CHAPTER 141: A VERY VERY MESSY DINNER

Alice was looking at Dawin. She hadn’t expected him to interfere, much less in her defense... against his mother. And in such a... dangerous tone.

And when, for the briefest flicker, his gaze shifted toward her, Alice’s breath caught. That look.

She didn’t want to think too hard about what had happened between Dawin and Hades earlier. Or about the strange edges in Dawin’s behavior around her. He had always been... odd. The way he looked at her. The way he seemed to know far too much. The way he offered help she never asked for.

Did he... was he...?

No. She shook the thought. He knew she was Alice. Surely he didn’t like her... right—?

But then... what was this?

The Matriarch’s nostrils flared, composure splintering across her face. Her own son. Her own son had cut her down in front of everyone. It looked as though he’d struck her across the cheek. "Dawin, have you gone mad? You openly defy me in front of them!?"

Them.

The way she said it. Venom, disdain, dripping. As though Hades didn’t belong. And Alice was dirt tracked in on expensive floors.

What was the purpose of this dinner again?

Across the table, Van’s grin widened like a child at a puppet show. He chuckled openly, leaning back in his chair like this was the finest entertainment of his life. Chaos suited him. He thrived in it. Especially when it happened at home. Especially at home. Especially when the golden son was the one lighting the fire.

Hades, however, was a different story. He sat too still. Too composed. And that stillness was dangerous. And Gavin noticed. Of course he did. Gavin’s eyes narrowed, watching closely.

Hades wasn’t amused. He wasn’t flattered. He wasn’t even offended in the usual sense. He was coiling. And this was dangerous.

Especially the way he was staring not even at the Matriarch but at Dawin.

Gavin’s voice broke through, low and precise, "It’s time we leave."

He didn’t raise his tone, didn’t need to. But his voice was clear enough even for someone who didn’t belong in that table.

Then, deliberately, Gavin turned his head. Met Hades’ eyes. Held them. A silent reminder: count your breathing or whatever. Then hias gaze flicked, briefly, toward Alice as if reminding Hades of her presence. And well... she unfortunately didn’t like danger.

And then Hades did turn, finally, to look at her. But Alice... looked different. Odd. Her expression tight, her shoulders squared, something building in her eyes.

Before he could even make sense of it, she spoke.

Her voice rang out clear, steady, facing the Matriarch head-on.

"Do not speak about my husband in that tone."

The silence that followed was louder than any voice raised that evening.

"W-What?" the older woman asked, incredulous.

Suzy wasn’t even the one that Matriarch was facing but her hand clung to Gavin tighter, her knuckles white.

And then Van leaned forward, his voice sharp and low, like he had been waiting for this chance. "She said you shouldn’t speak to her husband in that manner." He repeated just in case his mother hadn’t heard clearly the first time.

Alice didn’t even bother to look at Van, who was obviously trying to fuel the tension. She raised her chin, her voice coming steady, too steady, the kind that came only when she was standing at the edge of her own sanity. "You can talk about me however you please," Alice said calmly, "But Hades... he’s a Wildfire. He’s part of the family. He deserves more than to be spoken down to like a stray."

The words dropped like oil on open flame.

Insane.

That was the only word for it.

Alice could see it etched on the Matriarch’s face.

You insolent little wretch.

And beside her, Hades finally shifted. Not to interrupt, not to shield her, but to look at her. His eyes burned sideways into hers, molten and unreadable. No judgment. No rescue. Just that steady, terrifying focus, as if he were silently asking: ’Do you even understand the fire you’ve just thrown yourself into?’

But then there was something else. If she dared assume, it looked... vulnerable.

The Matriarch’s mouth opened. Poised to strike back, to shred Alice where she sat, when a figure entered the dining sharply without even giving them any more acknowledgement except a nod and then bent low at the Patriarch’s side. A secretary, whispering something urgent into his ear.

The Patriarch’s brows drew together but then there was something like relief on his face. Like he was finally done with this nonsense.

He set his cutlery down with a sharp click. Then his heavy gaze swept the table. First to the Matriarch, then to Hades, then finally resting on Alice.

"If you all want to keep causing trouble," his voice came deep and final, "then end dinner already."

He pushed back his chair, the scrape loud in the silence, and rose. Without another glance, he left the hall with the secretary in tow.

