Alice followed them into the dining hall, every step dragging like iron at her ankles.
The table, set for ten, glead under the soft glow of a chandelier. Ten forks, ten knives, ten glasses, all laid with military precision, each one glittering like a weapon.
Suzy’s parents were already there, chatting on a couch beside the main table. Alice noticed the imdiate tension between Suzy and her parents. Suzy didn’t even spare them a glance. Dawin, on the other hand, was all warmth and gentleness. He smiled, spoke to them kindly, and they looked ready to adopt him on the spot.
Hades, anwhile, offered a curt nod of acknowledgnt to his relatives and nothing more. They nodded back, but their eyes lingered on Gavin. The resemblance between them and Wilson was striking, and they held the sa questioning look as their son, though less hostile. Gavin, who usually cared for nothing, seed to be on high alert. He ignored them, his gaze scanning the room, taking in everything except Suzy.
Alice offered polite smiles, her gaze lingering on them as she wondered which of them had sothing to do with Vivian.
It could be anyone right in this room.
This was tough.
She felt a familiar thought creep into her mind. Why am I even here?
The answer ca when the Matriarch entered. Her eyes moved first to Gavin, standing among them as if he belonged. And there, a flicker of displeasure, quick and sharp, was masked before anyone could call it out. But Alice saw it. Everyone did, if they were looking closely.
The Matriarch said nothing of it. She only gestured with a graceful flick of her hand. "Sit. We are all family here." The words were silk, but the silk had edges.
Fake.
Alice moved toward her seat, her skin prickling with nerves. This wasn’t dinner. It was judgnt dressed up as civility.
Van popped out of nowhere and was the first to sit, with a bored grace that said he’d rather be anywhere else. His eyes drifted lazily, not toward the Matriarch or Suzy’s parents, but to Dawin, to Hades, and to Alice. Watching. Waiting. Like a wolf scenting blood in the snow.
Alice didn’t know what that look ant, but the feeling of being in an "impostor reveal party" was now worse. She felt like throwing up. She dared a glance at Dawin. His face was a mask of calm, but the tension in his jaw betrayed him. He suddenly looked right at her, and she quickly looked away, only to et the Matriarch’s hot gaze.
This was... insane.
The seating arrangent was interesting: Gavin was now beside Suzy, replacing Wilson’s seat. Suzy looked... calm but her face was unusually flushed.
"Aurora dear," the Matriarch said suddenly. Her voice was warm, her smile deliberate.
Alice blinked at the unexpected sweet calling, unsure how to respond.
"You look lovely tonight."
Okay... this was random.
Alice’s throat bobbed. "Thank you," She dipped her head.
But the warmth didn’t reach the Matriarch’s eyes. The disdain shimred there, a blade hidden behind the smile. The complint wasn’t a gift. It was a warning. Alice felt the cut all the sa.
The silence hung like smoke until the Matriarch spoke again to the entire room. "I wanted this dinner," she said, her tone calm and asured, "because I thought we could all unwind. We are family. And in difficult tis and happy tis, it is important to sit together and rember that."
In another house, the words might have sounded noble. Here, they sounded like a net snapping shut.
Van let out a short, derisive snort that broke the illusion. The Matriarch’s head snapped toward him, but he didn’t bother to explain. He just reached for a pineapple as if nothing had happened. Suzy’s father muttered sothing about respect, his face pinched. Van only tilted his head back, unapologetic.
The air shifted again. Heavy footsteps, asured and commanding, entered the hall.
The Patriarch.
At once, everyone stood. Alice had almost forgotten this weird tradition since she moved out of this apartnt to Block C. The man carried weight without effort. His gaze swept the table, stopping briefly on Gavin. There was no welco in that look. No warmth. Just a cold, dismissive, final glance. He moved on, claiming his seat at the head. Everyone else followed.
Servants moved with clockwork precision. Plates were uncovered, steam curling into the heavy air.
She got vegan spaghetti this ti. For so reason, it looked colourful and looked like it might be tasty. Like they had actually put in effort this ti.
Was it by chance... poisoned?
