Chapter 36

MADDIE

The sound of cutlery against plates filled the room as we ate in silence. For once, it wasn’t the heavy, tension-filled kind of silence but something softer, more bearable. It felt like a truce—a fragile one, but a truce nonetheless. I stared into my coffee, the dark liquid swirling in the cup, hoping it would give me the courage to say what was on my mind.
“I’ve been thinking…” I said, my voice quieter than I intended, but at least it didn’t waver.
Hades didn’t respond right away. He finished chewing his toast and then looked up at me with calm, curious eyes—different from the playful spark he usually had. “About?” he asked, setting his mug down.
I took a steadying breath. “I want to work,” I said, trying to sound confident. “I can’t just sit around here doing nothing all day. It’s… suffocating.”
Hades leaned back in his chair, his sharp gaze studying me. I hated how unreadable he could be sometimes. His expression didn’t give me any clues about what he was thinking. “What kind of work are you thinking about?”
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “But I have skills, and I want to use them. I need to do something that makes me feel like I’m contributing. Like I’m… alive. I don’t want to just exist.”
His brow lifted slightly, intrigued, but his next words irritated me more than they should have. “You’re my wife, Maddie. It’s not like you need to work to survive.”
I clenched my jaw, setting my mug down harder than I meant to. “I’m not doing this because I need to, Hades. I’m doing it because I want to. I need to keep myself busy before I lose my mind from all of this."
“All of this?” He repeated, his tone as sharp as a blade, cutting through my resolve. “You mean our marriage?”
I hesitated, carefully choosing my next words. “This arrangement,” I corrected, my voice firm but measured. “It’s not permanent, Hades. We both know that. I never imagined I’d wake up one day stripped of everything I had. And when it happened, I was left with no choice but to strike a deal—a contract marriage—with a man I barely knew.”
His gaze darkened, his eyes piercing into mine with an intensity that made my breath hitch. “You’re saying it as if it was a bad thing,” he remarked, his tone calm yet carrying an undercurrent of challenge.
I bristled, crossing my arms defensively. “It wasn’t exactly my dream scenario, Hades. Forgive me if I’m not leaping with joy over the circumstances that landed me here.”
His lips curved into a slow, calculated smile, the kind that made it impossible to tell what he was really thinking. “And yet here you are. Living under my roof, wearing clothes I bought for you, eating my food. Doesn’t sound so terrible to me.”
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “You think showering me with material things excites me? I know you have no respect for me, but I didn’t realize you think so lowly of me.”
Hades arched a brow, unfazed by my words. “Lowly? Maddie, if I thought so little of you, do you think I’d bother to argue with you like this? I don’t waste my time on people who don’t matter.”
I blinked, momentarily caught off guard by his response. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?” I shot back, narrowing my eyes. “You can't seduce me with a few clever lines and a smirk?”
He smirked, "You think so? Shall I try other things?" he teased.
"Cut it, Hades," I warned him.
He chuckled. I don't know why, but even the sound of his laugh was enough to cause trouble in my being. He leaned against his chair and looked at me with a seductive smile.
"You’re here because you agreed to be, Maddie. You were in your right mind when you signed the contract. So don’t say that you didn’t have a choice.”
His words struck a nerve, not because they were untrue but because they laid bare the very thing I didn’t want to confront. I had made a choice, yes—but it hadn’t felt like one. It had felt like a lifeline when I was drowning, a deal struck in desperation. My arms crossed tightly over my chest as I tried to steady my trembling voice. “I signed that contract because I had no other option, Hades. You were the only one who offered me a way out.”
“And yet,” he said, his tone shifting to something gentler but no less piercing, “you’re still standing here, defying me at every turn.”
I opened my mouth to snap back, but no words came. Instead, I exhaled shakily and looked away. “I just want to do something for myself,” I murmured, my voice barely audible. The admission felt raw, stripped of the usual armor I wore around him. My head dipped lower, as if the weight of my own words was too much to carry.
For a moment, the room was silent except for the sound of Hades breathing. Then, he let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Fine,” he said finally, his voice resigned but firm. “If you really want to work, go ahead. But there’s one condition.”
I glanced up sharply, wary of the look in his eyes. “What is it?” I asked cautiously.
“You’re going to work for me.”
The simplicity of his answer left me stunned for a moment, and then my brows furrowed. “Work for you?” I repeated, disbelief coloring my tone. “Hades, that defeats the whole point. I don’t want to be under your thumb.”
His lips quirked into a sly smirk, the kind that always set my nerves on edge. “Oh, Maddie, you’ve been under my thumb from the moment you signed that contract. This doesn’t change anything.”
“You’re impossible,” I muttered, shaking my head in frustration. “You think this is some kind of game, don’t you?”
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table as his expression turned serious. “It’s not a game, Maddie. I know how capable you are. But I also know the risks that come with being connected to me. If you work for me, I can keep an eye on you. Make sure nothing happens.”
“Nothing happens?” I echoed, incredulous. “Hades, I’m not some helpless damsel in distress. I don’t need you babysitting me.”
“This isn’t about babysitting,” he shot back, his voice laced with frustration. “It’s about protection. Whether you like it or not, being tied to me puts a target on your back. I won’t take unnecessary risks with your safety.”
I stared at him, torn between indignation and the faintest flicker of understanding. As much as I hated to admit it, there was some truth to his words. Being married to Hades—fake or not—had its dangers.
“And if I refuse?” I challenged, tilting my chin up defiantly.
“Then I won’t support your decision to work,” he said simply, his tone making it clear he wasn’t bluffing. “It’s my way or no way.”
His words hung in the air like a challenge, daring me to argue. I clenched my fists at my sides, weighing my options. Part of me wanted to tell him exactly where he could shove his ultimatum, but another part of me knew this was the only way to get what I wanted.
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “But don’t think for one second that this means you get to control every aspect of my life.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied smoothly, though the amused glint in his eyes said otherwise.
As he leaned back, a victorious smirk firmly in place, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d just walked into another one of his traps. Working for Hades wasn’t going to be easy—and knowing him, it was going to be anything but straightforward.
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