Chapter 2

-Lexi I sat in front of the mirror in a daze. The wedding gown felt like a ton on my body. I never wanted this marriage for me. I wish that I had somewhere to go far away from this mess. "Are you ready to go, dear?" Papà's voice resonated from the doorway. Obviously, he was more excited than me. After all, the Bento family was a jackpot to him. I was getting married to the man who was on his deathbed. My father cared for money more than my life. I remembered his words one day to my mother. "They aren't boys! What can I do with them if I can't marry them off and get paid?" We were always a pawn to him. He hated and tortured my mother for not having boys. Thinking of my mother, I decided to be the obedient child to my father. I replied without turning back, the feeling of getting married to an old sick man suffocating me, "No…No, I mean...I just needed a moment. Please." My father's eyes darkened as if he wanted to say something. After a while, he agreed, giving me one last glare. "Just a few minutes. I don't want any drama." I rushed to the garden, desperate for a breath of fresh air. Crying wasn’t an option anymore. There were no choices left for me. "Running away again?" A deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I gasped in shock, snapping my head aside to see the handsome face that had come to my dreams so many times. Hades was smoking in our garden. His eyes were hollow, distant. Like it took too much effort to truly see him. I couldn’t understand how he’d gotten past the security. I replied with a snort, wondering what he was doing here, "My life’s falling apart, and you’re here for fun?" Hades smashed the cigarette under his boots and moved over to cup my jaw, his touch reminding me of the kiss that we shared, "No one touches what belongs to me, Mia Cara. You will have peace of mind there." I argued back, pushing his hands off, "I don't belong to anyone." He chuckled before taking his leave. His words still rang in my head until my father dragged back. "Enough of your time, Lexi. The guests are waiting." The fake vows were exchanged. I didn't think that my husband remembered anything during the marriage. He was too sick to comprehend the reality. I was escorted to the most luxurious car in the city yet I felt nothing. Once it was my dream car but now it felt like a coffin. I noticed something after getting back into the car. I lost my mother's ring. Where did I lose it? Nobody said anything to me. ***** || HADES's POV || "Tell me which fingers are yours that you would like to keep?" I asked the man who was whining in pain. I saw him touching Lexi's ass in the club when she was having her own time. I didn't keep my eyes off her during the time of her married life. It just made me furious that the fucker Bento was lasting too long. But he was too old to touch Lexi. It was the only reason that I let her get married to that old sick fart. The man in front of me shook his head, begging for mercy silently. I chopped his four fingers off the following day, leaving one untouched to show my little mercy. Blood spurted all over my sleeves and I wiped them off with disgust. Hunterss asked with a sigh, looking up at me. "Is it worth to make so many enemies for that little vexin? This man works for the other group. They’ll see it as a threat.” I didn't hear anything about Hunterss. Lexi was mine. From the moment I laid eyes on her, she was mine. I’d burn the world to the ground for her. Even now, after she got married. Lexi was mine. From the moment I set eyes on her, she was mine. I'd burn the world for her. Her lifestyle shocked me and attracted me at the same time. The Bento family had given her endless wealth, yet she chose to spend it on an orphanage she'd visited. It made no sense, why didn't she spend it on luxury, on herself? I glance at my pinky and at the little gold band. Every time I saw her, she had this ring. Spinning it around her middle finger. When I went back out for another smoke before leaving their home that night, I saw it on the ground. I’ve had it in my pinky finger ever since. It means something to her. Which means it means something to me. Her jerk father didn't stay back. He had been hunting for her second husband. I was going to make sure that it was me this time. I let her go once but I wasn't going to let it happen again. I kept tabs on her father, regularly checking his movements, looking for the man he planned to sell her to next. I ordered Hunters, his eyes still scrutinizing me. " Find out who he is. I don’t care how. More spies, more resources, just get me a name." Hunters asked, shaking his head. "And what are you going to do with him?" I replied with a smirk, pouring a glass of scotch for me. "I’ll just have a little chat with him.” Hunters replied with a scoff, sitting next to me, "Nonsense! I know exactly what you’re planning. What if Lexi doesn't become a widow? What are you going to do then?" The thought alone sent a surge of rage through me. I ground my teeth, the fury boiling beneath my skin. Sipping my wine, I muttered through clenched teeth. "Then I will just have to ensure that I fuck her over the dead body of her old fart husband.”