect grades and flawless facade?"
He took a step closer.
"Because you have no backbone. You hate everything I ask you to do, and yet you still obey without question. You've never had the balls to stand up for yourself. And on those rare moments you try, one little push from me, and you crumble. Always back to, 'Yes, sir.' You're not a man. You're a puppet."
Hades felt the words like knives. Each one cutting deeper than the last.
"And do you know why I told you to end it with Cieryl Clark?"
Jupiter's voice dropped into a venomous murmur.
"Because you're wasting both of your time. And your feelings."
Hades flinched.
"You betrayed Casadin, destroyed a friendship that could've lasted a lifetime, for a girl you don't even have the courage to fight for. Don't you dare say you love her, Hades. You don't even know what love is."
Jupiter turned away, disgusted.
"You're a coward. A selfish, broken little boy. And what I can't forgive, what I'll never forgive, is that your mother and I raised that boy. We brought you into our home. And this is what we get."
He exhaled slowly, turning back with finality.
"I saw through your act when you were still a child. From that moment on, I stopped expecting anything from you."
He started walking toward the door. His words cut like fire behind him.
"We adopted you for one reason, to secure the Falcon legacy. You were supposed to be the bridge to give Evadne the Falcon name. Because that legacy, Hades, was never yours."
He paused.
"It's hers."
And then, cold and calm and done with him, Jupiter turned to Langdon.
"Give it to him."
He looked once more at Hades.
"With this… we owe each other nothing."
And then he left.
The door clicked shut behind him. The silence that followed was colder than before.
Langdon stepped forward and placed a small USB drive on the desk in front of Hades.
"All the information about your biological parents is on that," he said. "Including a DNA result proving they're your blood."
He left without waiting for a response.
Hades stared at the small device.
Lightweight.
But it held the answer to everything.
And shattered the only identity he ever had.
Now, hours later, Hades stood at a desolate bend of the Hudson River, the kind of place where even the wind whispered its indifference. He was drowning in liquor and sorrow, the weight of the USB's truth crushing what was left of his sanity.
He had seen it all.
Every file. Every word. Every damn sin his life had been built upon.
He wasn't a child given up out of love, or poverty, or tragedy. No.
He was the byproduct of an affair, two people from powerful families who already had picture-perfect lives. He was a crack in their portraits, a bastard swept under the rug before anyone could see the damage. Left not for a better chance at life, but because his very existence was a threat to theirs.
A scandal. A stain.
A secret no one wanted.
"I WAS A FUCKING MISTAKE!" Hades screamed into the night, his voice tearing through the cold air like a wounded animal. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU EVEN LET ME BE BORN?!"
His words echoed back at him, empty and cruel.
He was alone.
Truly, painfully alone.
He wanted to call someone. Needed someone. But who?
His 'friends'?
They were never really his. They orbited the Falcon name, not the broken boy beneath it. And now that Jupiter Falcon had stripped him of the title, what was left of him?
If they knew he was no longer the heir…
If they knew he was never truly wanted…
They'd drop him like nothing.
Only two people had ever seen him, the real him, and stayed.
Casadin. Cieryl.
But he couldn't call either of them.
Not after what he'd done.
Because Jupiter was right.
He had been selfish.
He remembered it so vividly, Casadin at twelve, proud and defiant, declaring he would marry Cieryl no matter what. Even when their families were at odds, Casadin had stood tall. "They'll have to live with it. She's mine."
And Hades?
He took her anyway.
Like a thief.
He betrayed the one person who would've given the world the middle finger for him. Who would've bled for him. Died for him.
Now?
Casadin wouldn't even spit on him if he were on fire.
And Cieryl... oh, Cieryl. He couldn't even call her without choking on the guilt.
No matter how many times he whispered "I love you", it didn't change the truth, he had no right to love her. He couldn't even claim her in public. Couldn't protect her. Couldn't choose her.
He was a hollow man.
A coward.
A lie.
"I NEVER WANTED THIS FUCKING LIFE!"
The liquor in his veins made everything numb.
The grief. The shame. The fury.
It made the river look like peace.
His steps were slow but steady as he staggered toward the water, bottle in hand. Cold wind whipped through his clothes, but he didn't feel it anymore.