Could she bring herself to eat when it felt like she was being watched by all of them?
Hades’s heavy silence, Dawin’s quiet heat, Van’s predatory gaze, the Matriarch’s cold smile, and the Patriarch looming like a shadow. Thankfully, Suzy was focused on her al, no longer looking at her.
The Patriarch was the first to break the silence, his voice low and steady. "Aurora."
Her head jerked up at once. His gaze held hers, asuring and assessing. "How do you fare in your new ho?" he asked. "Do you like it there?"
Alice almost sighed in relief when she heard the question. Sothing random. That was... safe.
She forced a smile. "Yes, I do." She risked a glance at Hades beside her. "It’s... comfortable."
The Matriarch’s lips curved, satisfied, as though Alice had just said the right line in a script. Alice was confused, wasn’t this the sa woman who wanted her back by force?
However, Alice almost let herself breathe—until Dawin’s voice sliced across the table.
"Is that true?"
Alice’s breath hitched. He wasn’t mocking. Not curious. His voice was sharp, precise.
Was this the mont?
Was he going to expose her to the house?
Her held her fork tightly.
"Because every ti I see you," he continued, his eyes like iron on her, "you look worse than the last. Tired. Strained. Injured. Do you really want to keep staying there?"
The room froze.
The Matriarch stiffened as if struck.
Alice’s throat dried, and her hand clenched even tighter around her fork. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a low sound broke the tension.
Laughter. Hades.
He leaned back, glass in hand, his lips curved in faint mockery. "Does it not feel strange anymore for you to admit it publicly?" His words unfurled slow and deliberate. "That you want my girl?"
The words struck like a knife on the oak. Alice nearly choked on nothing at all.
"W-What...?" She wasn’t sure what was worse. The question Dawin had asked publicly, what Hades had accused him of or the way Hades had addressed her.
My girl.
The claim was sharp, blatant, possessive.
Dawin didn’t flinch. His jaw tightened, his eyes staying on Alice for a beat longer before cutting to Hades.
The Matriarch drew in a breath as if to restore order, but she was already too late. Everyone’s jaws had fallen open.
Van’s mouth twitched. Amused. He looked like this was what he had been waiting for all day.
Suzy’s parents looked lost, shifting uncomfortably, while Suzy herself leaned forward slightly, fascination sparking in her eyes.
Gavin raised a brow.
Hades’s gaze slid briefly to Alice, catching her stunned face, and his lips curved faintly, cruelly amused. He turned back to Dawin. "See? She didn’t even know you wanted her. Must be... embarrassing for you.
The silence cracked. Alice’s chest tightened, her cheeks warming under all their eyes.
Dawin let out a low chuckle, unshaken. "Are you not overthinking it?" His tone was smooth, dismissive. "I don’t take what belongs to others."
The air dropped heavy again. "For your own good," Hades murmured, his voice edged like a blade against bone, "I’ll believe so."
The Matriarch’s composure finally shattered. She snapped, her voice slicing across the table: "Enough. Shut up, both of you."
Her command echoed, sharp and brittle, but the damage was done. Alice’s pulse hamred in her ears. What the hell was going on? Suzy’s wide eyes were locked on her now, searching and questioning. The room itself seed to tilt.
The Patriarch leaned forward, his voice breaking the charged quiet. "What is this?" His confusion was genuine as he looked from son to son.
No one answered imdiately. Van leaned back, his smirk curling. Suzy’s parents exchanged bewildered looks, out of their depth. Alice’s hand shook around her fork. She wished she could lt into the table. The air didn’t break; it thickened.
"Nothing is wrong, father. I already discussed this with Dawin. He wouldn’t cross the line," Hades said calmly. He then looked at Dawin, a glint in his eye. "Also... she likes ."
"Eh?" Alice blurted out.
Gavin began to regret why he ca here to witness this childish show. He hadn’t signed up for this.
Now, all eyes had moved to Alice.
She was looking up at Hades beside her, who was also looking down at her now with a questioning look in his eyes.
"You don’t like ?" He asked her.
"Sick bastard," Gavin muttered to himself in frustration.
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