No one stood up this time when he left.

The Matriarch straightened, her pearls quivering against her throat, eyes glinting with venomous triumph now that her husband was gone.

Her gaze went back to where Alice and Hades were seated.

The air shifted.

The restraint was gone.

And Alice knew... all hell was about to break loose.

The Matriarch’s hand slammed against the table. "You think slipping a ring on your finger makes you one of us?" She let out the "you’ve got to be kidding me" laugh.

The Matriarch was usually very composed. But seeing how she was losing it right now tonight, they all guessed something but have set her off somewhere.

Because this behavior tonight was abnormal. It was as if she was losing grasp of something important to her and not wanting to let it go.

Her voice sliced through the heavy silence, eyes glittering with fury. "Who gave you that disgusting effrontery? Do you even think Hades is a Wildfire just because I let him here?"

Alice froze. The air grew taut around her. The heat that crawled under her skin demanded release.

"What is he then?" Alice asked back. "Unwild... water?"

The words hung in the air like shattered glass.

Then it happened.

Hades laughed.

Not a faint, amused exhale. A full laugh. Deep, sudden, and wholly alive. It spilled from him like fire breaking free of its cage.

The room froze. Every pair of eyes turned to him, shocked, unsettled.

Because no one had ever heard him laugh before. At least, not like that. In a way that showed genuine amusement.

Alice felt the laugh in her bones. She didn’t dare look away from him. Not when his lips curved, sharp and merciless, as if her sarcasm had drawn something out of him that no one had ever dared touch.

The Matriarch’s face was flushed an angry scarlet. Her composure cracked under the weight of that sound, of Alice’s insolence, of Hades’s betrayal in laughing at her expense.

"You—" she hissed, shaking with rage.

The woman’s breath shook as if she were on the verge of lunging across the table. But before her fury could snap free, Hades’s voice cut through the heat.

Very calmly.

"I have to thank you mother," he said, eyes locking on her with an unreadable glint. "For helping me get married. It’s... nice, being married. I have a woman now who can help me fight back when you start your hate speeches."

The Matriarch’s lips parted, fury strangling her voice.

Hades turned then, his gaze softening, not for her, but for Alice. His tone dropped to something that could almost be mistaken for gentle, though the edges were lined with mockery.

"Stop fighting her, Alice. Otherwise, she’ll hate us even more... and won’t invite us out to dinner anymore."

The sarcasm burned, thinly veiled, but the flicker in his eyes was meant only for her.

Across the table, Van burst out laughing. He leaned forward, grinning like he’d just been handed the best thing ever in this world.

"Oh no, please... do keep coming to dinner. This is far too interesting." His eyes swept lazily between Alice and Hades, then lingered with amusement. "I like Sister-in-law a lot. I can see why a lot of... people may like her."

The deliberate pause but very... deliberate. His gaze flicked toward Dawin.

Dawin didn’t rise to it. He only scoffed, rolling the stem of his glass between his fingers before tipping it back.

"Childish," he muttered, then stood up, walking out of the dining just like that.

The laughter had completely faded from Hades’s chest as suddenly as it had come. His smile thinned, his eyes hardening until the air itself seemed to tighten.

"One thing," he said, voice low, threaded with steel. "I’ll tolerate this circus once. But the next time anyone dares say a word against my little princess..." his gaze swept the table, pinning each relative like a blade against their throats "—I won’t."

Little princess? Oh my God!

Alice was dying of cringe inside.

Even Gavin could not stop the bombastic front eye. He just had to cut in again.

"Boss. It’s time. You have a meeting."

For a brief moment, Hades didn’t move. There was an intense dark glare clashing between him and the Matriarch. Then he stood, chair sliding back with quiet finality. He turned, extending his hand toward Alice.

Alice slowly placed her palm into his. Then his fingers closed firmly over hers.

And finally, Suzy’s grip on Gavin loosened.

When Gavin rose as well, his gaze lingered for a heartbeat on Suzy. His mouth didn’t move, but his chin tilted ever so slightly toward the door.

She didn’t know Gavin that much, but she was sure he was saying, ’Take this chance to leave or whatever’.

Her lips pressed tight, but she obeyed, pushing her chair back.