Chapter 255

Serena’s POV

Saturday came faster than I expected, and with it came the promise of our long-awaited date.

From the moment Hades picked me up that morning, the day felt charmed. He’d insisted on taking me to brunch at a small glass-roof café overlooking the lake. The sunlight streamed through the ceiling, catching on his dark hair and making his electrifying blue eyes gleam like melted gold.

We talked, laughed, and shared pancakes while he teased me for the way I always over-sweetened my tea. He tried it, grimaced, and said I must secretly hate my tongue. I nearly choked on laughter.

After brunch, he drove us to the outskirts of his pack lands. He showed me a ridge overlooking the forest, a place he said he came to think when life got too heavy. We lay on the grass, side by side, just listening to the wind. I could feel the peace radiating off him.

It was one of those rare moments where the world felt still. Just us. No past, no curse, no haunting secrets.

Hours later, the car stopped again, and I blinked in surprise. The bright neon lights of an amusement park glowed ahead, glittering like a field of stars.

“Hades,” I breathed, my eyes wide. “Don’t tell me you rented this entire place.”

He tilted his head, smirking. “Okay. I won’t tell you.”

I gawked. “You did?”

He chuckled, taking my hand as we walked past the empty ticket booth. “I didn’t want to share your laughter tonight,” he said smoothly. “It’s selfish, I know.”

My heart did a little somersault. “You’re unbelievable,” I whispered, shaking my head, smiling despite myself.

We rode nearly everything, the carousels, the mini roller coaster, even the spinning cups that had me clutching my stomach while he laughed uncontrollably. By the time we reached the Ferris wheel, the massive one that gleamed silver against the night sky, I was breathless and glowing with happiness.

Inside the cabin, the world felt distant. The lights below shimmered like a thousand tiny fires. I licked at my ice cream, savoring the sweetness as the Ferris wheel began to move.

“You know,” he said, his gaze fixed on me rather than the view, “tell me about your family, Serena.”

I blinked at him. “My family?”

He nodded, leaning back, his expression calm but genuinely interested. “Yes. Tell me what I don’t know. I want to hear everything.”

The way he looked at me made my heart swell. It wasn’t just curiosity, it was care, deep and unhurried, as if he had the whole eternity to listen.

I smiled, scooping some ice cream and holding it up to him. “You’ll get your story if you take a bite first.”

He leaned forward without hesitation, his lips brushing the spoon. His eyes twinkled. “Hmm. Sweet,” he murmured, then reached out and wiped a smear of ice cream from the corner of my lips with his thumb.

Before I could react, he lifted it to his mouth and licked it off, his gaze never leaving mine.

I froze, my breath catching somewhere between my ribs. The heat that rolled off him, the intensity in his eyes, it was magnetic.

“Go on,” he said softly. “Tell me what I don’t know.”

I chuckled awkwardly, looking away to collect myself. “Well… I love my parents, Hades.”

He hummed in response, his thumb still lazily tracing the back of my hand.

“My mother died mysteriously when I was ten,” I continued quietly.

His head turned sharply. “Your mother? But… Agatha?”

I smiled faintly. “She’s not my biological mother. She became my mother after my real one died. She was her best friend. She looked after me like I was her own. After a year, I made my father marry her. He already had feelings for her, I just gave him a reason.”

“Oh,” he murmured, thoughtful.

“Yeah.” My smile faded slightly. “She’s amazing. But… she lost her own twelve-year-old daughter during the times she was tending to me. Sometimes, I wish her daughter could come back. Maybe she’d feel whole again.”

“I understand,” Hades said softly, his tone warm and grounding. He reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You carry too much empathy in your heart, Serena. That’s both your gift and your burden.”

His words made something inside me loosen.

He cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing lightly against my jaw. “You know what I think?”

“What?” I whispered.

“That your mother, both of them would be proud of the woman you’ve become,” he said. “Strong, selfless, and radiant. You bring light into dark places, Serena. Even mine.”

My chest tightened. “You really think so?”

He smiled faintly, eyes softening. “I don’t think so,” he murmured. “I know so.”

The Ferris wheel stopped at its highest point, the city lights stretching far below us like fireflies. And for a long, quiet moment, I forgot everything, Caiden’s shadow, Hades’s hidden tension, even my doubts.

All I knew was that here, under the glow of a borrowed night, love felt like something infinite.

Something worth trusting.

Something worth fighting for.

Just as I was about to say something else, Hades’s teasing smile tugging at my chest, my phone beeped sharply. The sound was loud enough to cut through the calm rhythm of the Ferris wheel turning. I frowned, pulling it from my purse. My heart stilled when I saw the sender — Mother.

My fingers trembled slightly as I opened the message, my eyes scanning it fast. It was an emergency message asking for my quick return. The words blurred together for a second, then hit me like a punch to the chest.

“What’s wrong?” Hades’s tone shifted instantly, his playfulness gone.

I swallowed, glancing up at him, the night wind brushing my cheek as the wheel reached its peak. “I need to go home now.” My voice came out unsteady.

His brows furrowed, concern etching his face. “What happened?”

“I… I don’t know yet.” I looked at the phone again, heart pounding. “But something’s not right.”