"So what are you going to do now?" Rion asked, his brows drawn as he looked at Hades.
Mind in chaos, heart a battlefield, Hades had decided to escape the suffocating walls of Falcon Estate and headed to Club Olympus, the exclusive elite club once owned by his late brother Zeus, now co-owned and managed by Caspian Sinclair, Zeus's best friend and Hades's business mentor.
So here he was now, surrounded by dim lights, private booths, luxury, and aged liquor, trying to drown the war raging inside him.
He had invited a few close friends out for drinks. Not to celebrate. Not even to relax. Just to breathe.
To forget.
To feel something else.
"I don't know," Hades admitted, eyes fixed on the crystal glass of scotch in his hand. "I don't want to hurt Cieryl. That's the last thing I want to do. But I can't go against my parents either…"
"What a hypocrite," Casadin said coolly, no hesitation in his voice, no effort to mask the venom behind the words.
Hades's head snapped up, but Casadin just leaned back, smirking.
"The solution to your problem is pretty damn simple. If you really don't want to hurt Cieryl, then tell your parents 'no', fight for her." He paused, eyes gleaming with cruel amusement. "Oh wait... you can't, can you?"
Casadin gave a mocking laugh.
"Because if you do that, if you choose Cieryl, they'll disown you. And we both know who you are without the Falcon name." He leaned forward, voice like a blade. "Nothing but an orphan boy."
Hades slammed his glass down, liquor sloshing over the edge. "What the hell is your problem?!"
"You!" Casadin snapped. "You are the biggest hypocrite I've ever known!"
The room fell into silence, the tension electric.
If it had been anyone else, no one would have dared talk to Hades Falcon that way. Even if everyone knew he was adopted, he was still legally the Falcon heir. The only one. The prince of their empire. The boy raised to sit on a throne built by Zeus's name.
But Casadin was different.
He was Casadin Sinclair, the only son of Caspian and Diana Sinclair. And that made him untouchable.
Because when Zeus died and the Falcon couple were lost in grief, Caspian had stepped in.
He took control of the Falcon Empire, not for power, but as a tribute to his best friend.
He could have easily claimed the entire empire for himself. But he didn't. He made a promise, to protect the Falcon legacy until someone worthy, until Hades, was ready to take over.
Because of that, Jupiter and Angelina owed Caspian everything.
And because of that, whenever Hades and Casadin clashed, the Falcon couple almost always took Casadin's side.
But it hadn't always been like this.
Once upon a time, Hades and Casadin were inseparable. Sworn brothers. Two reckless, mischievous boys who lit the world on fire.
Casadin, with his chaotic grin and playful recklessness, brought color to Hades's otherwise gray existence. He had pulled him out of darkness more than once, dragging him into trouble just to remind him what it felt like to live.
But everything changed two years ago.
Back in their third year of middle school.
Casadin had always been open about his feelings for Cieryl Clark. Ever since they were kids, he'd claimed he'd marry her one day. He'd confessed it with the kind of innocent conviction only a young boy could have.
And Hades?
He had supported him.
Cheered him on.
Like a true brother would.
From the start of their first year in middle school, Casadin had pursued Cieryl relentlessly, flowers, chocolates, and gifts delivered every single day. He'd make a show of it in the school hallways, shouting with no shame, "I'm going to marry you someday, Cieryl Clark!"
And each time, Cieryl would gently turn him down.
"I'm not ready for a relationship," she'd say. "We're too young."
But Casadin never took it as rejection.
To him, it was hope.
He kept going. And Hades, his best friend, his brother, was there every step of the way. His loyal wingman. Always encouraging. Always smiling.
Until it happened.
The third-year middle school dance.
Casadin had asked Cieryl to be his date. He had rehearsed the moment over and over again, even wore the watch his dad gave him for luck. But Cieryl shook her head.
"I already said yes to someone else," she said.
She didn't say who.
Casadin tried to smile. Tried to shrug it off. He told himself it was okay, it was just a dance. He even poured his heart out to Hades, venting over his disappointment.
And Hades?
He had smiled.
He told him not to give up.
"It's just one night," Hades had said. "Maybe she'll change her mind."
So Casadin didn't ask anyone else.
Even when girls approached him and offered to be his date, even when some of the most popular girls in school practically begged, he said no. Because he still wanted to believe. And just in case Cieryl changed her mind… he'd be ready.
And then the dance came.
And there, on the marble floor of NY Elite Academy's grand ballroom, he saw Cieryl walk in.
On Hades's arm.
His world collapsed in a heartbeat.
Not because Cieryl rejected him. He could take that.
What shattered him beyond repair was Hades.
The betrayal.
The lies.
The audacity to smile and offer encouragement when all along, he was the one Cieryl said yes to.
He hadn't even told him. Not once. Not even a warning.