"Maybe it'll all be better if I disappear," he muttered to no one. "If I'm just… gone."
The icy water lapped at his ankles. He didn't stop.
He tilted his head back, eyes glazing toward the dark sky above.
"When I'm dead… will you waste a tear on me, Dad?" His voice cracked.
"Will you hold me in your heart, Mom? Like you hold Zeus? Will you finally remember me like I mattered?"
He took another swig, the last.
Then, he stepped forward.
Deeper.
Until the water closed over his head.
Until the cold darkness wrapped around him like an embrace.
Until he was swallowed whole.
And for a fleeting moment, Hades felt… peace.
He made peace with his short, useless life.
He didn't want to be a burden anymore, not to Jupiter, not to Angelina. Not to anyone.
Casadin had been right all along.
He was ungrateful.
After everything they'd given him, more than he ever asked for, more than he even deserved, he still couldn't do the one thing they wanted of him. He couldn't give them Evadne. He couldn't be the perfect son, the perfect heir.
They gave him the world. And he still failed them.
All they asked was that he be a bridge. Just a bridge to carry the Falcon name into Evadne's future. But even that... he couldn't be.
If I were given another chance to be reborn, he thought bitterly, I'd be the son they needed me to be. To the people who chose me... who could've chosen someone better, but chose me anyway.
His chest tightened.
But it's not too late... right? I can still fix this. I can still make it right.
His eyes flew open.
No longer at peace, now desperate.
He tried to swim, but his legs wouldn't move.
Something was wrapped around his ankles, dragging him down.
He clawed upward, but it was useless. The weight of the river pulled harder. Water filled his mouth. He choked.
No! I need to show them I'm not ungrateful! That I'm not a mistake!
His lungs burned. His vision darkened.
Please. Someone. Anyone. Help me. Mom… Dad… I don't want to die. Not like this. Not like Zeus. I can't let them go through that pain again. I can't.
And just as his thoughts began to fade,
He saw it.
A silver-blue light, flickering like a constellation beneath the water, was coming toward him fast.
A woman.
Her body shimmered like stars reflected on waves, her eyes a blazing gold. Her expression sharp, annoyed, even underwater, she raised an eyebrow at him.
Did she just raise a fucking eyebrow at me? Hades thought through the haze of panic.
Then he felt her hands, cool, sure, on both sides of his face.
And her lips pressed to his.
His heart nearly stopped. She's kissing me?
But before he could form a coherent thought…
"I'm not kissing you, dumbass."
The voice echoed clearly, inside his head.
"You can breathe now."
His eyes widened.
That voice... that voice…
"Persephone?"
The name rolled out of his mind like an instinct.
The woman before him, no longer shimmering like a mirage, was clear as daylight now.
It was Evadne.
"Only you call me that. Breathe, asshole. You're losing air."
He inhaled, gasped, and staggered as he realized he was breathing underwater. As naturally as breathing air.
How is this possible? his thoughts stammered.
But she didn't answer. She untangled the river weeds strangling his legs.
Then, with one arm under his, she swam upward, dragging him toward the riverbank.
The moment his head broke the surface, Hades erupted into a coughing fit, gasping at the sting of real air again.
"How did it—?"
His question never reached the air.
Evadne's hand struck the side of his neck with surgical precision, a pressure point.
His body slumped.
Unconscious.
Evadne hauled his limp form toward his Rolls-Royce, dragged open the backseat door, and lowered him inside. Then she reached into the dash, removed the SD card from the dashcam, knowing it had recorded their emergence from the water, and slipped it into her pocket.
She picked up Hades's phone, opened it with his unconscious thumb, and dialed 911.
"This is an emergency," she said calmly. "There's a male who attempted suicide. I need medical assistance now. Hudson River. Northeast bank. Near the footpath by the old stone bridge."
She dropped the phone inside the car.
Then, calm as a ghost, Evadne walked back toward the river.
She dove in without hesitation, disappearing into the dark.
Underwater, she waited.
Still. Hidden.
Watching.
Just long enough to see red and blue lights flickering across the waterline above.
To see the medics rushing to Hades.
And before she swam away, she released the SD card, letting it sink slowly beneath the surface.
The river swallowed her secrets.
And carried her away.