And then, as if the betrayal wasn't enough, in the middle of the dance, under the glowing chandeliers, Hades asked Cieryl to be his girlfriend.
And she said yes.
People clapped. Cheered.
Casadin's heart turned to ash.
After that night, Hades tried to explain, tried to salvage what was left.
He said he never meant to fall for Cieryl.
He said it just happened.
He said he never wanted to hurt him.
But Casadin's heart had already closed.
There had been so many chances to come clean. So many moments where Hades and Cieryl could have told him the truth. But they didn't.
Instead, they let him look like a fool.
And in the end, it wasn't Cieryl's rejection that hardened Casadin.
It was Hades's betrayal.
That was the final blow.
From that day on, they stopped being brothers.
They became rivals.
Casadin never pursued Cieryl again. Not out of maturity, but out of bitterness.
To him, any girl who could lie so easily, who could hide behind sweet smiles, wasn't worthy of the love he once offered.
But what he couldn't let go of… was Hades.
Casadin grew petty. Especially when it came to him.
Because even though adopted, Hades was still the golden boy. Higher grades. Better athlete. Everyone looked at him like he was untouchable.
But Casadin knew the truth.
Hades wasn't perfect for himself, he was perfect for Evadne Monteverde.
Even with the Monteverdes gone from New York for years, it didn't matter. Everyone knew they'd return eventually. And when they did, Hades would have no choice but to choose Evadne, if he didn't want to lose everything.
And Casadin made sure to remind him of that every chance he got.
He rubbed it in.
He weaponized it.
Even when the whole school knew that Hades and Cieryl were together, even when it was obvious, they never admitted it publicly. Especially not to Jupiter and Angelina Falcon.
At Hades's own birthday party, Cieryl wasn't even allowed to greet him with a "Happy Birthday." In front of the high society crowd, they were just friends.
And Casadin?
He made it worse.
He would approach Cieryl with a smirk in front of their parents and casually ask, "So, where's your boyfriend?"
And Cieryl, humiliated, cornered, could only laugh awkwardly and say, "I don't have one."
Because that's what it meant to love someone like Hades Falcon.
To be his secret.
To be the girl he held in private…
And denied in public.
"Come on, Hades," Casadin drawled with a mocking sneer. "Don't tell me you didn't see this coming. Everyone knows you're meant to be betrothed to Evadne. You're just too selfish to admit it. Too greedy. You think you can have everything, when we both know, everything you have is borrowed."
Hades said nothing.
He couldn't.
There were no words that could slice deeper than the truth Casadin had just laid bare.
But Casadin wasn't done.
He leaned forward, voice sharper now, eyes cold. "Prove how much you love Cieryl. Make it official. Tell your parents. Introduce her as your girlfriend. Or what, wasn't she worth it?"
He refilled his glass, smirking as he stared at Hades's trembling hands, the fury building behind his controlled facade.
"Prove me wrong, golden boy."
Hades's voice was low, clenched. "My relationship is none of your business, Casadin."
"Of course it is," Casadin snapped. "In case you've forgotten, Evadne is Aunt Ceres's younger sister, my mother's best friend. And my mother would never allow Evadne to be mocked, disrespected, or made to look like a fool. So think carefully, Hades. Use that brain you're always so proud of."
He leaned back, his tone turning venomously playful.
"One wrong move… and it's checkmate. You might not go back to the orphanage, but you'll be out on the streets all the same."
Casadin smiled wider, dark amusement dancing in his eyes. "Because we both know… sixty percent of the Falcon wealth is already signed under Evadne's name. Twenty percent belongs to Zeus's charities and foundations. You? You only have twenty, and that still depends on who you choose in the end."
He took a long sip, then added with icy precision, "So don't get cocky with me, Hades. You may carry the Falcon name, but don't forget, it came with conditions."
Hades's jaw clenched hard enough to ache. Rage boiled in his chest, but before he could speak,
The door opened.
And Casadin's grin deepened.
"Well, well…"
Cieryl walked in with her two friends, Natasha and Nika, all three laughing, unaware of the tension filling the air.
"Cieryl," Casadin called out, his tone sickly sweet. "Excited for your aunt's return from France?"
Cieryl's smile faded, brows furrowing. "What?"
"You didn't know?" Casadin said with mock surprise. "Your grandparents, the Monteverdes, are returning to New York next week. And rumor is… Evadne's enrolling at NY Elite Academy."
Cieryl went pale.
Every drop of color drained from her face.
"Shut the hell up, Casadin!" Hades snapped, voice low and dangerous.
Casadin just laughed. "Make me, golden boy."
He started walking away but paused just long enough to throw one last dagger over his shoulder.
"I wonder what you two plan to do… once Evadne enrolls at NY Elite."
And then he left, still laughing.
Laughing like he was already watching the beginning of Hades's downfall.
Because the Monteverde-Falcon Princess was coming home.
And she would be the one to put Hades Falcon in his place.